“I chose this,” I snarled, not able to say what I really wanted to in front of Gamaeron. That this would protect Bethel, protect my men, protect Az.
“Don’t be a dumb bitch!” Az cried out, and then with a great beat of those enormous golden wings, he dove forward, swinging the sword directly at Gamaeron’s neck.
The blade struck quick, shining with Azariah’s angelic blessing, and with me still in the tail’s grip, Gamaeron was missing his best defense. He reached for Azariah, but it was too late, John sliced cleanly through Gamaeron’s neck.
The pain hellions scrambled away as I dropped like a stone to the ground, barely managing to roll out of the way as Gamaeron’s head landed with the wet smack of meat and his body went toppling over.
“Azariah, stop!” I screamed, but the sound was weak, my breath watery. Had a rib punctured a lung?
He ignored me, wings beating and glimmering, growing in brightness until he was brighter than the sun, his entire being shining so fiercely that my eyes stung with a rush of blood. The pain hellions dissolved like they’d been struck with acid, and Azariah dove to the ground, knees landing on either side of me.
“Quick, feed,” he panted, the glow fading rapidly.
“Noo,” I whined, sobs catching in my burning chest. “You fucked it up, Az. I was trying to—”
“You were trying to go back to Hell because you thought you could convince King Belial to stay out of Bethel,” Azariah snapped, one fist punching against the ground by my head, squishing some of the remnants of a pain hellion beneath his fingers. “But it wouldn’t matter Deyva, even if you succeeded, which you wouldn’t have. Kimaris and Belial will burn them to the ground whether you're there or not. And if they won’t, some other demon will. Or Kais or fucking Stavros or even perfect Zach will try and go chasing after you!”
Fuck.
Fuck it all. He was right.
I curled in on myself, sobbing at my failure, crying at the truth of Azariah’s words. Bethel had a target painted on its back before I’d arrived, simply for having humans living safely inside its gate.
“I can’t lose them,” I gasped, something rising in my chest, drowning me with every breath I tried to catch.
“Well, leaving seems counterproductive to that plan, Deyva,” Azariah said, gentling his tone, slipping his arms underneath me and wincing in sympathy as he lifted me off the ground and I moaned.
“You can protect them,” I said.
“Of course I can. And I will. But so can you, just get over this self-sacrificing hero’s story bullshit,” Az muttered. “Together, we can make sure nothing ever happens to them.”
I tried to breathe, but I couldn’t so instead I only squeezed out, “They deserve better.”
Azariah rolled his eyes and smirked. “Sure, but they keep turning me down. So you’ll have to do. Feed, Deyva.”
“You deserve better,” I said, appealing to his selfish side.
Azariah blinked at me. “We both do. Now feed.”
He didn’t give me a choice, one hand moving to the back of my head, his own lowering to press his mouth over mine. I moaned into the kiss. Azariah’s lips were smooth and hungry, doing more than the necessary press of connection to let me feed. He was searching, pleading, bleeding his strength into me and clutching me closer. For a moment I wanted to scream with the fiery ache, but then the feeding did the work on my ribs, and his grip didn’t hurt so much.
His smirk was even deeper when he raised his head, eyes warm and openly admiring. His eyes drifted down to my shoulder where I was still bleeding and the expression shifted, going sly.
“Man, I can’t wait to see what Kais has to say about you walking out of Bethel on a death mission,” Az said, grinning and turning back the way I’d arrived. Around us, the ground squirmed with the remnants of pain hellions, but none moved toward Azariah.
“Kais?” I asked, frowning. And then I stiffened. “Az...wait! Finish healing me!”
I definitely wasn’t healed enough to take whatever punishment Kais would dole out for this stunt.
Azariah just laughed, wings starting to rise and spread, lifting us through the air with one massive beat. “Nope, don’t think I will. You’ll live and I think your men deserve to know what you nearly put yourself through. Your ass is gonna be so red, little succubus.”
30
A Cross to Bear
Deyva
Azariah carried me high over the gate, over the dark homes