“She speaks the truth.”
The Dukes rose to their feet now, yelling over one another about this new possibility. I looked over at Kaidan, who watched the scene unfold with a keen-eyed steadiness.
I’d been saved once from death at a summit. Who was I to doubt the same sort of miracle wouldn’t happen again? And if it didn’t? Then it was my time. Fear of death had no place in my heart anymore. I shed it, let it go, and allowed the confidence that stemmed from that freedom to pour through me.
“Thank you, Jezebet,” Pharzuph said, motioning her to take her place again.
Jezebet took one last look into my eyes, no traces of wickedness in hers, and then went back to the other Dukes. They were turning to one another, voices becoming more frantic and impassioned.
“What if it’s true?” asked Alocer. He looked toward his sons, who met his hopeful eyes.
“After all this time?” Melchom asked in disbelief.
“Who cares?” Kobal, the Duke of Gluttony, shouted. “I’m not going back there!”
“Why would you leave this out, Rahab?” Shax asked.
“I told you the entire prophecy as it was told to me.” Rahab’s patience was wearing thin.
I gasped as my head was yanked backward by the hair, pulled against Pharzuph’s body with one hand on my throat while his other arm circled my rib cage, pinning my arms to my sides.
“Who gave you this information?” he demanded.
I could hardly breathe the words. “A nun—a Nephilim descendant of the apostle Paul’s angel.”
“Impossible!” Rahab shouted. “We would know if there had been a descendant of old on earth.” But his tone was marred by his own doubts. The crowd was beginning to unravel, and he had to know he was losing them. He threw his head back and let out a freaky hiss, calling one of his whispering spirits down to him.
“Is this true?” Rahab asked it. “Was there a Neph of light?” Everyone was quiet as the spirit whispered directly into Rahab’s mind and he answered it out loud in return. “Oh, you didn’t think it was important? An unsupervised angelic Nephilim? I don’t give a damn how harmless she seemed, or if she never left the nunnery! Get away from me, you insipid idiot!” He threw out a hand, and the spirit shot back up into the dark cloud of Legionnaires.
“It doesn’t matter now,” Pharzuph said. “We have the girl. And what a rare treat it is to foil a plan of God.”
Rahab addressed the Dukes louder now, as Pharzuph continued his tight hold on my neck and body.
“None of us here can enter heaven again unless we take it by force! This stupid girl is mistaken. Lucifer holds the power now. We have no loyalties to the weak one. He thought we might be fooled by this sweet face, but we have proof that she’s out for our destruction! She was in possession of a flaming Sword of Righteousness. She killed three of our spirits just this week!”
There were gasps of horror and shrieks from above.
Pharzuph continued to hold me tightly against him as Rahab stood close.
“Where is it?” Sonellion asked.
Through clenched teeth, Pharzuph began, “It was retrieved—”
“By my son,” Shax cut in proudly.
“And disposed of,” Rahab finished. The Dukes and whisperers swelled with relief.
“How was she able to wield the sword?” asked Alocer.
Pharzuph huffed and shook his head. “We don’t know. But she did. A whisperer witnessed it.”
More murmurs and whispers as confusion and fear spread.
Thamuz’s eyes glowed a sickening crimson as he looked me over. “Enough games. I want blood.”
“Yes, Brother, there will be blood.” Pharzuph chuckled. “We will savor her.” He licked my earlobe and I cringed. “I won’t even have her first,” he graciously offered. “She’s my little gift to you, Brothers. Just be careful not to kill her yet because she needs to suffer in every possible way. Heaven is watching. Let’s give them a show.”
I closed my eyes.
“Me first,” one of the Dukes offered. I recognized that Australian accent.
“Of course you would say that, Mammon, you greedy bastard,” said Pharzuph, and there was laughter.
I opened my eyes again, trying to see my allies. They were all still standing, Kaidan having moved forward, but the Dukes didn’t seem to notice or care.
Mammon stepped into the circle, followed by Thamuz and Sonellion. Unadulterated hatred filled their red eyes.
Oh, God, please help me. I didn’t know how much torture I could take. Would they cut me? Rape me? Burn me?
No. Kaidan and the others wouldn’t let it get that far.
I stupidly struggled against Pharzuph’s strong hold as he turned us toward the three Dukes.
“Father . . . ,” Kaidan called from behind us. I recognized the warning in his voice.
Without turning, Pharzuph yelled, “Not now!”
It was a testament to how focused they were on their bloodlust that none of the Dukes seemed to care that a Neph had spoken out at this summit.
Mammon loomed over me like a salivating monster with a savage hunger and thrill in his eyes. His gold watch and necklaces lacked any luster in the darkened room. He moved closer, unbuttoning his pants, which answered the question of what his chosen form of torture would be.
“No,” I moaned.
“Yes.” Pharzuph chuckled.
Mammon reached out to pull me to him, and that was when it happened. In my periphery I saw a rapid twist of silver, end over end. There was a whir close by my face, and a wet, crunching thunk. One minute Mammon was a foot in front of me, and in the next moment he was staggering backward with a blade lodged deep in his eye.
His mouth was a round O, and he fell to his knees, leaning back as his shrieking, dark spirit fought to get out of the body. Pharzuph wrenched me backward by the neck and spun us in the direction of Kaidan. He turned on his son with rage that shook the room.
“What have you done?”
Kaidan squared off, standing his ground, another knife already in his hand. He spun it on his palm before gripping it again.
“Just a bit of holy water on the blade.” He spoke casually, but his eyes were fearsome.
Mammon’s face hit the floor with a thud and his spirit thrashed above the body as if on fire. That’s for your son, Flynn, I thought.
“Return to hell, Brother,” Rahab called to the spirit. “The holy effects will burn from you there.”
Mammon’s spirit dived through the floor, and the room filled with a dreadful silence.
“You,” Pharzuph whispered to Kai. His eyes were bright red. He moved closer to his son, dragging me. “I trusted you.”
“No, you didn’t,” Kai said.
Pharzuph’s eyes widened, and the room gasped at Kai’s audacity to talk back.
“You filthy, weak idiot! You had more potential than all my past sons combined! How could you let yourself be charmed, like a dog, by a Neph girl? You’re a failure!”
Kaidan’s face was pained for a fraction of a second.
“Kill him,” Rahab demanded. My heart jumped hard in my chest. No! I tried to push away, but it wasn’t necessary.
As Kaidan wove the blade through his fingers, nobody made a move.
Cowards, I thought. All of them. They could have taken Kaidan down if they had wanted, but they knew he would have time to kill one of them if they reached for their weapons, and none were willing to sacrifice themselves. Even Pharzuph used me as a shield, facing me toward Kaidan and keeping his face close against my head. What would Lucifer say if he could see his fearless leaders now?
Their selfish motives worked in our favor, and for that I was grateful. Kaidan watched me as his father moved us from side to side in a sickening dance.
“Brother Pharzuph,” said the dapper Astaroth, “I’m afraid this is more dire than we thought. Your son and the traitor’s daughter are quite . . . in love.”
“You jest,” whispered Pharzuph, squeezing my throat hard
er.
“Not in the least,” Astaroth said. “And they’ve acted on it. They’re married.”
The Dukes let out scandalized sounds of disbelief. Even surrounding Neph gasped.
“So, that’s how you did it,” Pharzuph hissed.
In a careful voice Astaroth said, “Marna and Ginger, move away from the son of Pharzuph. You will have nothing more to do with him.”
The girls stared at their father, unmoving.
“I said, get over here!” Astaroth commanded.
“No,” Ginger told him.
Astaroth’s stunned expression was priceless.
“What the hell is the problem here?” Thamuz snarled. “Andre, Ramón!” His two sons stepped forward, standing just outside the circle. “At least one of us can control our children!” Thamuz bragged to the Dukes, then looked at his sons. “Take care of him!”
Both of the guys turned toward Kaidan and hesitated.
“Do it!” Thamuz yelled.
“We have no weapons,” one of them said.
Thamuz’s eyes went wide with anger. “Since when do you need a weapon? Two of you against one knife is no contest. Kill him!”
As they moved toward Kaidan, panic welled up inside of me and I pressed my will out to them: Do not harm him! You don’t have to obey your father! Their steps slowed and they stopped. I could not believe it. One of the sons grabbed his head as if it hurt.
Thamuz let out a terrible yell and punched his nearest son in the temple, knocking him out cold. The other one fell to the floor and cowered before him.
“I don’t know what’s happening, Father! I think we’re being influenced!”
“Idiota! Your will to kill should be stronger than any influence.”
Rahab shook his head. “No Duke would dare to influence you against your father’s wishes, and no Neph is powerful enough—” He stopped, and his head slowly turned to me. Then all eyes were on me. Pharzuph’s grip tightened to the point that I could barely breathe. It wouldn’t be long before I passed out if he didn’t loosen his hold.
“You did this!” Thamuz said to me. I was feeling so faint I could hardly manage an ounce of fear.
Until Rahab stepped in front of me.
“Do not forget with whom you are dealing, child,” he said. His demon self came half out of the top of his body, leaning into my face like a wraith and shrieking. His gigantic horns twisted around the shadowy spirit head, making me shrink back into Pharzuph.
I felt Rahab pressing into my mind, and though I fought it, he was too strong. A chilling sense of evil filled me as his words rang out in my head. “How does it feel to know you’ll be burning in hell this very night as we bask in your suffering? You chose wrong when you chose against the stronger force.”
I remembered the peace of my mother, Mariantha, and her words of love.
“You’re wrong about the stronger force,” I silently said to him. “Now, get out of my head!” With huge effort I pushed my mind, like moving a brick wall, and I forced him out. His demonic eyes bore into mine, shocked that I was able to extract him. He pulled his soul completely back into his body. Pharzuph was clutching painfully hard around my throat. I grabbed his forearms, trying to pry him away or at least loosen his hold before I suffocated, but he didn’t budge.
“Your feistiness was endearing at first, but it’s starting to wear thin,” Pharzuph said.
“Her mind and will are strong,” said Rahab, “but there are ways to disable any person. Everyone has a weakness . . . something that makes them question their Maker.”
I didn’t like the way he was looking at me. Like he had some knowledge or secret that could “disable” me.
“Excuse me, Duke Rahab,” called Marek from the doorway.
All heads spun to him.
“I apologize for the interruption, but I believe Duke Belial approaches.”
Just then a loud knock sounded. The faces of the Dukes hardened, and my heart soared high above the summit.
“By all means,” Rahab said. “Let him in.”
The door was quickly opened, letting in a wash of sounds from the club, then closed and locked again as my father strode in wearing a navy blue pinstriped suit. His hair was neatly cut and he looked amazing. At his side was Zania in designer jeans and heels. She crossed her arms and glared at the Dukes. Her father, Sonellion, let out a growl.
“Now you just hurt my feelings,” Dad said in that gloriously deep voice. “I didn’t even get an invitation.”
“Traitor!” Sonellion yelled. He looked poised to strangle my father, but neither he nor any of the other Dukes made a move to seize him. “You were behind all of this! You stole my daughter!”
Dad laughed at the ridiculousness of that.
“You came here to mock us?” Pharzuph demanded, and in his preoccupation with my father, I felt his hold on me loosen. My lungs filled with air, and a surge of energy accompanied the oxygen.
“I ain’t here to mock you,” my father said. “We got a lot to talk about. ’Cause I know I’m not the only one in this room who knew after the Fall we’d been used like a bunch of fools. Lucifer’s the one who did us wrong—”
“How dare you!” Rahab said.
Sonellion reached into his jacket for a gun, and my dad pointed at him. “You’d better rethink that, my man. You see my son-in-law over there?” He nodded toward Kai. “That’s right. He got damn good aim with that knife, as y’all have seen. And it’s a straight shot to the back of your big ol’ head.”
Red eyes galore.
Dad went on like he hadn’t been interrupted. “We served hell all this time out of fear, or maybe our own greed, and it didn’t look like there was no option of anything better. But there is. Y’all know we can’t stay on earth forever. But we don’t have to go back down there either. I don’t know about you, but I’m making the right choice this time.”
The Dukes showed their frustration and anger as they tried to speak over one another. They didn’t know what to believe. The Neph stood in silence, sidling closer together, farther from the Dukes. Kai had moved forward, getting closer and sizing up the scene. Rahab was shouting, trying to regain control. Pharzuph let go of me with one hand, and I gasped for air through my sore throat. He grasped me only by a wrist now as he stepped toward the mob to better be heard. Fierce arguing ensued, and eyes were bloodred in every direction. Kaidan caught my eye, then looked toward where Pharzuph held me. I could see the gears working in his mind as he tried to figure out how to free me.
I barely heard my name being called from the other side of the room in a familiar European lilt. When I turned toward Marek’s voice, his hand was behind his back, and then a blur of glimmering metal was soaring into the air. Pharzuph turned at the sight of it, but he was too late. I snatched the hilt from the air with my free hand and felt a jolt go up my arm. Marek winked at me, and I smiled, more grateful than I’d ever been in my life. Kaidan moved into the circle at my side.
Blinding light shot from the end of the hilt and expanded to reveal a shimmering blade of blue flames. It was huge, yet virtually weightless. Pharzuph leaped away from me and rushed to his fellow Dukes. The entire room turned toward the shocking light, and the demons hissed at the memories it invoked. More than six hundred dark spirits stirred in agitated fright above us.
The twins, Blake, Kopano and his brothers, Marek, Zania, and my father all joined the circle now. I grasped the hilt with both hands.
“You have thoroughly betrayed me.” Pharzuph was incredulous as he looked at his son.
“We don’t have to be divided,” Kaidan said. “You were an angel of light once—”
“I will not return under these conditions to be the laughingstock of the heavenly realm!”
“Pride was Lucifer’s downfall, too,” my father said.
A handful of Dukes hissed at him, showing their bright red eyes. As scary as they were, I was happy that the spotlight was off Kaidan.
“I tried to warn you all about the Nephilim,” Rahab
said to the Dukes, though his eyes were on me. “They are the worst kind of beasts, willing to bite the very hands that feed them.”
“We’re not beasts,” I said. “And we’re tired of being fed lies. We don’t belong to you.”
While we spoke, my father, Zania, and Marek pulled out weapons and passed them down the row of Neph—several guns and knives, which were now aimed at the Dukes, who only had eyes for the Sword of Righteousness. They wouldn’t go near its glowing blade, but I could see the ideas spinning through their evil eyes about how to take me down.
“You’ve underestimated us,” Kaidan said, looking at his father.
Astaroth muttered something about a bloody uprising and spat on the floor.
Rahab stepped toward us, and I jutted the sword out in response.
“Now, hold on just a minute,” he said, raising his palms. “That is no mere toy, child. Surely you are not prepared to commit murder here tonight?”
“That’s not my intention, but I will if you make me. All I want is for everyone to listen.” I spoke as calmly as I could manage. I looked around at the watching Dukes and up at the circling black cloud of spirits above. “You have all been deceived. Again. You don’t have time to think it over. You have to make a decision tonight—”
“Will we stand here,” interrupted Rahab, with boiling red eyes, “and allow this Nephilim to attempt to separate the ranks of our valiant leader?” His voice cracked with emotion. “Will we tremble in the presence of a solitary flaming sword wielded by a child?”
More tumultuous shouts sounded.
“Let’s kill her!” bellowed Thamuz, rushing forward.
“Let her speak!” Jezebet pushed Thamuz back, stronger than she appeared.
“It’s blasphemy!” someone cried.
“But what if it’s true?” asked Melchom.
“I propose a test,” Rahab said. The room hushed. “She would only be sent to do a task of this magnitude if she were of flawless faith. If we can get her doubts to surface, then she will lose the power of the sword.”
Doubts? I didn’t like the sound of this.
“How do you propose to test her faith?” Jezebet asked.