23. Kase

The joy I felt as we charged toward Gale was unmatched by anything I had ever felt outside Evangeline. We had been waiting for the chance to kill the man who dared lay a finger on our mate, and now it was ours. I wasn’t worried about Evangeline. I knew she could handle herself, and with as much power she was wielding, Zabiza didn’t stand a chance.

“You stupid hounds fucked everything up, and I’m going to enjoy gutting you. I think I might even have you stuffed,” Gale taunted as he swung his sword toward me.

I soared over his head, grabbing his wing with my teeth and tearing it. He turned with me, leaving himself vulnerable to Rylan and Jett’s attacks. Gale was no match for my pack. They locked onto the wing I still had locked between my teeth, and together, we ripped it from his body. Gale’s scream of pain was music to my ears as I trotted away to reposition for the next attack. Angels were durable and could withstand and heal from a lot of injuries, but they couldn’t grow new wings. Killing him would be even easier now that flyboy couldn’t take to the sky.

I glanced toward Evangeline and saw that she had Zabiza scrambling for cover. Good girl.

Gale was panting as he spun in a slow circle, trying to keep us all in his line of vision, his sword swinging wildly to keep us back. “For every injury you give me, I’ll do to Evangeline,” he threatened. Did Gale think that would intimidate us? He was already dead; he just hadn’t realized it yet.

My hound chortled at his threat, drawing his eyes and blade in our direction.

“You think that’s funny? I think I’ll make sure you’re still breathing when I rip her wing off with my bare hands. We’ll see how funny you find it then,” Gale fumed. “She was mine! If it weren’t for you, I would have had her right where I wanted her. On my cock where she fucking belonged.” While Gale was focused on me, Jett and Rylan moved behind him and ripped his other wing off. How was this guy this fucking stupid?

Gale fell to his knees from the pain, and as soon as he did, I lunged for the arm holding his sword and ripped it off. I carried it a few feet away and spit it out. I turned to see that Jett had done the same thing to his other arm. This was even easier than I had expected it to be. I’m not sure what his specialty was as an angel, but if it had anything to do with battling, he was a sad representation.

I checked on Evangeline in time to see Zabiza fly through the air. Honestly, all of this was turning out to be far easier than we had expected. At this rate, we’d be home in time for dinner. I checked on the rest of the battle and saw that the fighting around us had thinned out as our forces overpowered Zabiza’s. Saving the world was pretty fucking easy.

“This isn’t over,” Gale sputtered as Rylan approached him. “I’ll find a way to come back and make you pay for this. Pay for taking her from me!”

I shook my head. His soul had a one-way ticket to Hell. He wouldn’t be coming back, ever, if I had anything to do with it.

Rylan rolled his eyes before stretching his jaws around Gale’s head. He was still screaming when Ry ripped it from his body and spit it out.

I felt Evangeline’s triumph through the mate bond and turned in time to see her gut Zabiza. My hound howled to celebrate our victory, but the joyful feeling was short-lived. Evangeline’s fear sent panic through me as I saw her fall to her knees. Something was wrong. The three of us took off, running toward her as she fell to her back. This wasn’t happening. I couldn’t be feeling her life slip away; I just couldn’t.

Lucifer appeared by her side in the distance, and I wanted to smack myself. In our panic to get to her, we forgot we could fucking teleport. This realization hit all of us at once because, in the next second, we were back in our human forms, kneeling at her side.

“What’s happening?!” I asked frantically as I reached for her.

“Don’t touch her!” Lucifer said quickly, knocking my hands away. “She has too much power running through her body. If you touch her, you will die.”

“You have to do something, Luce!” Rylan begged. Jett rocked back and forth as his hound’s whine slipped past his lips. I could see him struggling to maintain his form, and I reached for his hand at the same time Rylan had.

“Keep it together, Jett,” I encouraged as Lucifer reached for Evangeline.

He placed a hand on her chest and one on her head and closed his eyes. Light pulsed across her skin and into him as he removed his power from her. When he removed his hands, he looked at us sadly. “I’ve retracted all of my power from her, but the damage has already been done. There isn’t anything else that I can do.” He turned to look at God, who I hadn’t noticed approaching. “She deserves this,” he said to her. “She risked her life for ours, for the world.”

I looked up into God’s face and met her eyes. “Please,” I rasped. “Please save her.”

God knelt by Evangeline’s side and looked at us before looking down at Evangeline. “I’ll do what I can, but the choice is hers.” She laid her hands on Evangeline just as Lucifer and closed her eyes. I’ve never really prayed before, but I said a prayer now as God drained the rest of the excess power from my mate.

Please, baby. Please come back to us.