be careful here—I need to get Anna away from him, and I only have one knife left. He’s pulled her body in front of his, practically crouching behind her.
“You filthy, weak idiot!” Father shouts. “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.”
You’re a failure. Nothing I ever did was good enough.
“Kill him,” Rahab demands.
Nobody moves.
Adrenaline beats through me as I stare around at the room, glad to have the attention off Anna. I weave the blade through my fingers, hoping they will forget about her and let her go while they’re focused on me. I wait for them to advance, but they simply stare at me with red eyes, quickened breaths, and ferocious faces.
I’ve pissed off the lot of them. Except perhaps Jezebet, the one female Duke. She looks rather amused. And Alocer is stoic and unmoved, very much like Kopano, his son.
“Brother Pharzuph,” Astaroth begins. I know what he is going to say, and I steel myself. “I’m afraid this is more dire than we thought. Your son and the traitor’s daughter are quite . . . in love.”
Hm. I like the sound of that. It’s the worst possible kick in the balls I can give Father, who looks as if he might vomit. “You jest,” he snarls.
“Not in the least,” Astaroth says. “And they’ve acted on it. They’re married.”
The room erupts in loud gasps and sounds of outrage.
Our Nephilim revolt has begun.
The sons of Thamuz are next to disobey their father, although it’s under the influence of Anna—she telepathically sends them the order, even as she’s being gripped from behind by my father. She rarely uses her unique power of influence unless it’s to stop an evil act such as this. Much to their own confusion, the sons of Thamuz put down their guns and won’t shoot us.
The twins are next, refusing to move away from my side when Astaroth orders. The Dukes are seething at the audacity of the Nephilim not to obey them.
“Excuse me, Duke Rahab,” calls Marek from the door he guards. “I apologize for the interruption, but I believe Duke Belial approaches.”
Belial enters in his rapper body, sporting a pinstriped suit with a gorgeous Zania at his side, standing tall and strong. Her father, Sonellion, lets out a growl of outrage.
“Traitor! You were behind all of this! You stole my daughter!”
Belial laughs at this notion. Everyone knows Sonellion discarded his daughter. “We got a lot to talk about,” Belial tells his fellow Dukes. “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 bellows.
Sonellion reaches for his gun, but Belial points a finger straight at me.
“You’d better rethink that, my man. You see my son-in-law over there? He got damn good aim with that knife, as y’all have seen.”
I hold my shiny blade out for them to see. Eyes glow red all around me.
Belial challenges the other Dukes to consider returning to heaven, and they argue fiercely among themselves. I watch Father carefully, waiting for the moment I can extract Anna from his grip. He’s loosening his hold as he joins the argument, and has got her only by the wrist now. I’m about to rush the center of the room to make my move when something incredible happens.
The Neph Marek brilliantly pulls something from under the back of his shirt and tosses it to Anna, who snatches it from the air. Father leaps away when he realizes what it is, and I run to Anna’s side as the blade brilliantly bursts to life in her hands. She wields the sword, bathing the room in its celestial glow.
It’s absolutely beautiful. And so is she. My warrior.
Screams and shouts erupt as the Dukes and whisperers knock into each other, clamoring to distance themselves from the Sword of Righteousness.
Belial, Marek, Blake, the twins, Zania, Kopano, and his brothers all join me as we stand behind Anna. The Dukes slink back, looking as if they might piss themselves, and the spirits overhead hiss and stir.
I’m still expecting, hoping, the angels will come at any moment. How will Anna get rid of the demons on her own? The room holds more than a hundred Neph, but I’m certain not all of them will want to fight. Some are too old, or too young. Some of them