The room tilted as I rushed after the warlock, the dark energy of the circle warping space as I crossed into a place halfway between this dimension and the next. I skidded and slid down the angled floor toward my target. I dug my heels in and raised my blade, swinging it at Maxim as soon as I got within reach. I caught him across the thigh and he tripped, falling just before he entered the circle.

I grabbed his ankle and hauled him back while he tried to crawl and escape me. He kicked me off him, surprisingly strong, and I fell onto my back against the stone floor, head slamming against the ground.

“Motherfucker,” I growled and flipped back to my feet, grabbing and hauling him back once more.

We struggled at the edge of the circle, flashes of dark magic rising from the runes. They licked at my skin, as if tasting the evil in my flesh. Yeah, I wasn’t feeding them so they could get over it.

My fingers transformed to claws and I struggled to get one around his throat. I’d choke the fucker out. But he fired a blast of midnight lightning from his palm, slamming into my middle. I was hurled back a few feet, stumbling, but I shook the strike off and rushed forward once again.

I planted myself between him and the gate. “You’re not going anywhere, Maxim. You’ve got plenty to answer for.”

I raised my sword in front of me, keeping the wolf’s claws in place, and gripped it with both hands. He wasn’t getting past me. If he got through the gate, I’d never find him again. I needed to face him here, in my world, in the tween.

He pulled a spiked mace from his belt and held it up. “You’re in over your head, bitch. You cannot comprehend the powers my lord Silaran has given me.”

I snorted. “Dickhole, I’ve heard that before. What, you think you’re the first shithead who was promised cosmic powers? I’ll let you in on a little secret. They never deliver. They’re greedy sons of bitches. They want the power. You’re nothing but a pawn.”

“You’ll see! You’ll see how powerful I am!” He raised his hand, an orb of dark energy coalescing in his palm. “I’m not a pawn. My sister is destined to be the Queen of Hell. That puts me in a special position. Let me show you what power I’ve gained.”

He hurled the orb at me and I stepped to the side, holding my sword like a bat. I channeled hellfire through the metal and swung for the fences. The fire deflected the blast, sending it careening into the wall. Pieces of stone exploded out, raining down on us, and Maxim covered his head from the falling stone.

That’s when I rushed him, swinging my blade for his vulnerable throat.

He lifted his mace, blocking my swing, and then aimed for my head. He was stronger and faster than he looked, no doubt powered up by Silaran’s blessing and dark magic. I parried his blows, but he advanced on me, moving faster than I could match. Exhaustion crept and plucked at the edges of my mind, pushing forward and threatening to attack me after all the fighting I’d been doing.

And Maxim was at full strength. I needed to find a way to get an edge over him. Fast.

He knocked my blade aside with the swing of his mace and then kicked me in the stomach and knocked me back against the wall. I slammed into hard stone, the impact knocking the wind from my lungs.

Dizziness clouded my mind, the room spinning with the sensations. I tried to raise my blade again, but he attacked before I could move. He whipped out a ritual dagger, aiming for my throat. I was lucky and managed to catch him mid-swing, putting my forearm against his to stop his advance. But he pushed and pushed and pushed. He had demonic strength and leverage and my aching muscles simply couldn’t push him away.

“You’ll make a fine sacrifice for my lord Silaran,” he hissed, face inches from mine. “Just imagine how much power he’ll gain when he devours the soul of Lucifer’s niece. You’ll be the meal that helps him rise to his supreme power. Then, when he takes over Hell, I will be a general at his side.”

I wondered how Uncle Luc’s current generals would take having this one in their ranks.

Behind Maxim, a figure emerged from the gate. I muttered a curse, certain that it was some dark Hell beast coming out to help Maxim kill me. Or Silaran himself. No matter what, I was screwed.

Maxim’s blade pushed forward, sharpened edge slicing into my neck, drawing a drop of blood. It burned me with the dark magic, that divine fucking light in my soul reacting to the press of pure evil. This would kill me. This person, this warlock, this poor excuse for a breathing being was about to bring me down.

And unleash Silaran on the tween. My Bry. My Sam. My Jezze and Momma R and… He would destroy them, snatch their souls and use them for his own purposes. He’d destroy everything I’d fought to protect and laugh as they died.

My skin sizzled, blade sinking deeper, and still I struggled. I would fight until my last breath, until he ripped my beating heart from my chest. I may get my ass kicked, but a motherfucking Morningstar didn’t quit. I glared at him, meeting his black-eyed stare, letting him see the pure hatred that lived inside me. Let him see the toiling, rolling emotions. I fought to call on hellfire, to pull in extra energy from somewhere, but I was done. Worn out. Empty.

Maxim lurched and I waited for the feel of his dagger slicing through my throat, for the end. But those evil eyes widened with pain, his strength easing, and his attention fell to the sword sticking out of his chest. The gleaming metal speared through his heart and tip embedded in the stone beside my head. Shock overcame his face and he lifted his attention to me. He coughed up a spurt of blood and then slouched, body giving out on him, metal retreating from his chest.

I pushed him off and he tumbled to the ground in a lifeless pile of flesh and bone.

I swung my attention around, looking for my savior. Sam? Papa Leth? He usually fought with a sword…

Except, standing there, her blade covered in Maxim’s blood, was my mother.

I stared at her, shock consuming me. I didn’t know how to react. Any other time, I would have expected her to turn the blade on me, but instead, she’d saved my life.

She drove her sword down into Maxim’s head, finishing him off with a pleased smile. Then she looked up at me. “I sensed you through the gate. I…”

I stared at her, slowly shaking my head. She’d hurt me so much when I was younger. I couldn’t reconcile her cackling laughs and pleased smiles at my pain with my gratitude for what she’d just done.

“Go.” She jerked her chin toward the tunnel. “Silaran is near. I won’t be able to hold him off for long.”

“Mom… I…” I struggled to catch my breath, hands still shaking with the adrenaline coursing through my body. I couldn’t think straight—couldn’t do anything but stare.

The cavern rumbled, burning light from the runes of the circle growing dark, and then plunged the cavern into near-total darkness.

“Go.” She pushed me, her palm sizzling against my skin. A familiar feeling from my childhood. Though this time it was to make me hurry and not just because she liked to make me cry. “Run! Now!”

But it was too late. There was no running or hiding. The gate opened wide, letting forth the blazing heat of Hell. I could see through the gate and spied the flames rising high, ash filling the air, and crackling mounds of brimstone that filled Hell. A towering figure stepped forward, standing more than twice my height. His skin was black, crackling seams of red twining along his arms, and a pair of mighty midnight wings spread to reach both sides of the cavern. He held a glowing red trident, weapon wreathed in hellfire.

“Morningstar,” he growled, voice rumbling like a raging volcano. “The mother and the daughter. Your souls will be a feast the likes of which no creature from On High or Hell has ever known.”

My mother and I backed away, raising our swords. My mother whispered to me, “He can’t be killed in the tween. The only way is to drive him back to Hell and close the gate.”

Goody.

“Well,” I sought my center, refocusing on the fight to come. “At least now I won’t be able to say we never do anything as a family.”

Silaran raised his burning trident high above his head, the evil twining flames of Hell crawling all over the weapon. My mother and I raised our blades, and then together, we rushed him.