I grew up around demons. Warts, oozing skin, horns, scales—none of it scared me. But the creature before me now was absolutely terrifying.

She was humanoid-looking with long, thin silvery hair, and gaunt cheeks that made her look even more ghoulish. Her body was waif thin, showing protruding bones from every angle. That was okay—a skinny demon, I could handle—but her eyes were… missing. Where a human would have eyes, she had black empty pits, and yet she looked right at me. Her hands were weapons themselves. The fingers didn’t seem to have skin, they were just sharpened bones that turned into claws, and glowed an angry red. She was grinning in my direction, and I saw a legit razor blade peeking out from behind her teeth.

I guess Lincoln wasn’t joking about that part.

Jesus Christ, have mercy.

Everything happened so quickly that I could barely process it. I did a rapid scan of the room to see both of the Fallen Army guards unconscious on the floor and Noah leaning over one of them, healing orange light emanating from his palms. Lincoln was crouched over a terrified, pale, stricken little girl identical to the one in the living room. His sword and gun were drawn and he looked feral, blood dripped from his left eyebrow and down his cheek.

The Succubus was already halfway to me, crawling across the ceiling like a possessed monkey. My name burst from Lincoln’s lips, but all I could hear was my heartbeat slamming in my ears. My eyes flicked once again to the little girl and how terrified she looked. This evil demon was feeding off them and had nearly killed her sister in the other room.

Anger boiled inside of me and I just… reacted. Sera told me nothing, gave me no advice, I just exploded. I leapt into the air to meet the demon instead of falling back. With a roar, I lashed out, and Sera shot a bolt of white-hot light from her blade that licked across the demon’s abdomen, cutting it open.

Holy shit.

I barely had time to register how badass Sera was, and that she’d cut the demon without touching her, when a razor blade flew across the room and sank into my left upper arm. Pain shot up my muscles, as I fell backward with all the grace of a giant elephant. The Succubus didn’t let up—she was coming for me full throttle.

“Brielle!” Lincoln roared, but didn’t leave the little girl’s side.

Rage boiled hotter inside of me and I did a kick up, throwing my legs into the air and forward, allowing the motion to pull my body into a standing position. A little something Darren taught me. The demon dropped from the ceiling like a freaking hundred-pound spider, landing right on top of me. Her hip hit my head, throwing me to the side, and then I felt her searing hot claws on my back. I’d fallen to my knees with her weight, but her leg was right in front of me, and I took the opportunity to shove Sera in, right up to the hilt.

A roar rang out from the demon and she pulled herself off me, standing before me with those two red glowing hands outstretched.

“Lucifer’s princess,” she cooed in a voice that was anything but human. Her gaping eye sockets were locked on my chest and the mark that rested there.

She put one hand on Sera’s hilt, pulling her out without a problem.

Shit.

‘She’s made of fire. I can’t burn her,’ Sera told me.

I lunged for my weapon just as the Succubus thrust her arm out and an invisible force knocked into me, throwing me backward out of the room and into the entryway.

Shea and Luke scream-roared simultaneously. I landed hard on my ass, but immediately righted myself. The Succubus had gone back into the room, and was doing some weird shit with her hands, Sera still clutched in her grip.

‘Get me out of here!’ Sera screamed, panicked.

The darkness inside of me was welling up. I couldn’t push it down any longer, nor did I want to do it.

The Succubus had her back to me as she opened a portal on the wall. Lincoln had the little girl draped in his arms, and was standing at the far end of the room. He was inching along the wall, trying to make it to me, and the open doorway.

Does that demon bitch think she’s going to leave with my freaking seraph blade?!

Noah was still helping the two soldiers. When my eyes flicked to Lincoln, he shook his head. A big fat no from him.

Screw that. Sera was a part of me; I wasn’t just letting her go.

I screamed and thrust my arms out, intending for the black blob to rise out of my throat, like it normally did, and wrap around her neck. That didn’t happen. Instead, a shiny, black energy whip burst from my palm and coiled around the demon’s waist.

Holy mother of darkness.

The demon hissed, and then everything happened seemingly in slow motion. She swung her arm, and I watched Sera swirl through the air and into the Hell portal.

‘Bri!’ Sera shouted, and I felt a physical pain in my chest as she sailed through the opening and was lost into oblivion. All I could see was red haze and fire.

The Succubus spun on me then. I was without my cherished weapon, but I had a new one. A totally freaky and really dark weapon, but it was a weapon nonetheless. I cinched the whip tighter and she roared.

“Whatever you’re doing is working!” Bonnie yelled from the next room.

The little girl. I could save her. I may have lost Sera, but I could save the girl.

With all my strength, I wrapped both hands around the whip and yanked.

“Nooooo,” the succubus yelled, pushing her hands outward. That invisible force knocked into me again, but when I went flying, I made sure to hold the black energy whip tight. It pulled her with me, and I saw rivulets of dark inky blood fall from her stomach as the whip cut into her. She was clawing at it frantically, and just behind her, I spotted Lincoln approaching with his blazing sword in his hands. I quickly flicked my eyes down to the ground so she wouldn’t notice my attention on him.

She must have sensed him though, because as he came down on her neck, she turned, but it was too late. Her head flew from her body and hit the wall with a thud.

My whip disintegrated and I was flung backward with the sudden loss of tension, but I was able to roll my body to the side so my fall wasn’t severe. I immediately jumped up, searching for the portal. My eyes flicked to the wall where it once stood, and my stomach dropped as I noticed it had snapped closed with the Succubus’s death.

“Sera,” I whimpered as tears filled my eyes.

Lincoln frowned, looking lost. “We’ll figure it out. What’s going on with the other girl?”

Right. I needed to keep it together for the little girl.

“Noah! We need help. She’s still alive,” I informed the healer.

I glanced around the room. The one little girl Lincoln had been protecting was sitting on the bed crying. He had tied a cloth around her eyes so she couldn’t see what happened, while Noah helped the two other soldiers, who were now conscious and sitting up. He stood and nodded for me to lead the way.

Again, I looked back at where the portal had been.

“You can’t,” Lincoln said sternly.

I wanted to have Shea open it back up and go in after her, even though I knew it was insane.

‘Sera? Can you hear me?’ I asked as I led Noah into the living room, and pointed to where the little girl was lying. She was moving now and moaning, thank God.

No response from Sera.

As Noah went to work on the girl with Bonnie’s assistance, I turned to Lincoln.

“Are you okay?” he asked, pulling my hands into his and turning the palms up to the ceiling as he checked them out.

The black magic whip. I’d almost forgotten.

“Sera” was all I said. It felt like I’d just watched a cherished friend or family member fall into that pit.

Lincoln frowned. “Yeah… we’ll figure that out. I’ll ask Raph.”

He was stroking my wrists, but I pulled them back and met his eyes. “I don’t want to talk about that.” I indicated my hands.

“It was pretty incredible,” Lincoln hedged.

My emotions were raw from the loss of Sera, and now I had yet another dark gift I couldn’t deal with it.

“Lincoln,” I warned.

He nodded. “Let’s get the girls in the van and head back to Angel City.”

I frowned. “We’re not leaving them?”

Lincoln’s face hardened. “No way. More Succubi might come back. I’ll sneak them in if I have to.”

I nodded, taking a look over his shoulder. “Maybe if I could just have Shea open it, for one minute….”

Lincoln looked at me agonizingly. “Something else could crawl through. We need to get these girls to their mother.”

I swallowed my selfishness and nodded. Now wasn’t the right time, but I would get her back. That was for sure.

* * *

I didn’t have kids yet, obviously, but I knew what it was like to lose someone. The day my father died changed me forever. It had completely ripped me open, and in trying to put myself back together, the pieces never fit right.

When the mother on the bus saw both of her daughters were indeed alive, she fell apart, and we all fell apart right along with her. The relief and joy she felt was tangible. Even Lincoln looked a bit misty-eyed, but he quickly brushed it off, and ordered us in the bus.

As we were making our way out of Inferno, Lincoln got on his cell phone and called Archangel Michael.

He had his cell number.

No big deal.

“Hello, sir, can you talk for a minute?” Lincoln asked.

I leaned forward in my seat so when he lowered his voice, I could still eavesdrop.

“I’ve got three civilians, a mother and two little girls. We just saved them from a Succubus demon, and I need to get them into Angel City tonight,” Lincoln explained.

Something Michael said must have pissed him off, because his face turned menacing. “I don’t care if the shelters are full.”

More listening. More anger. “She’s a free soul. What about a transfer to San Diego?”

Free soul. That term still made me angry inside. I hadn’t even noticed her forehead was free of the demon mark. Lincoln was always looking for things like that.

My poor mother. Will he ever trust her?

“What if I can find them housing?” Lincoln asked.

There was a pause. He was scowling.

“Yes, sir. I know.” Lincoln sounded dejected. A shadow crossed his face, and then his scowl morphed into a look of determination. “I’ve secured them housing, sir.”

I frowned. Huh?

That fast, without making a call? Michael must have been as confused as I was.

“Yes, sir, you have my word. Long-term housing for all three of them.” Now Lincoln was smiling, looking pleased with himself.

He finally ended the call, and I met his gaze. “What housing did you secure?” I whispered.

He raised one eyebrow. “You were listening?”

I rolled my eyes. “Linc, where are they gonna go?”

Running a hand through his hair, he sighed. “I had a two-bedroom apartment through the army when my parents died. Part of my compensation package. I’ll ask to be reassigned a place, and they can stay in my trailer.”

My heart burst into tiny emoji hearts that floated around his head. Or at least it felt like that’s what it would do if this were a cartoon. “Where will you sleep in the meantime?”

“I’ll crash on Noah’s couch.” His dark lashes framed his crystalline blue eyes, making them pop and look arresting.

“You’re amazing,” I told him. “Seriously.”

He gave me a weak smile. “We saved three tonight, but there are millions more, and with the shelters full and Angel City against seeing homeless tent cities… it’s not enough. But I helped a little.”

I could see now that he tortured himself over this. Lincoln Grey would not rest until every free soul was saved.

I didn’t want to be the one to break it to him, but that just wasn’t possible.