“So am I.” He tried to yank from my grip.
“You can’t save him.” I met his irritated gaze and I knew where his heart was, but he wasn’t thinking straight, not with the brutal spectacle outside the glass. “You cannot open that door.”
“I have to try,” he said, tears filling his bright blue eyes.
“If he gets into this house, who do you think he’ll kill first?”
Ty glared at me. “You.”
I shook my head and suddenly the truth hit him and he dropped to his knees, remembering the dark period when he hung between life and death. He glanced up, pain filling his features as the hellhounds tore Chris apart in front of us.
“You can’t kill a ghost,” I whispered.
“No, but you can torture a soul for eternity,” he replied, his voice filled with anguish.
I kept hold of his arm, watching the blood spill, the anger building, agitating Naomi and she charged at the glass, stopping short and putting her claws on the window.
It was a stupid move that exposed her belly and I saw the hellhound lunge. It hit, cracking the glass into a spider-web fracture. Naomi leapt back, retreating to the spot in front of Ty and me.
“Naomi, go upstairs,” I said and she turned her head, baring her feral teeth. “Go,” I whispered and pointed, ignoring her angry stare. I finally dropped my gaze. “I will be fine. I need you to protect our family.” I didn’t need to expand anymore and she turned, heading upstairs like I requested.
The second dog hit the glass, sending shards our way. I still had a grip on Ty’s arm and we traded a glance. “It’s your house,” I said, dropping my hand.
He looked around the room and then back at me.
“Vaporize the fuckers,” he said and the power surged in my chest.
His brother’s screams bled through the glass and when another dog launched, I let loose.
Lucifer stepped back, shock filling his features and his gaze locked to the spot the hellhound had launched from. All that remained was a back paw; Lucifer was wearing the rest of the creature in a spray of blood and guts.
Lucifer wiped the blood off his face and looked at his hand before leveling a glare at Ty. He wrongly assumed the angel had killed his hound. Neither of us corrected him, either.
Chris’s screams had subsided but the sound of flesh tearing still permeated the glass. Lucifer pointed to the decimated form. “This is now your brother’s fate. He will suffer an eternity of being ripped to shreds by my dogs,” he growled and then his gaze turned to me.
“When I return, there will be nothing you can do to stop me and my army from getting to your precious wife.”
In a blink, he was gone, and so were Chris and the dogs.
Ty hung his head. “That should have been me,” he whispered.
I stood transfixed, my body trembling. The expenditure of energy didn’t diminish the magic flowing in my blood stream, instead, it magnified.
“Damian?” Naomi’s voice cut through the waves of thought and I glanced at my surroundings until my gaze landed on her at the base of the stairwell.
“He’s coming back, and he’s bringing... things with him.” I didn’t know if it would be demon or vampire or something else entirely, but no one in the house was safe. Not even the angel beside me kneeling in defeat.
Chapter 15 - Damian
“How much time do we have,” Steve asked, swiping his clean face with a towel.
“I have no idea, but whatever he’s bringing back...” I stopped and closed my eyes for a minute, thinking on some of the things I knew about Lucifer and the monsters he commanded. “If he brings vampires back, Naomi and I are safe, but you aren’t.” I met his gaze. “They can get through the symbols and salt and once even one symbol is compromised, Lucifer can get in.”
“I thought you said there were no more vampires,” he said.
I opened my mouth to speak and then just sighed. “I honestly don’t know. I thought Eve was the last, but who the hell knows.”
“He said there were things far worse than vampires,” Naomi said, meeting my gaze.
I bit my lip, thinking about what could be worse. “The only thing as deadly as a demon that can break through our defenses, is a vampire.” I stopped and spun, staring out the window at my car before digging into my pockets. I clasped the key, yanking it out.
“I trust you have a nine millimeter?” I asked Steve.
His eyebrows arched and he nodded.
“Get the gun out of my jacket,” I ordered and headed to the front door.
“Why?”
“Platinum rounds. Heart shot or head shot will kill a vampire.”
I grabbed the salt as I passed and poured an arch wide enough for the door to swing open without compromising the integrity of the demon defense.
“What are you doing?” Naomi grabbed my arm as I reached for the door.