Page 112 of Ember and Ash

She squeezes my hand. “I know. He’ll be okay, and we’re doing everything we can to be ready to fight with him.” She twists around to face me. “I’ve been researching demons that can bind a Crystal Seer’s powers.”

“And?”

“Jeremy has to be an Archdemon, equal to an Archangel.”

“That doesn’t sound good. How do we fight an Archdemon?”

“That’s the problem. He cannot be defeated without the aid of an Archangel.”

My mind goes to the man with the red wings, who hasn’t visited me since Micah left, but I don’t really think he’s Michael. That idea feels off. “There has to be another answer,” I argue. “I’m the Aza. I must be able to defeat him. Otherwise, my coming of age wouldn’t be such a huge thing, right?”

“Every book said an Archdemon can only be killed by an Archangel.”

“There has to be a way. Because based on what you just said, even if I find my way to Micah and fight by his side, we’re doomed.” I shake my head. “No. No, Jeremy wants me for a reason. I have power we don’t know of yet, and I can kill him. I know I can. I just don’t know if I can kill him before I declare my allegiance to the light, but maybe I can at least wound him.”

“Then you have to try. I think after another week of training you’ll be strong enough to go to the Diviner. Silas agrees. Maybe you can get to Micah and the Diviner before Jeremy gets to him or you.”

“Agreed. One week from today, we go after Micah.”

The morning of the next blood sunset, one day before we join Micah, I wake early despite the late night and rift to the edge of the forest. Micah once told me that I have to own the forest to be safe in the forest, and that’s exactly what I intend to do. I draw a deep breath and walk forward, the trees whisper and part, clearing a path for me. I spent the entire morning in the forest, and not one animal came for me.

I’m ready, I think.

That night, we all agree to wait until after the blood sunset to enter the Underbelly. We gather on the overlook and wait for it to happen. There is dread inside me for that moment the link between me and Micah will be stripped away. I watch as the blood-red streaks the sky and curl my fingers in my palms, waiting for it…And then, it’s upon me, the emptiness in my mind is terrifying. It’s as if I’m being sucked into the abyss of white noise, with pitch black all around me. I’m screaming in my head, reaching for the path between us, and then it’s back, only what I find is not good.

Pain rips through me, every part of me. I double over. My mind produces an image of Micah, a blade in his belly. “Micah is in trouble,” I bite out. “He’s—hurt.” I push through the pain, push through the fear, and straighten. “We have to go now.” I don’t wait on them. I rift away from them, seeking the exit to Elysium, and I can feel them with me, neither of them questioning what I feel.

I reappear at the exact spot I’d exited the store, sandwiched between Silas and Gabriella. We enter the store single file, me as our leader, and I don’t stop to speak to the storekeeper, exiting the other side, reaching for Micah, but he won’t answer. The night has fallen, heavy and ominous. I can feel the darkness clawing at me, and not that of the empty path where Micah will not join me. I can feel Jeremy, and I shove him away, reaching for Sara, desperate to ensure she’s still with me.

With sweet relief, I feel her move inside me, feel her ready for battle, and in my mind’s eye, I can see her fur standing on end. I wonder if she’s been suppressed for such a long time that we’re both trained to find silence, not each other. In that moment, I vow to make an active effort to invite her presence.

Sara, I whisper in my mind. I need you today.

A wave of awareness rushes over me. She approves. She likes that she’s needed. And I wonder if I’d have been nearly as lonely in my human life if she’d been unbound?

Silas and Gabriella join me, and the idea that I have friends and warriors to fight with drives home how not alone I am anymore. Now is the time to fight for them and with them and focus on the battle ahead. “Jeremy is here,” I say, telling them what I sense to be true. “He knows I’m here. War is upon us.” I offer them each my hand, confident in my assets, no longer dependent on the house, and the minute I have them both in my grip, I launch us forward, tracking Micah, my magic seeking his magic. We reappear in a giant parking lot outside a warehouse, a team of about ten Nephilim battling a much larger group of demons, I guess to be thirty thick.

Braylon has rejoined our circle and he, Silas and Gabriella rush into the battle, and moments later, I watch Silas save Celine’s life, slicing through the throat of a demon in human form and taking his head. Several demons rush at Silas, and I throw flames at them, ending them. Celine gapes at me like I’m the demon, but she’s quickly drawn back into battle. I throw more fire, and the demons scatter and run.

I can feel Micah, and I rift to the edge of the parking lot bordering a forest, just as he takes out not one but two lower-level demons, easily turning them to ash, but there is blood gushing from his side. He’s hurt, but he whirls on me, furious at the sight of me. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

His blades disappear, and he grabs my arms. “Jeremy is here. Go, now. Go back to—”

“There she is.” Jeremy’s voice lifts in the air, the hair at the nape of my neck lifting, his presence cutting me deeply. I bristle as the serpent inside me slithers and tries to reclaim me, trying to make Sara submit, only to discover my magic thrusting it away, caging it in some deep part of me. I am not that weak anymore, and Jeremy is about to discover the hellfire that awaits him now.

Micah shoves me to the side and holds out his hand, revealing an asset I didn’t know him to possess: some sort of energy rocketing from him toward Jeremy. Jeremy absorbs the impact in his chest, flying in the air several feet and bouncing off a tree. Sara howls inside me, her presence strengthening my magic in some unexplainable way. I lift my hand, a ball of flames rising above it, but Micah has rifted, now standing in front of Jeremy, engaging with him. If I hit Jeremy, I hit Micah.

A cluster of at least six demons rushes at Micah from behind, and again, I can’t use my fire for fear of burning Micah. Instead, I reach for my stars, and by the time the first three are ash, I’m behind the other three. They’ve turned to me, full attention on surviving, not attacking. I use my blade with precision, having learned its magic is as effective at turning demons to ash as a star.

With the demons gone, I whip around to find Jeremy and Micah are no longer by the tree but battling one-on-one, each with a sword in hand, and I watch in horror as they each plant their blades in the belly of the other.

The Sacred Book of Nephilim

Destiny will claim you, no matter how hard and far you run.

Chapter forty-eight

It’s as if the world is moving in slow motion.