“I’ve come to claim you in the name of the Lord of Souls.”

I slashed a sword and Merodach grasped that wrist and then my other, holding my arms still with unmatched physical strength. The blaze of my angelfire was close enough that it seared his skin, but he acted as if he couldn’t feel it.

“Come quietly with me and I may let your Guardian live.”

“But I won’t let you live,” I snarled and buried my knee between his legs, and he loosed a roar of pain and rage. My instinct was to run to Will and make sure he was all right, but he could take care of himself.

“You stupid, stupid girl,” Merodach snarled as he recovered. I held both my swords as I circled him, waiting for him to strike. “You and your Guardian have been overwhelmed tonight. Have you had enough?”

“Have you?” I shot back. “Or do you need another kick to the nuts? I’d be happy to oblige.”

A vicious smile curled Merodach’s lips and he laughed, a sound so deep and earthy that it made my bones shiver. The streetlights gave his scar a sickly glow. “This fight is nothing compared to the ten thousand demonic reapers we have gathered. I will take the grimoire and feed your soul to Sammael. How many more of your friends will I enjoy killing? After I’m done with you, your Guardian is next. And then I will hunt down the last of your pathetic little flock of angelic reapers before I feast on your little blond human friend and your seer grandmother. Yes, Preliator. Don’t think that I haven’t been keeping my eye on you.”

Terror stabbed like metal spikes into my muscles as my body went stone rigid. I believed him when he said that he would murder my friends and family. He had already stolen from me so many people I loved and so much of who I once was. It felt like he was taking me apart piece by piece, ripping out chunks of my soul until there was nothing left.

But Merodach was wrong. I would never allow him to take all that I knew away from me. I had to survive. I had to kill him and protect everyone and everything I loved. All of the beasts of Hell knew they couldn’t stop me. I was the archangel Gabriel, the Preliator, and they knew that no matter how many times they killed me, I always came back to kill them. No matter how much they frightened me, I remembered what Cadan had told me about the stories of me he had grown up hearing. Even demons feared something. The demonic reapers had nightmares of their own, stories they told one another to terrify, a legend that haunted them in their sleep. That was me. I was Hell’s nightmare.

I charged at him, slashing my Khopesh blades and splitting his skin with silver and angelfire. He drew his double-bladed sword to counter my attacks, but I was fast and determined. Merodach backed toward the wreckage in the road as I drove him, shoving my power into each sword strike. With a rage-filled cry, I leaped into the air, kicking off the hood of a car to send me higher, and I smashed my boot into the reaper’s face. He hit the ground hard before I even landed, but was back on his feet in a flash. The instant he lifted his blade, I slammed him with another blast of my energy, a lightning strike of white light, and he soared, roaring, through the air.

Merodach landed heavily on the pavement and skidded to a stop while cars raced past him. The driver of a sedan blared the horn before swerving to avoid him at the last minute and almost sideswiping one of the immobile wrecked cars. Merodach got to his feet and I threw my power at him, knocking him back off his feet. He rolled on the ground and howled in rage as he rose again. I could feel his power building almost exponentially, gathering strength like a tidal wave. Even from the sidewalk where I stood, I could see the pure, undiluted fury in his blinding eyes.

Merodach crossed the lanes as he stomped toward me and another car came rushing down the street, but he didn’t give it a chance to swerve. His power detonated in a burst of shadows and smoke and he lashed out behind himself in anger, smashing the bottom of his fist into the grill of the car. The force behind his blow sent the car careening through the air above his head and it slammed upside down into the road with a shriek of metal against pavement. I gasped in horror, praying for signs of life. When no one emerged from the debris, Merodach stepped up to the car and kicked the frame, sending it sliding and screeching over the curb and out of the street. The humans who had tried to help ran in the opposite direction or tumbled to the ground in fear.

“Freeze!”

The command came from a few yards down the sidewalk, accompanied by the shuffling of footsteps and click-clacking of a firearm. I spun to find a police officer with her gun drawn and pointed at the demonic reaper. Her cruiser, lights flashing, was parked across multiple lanes to stop anymore traffic. My heart pounded. If one cop was here, then more would arrive very soon.

“Drop the weapons, hands behind your head,” she ordered.

It took me a moment to realize that meant me. I was the one standing there with flaming swords in both of my hands. Merodach was the only bad thing here, but the officer didn’t know that. With my entire body trembling, I let the angelfire die and I placed my swords on the ground before raising my hands. I really didn’t want to get shot again.

“You.” She gestured with her head for Merodach to get out of the road. “On the grass. Hands on the ground.”

He just stared at her with a blank look and didn’t move.

“Hands on the ground!” she repeated, her voice breaking with fear.

“Merodach,” I called to him, hoping he would ignore the officer, but after what he’d done at Josie’s house, I didn’t think he would. No innocent humans needed to get mixed up in this mess. The demonic reaper ignored me and I felt my pulse quicken. I had to try and talk him into taking this fight someplace else. I considered running. If he wanted the grimoire and to take me to Sammael, then he had to follow me, but I couldn’t risk bolting and leaving the bystanders defenseless. Will was taking on the last of Merodach’s reapers and I was on my own here.