The Blood Bracelets #2: Demon Born

Chapter Twenty

'No,' Fury answered sharply. 'Get lost, Asmodeus.'

Kael was surprised by her tone. He had thought they were partners in this, considering Asmodeus had gone through so much trouble to have Fury released.

Asmodeus glanced back to Fury, giving her a patient look. 'Come now, Fury, you can't imagine I'd leave you here to fend for yourself?'

'I was half hoping you would, actually.'

'And not take advantage of the fact that the prestigious Immortal Halls have had its protections taken down?' he said. 'Such a feat hasn't occurred in centuries.'

The Immortal Halls were wide open to demon attacks then, thanks to Fury. Kael knew it wasn't that simple for demons to stride right into the Halls, but Infernum like Asmodeus wouldn't have a problem.

'I do feel as if this would make a lovely new office for my legion,' Asmodeus added, as if an afterthought.

'You should be rotting under a rock, Asmodeus!' Rafael bellowed, gold light seeping off his body like dripping flames.

Asmodeus smiled. 'Pleasure to see you again too. Fury, do you not have a ritual to perform?'

Kael glanced around the room, counting three gold lines amongst the remaining red of the pentagram. The light had receded drastically, much to the irritation that crossed Fury's face when she realised.

Rafael launched himself toward Asmodeus just as Michael shouted out in warning from behind him. Asmodeus' eyes flashed like lightning in response and suddenly everyone was blown back off their feet, a surge of energy billowing out across the room like the backlash of an explosion, chairs sent flying and bookshelves tumbling like dominoes. Kael covered his head, avoiding several books that flew above him, and then when the energy died down he sat up to see a translucent barrier separating them from Asmodeus and Fury.

Though Fury didn't look pleased at Asmodeus' assistance, she continued with her ritual anyway. The red light flared, blanketing the entire library in a flickering scarlet glow and Kael saw several of the symbols on Fury's arms move down her skin, sliding to the tips of her fingers and then dripping to the floor as if they had been painted on. They melted into the floor, bleeding into the veins in the marble to create patterns between each angle of the pentagram, looking almost like spider webs.

'I can't reverse the ritual while she's continuing,' Michael told them earnestly, his eyes watching the golden light he had created slowly become devoured by Fury's red.

But Kael watched the barrier, sensing Asmodeus' energy emanating from it as if his own life-force was what held it together. With that in mind, Kael dashed forward and planted both hands against the surface of the barrier and found that it was warm, not like other barriers that had surfaces like chilled glass. Which meant it was Asmodeus own energy that held it, not just standard magic woven together.

So Kael drew out the energy almost instinctively, as if his soul craved it. On the other side of the barrier Asmodeus' blue eyes lit up in realisation – but it was too late. Kael was taking the power that fuelled the barrier, drying it out like the sun stealing all the moisture from the earth. The barrier's surface began to crack.

A sharp pain lanced through Kael's chest and he almost pulled back from the barrier, but he forced himself to press closer to it; taking Asmodeus' energy felt like he was inducing poison.

And then Rafael suddenly slammed into the barrier, a bullet of gold fire, and the barrier shattered like it had been nothing more than glass in the face of Rafael's fury. Kael stumbled back and hunched over, the poison swelling up through his throat as if trying to escape.