1. Ashe

ASHE

Bullets slam into the side of my Jaguar. I don’t flinch but I do curse mentally at the damage. I glance out the driver side window, noting the approaching SUV in a perpendicular alley. A man dressed in white leans out of the window, an automatic rifle tucked against his shoulder. Pressing the gas pedal harder, I swerve around the sedan stopped at the red light and into the intersection.

“Holy fucking shit, Ashe!”

Eris slams her hand against the roof, gritting her teeth as I weave us between traffic and through to the other side. Looking in the rearview mirror, I’m satisfied that there’s enough chaos now to slow our pursuers down. There are collisions, and likely mortals have been hurt, but they’re collateral damage I have to accept.

I’ve accepted a lot worse while protecting my mate and wife these last hundred and fifty years.

“I would think you’d have more faith in me after all this time,” I tell the demoness possessing my wife.

She grits her teeth and shoots me a glare. It’s so reminiscent of the looks Cassandra would give me after I deliberately pissed her off that my heart stutters, aching like it’s been sprained after tripping. I shake the pain off, too familiar with it to let it hold me down.

Especially not now. Not when we finally have a chance at fulfilling the bargain Cassandra made with Eris.

“I’ve still got eyes on Aeternaphiel’s car,” I say, glancing at the rearview mirror again. The SUV that appeared minutes after we left the gallery grand opening in pursuit of the archangel hasn’t cleared the intersection yet.

I press down on the gas, glad I upgraded the engine. Even though the Jaguar F-Type came standard with a 5L V8, I wasn’t satisfied until I’d installed a V12. It had taken a lot of work, not just to the engine but to the chassis too. As I smoothly race through traffic with a sniper’s precision, the speedometer creeping closer to eighty, I can’t help the savage grin that bares my fangs.

Even as a human, I was addicted to the adrenaline rush I’d get from risking my life. It only grew over my time as a vampire. Whether it was riding wild stallions bareback along the craggy mountainsides of central Europe, carriages at night in lightning storms, helicopters, planes, cars—it didn’t matter. As technology advanced, all it meant to me was I had more ways to feel alive.

“Ashe...” Eris growls my name in warning, and I swear I hear Cassandra’s voice in there. My heart races faster than the car, knowing she’s so close to the surface. My wife never had the same need to feel the rush that only living a moment away from death brings.

Ignoring her warning, I tilt my head towards the glove box, then take a sharp left when our target does further ahead. I’m familiar with this city. He and his team aren’t. “I’m going to cut them off. Use the rifle in there to take out the tires.”

Eris frowns, no doubt questioning how the small compartment could hold anything like a rifle. When she opens it, she cackles—a dark chill running down my spine and reminding me of her true nature.

“Smart and rich,” she says, pulling the matte black AR-15 from the compartment I’d extended into the front trunk space. Yeah, I’d insisted on the European design with the engine in the back. For this exact reason.

“Coming up,” I warn her, and she rolls down her window. We’re racing through a back alley, leaving a trail of destroyed trash bags behind us. Fortunately, there aren’t any dumpsters, the buildings are too close for them.

The wind rushes inside, carrying the scent of refuse, piss, and death. Mixed in, though, is the woodsy, citrusy scent of my wife though it’s tainted by sulfur. I fight the memories threatening to overwhelm me, needing to focus. If we capture this asshole today, I could have Cassandra back in my arms tonight.

I don’t care who I have to kill to get my wife back. I’ll burn this world to the ground if that’s what it takes.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m more like Landon than I want to admit.

I shift gears, pushing the engine harder and we launch out of the alley onto a two-lane road. I press the button on the steering wheel that lowers my own window as I swing the back end out left. Then I draw the gun from my shoulder holster as I fight to keep us in control as people swerve around us. The black SUV is barreling down the road towards us, close enough I see the eyes of the startled driver go wide.

Eris pushes her upper half out of the passenger window, the semi-automatic rifle’s butt tucked against her rifle. The rapid shots fill my ears, the smell of gunpowder and accelerant cloud my nostrils. The windshield of the SUV becomes a spiderwork of cracks. I slide my arm out of the window, aiming for the front tires without ever slowing. My hand is steady, and I hit both. Eris is still emptying the magazine with a hellish snarl.

Feet away from a head-on impact, I drop my gun in my lap and jerk the car to the right, the disabled SUV inches from my side mirror. The moment we’re clear, I pull the hand brake and whip us around again. Eris grunts as her hip slams into the car door but she doesn’t lose the gun or fly out the window.

From the moment we entered the alley to now, watching the SUV fishtail, jump the curve, and finally stop by slamming into a light pole was a matter of seconds. A minute at the most.

I don’t stop until we’re at the back of the SUV. Eris is already out of the car, abandoning the rifle for the celestial blade that’d been strapped to her thigh. I follow, wishing she wouldn’t be so reckless with Cassandra’s body.

Right now, though, with the gunmetal silk dress hugging her body before flaring out around her long legs, her dark hair tumbling chaotically around her neck and shoulders, I can believe Eris had once been an angel. One full of retribution and glory; a destroyer of anything in her path.

I’ve got my gun in hand again, releasing the clip and letting it clatter to the ground as I slam another one in.

Eris reaches for the back passenger door, a snarl twisting Cassandra’s beautiful face.

Time stops as the door explodes open, brilliant white light searing my eyes. I throw my arm over my eyes even as I turn away, a primal hiss escaping me as my very essence begins to burn.

A sound—a scream from another world, reverberates and pummels my skull. I roar in challenge even as I slam my hands over my ears. The torturous light has disappeared and I whirl back, refusing to abandon my wife and Eris to whatever the fuck was in the back seat.

A dark-haired man—not a man, an archangel—is towering over Eris as her knees begin to buckle against the onslaught of whatever power he’s pushing towards her. She bares her teeth in a vicious snarl, her face twisted in pain. Her dagger is on the sidewalk beside her, melting. Black, oily mist looks as if it’s been forced from Cassandra’s body, being pulled towards him.

He doesn’t even pay attention to me.

He raises an arm, a golden light coming from his hand and forming into a damn sword.

I charge, pure fury and the need to protect my mate pushing me past the pain of his angelic radiance. I unload my handgun, each bullet slamming into the power around him. Not a single one reaches him. My vampire speed seems to slow to nothing as I watch in horror as he raises the fully formed blade then begins to bring it down on Cassandra.

I push harder, every part of my being screaming as if I’m burning away.

The point of his blade inches closer to where Eris and Cassandra are now kneeling on the sidewalk before him. His eyes are a bright blue ringed with silver and his face is a visage of satisfaction.

I never take my eyes from him as I sweep my hand down and grab the melting celestial blade. My skin chars but I grip it tighter. With a snarl, I slam it into his gut. His eyes turn to me with hatred as my blow pushes him back a step. The blade swings down, barely missing my wife’s chest and sweeping down through the black mist.

Then Aeternaphiel laughs.

He drops the blade, and it dissipates. I’m caught in his powers, unable to move, my supernatural strength useless against his might.

He says something, a language only known by angels and demons. I’m helpless as he presses two fingers against my forehead. His smile is more twisted and evil than Eris’s has ever been.

I don’t care if I die. Not if it means I’ve kept Cassandra safe. The celestial blade is still in his stomach, and he finally looks down at the wound. My gaze follows his and he scowls as his own skin begins to flicker as if being burned by invisible flames.

He staggers back again, hitting the totaled SUV. He’s far enough from me that his power is no longer holding me up. I fall to my knees, twisting to face Cassandra where she’s collapsed. She looks distorted and too pale. Too still.

I croak as I try to say her name, reaching towards her with a weak arm. Whatever the asshole did to me, I have no strength left.

I don’t care as another SUV pulls up and men in white cassocks rush around us to help Aeternaphiel. I have to get to Cassandra.

Someone kicks me in the shoulder, sending me to sprawl on my back.

The archangel is snarling down at me, his arms thrown over a justicar on either side of him. He hisses something and power slams into me. I fight against the darkness overwhelming my mind. I must keep her safe.

I can’t fight it anymore when one of his assistants kicks me in the head, the darkness overwhelming me at once.