Chapters (81)
The only effective weapon Raffe has is his demon wings which are still hidden beneath the feathered disguise. He backs up, hesitating to show them to so many angels even though it’s unlikely that anyone will recognize him with his mask. But his attacker gives him no choice as he winds up to slice with his sword.
Raffe’s demon wings burst open.
The crowd becomes silent. The scorpion buzzing fades as they finish their flyby. And Raffe’s wing scythes slide out with a snick.
His scythes clang and deflect against his opponent’s sword. The sword flies into the air and lands on the lawn.
Raffe lowers his chin and glares at the angels with a menacing look. With his giant bat wings behind him and the scythes glinting red by the torchlight, he’s the perfect picture of the devil.
The two severed wings lie on either side of Beliel. The white feathers blowing in the breeze look surreally out of place on the blood-soaked ground. Raffe’s festive mask only adds to the horror of it as he looms over Beliel.
As everyone stares, the only sound is the buzz of the locusts flying away and the waves smashing against the cliffs below.
Then the sound of a hundred angel swords being pulled from their scabbards fills the night.
72
MY BREATH comes out shaky and I don’t think I can feel my fingers. I can’t see a way out of this.
Raffe stands over Beliel, watching the warriors all around him. His eyes are fierce but it’s obvious that our situation looks pretty bad. Even if Raffe was in his best form, he couldn’t fight off an entire legion of his own people, even assuming that he wanted to.
Paige and I are just as surrounded as Raffe. My sister seems to have some new tricks up her sleeve but the odds aren’t exactly in our favor. I look around to see if there’s a gap in the wall of angels that I could sneak Paige through to safety but there is none.
We’re trapped.
They’ve fanned out around us, cut off every direction—land, water, and air. I guess this isn’t the first time they’ve trapped their quarry. They know how to move in for the kill, I’ll give them that.
Several angels step toward Raffe with their swords. He assesses them, then glances at his wings on the ground as if memorizing their location. He steps over Beliel’s head to get in front of his wings for the fight.
The scorpions watch Raffe with a wary eye but continue their life-sucking of Beliel as he shrivels. When the angel swords clash with Raffe’s wing scythes, the scorpions startle and fly away.
Beliel’s eyes stare blankly while the rest of him bleeds through gashes, bites, and missing chunks. If I didn’t know better, I’d assume he was dead.