Cipher (Demonica Underworld #8) - Larissa Ione Page 0,59

and for the first time, Bael looked afraid.

“Lyre,” he croaked as he pushed himself to his hands and knees on shaky limbs.

She looked over at him. Looked at Bael.

And then she looked back at him again, determination mirrored in her glittering eyes. What was she going to do?

“Lyre?”

She vaporized into a puff of smoke, and before he could even blink, she shot into Bael’s nostrils. His eyes popped wide and he grabbed his throat, choking and gagging.

And Lyre, that wily little angel, had left the aural on the ground.

Cipher staggered to his feet. His legs were rubber and his steps leaden, but he managed to palm the aural and somehow make it to where Bael was struggling to exorcise Lyre.

Clutching his throat, Bael wheeled around to face Cipher, the hatred in his expression making his face bulge grotesquely. He lifted a clawed hand, shocks of electricity sparking between his fingers, and Cipher knew that this next blow would kill him.

There was no time left.

He lunged, slamming the aural into Bael’s chest.

And nothing happened. The weapon slid uselessly off his armor.

Fuck!

Still coughing, Bael grinned, raised his hand once more.

Then, from out of nowhere, a transparent gray, shapeless form wrapped around Bael, its eyes empty, its mouth screaming silently.

Bael’s scream was not silent.

One of Azagoth’s souls. Way to go, Hawkyn!

Lyre’s vapor form ejected from between Bael’s lips as the fallen angel returned to his original, angel-sized body. He writhed in misery as the soul spun around him, doing whatever it was souls did.

But no, that soul wasn’t going to claim this kill.

This kill belonged to Cipher.

With a battle cry soaked in vengeance, Cipher buried the aural in Bael’s heart. This time the weapon slammed home.

Bael gasped as his body shuddered and convulsed, smoke rising from the cracks forming in his skin. The sizzle of burning flesh accompanied his death cries, and the evil inside Cipher was transfixed by it all.

Finally, as Lyre wrapped herself around Cipher and held him tight, the fucker collapsed.

Bael was dead. The monster who had terrorized this region of Sheoul for eons was gone.

Somehow, they’d survived this, but Cipher still had one more monster to face, and his name was Azagoth.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Azagoth hated waiting.

People were always amazed by his patience, but they only saw what he wanted them to see. His exterior was very much different than his interior.

Inside was a high-strung, restless beast that didn’t like to wait for things like vengeance. Or pleasure.

At least now that Lilliana was home, it didn’t have to wait for the latter. Her presence had soothed the monster until now, as he waited for news coming out of Sheoul. He’d sent hundreds of souls to destroy Bael, and with any luck, Moloc would be with his brother as well.

But so far his griminions hadn’t brought him their souls. They’d delivered dozens of other souls they’d reaped from Bael’s realm, but not the ones Azagoth wanted.

This was taking too long.

A massive power surge forced the hair on Azagoth’s neck to stand up, and before he could even blink, another, equally powerful wave of energy slammed into him.

Fuck.

Reaver and Revenant had just popped in for a visit, and Azagoth had no doubt that this wasn’t going to be a friendly one.

Which meant that he was going to meet them in the place of his choosing, the place that gave him a strategic advantage.

He threw open his office door just as Zhubaal skidded to a stop in front of it. “My lord—”

“I know. Send them to the Inner Sanctum.”

Z jerked. “M-my lord?”

“Do it. And send someone to keep Lilliana occupied. I don’t want her near Reaver or Revenant.” He doubted either male would harm Lilliana, but he wouldn’t put it past them to use her in some way if they had to.

“Yes, sir.”

Quickly, he went through the passage to the Inner Sanctum, and within moments of stepping across the threshold, Hades materialized.

“Hey, boss man,” Hades said, his blue Mohawk cut close to his head today. “Who are you here to torture?”

“I’m not torturing anyone. We’re expecting guests, and we only have about sixty seconds to prepare.”

“Guests?”

“Reaver and Revenant.”

Hades’s eyes shot wide open. “But won’t their presence weaken the veil between Sheoul and Sheoul-gra?”

“I’m counting on it,” Azagoth said. “They know they can’t destroy me here without blowing out the barriers and releasing millions of demon souls.”

There was no way either angel would risk that. The resulting chaos would spread quickly, affecting not just the demon realm, but the human one as well. They wouldn’t