“You have got to be kidding me.”
I whipped around at the sound of Oliver’s voice, a smile blooming along my face. He and Leanne stood at the base of the pyramid, right in the middle of the crowd of demons and not-so-nice-looking people.
“Shi-it, Corpsie,” Oliver said, assessing the crowd, “you really did a number to yourself this time.” When he caught the eye of a human next to him, he said, “What? Never seen a fairy before? Yeah, that’s right, back off.”
The demon jerked me nearly off my feet, and I stumbled up more steps.
“Freaking-A.” That was it. I hadn’t used my power up until now because I had no means of escaping this place. But now that my friends were so close, I was done with the man-handling.
My skin glowed, and I heard gasps ripple through the crowd at the sight, reminding me that I had a huge audience. I wasn’t going to think about why they’d gathered. I wasn’t.
Energy formed in my palm, and I threw it out at my captor. The demon flew back. I didn’t wait for him to hit the stone.
Demonic howls rang through the skies above me as I ran down the staircase. I noticed ominously that no one else dared to step onto the pyramid.
With each step I took, the stairs shook and the sky rumbled. The already howling wind picked up and that storm I’d seen on the horizon was now directly overhead. Flashes lit up the clouds and the entire clearing.
Lightning struck the top of the step pyramid. I covered my eyes. Once the brightness dimmed, I lowered my arm—and froze.
All that is holy.
Standing at the top of the ancient structure was the devil.
Chapter 27
Gabrielle
The devil lifted his hands in the air, and the crowd bellowed. The excitement here was full of lust—for battle, for chaos and bloodshed. Rows upon rows of demons and humans watched him.
I kept backing up until I bumped into my friends. The crowd closed in on us from all sides.
“How did he get here?” Oliver asked.
I stared up at the devil as he surveyed the land. “I have no idea.”
“Think he’ll go away?”
“No,” Leanne said. “He came to claim earth, and he came for Gabrielle.”
“Me?” I squeaked. He already got me in hell.
He shouldn’t be here. Traveling to earth was my power. But somehow he’d managed it.
The devil began descending the steps. Cameras and phones were aimed at him, and dread pooled in my stomach. Clips of this would hit the Internet. Word would get out of his existence on earth. There was power in fear, power that the devil knew how to harness.
Another world to feed upon.
“Whelp, coming here was a bad idea,” Oliver commented.
The devil’s eyes searched the crowd. After a moment, they found mine. He extended an arm towards me. And then he smiled. “Come forward, my queen.”
I froze at his voice, as did the audience. The crowd parted, and an aisle was created that led directed from the stepped pyramid right to yours truly.
Shit, shit, shit.
A thousand different faces turned to me, some of this world, some not.
Members of the crowd had pulled Leanne and Oliver away from me—the latter of whom was giving his captor the stink eye.
“Bow to your queen,” the devil continued. “My consort.”
And now a thousand different beings bent at the waist. My eyes darted from them back to the devil. Our connection pulsed and then I felt a pull from his end. The bastard was siphoning off my energy.
You aren’t using it.
I narrowed my eyes at him.
He smiled at me, stepping down stair after stair. “She is mother to the demons here, our lady of chaos.”
Thunder rumbled overhead, flashes of light brightening the dark clouds.
“What’s going to happen when he gets to me?” I threw the question over my shoulder to Leanne. Those that held her frowned at me, like I was supposed to be in-the-know when it came to the devil. Ha!
“I already told you, Gabrielle. He’s going to claim you.”
My eyes bulged. “Like in the Biblical sense?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Definitely a kiss at the very least.”
I was still stuck on maybe. My attention flittered back to the devil, who stalked down the pyramid steps and towards me with purpose.
Fuck maybe.
My power surged and I blasted it forward, making sure to avoid hitting Oliver or Leanne. Humans and demons flew into the air, knocking others over like bowling pins.
Lighting struck the ground with a thunderous boom a hundred yards from the pyramid. A chorus of screams punctuated the blast.
I strode forward. First I grabbed Leanne’s hand and then, after blasting another round of beings off of Oliver, I grabbed his too.
Another bolt of lightning speared a tree at the edge of the clearing. It caught fire, the branches going up in flame.