“Mia,” Rafael said. “If you don’t do what I say, I will kill Serena. Michael has her behind that sheet. Do as I say, or she will die.”

I swallowed hard, horror pounding like a drum against the back of my head. My eyes swam as I stared at the angel’s glittering smile. So much anger. So much hate. No wonder he’d been kicked out of the afterlife. And now, he wanted me to break my deal.

I wasn’t an idiot. I knew what that meant. If I broke the deal, I’d lose my soul.

With a heavy sigh, I closed my eyes. Serena needed me to do this. She’d die if I didn’t. I had no idea what would happen next, but it didn’t matter. Not when her life was on the line.

“Mia, don’t,” Az said, his voice rising to a shout.

“I break my end of the deal,” I whispered.

My entire body tensed as I waited for something to happen. The horrible excruciating moments stretched by. When at least five minutes had passed, I cracked open one eye. Az stood before me, his hands hanging heavily by his sides.

“Is that it?” I asked with a frown. “I thought something would happen.”

Rafael’s vicious chuckle echoed off the warehouse walls. “Something should have happened, Mia McNally. If you’d actually made a deal with a demon.”

“We did make a deal,” Az muttered. “I ripped it up.”

Rafael stepped closer, narrowing his eyes. “To save her soul. You decided you didn’t want to risk losing her to Lucifer, and so you destroyed your contract. Because you aren’t who you once were, are you, Asmodeus? You’ve become something else. Something far too mortal.”

A growl erupted from Az’s lips. My heartbeat flickered in my neck as I glanced back and forth between them. I wasn’t entirely sure how to take this news, but that didn’t matter right now. I needed to get to Serena before Rafael ordered his angel friend to kill her.

Az launched toward Rafael just as the heavy warehouse doors flung wide. The Legion rushed across the floor, shouting in anger as they raised their swords high. I took one second to gape at five sword-wielding demons before throwing myself toward the plastic sheet at the back of the warehouse.

Rafael was so busy focusing on Az that he didn’t notice me.

My feet thundered against the concrete floor. When I reached the sheet, I threw it to the side and fell to my knees beside a bound Serena. The other angel was nowhere to be seen, but I didn’t dare stick around and wait for him to return. With a grunt, I wound my arms around her trembling body and dragged her back into the warehouse.