“I HAVE FAITH in you, Omega.”
Even with the monster prowling toward me, I sneak a glance over at Gabe behind me. His words are odd and out of place, but I hang on to them.
“Fucking traitors,” Luc growls, the heat of him baking my skin with every step he takes.
“Kind of hard to be a traitor when you never liked the guy in the first place,” I snarl back, meeting his menacing glare.
The man-beast’s eyes have turned completely black, and I’m almost hypnotized by the horrifying gleam in them—so much in one look is being conveyed.
He is going to kill not only me, but Gabe as well.
He’s going to slaughter us with his claws before dragging us into the depths of Hell to be punished for eternity.
All you need is love.
The music becomes louder, and I snap out of my daze, squaring my shoulders at the monster.
I don’t realize I’m retreating until I stumble over Gabe’s hunched form and land on my ass. Luc continues inching his way forward as if he is feeding off our fears—fear of the unknown depths of the agony we will soon face.
“You are an ignorant fucking gnat!” Luc bellows, his voice thundering off every surface in the corridor. “What is it that makes you think you can come to my kingdom and disrupt my world? Who the hell do you think you are?”
“I am Omega, and it’s about time someone knocks you off your high horse,” I retort as I rise back to my feet.
“You. Are. Nothing!” he hisses, raising a palm toward me.
Invisible, scorching heat snakes around my neck, and I howl in pain. The skin on my neck singes at the non-physical touch, which has worry flooding my veins at what it will feel like when I truly have to physically encounter him.
And that will happen.
Soon.
When I attempt to remove the burning grasp, my fingers scream at the blazing heat.
Why did I ever think I was prepared to battle with the evil leader in the first place?
“And, for you, you little shit. You’re going to Hell now,” Luc spits out at Gabe. “Consider yourself lucky. I hate you much less than Omega, so you’ll just get your ass dragged right in there with the damned without any torture beforehand. However, Omega is going to suffer a lot more before he meets you there.”
While the flaming, invisible clutch on me remains, Luc darts a massive arm out and seizes Gabe by his throat. Gabe’s scream nearly matches the anguish in the horror closet.
“Let him go!” I choke out and swing wildly at nothing. The searing grip never wanes.
Luc’s laugh is menacing and otherworldly, chilling me despite the inferno we’re in. “Never. He belongs to me—just like you do.”
This time, I chuckle maniacally. “I will never belong to you. I don’t serve you—never have and never will. I’ll find a way to fuck up your world from the other side if I have to. When you’re whacking it off to the screams of the damned, I’ll teach them about love. I’ll give them hope. I will lead a fucking army of goodness if I have to. You are a weak motherfucker, and you’ve finally met your match. Now, let my friend go and deal with me like real man—not some pussy!”
My attempt to distract him works, because a demonic scream roars through the hallway toward me. He tosses Gabe to the side as he charges me. Thankfully, with his rage, he dropped his grip on my neck, and it only takes a few seconds for me to regain my bearings.
“Stupid Leviathan!” he hisses, the heat of his anger a furious, flaming storm around him.
Instead of cowering back any further, I flood my soul with love, hope, and determination. I remember those days back on the football fields—back when I would tackle my opponent—and I attack him as if he’s a mere player in the game.
No holding back.
No fear.
“I am no Leviathan,” I grit out as I run full speed ahead.
The moment my shoulder connects with the massive hellion, I roar in agony as his flesh scalds me. But I don’t let it slow me. Instead, I push the pain away and think of her.
Love.
As if on cue, the music, which appears to be on loop, gets louder and louder. Luc, although huge and powerful, appears to be thrown off by the peaceful, melodic words in his wicked space, and falters as he jerks his head toward the sound. Using the distraction to my advantage, I slam a fist into his inhumanly angular jaw. The bones in my fingers crush upon connecting with his unbreakable face, and I howl at the agonizing pain ripping through my hand.
He’s made of something my human body can’t compete with.
But that doesn’t stop me from trying.
I nearly pass out the moment his inhuman claws bite into my scorched neck and pierce the flesh. Despite the dizzying pain and my weakening body, I kick and punch at him, hoping to inflict any sort of damages on him.
“Do your worst, asshole. You don’t fight fair—fucking pussy! You’ll never have control over me. I am good. I love Love. I love my dead mother. I love my best friend and his wife. Hell, I even love Gabe over there,” I choke out. “There will never be room in my heart for hate. Even for you, Luc. Hate is so fucking overrated.”
His grip on my neck becomes an unmovable, crushing vise, and black threads of unconsciousness lure me away from the agony. This is it—the moment my body is obliterated and my soul banished to the fucking horror closet.
“Let him go!” a voice thunders from behind Luc.
Gabe.
Luc shudders with rage, but he releases me. A shocked, yet relieved, gasp rushes from me as I drop to my knees and attempt to hold my neck together. The flesh feels charred and torn, and blood seeps from each hole he pierced.
I want to crawl away, right into the fucking elevator, to nurse my wounds, but I know better. It doesn’t end like this. And he certainly doesn’t get off easily. I’ll be the most annoying fucking gnat he’s ever encountered.
Luc storms over to Gabe’s quivering frame and slashes his claws across his chest. With a scream, Gabe stumbles backward in an attempt to escape more punishing lashes from the monster.
Adrenaline floods through me again and I jerk to my feet, not thinking twice about what I must do. My determination to knock this fucker down a few pegs wins out as I haul ass over to him. He won’t kill my friend on my watch. As he raises his arm to slash the injured man once more, I leap in front of Gabe, earning my own gash across my torso.
“You’ll have to kill me first, old man,” I wheeze out.
Luc radiates with vehemence, and for a brief moment, I see something below the surface of his pissed off demeanor.
One flicker.
One tiny gleam of something.
Fear.
This motherfucker may have never been challenged so blatantly, and even though he knows he can win easily, I believe I rattle him to his very essence.
“I’ll kill all of you!” he threatens, but his words roll right off me.
I chuckle darkly at him. “You can die trying.”
Luc’s black eyes blaze at my challenge, but when his gaze flickers to Gabe, he stumbles away from us. I want to steal a glance at Gabe to see what has Luc’s attention but I don’t dare turn my back on him.
A sudden rush of warmth not heat envelops me from behind and I drink in the relieving presence of it.
Even though I’m bleeding and burned beyond repair, I square my shoulders and glare at Luc.
“How did you get down here?” Luc hisses at Gabe.
When I finally dart a glance over at Gabe, I gape at him.
Gone is my Edward Cullen–lookalike friend. He has transformed into something beautiful—more beautiful than any Seraph Guardian I’ve ever encountered. Powerful wings spread out behind him, and he’s donning a white gown with a golden rope tied around his waist.
“Gabe?” I question as my eyes fall to the glistening sword that catches all forms of light and gleams in a glorious way.
He flashes me a confident grin before turning his attention to the cowering monster. “Luc, how could you not remember one of your old best friends? This whole time, I expected you to have some inkling of who I am. Yet, as always, you were so focused on yourself that you didn’t even notice.”
Luc stares at the sword as if it has the ability to make him suffer just as he makes those in the underworld suffer. “G-Gabriel,” he stammers. “Why are you here?”
My Seraph Guarding training snaps into place as I remember studying the archangels. Gabriel, my friend Gabe, is one of the seven. We never met any of them or learned much about them because they were sacred. All Pallas would say was that they were HEA’s chosen warriors and are only called upon when absolutely necessary.
“I’m here, old friend, because you are breaking the rules,” Gabe chides with a click of his tongue. “You were given this company under the agreement that you would work with us, not against us, no matter how much you hated our rules. And even though you went on for decades undetected, planting tiny seeds of confusion and distrust in our system, we knew we’d figure you out eventually. Did you think our CEO would stand for this? You’re lucky he dispatched me rather than Michael. Michael would have slaughtered you first and begged for forgiveness on our side later.”
Luc quivers, and disgust for the demon roils in my stomach. This badass motherfucker is nothing more than a pussy, like I knew all along.
“So, this is it? You’re here to eradicate my existence?” Luc demands, regaining some of his inner ferocity.
It only takes Gabe’s barely lifting his sword in the air for Luc to rear back from him in fear.
Gabe shakes his head. “Without you, chaos would ensue. Whether we like it or not, we need you to be the gatekeeper for the damned. It’s your destiny. However, we don’t have to stand by and allow you to infect the system with your deceptions.”
“So I’m supposed to tuck my evil tail between my legs and run back to my cave—be the good boy you want me to be?” Luc snarls in disgust.
Corson groans from the floor nearby, and I briefly wonder if I’ll have to kill him when he wakes in order to keep him from interfering from the epic battle looming before me.
“That is exactly what you will do, Luc,” Gabriel thunders, “because if not, I’ll cut you into a million pieces and feed you to your demons. This is the law, and you shall abide.”
Luc’s evil laughter echoes down the corridor. “Says fucking who?”
The intense moment is interrupted when the elevator dings and the doors open.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” Luc snaps and drops to his knees while bowing his head. “Unfuckingbelievable.”
When Jes steps out, I’m thankful that Love isn’t with him. I want her safe and out of harm’s way.
“That’s enough, demon.” Jes’s voice is soft but firm. “You heard the angel.”
Whereas Gabriel’s ferocity and strength ripple with every twitch of his muscles or movement of his sword, Jes’s radiates from within, beneath the overgrown hair and concert T-shirt. His voice is powerful and dripping with authority. I’m fucking ecstatic to have the hippie on my side.
“Luc, I’m here to confiscate your computer. I’m issuing you a standard HEA laptop I will have remote access to. You broke a cardinal rule by tampering with the system. Without proof, I wasn’t going to come over here and throw out accusations. However, because of Omega, I was able to access your entire side project and discovered your plans to corrupt our whole network. I also became aware of your plans to change one of the good—Father Owen. That is inexcusable and won’t go unpunished.”
Luc has the sense lower his eyes to the floor in shame. “How will you punish me?”
Jes steps forward and places a hand on Luc’s shoulder. The monster who nearly killed me with a simple touch is affected by the simple man wearing a black T-shirt with a hole in it. He, like everyone else who encounters Jes, seems to bask in his glory. The demon raises his dark eyes to regard Jes much like a child would his father as he seeks comfort.
“Gabriel, fetch Luc’s computer, please. We’ll deliver another one later,” Jes orders in a soft tone to the archangel before regarding Luc. “And you, brother, shall be forgiven for this atrocity. However, I have written the code into law and it has been signed off on by Father that you are no longer allowed to wreak havoc over here. You’ll be under constant supervision now. Gabriel has been assigned to watch over you—posing as any Leviathan or Reaper he sees fit. If something happens to him, Michael is chomping at the bit to get over here. You will obey our laws and continue on as you were intended—being a liaison for the damned. And I will continue saving as many as I can so that they don’t come here in the first place. Your server is now under our control.”
Luc groans but doesn’t argue.
“Oh, and you’re going to have to listen to my playlists now. The screaming of the damned is so archaic, Luc. Have you no culture?” Jes laughs as he squeezes Luc’s shoulder once again.
I don’t miss the fact that he does it in a loving manner. That Jes is something else—only a guy like him could love the Devil too.
As if on cue, the music abruptly changes and The Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” blares through the speakers. I grin at Jes, and I’m about to leave this hellhole to go find my woman when something stabs me from behind in my kidney.
The only other person in this corridor is fucking Corson.
I’m so stunned that I don’t even have the opportunity to face him before he charges us both toward the horror closet. The moment my chest hits the hard surface, I explode through the door and into the fiery depths of Hell with a pussy-ass monkey on my back.
And only one thing is on my mind.
Love.