I couldn’t help but laugh at Clint’s snorting reply. Gabe chuckled against my neck, his breath warm against my skin. Goosebumps rose down my back and down my arms. Wrapping my arms around his back, I savored the heat of his embrace and closed my eyes.
“Is that all you guys ever do?” a sour voice asked.
Turning quickly, I spotted Adam standing in the doorway. There he was, ruining the moment once again. Holding back an angry groan, I placed my hand on my hips and raised my eyebrows.
“Only when you’re around,” I snapped. “What do you want?”
“We’re on clean up crew.” He smiled like a little boy in a toy shop. Ashley and Raquel appeared behind him. They each wore leather pants and loose fitting tops. Weapons lined their backs and hips. They smiled at me, an excited blush filling their cheeks.
“Clean up?” I turned to Gabe.
“For the ferals that escaped after the battle.” Gabe grinned, his eyes gleaming in the soft light of the barn. “Feel like working out some of that leftover frustration?”
That was absolutely the thing I needed right now. This nervous energy I’d stored all night had been relentless.
“Sign me up.”
Raquel tossed me two daggers the length of my forearm. “Arm yourself, chica.”
“Don’t forget the most important part,” Ashley said, striding toward me. In her outstretched hand, she held a gun and two magazines. “We need a little gunfire on our side. Hope your aim has improved.”
Holding the cold metal piece in my hand, I grinned at them. Later on, we could worry about mourning. Right now, what we needed was some good old-fashioned demon fighting.
This was going to be fun.
Epilogue
An ethereal figure shimmered at the crest of a hill bathed in moonlight. Tall and domineering, he overlooked the lay of the land below him. There was much to be treasured about this world, with its creatures of the sky, earth, and water. He felt an awe build up inside of him.
Humans had wasted their potential on this gemstone. Centuries of toiling under the barren sun and for what? To lie, steal, and murder their own kind? Brutes. They were no better than primordial creatures slipping from the ooze. Even their statues and buildings they erected in their own glory would tumble in time. They were nothing but specks of dust blowing along through the sands of time. So much wasted potential.
But he knew how to fix that. Soon, they would all bow before him. Even the strongest among them would yield.
It was his birthright.
He turned his gaze to the red stone mansion in the distance. The scent of blood was heavy on the wind from that direction. A battle had taken place. A battle that had been won by the very race of humans and angels who sought to destroy and entrap him.
Rage burned in his gut. Without pause, his form disseminated on the wind, directing itself toward the manor. A storm began to pick up as he approached, lightning forking across the sky. In a rumble of thunder, his form solidified on a giant staircase. Each flash of lighting through the windows illuminated the planes of his body. Tall and slender, with long limbs and a steady gate, he moved up the stairs with the silent skills of an assassin.
No one saw him enter the hallway to the rooms. If they had, they surely wouldn’t have lived to tell the tale. Slinking through the darkness, the figure paused only once to read the number on a door.
Room 225.
With his long, slender fingers outstretched, he reached for the door. They passed straight through. The rest of his body followed into the dark room, lit only by a dying fire in the hearth. A single large bed sat on the other side. Within it, two figures slept peacefully. A man and a woman. He stepped closer to watch.
The young man held no interest for him. It was the woman who drew his eyes. Lovely brunette hair haloed her head on a silk pillowcase. Dark eyelashes rested on her cheeks, occasionally fluttering in her sleep. Her skin held the purest complexion. He bent down close enough to hear the soft hum of her breath.
This was the woman he’d been waiting for—the one to free him from his captive state. Special and unique in all the world, she’d set him free.
The key.
She didn’t know how precious she was to him. How truly beautiful her lovely form appeared—part demon, part angel. It was a marvel to behold. A child of two opposing natures. Against anything natural in this world. Unequaled, just like him.
Extending a hand, he brushed a finger along her rosy cheek. Her skin blazed against his. He stroked down to her sensual mouth and rested underneath her chin.
“The time has come.” The very air bristled around him as he spoke, fighting against the natural laws to produce a rough and metallic voice. “You will release my kingdom, Elizabeth Quinn Redding. Hell is destined to come to Earth.”
The fire flared and red flashed in his dark, bottomless eyes. His gaze trailed down the rest of her body, hidden beneath white sheets.