Wounded Angel (The Earth Angels) (19 page)

She could have gone the rest of her life not knowing Richard Rainier was having rollicking demon sex. “Ew.”

“I won’t let you keep me from my happiness. Not again.”

“
Think
, Richard.” Valiantly she gave one last stab at snapping him out of being a human puppet, but she couldn’t stop herself from picturing Nero fiddling as Rome burned. “Why would your brother want your
soul
? For that matter, why would the woman you love be willing to let you give that away? You’ve been tricked, Lana isn’t coming back and—”

“You’ve
seen
her. I
know
you’ve seen her.”

“What I saw was a face that morphed from Lana’s to your brother’s. Don’t you find that suspicious?”

“I’m getting her back.” His voice was suddenly, terribly calm, and every instinct Ella possessed told her she’d run out of time. “I’m going to make sure she lives, because you didn’t.” With that, he jerked an arm around her neck.

Training clicked into place to hold panic at bay. Muscle memory had her flowing through the steps—lean into the body, kick back to the knee, stomp a jackhammer of a heel onto the instep. It was something she should have done two years ago but hadn’t had the knowledge. Now that she did, she took every ounce of remaining fury she had at all Rainiers everywhere and sank it into her attack. Grim satisfaction sang through her when she heard bone snap and crunch beneath her assault.

Payback
.

The moment his hold loosened, Ella turned and broke a survival rule. Instead of running away screaming “fire!” at the top of her lungs, this was one instance that needed to be taken care of by her, and her alone. Crouching and curling her fingers back, she shoved the heel of her hand upward into the underside of Rainier’s chin and erupted off of her knees in one simultaneous motion. The resounding echo of his teeth clicking together coincided with his head snapping back, and a spray of blood and something her brain automatically marked as part of his tongue left his mouth. She followed through the hit the way Jacob had taught her, using that momentum to coil for a roundhouse punch from the opposite side, which led to a crescent kick she’d performed thousands of times before.

Going countless rounds with a punching bag was all well and good. But there was something so much more satisfying when it came to unleashing against someone who wanted her dead.

Richard didn’t make a sound as he took a nosedive, unconscious before his head bounced hard against the floor. She bent over him, adrenaline raging through her as she used his belt to tie him up, when the sound of a gunshot rang out.

Chapter Seventeen

Who knew that a seven-foot mannequin could be so fucking strong?

Nate’s ears rang with the sound of gunfire even as he snapped to his feet. The hole the bullet had made through what should have been Dantalion’s cheek rippled, sucked in on itself with a nauseating slurping noise, and disappeared. A shattering at the other end of the room signaled that the bullet’s trajectory hadn’t been altered in the least, and a panel of glass in the ceiling rained down onto the concrete floor.

Crap.

“A
gun
? Do you not know anything, you absurd half-breed?” The demon might not have had any facial features, but there was no doubt he was sneering. “I am a
spiritual
being. Physical, man-made weaponry cannot affect me.”

“But
I
can, can’t I? Much more than any pure human ever could.” At Dantalion’s words, the pieces began to fall into place. “That’s why you’re targeting Nephilim descendants, right? We’re not completely human. As partially spiritual beings ourselves, you want to wipe out those who can potentially hurt you.”

An inhuman growl escaped his opponent. “I have no vulnerabilities.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that, pal.” He executed a kick he doubted Jacob would have seen, and just barely managed to brush the equally fast demon. The adrenaline built, straining for more, heating his muscles until he thought he might actually glow with it, but he held himself in check. There had to be a moment when Dantalion’s defenses wavered. “I only wonder why you didn’t hide your weak ass better. Popping up at Ella’s house and my hotel just gave us more opportunities to pinpoint all those pesky chinks in your armor.”

“I had thought that in revealing myself to you, I would no longer be hidden and I would eliminate the remote possibility of your feeble powers locating me. And don’t forget, during that first visit I nearly got what I wanted—the death of that innocent soul you’re protecting and the added bonus of getting you out of the way. I had hoped you would be a bit more crippled than you are, but to my disappointment you’ve inherited the speed peculiar to both my blindly pious brothers and The Fallen. Your progenitor, that ridiculous angel of vengeance, must be thrilled with how you turned out.”

The thought of the original Nathanael was too much to wrap his head around while embroiled in a fight to the death, so Nate ignored it. “What about the second visit? That’s when we figured out who you really are.”

Dantalion made a sound that bordered on regretful. “That second visit, sadly, was the result of what happens to my proxy’s fragile mind after being exposed to my influence for too long. He couldn’t be stopped from dropping in to say hello.”

Nate filed that away. Interesting, that a Great Duke of hell couldn’t stop a human. “Just how long have you been with Richard? Was it your influence that caused him and his lawyer to hire me in the first place?”

“Not at all. When I tried to locate Nathanael’s half-breed mistake—you—your presence had been diminished, no doubt due to the temporary loss of power I’ve heard your female’s mind whispering about. So I searched for some hint of your presence through the minds of others. It took a while—I’m not at my greatest strength yet—but at last I found you in the mind of that magnificently nasty being Archibald, and in the already unstable mind of my proxy.”

“You mean Richard?”

“My proxy. My meat puppet. My nourishment.”

“Now that I understand.” And he was beginning to, at last. “We know you psychically feed off the people around you, but I’m now thinking you need them for much more than that. You really mean it when you say proxy, don’t you?”

Dantalion went still, like a cat readying to pounce. “I’ve decided I’m no longer in the mood to talk, cripple.”

Nate smiled. Hello, struck nerve. “You also need the death of innocent people to fuel the full manifestation of your powers here in the human realm, right? So, considering you’re such a badass, how come you’re not up to your neck in innocent deaths by now?”

“You’re boring me, you mutilated thing.”

“You can’t do it by yourself, can you? It’s a two-way street for you—just like my gun can’t kill you, you can’t kill anyone here in the physical realm. You need a
proxy
to do your dirty work.”

“Oh, I
can
kill, make no mistake.” If Dantalion had possessed a mouth in that moment, Nate was sure it would have stretched into a smile. “It simply doesn’t fuel me the way a violent death at the hands of one of my bartered souls does. Tapping into the infinitely rich vein of human evil and guiding it to destroy innocent lives is exactly what I need to gain full manifestation. Why strain myself by doing what my proxies do so well, while at the same time I grow closer to my ultimate goal?”

It was Nate’s turn to sneer. “You talk a good game, Dantalion. But I smell bullshit.”

Again Dantalion went still. “What?”

“You heard me. There’s no getting around the fact that your master plan would be so much easier if the Nephilim weren’t here to get in your way. If you really could kill as easily as you say, you would have taken care of me and the other
abominations
a long time ago.”

“I can kill humans any time I desire and still maintain my place in this world. Shall I eviscerate your female as proof?”

“
Humans
. But that’s not what I am. Not completely.” Icy fear gripped his heart at the threat, but he forced it down by focusing instead on the incident Zeke had reported from the west coast—a shape-shifting demon that was so weak it could do nothing but run when confronted head-on. “That’s the last piece of the puzzle, isn’t it? You don’t have the power it takes to kill the Nephilim.”

An inhuman growl emanated from Dantalion. “Have you forgotten you’re mostly human by now, you fool? You
can
be killed.”

“I guess that’s why you latch onto weak-minded proxies like Richard Rainier.” Nate circled to the left while the adrenaline pumped through him like liquid rage. “You twist their brains around so hard they all wind up eager to sell their souls in order to get whatever snake oil you’re peddling. And then you unleash these killing machines onto an unsuspecting world.”

“You have no idea what a true killing machine is, half-breed. But you will. This realm will become the new hell over which I will hold absolute dominion, and every inch of earth will become a grave.”

All at once Dantalion launched, his movement so fast it was all but impossible to see. A sharp burning sensation creased Nate’s side even as he whirled out of the way and rammed an elbow into his opponent’s nape. Satisfaction rang through him at the solid contact, and he couldn’t help but grin at the demon’s grunt of what sounded like pain.

“It must piss you off that there are remnants of the original Nephilim for you to contend with.” Teeth bared, Nate shifted when the demon executed a blurring move. No way was he going to allow Dantalion to flank him, especially on the side where he could now feel blood dampening his skin. “You’d have a clear field if it weren’t for us. If we didn’t exist—or if word hadn’t gotten out that you were here—no one would have opposed you.”

“It is interesting how quickly you alerted to me.” Dantalion streaked to the other side, and made a sound of frustration when Nate matched him move for move. “Who’s been breaking the rules of no congregation, then? That gloomy half-breed of Ezekiel’s, or that born-to-burn seraph bitch? Don’t you abominations know you’re not supposed to gather?”

“Now, now, don’t get pissy because we outsmarted you. And try focusing on me instead of them. I’m the one who’s going to send you back to hell by tearing you apart with my bare hands.”

“You half-breeds might be able to see me, hunt me, and even hurt me,” Dantalion surprised him by agreeing. “But as you said, it’s a two-way street. While tussling with you might make me lose what precious power I’ve managed to store up, I promise you—I can and
will
kill you this very night. Your kind are nothing more than prey to me. And you, a muscle-bound bird without wings, will be the easiest prey of—”

An arrogant lift of a head produced a momentary sitting back on the heels, and that was all Nate needed. He sprinted forward, the white-hot power in his muscles given full rein for the first time in his life. His fists connected like pile drivers into Dantalion’s featureless head; had he launched such power at a human skull, the punch would have plowed right through it. As it was, the demon’s head rocked back almost ninety degrees, his body arched backward. Then in a whiplike move Dantalion somersaulted with the momentum and landed in a half crouch in a move that would have looked right at home in
The
Matrix
.

“Guess you didn’t see that coming,” Nate said, all the while readying himself for the inevitable retaliation. “It’s just occurred to me that you haven’t been able to read my mind in any way, unlike Richard and Ella. I’ll bet you can’t even read how I plan to finish you off, can you, you whiny little bitch?”

“Shut
up
, you mistake of nature.”

“Your embarrassing lack of power at Ella’s house was also obvious, now that I think about it. When I stepped in front of her, cutting her off from you, your face went blank—literally. And you just admitted you could only zero in on my location through Archibald’s mind and the mind of your unstable proxy. A telling admission if there ever was one.” Nate’s smile was sharp enough to cut; he just hoped Dantalion could see it. “Damn, it must suck to be you. Not only are you vulnerable to the descendants of the Nephilim when it comes to physical attacks, you also can’t feed psychically off of us, can you? It’s just like my visions showed me—you can’t
see
us. However will you survive the next few minutes?”

“That should be your concern, not mine.”

They attacked simultaneously. Nate’s body was almost incandescent with inner heat, and it seemed as though Dantalion had shifted into slow motion, so much so that it was child’s play to dodge while pouring all his energy into his assault against the demon. His fists were nothing more than a frenzy of motion as he landed blow after blow—head, chin, stomach, ribs, throat. The relentless barrage whipped the hell spawn around in less than a second, and out of the corner of his eye he saw his enemy’s side kick coming. With his focus honed to razor sharpness, Nate suddenly saw what he needed to do. He grabbed the flying leg instead of dodging it, and used the momentum to toss his opponent to the ground with such strength the impact reverberated through the soles of his feet.

He bent and went nose-to-nothing with the demon, a feral grin splitting his face. “That’s for Briella and Gabrielle. Now, time to make confetti out of you for targeting Ella. Say good-bye to your limbs.”

“Richard!” The screech that erupted from Dantalion sounded urgent, distressed. It was music to Nate’s ears. “Richard, get out here! I need you!”

“Even if your personal battery wasn’t out like a light, Richard is rather tied up at the moment.” From out of the shadows across the massive room Ella emerged, adroitly keeping her distance. “You’re on your own, Dantalion.”

Nate couldn’t stop a laugh. Damn, she was hot.

Another heat wave of power surged through him and with a sense of rightness Nate let it all go, unleashing another flurry of blows even as Dantalion screamed. Amidst the violence he became aware of a sick buckling beneath his fists, like he was pummeling a sack full of rocks that was fast disintegrating into gravel, then sand. While part of him vaguely registered that he was turning his own hands into raw hamburger, the undeniable crunching was the sweetest victory he’d ever known. The concrete underneath Dantalion caved in under the assault, a spider web of fractures that grew to a crater that deepened with each jackhammer-like hit, and with every blow he did it in the name of all the innocent victims the demon had left in his wake. One way or another, they would be avenged.

Suddenly Dantalion’s body wavered, as if it was in danger of being washed away molecule by molecule. He flung an arm out toward Ella, the screech of his voice echoing from everywhere. “
Come
to
me
.”

Nate jerked his head up in time to see Ella’s eyes widen. “Ella, get back!”

In less than a heartbeat, several things happened at once. Ella did step back, clearly not the brainless puppet that Richard Rainier was. The moment Nate was distracted, Dantalion took a sudden swipe at him with a hand that was hooked to resemble a claw. Nate jerked back, and in that instant the demon was up and blurring away from him. Albino, membranous batlike wings burst from the hell spawn’s back, and he skimmed low across the massive room’s floor toward Ella like a nightmare come to life.

The air vanished from Nate’s lungs. “No!”

No human movement could avoid a demon in flight, but fighter that she was, Ella gave it her best shot. She got no more than a few steps before she was caught up, and all her self-defensive moves did absolutely nothing as Dantalion held her by the neck as if she were nothing more than a misbehaving puppy. Before Nate’s horrified eyes, the faceless being morphed into the image of Charles Rainier, its broken, dissolving body losing height but becoming solid once more as he landed lightly, holding Ella against him so that her feet barely touched the ground.

“For a cripple, you’re not half-bad as the angel of vengeance’s descendant. Bravo.” Dantalion’s voice hissed from the smarmy curve of Charles Rainier’s mouth. He turned and licked Ella’s cheek; she gagged and squirmed in revulsion. “Even without wings, you represent that thuggish progenitor of yours surprisingly well. Worse yet, your irritating habit of uncovering things that are hidden has been my biggest concern since I embarked on my journey to create a new hell. Lucky for me you made the monumental mistake of bringing your pet monkey with you tonight. Thanks for that. I would have lost my place in this realm otherwise.”

Nate couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. His safety, his life, stopping Dantalion—none of it mattered if he lost Ella. “
Don’t
.
Hurt
.
Her
.”