The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,148

tried to drain that guy’s aether, but that wasn't the fastest way to fight.

The bitten angel dropped to his knees, but another was on me. "Sia!" Luke screamed, making me look over in time to see him throw something at me. It was the same white - purple color as lightning, but shaped more like a dagger. I managed to stop it in midair, fumble it, then grab the handle, but that gave the angel enough time to shove.

I crashed into the ground, then bounced right back up. The rules of the corridor weren't the same as those of the real world. Gravity, location, and distance all worked differently here. That had taken me a while to figure out, but now I knew how to use it to my advantage. All I had to do was think about it - so I thought.

One step carried me to the angel who was trying to run away, and I swung that dagger as hard as I could. The flame of the aether cut into his back, slicing deep, right at the base of his wing. The angel screamed and pushed through the veil, disappearing just like the one before him. That didn't mean he was truly gone, but it was one less to deal with right now.

I spun to face the rest of them, even as I reached deep inside me for as much aether as I could manage. Letting out a roar of anger, I shoved both hands down and called a whole set of new sprites. Fuck butterflies. I didn't care if these looked pretty. No, I wanted them to be so terrifying that angels would never come to this space in the corridor again.

A dozen shadowy forms sprang up to do my bidding, rising from the floor like wraiths. And as one, they rushed towards the remaining angels. Gabriel tried to slash at one, but its form simply dissipated and came back together on the other side as if it was made of smoke. In desperation, he pushed a wall of aether at it. That worked, but not as well as he was hoping.

The other angels were gone, slipping out of the corridor as soon as they realized this was an attack they couldn't win. Only Gabriel was desperate enough to try to stand against me. Yet now, he was outnumbered two to one.

"You will never get them out of here," Gabriel warned. "Your only option is to come back into our frat house - and good luck with that."

Then he too stepped through the veil, leaving Luke and me alone with probably two dozen humans who thought they were souls. So, before Luke could say a thing, I lifted my hand and turned to address the people.

"Those were the fallen angels. They are the deceivers, and they are no longer in God's favor. Do not let them fool you." I thrust an arm towards Luke. "He is the only one you should trust. Remember that."

Luke pushed himself to my side and grabbed my arm, lowering his voice. "What are you doing?" He hissed.

"I'm changing the rules," I assured him. "Don't worry, you get to be one of the good guys."

34

Sienna

Unfortunately, Gabriel was right. This space in the corridor was very securely warded. That was why the winds didn't push at these people, but it was worse than that. The entire outline of the frat house - which wasn't a small thing - had become our prison. I watched as Luke walked towards it and thumped his fists against what might as well be a wall.

Illuminated runes and symbols raced across the surface of it. That included the connecting walls, ceiling, and floor. It seemed that once again, I was in a great big magic box, locked away with more than two dozen people who were terrified and confused. I was starting to get really sick of this. Granted, it made sense. There were only so many ways to contain your enemy - especially when they didn't tend to die.

But these humans would. Maybe angels and demons had evolved their combat techniques to deal with an immortal enemy, but that didn't help the students any. My eyes quickly ran across the cluster of people, counting exactly twenty-three. They were no longer casually lounging around, but had huddled in the point furthest from us. It made sense. When the Grim Reaper and a group of angels started throwing around butterflies and shadows, no one in their right mind wanted to