A Clash of Storms (A Shade of Vampire #50)(34)

Azazel stopped in front of Draven, still grinning. Just a few inches were left between them.

He must’ve felt Draven’s breath against his face as the Druid looked up at him with calm and serenity. Azazel froze, a frown settling between his eyebrows, before his eyes widened and he realized that Draven was very real, and right in front of him.

“You’re really here,” he managed to say, baring his fangs.

He moved toward Draven but was instantly hit from the side by an invisible pulse that made him wobble and nearly lose his balance. He looked to his right and identified the source. Serena had come out and pushed a powerful barrier against him.

Draven immediately muttered something, loading his fists with incandescent energy and punching out blazing fireballs that pummeled Azazel, turning his skin red as they impacted.

He hissed and pushed back with an invisible pulse of his own, followed by several green flames, which Draven blocked expertly with his glowing forearms. Azazel then noticed that Serena wasn’t alone.

Jax, Hansa, Jovi, Thadeus, and Patrik had emerged from their hiding spots, along with the shifter. The latter drew Azazel’s attention for a split second, and he looked at him with genuine confusion before he decided he didn’t care why a shifter, belonging to a wild, untamed species, had joined this fight. He obviously had a lot more to worry about, as the group had brought out their crossbows, poisoned arrows loaded and ready to strike.

Patrik had most likely come up here wearing a pair of pants, before he’d morphed into a snake to bring me the key, because he was wearing them now. He shot me a glance and a friendly, reassuring wink. My heart began to race, and I moved slowly back toward the torch I’d eyed earlier.

“Look at you, fine traitors,” Azazel hissed as he looked at Thadeus and Patrik. “You think this means you’ve won? You think it’s the end of me? You’re all in for a very rude awakening…”

He glanced around, setting his sights on Serena.

“You’ve bothered me before, coming here unannounced, uninvited, and have been particularly rude to my staff.” His voice boomed across the terrace.

“I liked it so much the first time, I decided I wanted a do-over,” Serena replied dryly, her finger curved around the crossbow’s trigger.

“She’s feisty,” Azazel remarked, grinning at Draven. “I’ll enjoy ripping her head off.”

“Yeah, before you do that, I should warn you that while these arrows won’t kill you, there’s enough shifter poison on their tips to put you through a considerable amount of excruciating pain,” Serena shot back, undeterred by his gruesome promise.

“Surrender now, Azazel,” Draven added, his arms still glowing white, loaded with energy. “It’s no use. Luceria is falling. You can see it. You can hear it. You can feel it.”

“The only thing I feel is an urge to put my fist through your chest and rip your heart out, so you can watch its final beats,” Azazel replied, gritting his teeth.

I held the torch up. I placed my hand above the flame, reveling in how its warmth poured into me, sharpening my senses and filling me with the kind of energy I’d missed since they’d first slapped those obsidian cuffs on me.

I was ready to hit Azazel hard. There was enough fire in me to probably torch the entire place.

This was it.

Aida and Phoenix watched quietly from their bubbles, their fingers splayed over the glass, as the showdown began.

This is it, Azazel. You’re going down.





Anjani





The Mara wards were adept at diverting potential hostiles away as we raced through the tight corridors and down the service stairs toward Azazel’s dungeons. We stayed in the shadows as we listened to every noise beyond the walls. I had a feeling that all the loud bangs and fighting outside were keeping most of the Destroyers and incubi busy. The volcanoes getting shut down, along with the little Daughter’s extraction, were clearly taking their toll on Azazel’s magic.

The dungeon was ripe for the picking, I realized as we got there. Seemingly endless rooms were filled with black iron cages rattling as the prisoners called out for help, eager to get out and fight, energized by the sound of war trickling in from the ground above. They’d been down here for so long, I couldn’t blame them.

Several Destroyers emerged from behind the cages, armed to the teeth. They hissed and came at us. I brought my crossbow out and shot a couple of them in the eyes, moving quickly from side to side to keep a distance. They both wailed. I dropped the weapon and took my sword out. Its stainless steel blade was thirsty for blood.

The wards used their mind-bending skill to disrupt two other beasts before using their swords to behead them. Our opponents were blind and cursing, their serpent tails flailing erratically. One of them was quite close to one of the walls, and I needed a high angle, so I ran and jumped at the wall, using the push from my legs to launch a mid-air strike against him with my sword. The blade swished down, and his head rolled to the floor before his body collapsed.

The cages rattled even harder, prisoners gripping the bars and growling, desperate to get out as they witnessed our fight. The second Destroyer in front of me pulled the arrows out of his eyes with a short scream, the blood pouring down in streams from his orbits.

“I’ll kill you, you little…” He snarled, and used his forked tongue to pick out my precise location by scent.