Damnation. The woman must be one of the succubi who’d destroyed his original twelfth, Asmodeus.
How dare she use the power he’d inadvertently given her against him? This treachery wouldn’t stand. He wouldn’t allow it!
Gritting his teeth, Belpheg turned to Mammon and the remainder of his twelve. Their circle might be broken, his energy wavering, but his twelve still retained the impressive powers they’d gathered over these many months. And for now, he still had control of the zombies.
“Use the corpses as cover,” he ordered his twelve. “Kill them all.”
Belpheg flicked his wrist to propel the zombies toward Mammon’s sons before turning his attention to Maddox. In all the confusion, the incubus had attempted to flee and had almost made it to the edge of the forest.
Nice try, but you fail.
He wound a bubble of energy around the incubus and lifted him in the air, propelling the flailing man toward him. Belpheg might not be willing to kill one of his twelve—not yet, at any rate—but that didn’t mean he couldn’t cause him a great deal of pain.
The man needed to learn the consequences of betraying him…and they were far more agonizing than the mere loss of his soul.
If Maddox wouldn’t agree to rejoin his cause and reform the circle, then he would suffer more than any man in existence had ever suffered.
…
Dagan was still on his knees—still reeling in disbelief that their newly discovered brother had not only not betrayed them, but actually managed to sway one of Belpheg’s twelve minions into leaving the circle—when all hell broke loose.
“Now,” Keegan yelled.
Dagan had no more than a moment to exchange one last meaningful glance with Lina before she grew her wings and flew after Ronin. Right into the thick of the action, despite knowing Belpheg had transformed his minions with an array of superpowers.
Much as it terrified him, it also made her who she was, and he loved her for it.
He took a precious second to let out a brief, desperate prayer.
Please, let her be okay.
A quick glance across the field confirmed that Keegan had joined Ronin and Lina in flight, and they were now engaged in battle with the incubi. Before Dagan’s very eyes, Taeg dissipated into his air form. When one of the incubi aimed a bolt of energy at Keegan, a burst of wind that could only be Taeg knocked him halfway across the field. The image would almost be laughable if their situation wasn’t so dire.
“You okay?” he yelled over to Maya, who’d converged with Amara and the other succubi to battle the horde of zombies Belpheg had taken command of.
Maya let out a banshee yell and effortlessly hacked a zombie in half before tossing him a quick grin. “Peachy.”
Yeah, she was in her element here. No surprise she seemed to be enjoying herself.
Satisfied the women were more than holding their own, he redirected his gaze toward the battle halfway across the field.
That was when his eyes met the one person he hated most in the world.
Mammon.
His gut clenched, and his jaw tightened at the sight of the man who’d delighted in torturing him for so many years. Who’d made him believe he wasn’t worthy of love.
Mammon had joined two other incubi in battling Keegan, but once their gazes locked, he changed directions, heading straight for Dagan.
Just like my damned father. Always going for the weakest link.
An old, familiar burst of panic threatened to overwhelm Dagan. How many times had he been here before, cowering in terror while his sadistic father advanced?
But then he forcibly shook himself out of it. That was just his father talking, and for some fucking crazy reason, he’d listened to it all these years. He might be the youngest, but he wasn’t the weakest link. He would only be that if he gave into the fears Mammon had beaten into him throughout his childhood.
“Not this time,” he muttered. Not this freaking time.
He was going to make a stand against the monster who’d raised him…if it was the last thing he did. And considering that Mammon had managed to absorb untold abilities through Belpheg’s succubi, Dagan didn’t kid himself. It probably would be the last thing he did. Demons were never stronger than their parents after all…nature’s way of saying “Fuck you,” to demon offspring.
Raising the sword in his hand, he ran toward his father with a loud battle cry. To his immense satisfaction, an expression of surprise—maybe even the slightest bit of alarm—wound through Mammon’s face. He held up his empty hand, however, and an instant later, a sword formed where nothing had been.
Holy shit.
Looked like dear old dad had absorbed the magical skills of a dwarf somewhere along the line. The ability to attract metal objects and instantaneously form them into powerful weapons was certainly nothing to scoff at. He couldn’t help but wonder whether Mammon had called the metal to him from the neighboring, ore-rich mountains, or whether he’d simply divested some unlucky man on the field of his weaponry. He didn’t have much time to ponder that, however, because a moment later Mammon was practically in front of him, his arm raised high to deliver a punishing blow.