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I stalked towards Lucifer, getting my mind in fight mode. A shadow moved into step with me and I glanced at my companion.
“I thought I told you to keep Naomi safe.”
“CJ and Steve will see to that,” Ty said and met my gaze. “They’re making the house safe right now,” he added, which meant he wouldn’t be able to get back in, and neither would Lucifer if he was the last one standing.
I focused on my nemesis and he dropped the heads on the ground so they faced me. I ground my teeth together at the manner in which he wiped his hands together, like they were nothing more than dirt and grime. He grinned at me, knowing just how angry I was.
“Coming to exact revenge for your family?” he asked, moving his gaze from me to Ty and back. The question was fitting for both of us and we stopped less than five paces away.
“Vengeance is mine,” I whispered, feeling more like a god than a human at the moment. “And you shall behold the full fury of the heavens.”
He laughed, leaning back and cackling to the sky. Ty and I traded a glance and then the angel by my side launched his attack, leaving me standing in place like a shocked little kid. I blinked as Lucifer went flying on his ass. Ty shook his right hand and then curled it up again as Lucifer got to his feet, his smirk long gone and replaced with wariness.
“I’ve only felt that kind of power from Michael,” he said, narrowing his eyes and studying the angelic form of Ty Ryan. “Gabriel wasn’t strong enough to wage any sort of decent fight,” he added, stepping away from the discarded heads.
Ty grinned. “The world has never seen anything like me,” he said, his voice a feral growl that promised all the pain hell could deliver. “And neither has heaven.”
Lucifer waved his hand and I landed on my ass from the invisible sucker punch. The cold snow seeped into my bloodstained jeans and I climbed to my feet, circling away from Lucifer, letting Ty take the lead in this fight, even though he didn’t have the same mental power Lucifer had.
Ty’s smile faded when he was shoved a step backwards, but he didn’t stumble, he only leveled that glare.
“What are you?” Lucifer asked, unnerved by his inability to budge his primary foe.
“I’m your worst fucking nightmare,” Ty said, pulling memory after memory of the same line delivered for the past two decades.
The two angels charged, slamming into each other and creating an explosion that knocked me back twenty feet. Dazed, I pushed into a sitting position, shaking the cobwebs from my head and focused on the flurry of snow before me. The only identifier I could see in the blur was black wings. Ty’s blended in with the snow tornado they created.
Blows sounded like thunder, shaking the landscape; and I chanced a glance at the picture window behind me. Steve and Tom had a hold on CJ, his mouth crying out, but the glass prevented me from hearing his wail. I turned back in time to witness the fountain of crimson coming from a headless body kneeling on the ground; blood cascaded down, staining the pristine white wings.
A head rolled on the snow, landing at my feet and I scrambled into a standing position. The sense of loss coming from the house clouded my vision, my heart ached with sorrow and I raised my gaze.
Lucifer stepped out of the snow cloud and I had a chance to revel in a moment of satisfaction. Ty had done some damage, but none of it was catastrophic. Lucifer limped forward on a bloodied leg. One of his wrists was twisted enough to elicit a wince from me and his right eye was swollen shut. Even with his injuries, he was a dangerous adversary. I exhaled, stepping into a defensive posture. I wasn’t going to charge into this, blinded by fury. That would only result in the same outcome as Ty, and my father, and Michael.
I was rather fond of having my head attached to my body and I had a family inside to defend, so I proceeded with caution, letting the power coil up inside me, looking for the right moment to strike.
I ignored the belligerent curses coming from CJ, the cautions coming from Steve, and the cries of pain coming from Naomi. I ignored everything but the bastard in front of me.
“I got this,” I whispered and the din in my head lowered.
Lucifer raised an eyebrow, waving me in with the fingers on his good hand. I took a tentative step forward with my heart in my throat and the metallic taste of fear lacing my tongue. New cries filled my mind and I paused, looking at the snow to my side before bringing my gaze back to Lucifer.
“I’m so looking forward to feeding on a trinity heart, no matter how tainted,” he said and looked at my chest. “Especially one containing the grace of two angels.”
I let a small laugh escape; he didn’t know I was now a father. He didn’t know just what kind of strength was building in my bones, and I sidestepped, bringing him away from the house. Away from the heads lying in the snow and towards the pretty little gazebo on the edge of the lake.
The full moon sat high overhead, settling a blue hue over the snow covered world. I caught a glimpse of CJ standing in the window, his glare as deadly as the power coiled in my belly. He met my gaze and the order to make the devil pay rocked my form but CJ didn’t have control over me, just like Steve couldn’t get me to relinquish the gun, and my gaze dropped to Lucifer.
Despite their lack of control over my actions, I wholeheartedly agreed with CJ’s order.
Lucifer would pay, but I needed information. I needed to know how to fulfill the statement Michael made at the hospital. All I needed now was Lucifer’s grace.
“Just out of curiosity, what the hell did Michael mean when he said now all I needed was your grace?” I asked as Lucifer advanced.
He smiled, stalking me like a deadly black panther. “You would become a trinity.”
“I thought I already was?” I asked, stalling, stepping further from the house.
“By vampire blood, not by angel grace.” He took a step in my direction and I countered, backing up into the half wall of the gazebo.
I had run out of space and Lucifer knew it. He lunged, pinning me against the post with his injured arm. His glare filling me with dread and the ripping pain that gripped my chest pulled a yelp from my lips. I looked down around the arm pinning me in place at the fingernails piercing my skin.
My jujitsu maneuvers didn’t work, it only proved to further increase the penetration. My base instincts started to take over and I let out a growl, sinking my teeth into his arm. They broke through the flesh and he howled, pulling away from me. I covered my heart with my left hand and shot my right out in the same dagger like formation as his hand had been.
My fingers sank into flesh and I pushed with both my inertia and my mind, crushing the ribs that stood in my way. I met Lucifer’s shocked gaze and smiled as my hand wrapped around his heart. His grace.
He stumbled back, and I yanked with everything I had.
Lucifer landed on his ass with a gaping hole in his chest, but he was still lucid. His wide eyes landing on the pulsing muscle in my hand.
Hot blood ran down my wrist and the thing continued to pulse in my grasp. When I looked beyond the still beating heart and met Lucifer’s gaze, I knew I only had a minute to react. He was already climbing to his feet, his features transitioning into fury. If I did the wrong thing, I’d be the one lying dead in the snow.
My stomach rolled at the thought of what I had to do, but I inhaled and brought the heart to my lips.
“No!” he yelled and lunged, but I had already sunk my teeth into the slimy muscle.