The Devil in Her Eyes Ch. 05

I visited Jamie's parents; they'd hugged me and cried, thanking me for being with her at the end...

My therapist suggested a peaceful hobby.

I spent all of my time at the range, taking out my murderous impulses on targets, training at the gym, rolling in a BJJ dojo.

I would never be a victim again...

"Are you alright?"

Orias's voice was full of concern. I was sure I'd gone all space cadet, just like I did every time I thought about Syria...

I shook the memories loose, feeling a headache coming on.

"Sorry, it's just a lot to take in, but I won't let you guys down."

He nodded; Sybilla regarded me with a look that I couldn't place, almost like she knew.

"Fair enough, I doubt her Highness would send you with us unless she was certain of your ability," He rumbled, giving me a jovial smile and a gentle clap on the shoulder, "We'll be facing Angels; Hellfire rounds are your best bet."

He tapped a keypad set into the wall, and the panel slid open, the racks beyond lined with beefed-up versions of guns I was used to. M4's and AK's with thickened receivers and outsized magazines, Revolvers that looked like cannons, knives, and swords made of jet black Damascus steel.

I brushed an M4 with my fingers, and the runes on my wrists glowed; I pulled it off the wall and jacked out the magazine, surprised at how light it was for its size. Orias offered me an ammo can full of large jet black rounds, the bullets themselves shot through with purple streaks. I nodded my thanks and started loading the casket mags.

Sybilla tossed me what looked like a standard frag grenade, a black band written in odd symbols around its green body.

"The symbols are Enochian; they will wound the Angels enough to be finished up close."

She held up her blade, the same writing adorned the silvery metal, and smiled wickedly, passing me a smaller version of her sword in a leather sheath; it went onto my belt just behind a massive holster.

I snatched up my secondary, a revolver that looked like it might just tear my arm off if I even thought about pulling the trigger, out-sized cylinder and runes etched the length of the four-inch barrel. I loaded it with the same rounds as the M4, speed-loaders were next, slotting them into a vest that Orias dug up for me, along with black Crye gear to match his; the dark Multicam pattern was perfect for the shadows we'd be operating in.

I gave it all the jump test, adjusting slings, and the placement of ammo. Orias and Sybilla gave me little tips and adjustments of their own. I was nervous but confident at the same time, all of the knowledge Lucy had imparted rushing to the fore. I knew what to do, and I was as ready as I'd ever be.

Sybilla knocked her shoulder into mine as she headed for the door, "Peace, Prince-consort. Victory is all but assured."

I raised an eyebrow at the title, but nodded, rolling my shoulders, "Thanks, Sybilla."

She nodded and opened the door; Orias hefted a massive belt-fed weapon that looked like an M60 fucked a dump truck; the belt of Hellfire rounds clinked as he passed. I brought up the rear, following them back to the main area.

All around us, magic circles flashed as teams of demons departed for their various missions. Lucy watched them all go, flanked by Mom, Jen, and Ari, waving and offering words of encouragement. She turned, and her eyes widened as they flicked over me, my high-cut helmet dangling from my fingertips, decked out in armor and enough weapons to take over a small town.

"Wow..." She whispered.

I smiled, "All dressed up with somewhere to go, babe."

She moved like lightning and kissed me hard, getting a grip on my vest and pulling me in tight.

Mutters of "get a room" and "give us a break" filled the air.

We parted reluctantly, both of us blushing like idiots.

I wondered if it'd ever get old.

Nah.

Mom and Jen were pretending to gag, in on the joke, but I could see the worry in their eyes.

I hugged them tightly, whispering reassurances. Ari squeezed my shoulder, "Luck, mate."

I smiled, "Online, on time."

Delicate fingers grabbed at my gear as Orias willed the magic circle to life.

Lucy spun me into her embrace, kissing me again, her tongue invaded my mouth, claiming what was hers, biting my lip and drawing blood... I hissed at the sharp pain when we parted.

She smiled at me with lidded eyes, placing her hand over my heart and gently shoving me back into the magic circle's envelope.

"Sic 'em, boy."

The staging area vanished in a flash of violet light.

We reappeared seconds later in a thick copse of trees, lights flashed beyond, and I could see the vague outline of the warehouse complex. I struggled to get my raging heart rate and hard-on under control.

She was gonna fucking get it.

"We need to move fast, take the perimeter before the other teams make their move," Orias whispered.

Right, we had a fight in front of us.

Sybilla nodded, "I am on it; see you on the other side." She shot us an evil grin and melted into the trees.

Orias tapped me on the chest, "Stay right with me."

I nodded, gently racking a round into my weapon, "On you."

We pushed through the wood; Orias moved quietly for such a fucking monster. I kept the rifle pinned to my shoulder; my body seemed to know what to do, another symptom of Lucy's knowledge dump, so I just turned my mind down a bit and handed over the reins as we stalked towards our target.

Voices cut through the darkness, and Orias threw up a hand. I froze listening.

Two sentries walked the perimeter armed with AK's, shining flashlights into the darkness.

"The attack was a success; the filth were scattered like roaches."

"And the civilians? Mark, I thought we were supposed to be saving people from the Beast and their works, not killing them because they got in the way."

Mark shrugged, "They met God a little earlier than they intended, and the non-believers are in Hell where they belong. I don't see the problem."

My vision tinged red for a moment, the rage that flowed through me was almost inhuman, in a flash, it receded, and I was suddenly cold...impassive.

These men were going to die.

I flicked the safety to "fire" with a soft click, lining up the glowing reticle with Mark's chest.

"Set," I whispered.

"Hold," Orias whispered back, "Hold..."

Something exploded on the other side of the complex, the two assholes jumped, spinning towards the noise.

"Take 'em."

I squeezed the trigger twice, the booming report overlapping, sounding like one thunderous shot. Mark's chest exploded from the heavy impacts; I could hear the crack of his spine breaking as he doubled over, dead before he had the chance to scream. His partner turned to run and fell to pieces in flashes of light and blurred motion. Sybilla slowed, blurring in and out before finally coming to a stop, flicking the blood off her sword onto the dead leaves.

"Move"

Orias thundered forward, his massive footsteps almost rattling the teeth in my head as he picked up speed, heading for the perimeter wall and dropping a shoulder; I was hot on his heels, adrenaline flooding through my veins.

A foot of concrete cracked and exploded inward under his weight.

Something roared, inhuman, in the distance, someone screamed, high, reedy, and horrified.

Fifty feet to the door of the warehouse.

A shadow popped out of a corner, raising a weapon.

"INFERNUS" Sybilla screamed in a voice that echoed like a chorus.

The shadow burst into flame, screaming; I snapped my rifle up and double-tapped the human torch, the body exploding into chunks.

Twenty feet.

Orias sped up again, shaking the ground,

Ten feet.

Five.

Impact.

The massive steel door jumped the tracks, falling inward.

Orias opened up on the silhouettes that ran back and forth, scrambling desperately for cover.

"Tashghil 'iidha kunt tryd! ln yakhlusak!" He roared over the thunderous report of his belt-fed monstrosity. Bodies exploded into flame or just plain exploded as he poured it on.

I translated his words in my head.

Run if you want! He won't save you!"

Sybilla danced into the fray, her blade flashing out, taking body parts and lives even as the Church tried desperately to return fire, to kill us as we were killing them.

I picked my targets, laying into them with precision. My blood hummed with murderous glee, and I grinned wildly as another Church soldier blew to pieces under the weight of my fire. I felt Lucy there with me, whispering deadly nothings into my ear.

They were monsters, but so were we.

They just deserved it more.

I spied a catwalk above, shadows darting back and forth; I got online with Orias and slapped him on the arm, pointing. He nodded and walked his rounds up, hitting them as they tried to get position on us.

"MOVING!" I yelled over the din, dashing through the return fire to the staircase, taking the steps two at a time, flying up to the catwalk. I hit the top and proned out, dropping two more soldiers as they emerged from an office.

Orias and Sybilla moved perfectly below me, covering each other's angles, laying waste to everything in their path.

We'd only met humans so far; Lucy had said there were Angels?

Something deep blue flashed below, and Sybilla went flying through the air, crashing through some crates and rolling to her feet.

"Seraphim!" She called out.

There it was.

I rotated the half-full mag for a fresh one, pushing myself to my feet, aiming over the railing when something snatched my rifle out of my hands so hard I felt a finger break, the weapon spiraling away into the darkness.

A punch that should've taken my head off laid my cheek open, tearing my helmet-free, sending the dented thing to the warehouse floor as stars exploded across my vision.

Something clicked into place.

Time slowed way down.

Suddenly I could see the Angel, a woman with ice blonde hair and glowing blue eyes, her lips curled back into a sneer as she readied another punch. I caught her fist and counter-punched her in the jaw, sending her spinning to the deck; I sidestepped the reflexive kick aimed at my knees and kicked her in the chest like I was going for a field goal, drawing my sidearm and firing a round into her face in one smooth motion, the massive recoil sending muted shockwaves up my rune-protected arm as her head exploded, blue-green blood spraying my face, a violet smoke trail hanging in the air.

Holy shit...

With a lot of effort, I shook it off and took stock.

Orias was holding his own down below, suppressing the Church soldiers as fast as they appeared. Still, Sybilla was a sight to behold, dancing in and out of combat with a group of Angels that struck and moved around her like a tornado made of razor blades.

I eyed a stack of crates about ten feet below me.

Time to make myself useful.

I vaulted over the railing, landing on the crates, weaving unsteadily before I jumped to the concrete and raced towards Sybilla, drawing the massive knife she'd given me. They were so focused on her that they never saw me coming.

I shoulder checked an Angel just as he thrust a knife I recognized at Sybilla's exposed back; my revolver snapped up and blew a trashcan-lid sized hole in his back, throwing the remains against the wall.

Now they slowed, spreading out around Sybilla and I.

"It."

"Is."

"The."

"Nephilim."

The remaining angels spoke, each of them taking a word in the sentence, and it creeped me the fuck out as they encircled us. Sybilla jerked like someone had slapped her, and I felt her staring at me.

"Leave."

"The."

"Others."

"Kill."

"Him."

Something about Nephilim screeched at me in the back of my combat-doped mind, but I had more pressing matters.

The Angels blurred into motion.

Sybilla sidestepped and split one from hip to armpit in one smooth stroke; he staggered right into my knife; I stuck him twice as fast as I could, kicking him off the end of the blade and firing a round into his shocked face.

Another whirled through the air, her runed knife flashing for my throat; I barely ducked it, feeling the blade carve a furrow across my shoulder, the pain tearing a scream out of me. Orias must've wheeled in because my attacker suddenly turned into chopped meat before my eyes, screaming weakly as flesh was ripped away and bone shattered.

The final two darted in opposite directions, one heading for Orias, the other flanking Sybilla; they'd cottoned onto the fact that they couldn't kill me with my buddies still up and about.

Later.

I snapped my revolver open; the spent casings flying through the air much too slowly. I slammed a speed-loader in, twisting the release and letting it fall away, closing the weapon with a click.

They came at us from both sides, blades flashing.

Orias muzzle-thumped his attacker; I heard the Angel's ribs break as his body flew backward, colliding with the wall with a sickening crunch.

The final Angel's four blaze white wings unfurled, and she launched herself at Sybilla and I, screaming in what sounded like rage.

Sybilla's blade flashed, taking her on the left side, opening her up and drawing a line of blood across the concrete floor, but the Angel's momentum proved to be too much, she hit me in the chest, and I felt ribs break, the force of it sending me airborne. I caught sight of the floor and the ceiling and the floor again before I crashed through a stack of crates.

Stars exploded across my vision, and the most shocking pain followed; a heavyweight settled on top of me before a vice-like grip wrapped around my throat.

The Angel had held on, it seemed.

My weapons were gone, lost in the apocalyptic impact, and my vision was starting to go dark; the hatred in the Angel's eyes was going to be the last thing I saw.

Until someone pulled her head back and sliced her throat from ear to ear, the edges of the wound smoked, and the Angel flopped across me, convulsing.

Sybilla kicked her off of me, pulling me to my feet; I held back a scream as pain exploded through me, my broken everything grinding together.

"Orias? Check on the wounded Seraph, please!"

"On it!" He called back.

I could hear another voice from the far side of the warehouse. The lack of fire and my new buddy's relaxed demeanor meant they were the other teams consolidating on us.

"This will hurt my Prince; I beg your pardon," Sybilla whispered before muttering some words I could make out and slamming her open palm into my chest, knocking the wind out of me.

It felt like someone dumped fire into my veins.

Oh boy, she wasn't lying.

I shook and screamed as my bones knitted back together, the cuts and scrapes disappeared, she tried to hold me up, but I slipped to a knee, and she followed me down as I tried frantically to catch my breath.

The pain eventually ebbed, my vision clearing slowly.

"Fucking Hell..." I whispered.

Sybilla gently squeezed my shoulder.

"I am sorry, but it was necessary."

I smiled at her worried expression, "no harm, no foul, thanks for fixing me up."

She smiled, one blue and one brown eye sparkling at me, shifting into green, "You fought well; it was least I could do."

I rose shakily, the combat high was starting to wear off, my hands shook hard, and my vision went a little hazy.

"Tell me where they plan to strike!"

An impact and a soft moan.

Orias was working on our prisoner.

I was suddenly wide awake.

They had called me something.

Nephilim

Time to find out just what the fuck that was about.

I walked over to Orias, who had the Angel by the front of his shirt, rearing back for another punch.

"Where will they attack?!"

The Angel sputtered through a broken jaw; teeth clattered wetly on the concrete.

"They will strike...everywhere...nowhere is safe for your ilk...abomination against His name..."

His head lolled over, and we made eye contact; hatred flared through his weak form, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say it eclipsed the hate I saw for the demons.

"The Nephilim...he must die..."

He reached for me weakly, and Orias snapped his neck with almost no effort. When he leveled his gaze to mine, there was something there I couldn't read.

"Orias, what the fuck are they on about? What is a Nephilim?"

He stared me down for a moment before shaking his head, "It is the Queen's place to explain upon our return."

I turned to Sybilla, and she shrugged, but her reaction earlier told me everything.

Something isn't right.

The other teams arrived before I could ask any more questions, the four-winged demon from the staging area leading the pack.

"We have cleared the east side, team three took the west, and you have taken the north, nothing lives, and we have documents in Enochian to translate."

Orias nodded, glancing around the room, "We should extract before any more arrive."

The bespectacled demon nodded, closing her eyes and speaking softly. A magic circle, bigger than any I'd seen, burned across the floor, encompassing all the demons present.

It glowed brighter and brighter, and in a flash, we left the destruction behind; the smooth walls of the German bunker greeted us. Lucy waited just beyond the perimeter as we popped into existence, worry written all over her; Ari stood at her side. We locked eyes, and she smiled, love pouring off of her; she whispered something to Ari, who flashed me a smile and a wave and walked off.

I smiled back at Luce; feeling her close again was like a breath of fresh air. The circle died away, and she strode forward like the queen she was,

closing the gap and sliding her hands into my hair, kissing me despite the blood and grime that covered every inch of exposed skin.

All my exhaustion washed away in a sea of fire and Lucy's perfume.

"Did you make them pay?" She whispered against my lips.

I grinned, "In spades, baby."

Lucy smiled, with an edge that I was growing to love; this fiercely protective, murderous side of her was only making me love her more.

She raised her voice, addressing the room.

"I am proud of you all; you fought well and collected information that will lead to more targets and, hopefully, a swift end to this conflict. Rest, you've earned it."

A chorus of replies answered, and the crowd broke, heading for showers and beds or to pour over the documents we'd recovered.

"He fought well, Highness. Worthy of Hell's own Knights." Orias's massive hand landed on my shoulder.

"Truly, he is a warrior, Highness." Sybilla added, " And a worthy consort as well," She finished with a wink; Lucy balked a bit, blushing.

Did I just get called hot by the crazy face changing demon chick?

Zack Miller, puller of all the demonic ladies.

Too bad for them; I only had eyes for one.

"I'd run with you guys all day long, glad I didn't let you down out there."

Orias smiled, "It was an honor."

Sybilla bowed shallowly, " I would fight by your side again without a thought, Prince-consort."

I nodded my gratitude at the compliments, and with one final bow to Lucy, they headed off, Sybilla trailing her fingers over Orias's hip.

Oh ho...

The mechanics of that one are fascinating.

Soft hands slid up the sides of my face, and my vision was filled with loving red eyes as Lucy gently pressed her forehead to mine.

"It seems you have their approval, as I knew you would...Come, my love, let's get you cleaned up and to bed. Ari went to let Sandy and Jen know that you returned safely unless you'd like to see them before you turn in?"

I nodded, "After a shower, yeah, I need to say goodnight."

"I love them both, you know?" She said it in such a small, happy voice that it brought a smile out of me, "they truly are wonderful."