Good Side of Sin (43 page)

“They have Troy,” Ethan muttered, and then swallowed audibly. “It doesn’t look good for him.”

“How do you know this?” Thoros barked in Ethan’s face.

Ethan shook his head. “I can hear her thoughts and see him in her mind.” He walked over to me and laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Alexandra says that you must be strong. You won’t get through this otherwise. Troy’s condition is only minor to what awaits us all.”

I felt a sense of calm pass over me and knew Ethan was helping me get past this overwhelming first shock. I knew it would be bad, but hadn’t allowed myself to dwell on what could actually happen to my friends and loved ones. I had to find a way to turn my emotions off until all of this was over or I would never get us through this. Ethan needed me to point him in the right direction. Alexandra was right; I had to be strong.

I took in a deep breath and wiped my cheeks. “Emma, you and Aries go up to your apartment and don’t leave until I come back to get you.”

“And what if you don’t come back?”

I sighed as I linked hands with Thoros, Malcolm, Ethan and Omega. “Just pray I do. Otherwise, you’ll be settling into one of the seven sydes of Hell soon.”

I felt Malcolm shudder under my grip and knew he was thinking about the time he had helped Rhyan through most of those sydes. I gave his hand a brief squeeze, and then fleeted us to the perimeter of the mansion.

“Jesus!” Thoros exclaimed on a whisper. “Are those all fallen angels?”

I shook my head, feeling the intense tingle of evil rush over my skin. “Not all of them, but does it really matter at this point?” On a sigh, I said, “I wasn’t expecting this. We’re going to need help, and a lot of it. Five of us cannot take on that many angels and demons and expect to come out on the winning side. It’s just not rational thinking.”

“Since when have you ever done anything rational?” Malcolm said with a light chuckle.

I shook my head as my eyes gave a dramatic roll. He was right, but even
I
wasn’t this reckless—or rather, this stupid. “Ethan, what does Alexandra suggest we do?”

Ethan’s head jerked up at the sound of his name. He smiled. “Ask her yourself. She’s bringing company.”

As soon as I registered what he’d said, the ground began to tremor beneath our feet. I found Thoros’ hand and looked skyward as the dense clouds dispersed and a blinding flash of light struck the Earth only thirty feet from us.

Alexandra stood tall and beautiful, her long brunette hair braided and tied up tightly at the nape of her neck, her fierce emerald eyes glimmering even in the murky dimness of an overcast sky. She was dressed in basic LOD tactical clothing with a fitted leather trench coat hanging just below mid-calf. The tops of her lace-up black boots stopped just below her knees.

“I’m in love,” Ethan blurted, and then his hand shot up to cover his mouth. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and sighed, hoping Alexandra would look over Ethan’s human ignorance.

Alexandra didn’t appear to have heard him, even though it was impossible for her to have missed it. Her attention was focused entirely on me, and then she walked toward us with a grave but determined expression.

This was it.

I pulled from the strength Ethan had lent me earlier and met her halfway. I stopped a few feet from her and bowed down to one knee, keeping my eyes cast downward. “Archangel Alexandra.”

“Rise, Josselyn,” Alexandra said as she placed her fingers under my chin, and then lifted my face up to meet her gaze. “After everything you’ve been through to complete a mission that was never meant for you, it is I who should be kneeling. You have gone above and beyond our expectations. I am so proud of you.” She offered me her other hand and I took it without hesitation. “Now,” she said on a long sigh, “I couldn’t very well sit up there and let you do this on your own, so I brought a few friends with me—that is, if you need the help—”

“Yes, please,” I said before she even got the sentence out of her mouth, and then I watched in awe as hundreds of angels fell from the sky, landing around us in battle gear and attitude. Thirteen other archangels stood in a semi-circle immediately behind Alexandra.

I scanned them, but couldn’t determine who was missing besides Isaiah.

Alexandra smiled. “Then we are at your right hand, my dear.”

As my eyes roamed over the unimaginable number of angels here to help us, they settled on a pair of soft blue eyes and a smile I would never forget as long as I existed. I ran to Rhyan and threw my arms around him, desperately trying to control my throat from closing up with emotion. If anyone understood what I was going through at this moment, it was him. I was so glad he was here to back me up. Seeing him reminded me that there was still hope. He kissed the top of my head and hugged me hard.

I pulled out of the embrace only to be caught up in another, but this time it was from Abigail, his soulmate. I wiped under my eyes when she released me with a smile.

“I’m so glad you both came,” I said.

Her lips turned up at the corners in a small smile. “And miss a chance to kick Lucifer where it hurts again? Not in a million years.”

I frowned. “If we can keep him from getting Ethan, we won’t have to worry about seeing him.” I huffed. “Let’s just hope I know what I’m doing.”

“We got your back. Just do your thing and don’t worry about anybody else,” Rhyan said and gave me a wink.

“It’s good to see you again, angel,” Thoros said from behind me. “I hope we get the chance to catch up later.”

Rhyan shook hands with Thoros. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“Are you ready for this?” Thoros said as he focused only on me. His eyes were guarded, but I could see the fear behind them, and it didn’t have a thing to do with Rhyan hugging me. He was afraid we wouldn’t come out of this on the winning side. I could understand his fear; there was just too much weighing against us.

I gave a curt nod and turned back to look at the mansion. Several more angels and demons had joined the already massive count outside the house. I knew there would be more inside; none of the people I intended to save were present.

Alexandra walked up beside me. “Geoffrey has Troy. Marcus and the demon host are inside holding the other angels, half-souled and Ethan’s father hostage. And… Aries is on her way here with Emma,” she finished quietly.

“What?” I looked at her, aghast.

“What did you say?” Ethan said in a panicked voice as he poked his head around me to look at Alexandra. “Why would Aries be on her way here with Emma? We just left them at Emma’s apartment!”

Alexandra looked at me as she spoke. “Aries is a dark witch with a very clever disguise. She even fooled me. Lameria would have seen right through her. That’s why Aries gave Thoros the ultimatum to send her away or she would leave. Her intentions were never to help you, but to spy on you. She was the reason Thoros volunteered to stay with Melina if she would only help you beat this; Aries told him that she had foreseen you choosing him over Heaven and Earth, so he acted on impulse. She was also the one who caused Omega to hurt you outside your room before the ball, as well as possessed Thoros to grab your horse and put you in danger before you left Limbo. None of it was Melina, but Aries wanted you to believe that it was so you wouldn’t suspect her.

I gasped, but she only shook her head.

“Do not blame yourself. Lucifer is behind this, and he is a master of trickery. He has fooled us all more than once, and this time he has chosen his players well.”

“But Geoffrey—” I began, but Alexandra cut me off.

“Has fallen. There is no telling what Lucifer has promised Geoffrey and the others in order to gain release from the curse he is bound to by the hand of God. I know that Lucifer was expecting to get Melina and her world in the agreement. I cannot imagine how this will affect any promises made or broken.”

“Yeah,” I said, “I’m sure I made a few enemies leaving Melina locked in her cage.”

Alexandra grinned at me. “They were never friends of yours. Do not worry about what they think of you.”

I huffed as I looked back to the crowd of demons and once pure-souled angels, watching us, waiting for… something. I felt sorry for them. Even if their side won, their souls would be lost to Lucifer forever. They would be damned, and only because they had been deceived; they had fallen prey to greed or envy and lost the only thing that meant anything: their humanity.

“What are they waiting for? Why don’t they attack us and try to take Ethan, if he is who they want?”

“They have never been able to touch Ethan. He will have to lose his soul or give it over willingly for them to get to him.”

I knew then exactly what they were planning to do. And my soul would be damned before I would let it happen.

“Ethan?”

“Yeah,”
he replied without pause.

My hands shot open at my sides, and then closed around the hilts of two silver coated daggers. The weapons wouldn’t kill them, but a stab to the head, heart or neck would send them back to where they came from.
“Stay close to me.”

“Um… can I get a weapon?”

I blinked a couple times, and then turned to look at him with a furrowed brow. “Ethan—you are the weapon.” I glanced down at his hands, noticing for the first time that white fire was sparking from his fingertips. He didn’t even seem to realize it was happening. I arched an eyebrow and nodded to them and he looked down in stunned surprise. “You touch me with those,” I said as I held up one of my daggers, “and I’ll poke you with my pretty stick. Only the bad guys. Capisci?”

He cocked a grin and nodded in agreement. “Only the bad guys.”

Thoros watched Josselyn move, her limbs advancing and receding in sync with each other as she ran, moving in quickly on her enemy. She was a fierce lioness, experienced and field trained with a sharp mind to make each strike count where it mattered most.

Her body twisted, and she kicked out, taking down first one fallen angel with the heel of her boot and then a demon with the silver blade, cutting across his esophagus. Blood shot from the demon’s neck in an arc and he frantically covered the wound with his hands as if the gesture would help him live longer.

Josselyn bared her teeth and zeroed in on her next victim, leaving the damned behind without another thought. She was beautiful and magnificent and he mentally kicked himself in the ass for doubting she could take care of herself as well as everyone else. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

Ethan was fast on her trail and fell atop the fallen angel, branding the once holy female with his glowing hands. Thoros was shocked even further when the girl burst into flames and turned to ash within mere seconds of being touched by Ethan. A grin spread wide across Thoros’ face. Maybe the kid did have a few tricks up his sleeve after all.

Reality ruined his proud moment and landed in front of Thoros in the form of something big and hairy. “Whoa, shit!” He ducked in time to miss the blow to his head from the great beast’s fist, but not the foot of another enemy that connected square on with his solar plexus.

Landing hard on his back on the driveway, he grimaced and fought to catch his breath, before the creature could advance on him again. He opened his eyes just in time for his reflexes to kick in and get him out of the way of another heavy blow.

Rolling to his side, he pushed hard with his hands and sprung lightly to his feet in a fighting stance. He was surrounded. There were at least six men to his one. He inhaled deeply, and was just about to drop-kick the one closest to him when he heard an awful battle cry coming from behind him. He didn’t have time to look; he just prayed whoever it was happened to be on his side. There were shouts and grunts and sounds of bodies hitting the ground behind him. He was still standing. That was a good sign, he thought.

Thoros lunged for the male in front of him, catching him around the waist with his arms and pummeling them both to the hard, dirt-packed Earth floor. Sitting astride the unholy creature, knees pinning the thing’s shoulders down, Thoros had the advantage. He raised his arm back, preparing for the first swing, when someone attacked him from behind, knocking him clear off his target.

He fought against the weight of the newcomer, but they didn’t seem to be fighting back. He pushed the body off him, and one look at her face clearly explained why there had been no resistance: one of Damien’s broadheads protruded the girl’s forehead, dripping blood and remnants of brain on Thoros’ clothes. The rest of the arrow decorated the back of her head, and her body jerked in great spasms as Thoros pushed her to the side just in time to block a blow from the minion he had knocked to the ground only a minute earlier.

A gunshot echoed through the air and the guy fell limp and unresponsive beside the girl.

Thoros’ head shot up to see Damien holding his bow at the ready and Omega with the butt of a rifle tucked in close by his shoulder; both men wore broad smiles.

“I figured you’d be the type to only bring your mitts to a gun and knife fight,” Omega said, and then tossed Thoros a machete. He caught it by the hilt. “Need me to teach you how to use that?”

Thoros weighed the ivory hilt with the silver-coated steel blade in his palm, a look of recognition and remembrance crossing over his face before he gripped it tightly and then slashed the sharp-edged metal through the air as if he had been born with it in his hand. He jumped, threw the weapon in the air, caught it with his other hand and drove it into the chest of a demon as he landed back on the balls of his feet in a low crouch.

Thoros looked down at the crumpled mess on the ground, and then bent and wiped the blood-covered blade on the guy’s shirt before looking back up to Omega. “Oh, I don’t know—I think I got the hang of it pretty well.”

Omega lifted the rifle up and shot off six rounds into a demon running up behind Thoros. “I’m still betting on me, pretty boy.”

Damien laughed as he began making his way toward the mansion with an arrow pulled taut in the string of his bow.

“Boy?” Thoros said in disbelief, and Omega smiled. “Looks like we are going to have to have a little competition to settle—” Thoros had to stop talking long enough to decapitate a demon. This time he didn’t bother to wipe off the blade. “—our little disagreement.”