Malevolent

Chapter 36

"Time to go!" Sariel, the brown-eyed angel announced.

     "Rafiel, take the green-eyed demon. Ariel, send for Atara and Hasteel to help retrieve the other girl and our two brothers. I'll take care of Dante and his wretched mate."

Amra knew their time was up. She had to act now. 

Sitting herself upright, she tried to get the attention of the angels.

     "Hey! You can't do this," she screamed. "Camiel is going to be furious with you all!" 

The angels turned in her direction. 

     "Sariel." Rafiel, the blond-haired angel said, "Leave her, she is right. Camiel requested her alive."

     "Alive, but he never mentioned her state." Sariel stepped closer to Amra.

Amra continued goading him. "You all think you can just do what you want? What kind of angels harm humans anyway? I thought your jobs were to protect us? I guess you can't even do that!"

     "Enough!" Sariel was suddenly right in front of Amra, gripping the rope tied across her chest and lifting her off the ground. Her feet dangled as he pulled her closer. 

Sariel studied Amra with a look of disgust across his face.  

     "Our job is to protect the faithful, not demon loving traitors like you," he seethed. 

     "Sariel, Rafiel is right though. We must return them in one piece." The other angel said.

     "We shall let Camiel handle this his way." Rafiel placed his hand on Sariel's shoulder. 

With a bitter grunt, Sariel lowered Amra back to the ground. Her gray eyes looked at each angel with anger. Her breaths were short and heavy. 

Sariel assumed it was from the tightness of the ropes, he tugged on them a bit harder and Amra glared at him.

     "Grab the others," Sariel said without taking his eyes off Amra. 

𓄋

"Amra." Dante watched from a distance as Sariel brought her close. His massive white wings unfurled once more.

Dammit. Dante had fought to keep his demon at bay, but he no longer had a choice.

FRrree mee.

Fi—

     "H-hey, be still." A small whisper came from behind Dante. Although he could barely keep his eyes open, he saw the dark-haired girl, with eyes like Amra's, working the ropes behind him.

     "Save her." He demanded.

     "It's too late for her."

The brown-eyed angel pulled Amra close, and in a fluid motion, he flung them into the air, past the threshold of the shield, and they were gone.

    "No—"

     "Dante, we have to go." Lily removed the remainder of his ropes before moving away from him.

     "NOoOOO!" Dante felt something within him crumble apart. 

Amra had been taken and he felt at fault. Now that she was captured, he'd run out of choices. He'd have to give the demon majority control, because it was the only thing that could help him counteract the poison, the only thing that could make him strong enough to destroy the remaining angels and get Amra back... but doing so meant giving the creature the upper hand and placing him at risk of losing complete control to it.

But he wanted Amra back. So, he loosened the reins on his demonic counterpart and the thing rushed to the forefront.

He felt his body change— horns tearing through his skin, featherless wings protruded from his back. Blood filled his mouth giving way to sharper teeth, bone breaking to make way for claws and talons.

It took everything in him to not fall unconscious to the creature and for some reason the demon hadn't fought him on it. It let Dante remain conscious.

Dante stood. As the remaining angels turned to face him, he smiled, knowing that soon they would pay for what they had taken from him.

Feed, Dante demanded, and the shadows around him dispersed.

The shield around them trembled—weak from the sigils Amra and Lily had drawn— as the shadows banged on it like a drum. The two angels were already on Dante but he easily thwarted their futile attempts.

He moved almost robotically, calculating every move, every strike or blow, he was always a step ahead.

With a final drum, the shield shook and broke—a massive crack of light, from the top to the bottom.

     "Good enough." Dante smirked as the shadows escaped through the crevasse, slipping into the night, in search of sustenance.

FeEd! Sssin! GuiLllTy! TeaRrr!

The demon was running rampant on campus, using the shadows to look for anyone remotely sinful. It latched onto unsuspecting victims without remorse. 

Dante could feel their dark souls. As he fed, he grew stronger, and soon, he felt the crunch of bone split from muscle as the angel below him cried in agony. KiLLLLL!