19. Azazel

Chapter nineteen

Azazel

A Champion is Rising

A fter traveling to two other locations looking for Saraphell, after torturing the last demon because he wanted to be stubborn, I teleported Rai to her hideout. Demons surrounded it, but I made sure the shadows surrounding us cloaked our presence so they couldn't sense or see us.

"Four on the outside, no telling how many inside," I said.

"I don't have my sword," Rai said. "Can you handle them?"

I smirked. "Is that your command?"

Rai looked at me and I turned to him. "What?" he asked me.

He looked so adorable when he was confused. During the fight with Baal, I was... worried for his safety. I acted out of instinct when I rushed toward him to push him out of the way of Baal's attack. He was mine, I wouldn't let anyone hurt him.

"I am your Champion, Rai. Why don't you have some fun with me? If you're concerned that these demons mean anything to me, don't be. I will annihilate them."

Rai smiled. "I like hearing you say that you're mine."

Ohh, what was this here... he was becoming possessive of me... after all this time? I liked it. No, I loved it.

"Yes, baby," I flirted, daring to use the term. He only snorted and rolled his eyes. I took that as a sign that he was warming up to me.

I unraveled the shadows, exposing us to the demon guards, who became instantly alert. Before they could attack, I was on them. My sword emerged from my aura, lethal and precise as I slashed through each one, slicing them in half. Low to mid-level demons like them were easy work for a demon Knight like me.

"Damn, that was awesome," I heard Rai say.

I turned to see him stepping over one half of a pile of ash toward me. I kicked opened the door, or rather, kicked it off its hinges, sending the wood splintering into deadly shards that stabbed several of the demons inside. I stepped through with Rai following me and the demons gathered themselves for an attack.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Rai warned.

"You have a lot of nerve coming here," said the demon I assumed we were there for.

"Saraphell?" I inquired to make sure.

"Azazel." Saraphell stepped between two large male demons, all looked human as they'd taken over human bodies when they had entered this world. She had taken the form of a woman who resembled her once-human countenance. Yes, she was beautiful.

"Do you know why I'm here?" Rai asked and his tone was full of authority.

He was growing into his role as a Guardian well, I thought.

"I do and you will get no answers or help from me, trash," Saraphell said with a sneer. "Kill them!"

"Azazel," Rai said only my name, but I needed no instructions.

Twelve demons, excluding Saraphell, rushed at us, but I attacked them, freezing others while I sliced through the horde. When Saraphell saw what was happening, she tried to flee, but I froze her as well. As the last demon fell by my sword, Rai made his way over to her motionless body.

"Unfreeze her. I need answers," Rai commanded.

I approached them and released my power over her. She tried to run, but I grabbed her hair and slung her to the floor. Immediately, I towered over her, pressing my foot to her chest, the tip of my sword at her throat.

"Don't," I threatened.

She glared up at me, her fangs showing in her rage. "You traitor! I used to look up to you. You're pathetic now... a fallen demon!"

She wielded insults like all demons did, nothing I hadn't heard before. They no longer affected me.

"Play nice, Saraphell, and I won't make you suffer," I said.

"How low you are now," she said.

"Yes, yes, he's such a disappointment to you, big fucking deal," Rai said as he joined us, then knelt beside her. "He's my Champion, bitch, and I'll have him gouge out your eyes if you sling one more insult his way. Got me?"

Saraphell's eyes widened, then narrowed. She looked at me and I smiled, then winked. She growled, but returned her gaze to Rai because he was the one who was in charge. It took me a century to prepare myself for that realization. To accept it. I didn't think I would, but the moment I saw him fighting demons, I knew he'd need me even if he didn't, or kept refusing me. More importantly, I felt our connection and it made me want to serve him. Even now, as I carried out his orders, I felt a sense of satisfaction that had my cock hard. I wanted more of what only Rai could give me.

"What do you want, Guardian bastard?" Saraphell asked, her nostrils flaring as she struggled to breathe due to the weight of my foot pressed on her chest. Human bodies did have their weaknesses if you weren't strong enough to transform that weakness into your power the way higher level demons could.

"Are you trying to open Satan's cell?" Rai asked her.

Hearing his voice brought my focus back and I paid attention.

"Yes! And he will rise to rule Hades and Earth and Heaven," she said in her sycophantic exuberance.

"How will you open his cage?" Rai asked in a calm voice.

"Like I'd tell you," Saraphell shot back.

"Do you need to kill the child?" he asked.

"We need only their blood, but killing the child will be fun," Saraphell said, smiling.

"How will you find the child?"

"All we'll need is a drop of her blood," she continued to taunt.

Rai's brows lifted. "So, it's a female child you need?"

Saraphell looked off to the side as if realizing her error. "Fuck you."

"How will you find her as the Seeker?"

"How much did you cry yourself to sleep after giving up your family?" Saraphell mocked.

I saw Rai's body tense a bit. "What do you know of my family?" he asked.

Saraphell laughed. "More than you know."

"She knows nothing," I said. Demons were masters of manipulation and finding a human's weakness was our bread and butter.

"I know everything!" she spat back.

"Oh? Then you must know his mother died, you can't hurt him with that," I said and I hoped Rai wouldn't take my bait. I watched his muscles relax and knew that we were on the same wavelength.

"We know that... But the rest of his family won't be safe. We'll kill them for what he is doing now," Saraphell said, peddling a wolf ticket, as they say.

We got the answer we needed regarding Rai's family. Demons had no idea who they were, or that his mom was alive and well.

"Tell me how you'll find the key," Rai demanded.

Saraphell smiled as she snarled.

I sliced her throat a little with my sword, just enough to sting and bleed. She hissed and then glared at me. "Answer his question, Saraphell."

"Go to Hades, Azazel! Oh! That's right... you can't." Her cackle that followed was full of cruelty.

"I don't want to go back to Hades, Saraphell. I much prefer my life here." I smiled. "Who knew torturing and killing demons would bring me so much joy? There's nothing I love more than knowing how much trouble I'm causing those three bitches," I said, thinking about the Empresses.

"Fuck those whores too. Our true ruler will rise!" Saraphell declared. "You cannot stop it."

"Azazel, do you think if we take her heart, the blood that flows through her will lead us to the Chosen One?" Rai asked me.

"It's possible." I knew of a spell I used to locate certain people using their blood.

"Kill this bitch then, and get me her heart," Rai commanded.

I almost orgasmed, I was so aroused, that I swooned. Seeing him in his butch mode made me want to ride his cock until we both came screaming in ecstasy.

"No... don't," Saraphell pleaded, and her pitiful voice helped me gather myself. Rai had given me a command.

Rai stepped back and I knew he wasn't going to give her any more chances. I plunged my sword into her throat, the blade embedding into the floor. She could no longer scream, a sound I did enjoy, however, I didn't care. I knew the wound wouldn't kill her, but it would keep her pinned in place. I removed my foot, then leaned down, thrusting my hand into her chest, breaking through her bones to reach the beating organ. She thrashed for only a few seconds. Once I had it, I ripped it out, blood and bones splattering around her dead body.

"Jesus, I thought you were going to cut it out," Rai said as he stared in disgust at my blood-soaked hand with her heart in it.

I shrugged. "This was quicker." Using my magic and a few words to channel it, I infused her heart with the spell to help us find the child. The heart continued to beat, which made Rai shiver in revulsion.

"That shit is gross," he said.

I chuckled. "But effective."

"So, do you feel anything?"

"Not yet."

Rai looked at Saraphell, then stepped over her corpse. "How do you know her?"

I looked at her and then back to him. "We met a millennia ago. She had been raped by four men. The townspeople mocked and shamed her, so much so, she was going to kill herself. I came to her then, and told her to get her revenge. Then I gave her the Bella Donna flower.

"Poison being the weapon of choice for many women," Rai said.

"When people wrong you, don't be suicidal, be homicidal. That's the only way you'll get true satisfaction. Why should those who've hurt you live happy lives when you're suffering?"

"But they'll go to Hell," Rai said.

"Ahh, but don't humans believe in that trusty loophole? Where if they repent, they can go to Heaven? Only way you can't is if you kill yourself. You see, that was always one of my favorite lines to convince mankind to give into their base nature."

"You know, you were winning me over before that shit."

I rolled my eyes. "I was a Demon of War, Rai. It's what I did. I am that no longer," I reminded him.

"But do you still feel that way?"

I tilted my head to the side. "Don't you?"

He scoffed. "No, I don't. I don't think people should kill."

"Yes, you do. And that's what makes you different from other Guardians. That's what makes us compatible. Because you truly do believe there are times when killing someone is completely justified."

He was silent and I knew he knew I was right about him.

"Let's go," he said, finally.

I smiled, because it was a victory in my book. I took his hand and began to teleport, feeling the power of her heart taking me to the target. Saraphell couldn't teleport, she could fly though, but being able to teleport gave me a great advantage. Traveling the world through the portal of space and time allowed me to cover more ground. The blood of her heart glowed brightly when we came close and I landed us in New York. Harlem, to be exact. I kept the shadows surrounding us, and we were standing in the alley of a tall apartment building.

"Where are we?" Rai asked, his eyes on the glowing and beating bloody heart.

"In Harlem. We must hurry," I said, then teleported him to the very apartment where our target was because I had sensed a powerful demonic presence.

"Oh shit!" Rai said as soon as we landed.

I tried to freeze the demons, but I couldn't and I knew why. Four demons had laid waste to the humans in the home. One I was sure was a Seeker by the way Saraphell's heart shook in my hand. It recognized one of its own. The other two were foot soldiers, but the one who worried me was a Knight. He was also the one who nullified my power to freeze the other demons. Demon Knight Leviathan stood in the room, blood dripping from his claws, his glowing green gaze on me. He must have also been the Knight who'd poisoned Veronica.

I tossed Saraphell's heart because I needed both hands free for this encounter. "You've betrayed Lilith," I said.

"Lucifer is the only one I serve, Azazel," Leviathan said, then he charged toward me.

I brought out my sword and armor, then slashed, but he dodged, then conjured up his sword and armor. His was silver with black razor-sharp edges. Rai pulled out his dagger and gun as it was all that he had to defend himself.

"Save the girl, Azazel!" was his command.

I looked past Leviathan to see a demon trying to climb out of the window with a teenage girl. I threw my sword, piercing the demon in the back of his head. At the same time, I had to dodge an attack from Leviathan. The demon my blade killed, burned to ash and the girl fell to the floor, still unconscious. Rai ran over to the other demon and their fight ensued. He was at a disadvantage because we weren't fighting as one, but he wasn't without skill and fortitude. He was going to need it.

I called my sword back to me in time to block a downward slash from Leviathan. We clashed as we fought, I caught glimpses of Rai's tussle with the other two demons. It wasn't looking good, which meant one of those demons had to be at mid-level. He needed me, but I couldn't go to him. I had to switch my complete focus to Leviathan. I kicked him and managed to slash his back, but he countered by jabbing me in the side with his blade, making me growl. The pain was searing, but the wound wasn't life-threatening.

Both injured, we stumbled away from each other, my stomach bleeding and burning from the power of his blade and him falling to one knee as his back gushed blood. I pushed the pain aside and charged forward and Leviathan blocked my blade. We were both on our feet again, our swords slashed as the sound of steel echoed off the walls. Leviathan was Lilith's highest-ranking Knight and he was proving why with every calculated move. The wound in my stomach would take time to heal, just as the wounds I was giving him would. Blades from demon Knights could not be matched.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Rai had killed one demon, but that attack left him open to the other. "Rai!" I screamed and sent my sword toward that demon. It spun in the air like a flying guillotine and when it struck, it did the damage I wanted. The head of the demon flew from its shoulders before his blade could kill Rai.

It was a decision that cost me as Leviathan's sword pierced my chest. I grabbed it before it could stab my heart and held it tightly. Blood bubbled up from my mouth and I choked on it as I fell to one knee. The wound burned and throbbed as I fought to keep my heart safe.

"Azazel!" Rai screamed, the sound of his voice reverberated through my very soul. Something inside of me burst open. I'd never felt anything like that before. All pain disappeared as my body lost its shape and formed into a black mist that floated into Rai.