Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
He’d wait her out. She’d come at him sooner or later. She wouldn’t be able to help herself.
Do you think we can trust the Six? Dice asked as Viper telekinetically tore a post sporting a flapping country flag from a mobile home.
Viper telekinetically swept the pole outwards, knocking down several strix in one swoop. I don’t know. His entity didn’t trust them for a second.
The archangels—currently alternating between volleying golden orbs of holy fire around and striking out with archangelic blasts—had joined their fight, yes. But just because they were slaughtering hell-born demons didn’t mean they wouldn’t later turn on the fallen angels around them.
Viper pitched an ultraviolet orb at an approaching strix, catching it full-on in the face. A pained cry crawled out of the demon as it staggered backwards, digging the heels of its palms into its eyes. A vine shot out and wacked it aside—sending it crashing into a hellhorse. The steed whirled on the strix and bit off its head.
Okay.
The smells of sulphur and brimstone proceeded the cracking of a whip. The black fire slapped his chest, searingly hot and corrosive. The pain was surreal.
Little black chips rained down on the offending strix, melting its flesh and killing it. Hell-ice.
Viper didn’t need to look up to know that Teague’s mate would be hovering in the air above. Larkin could shoot hell-ice, and she liked to attack while in flight.
More strix came at him, and Viper let his focus center on the battle. Fury, adrenaline, a thirst for vengeance, the addictive release from violence—it all coursed through him, drove him, fueled him. Power hummed in the air from a combination of hellfire, magick, unholy fire, and archangelic power.
Around him, his brothers fought like savages. The archangels battled just as mercilessly, as did Larkin. Hellhorses kept on galloping back and forth, ruthlessly knocking into strix like battering rams; stomping over the fallen bodies; exhaling streams of hellfire. The hounds barked and pounced and tore into flesh. Ravens flew down to attack faces, pecking and clawing.
The colony outnumbered them, but Viper didn’t believe that would last long. Not with the assault that the strix faced. But they either didn’t feel the same way or weren’t letting it impact them, because they fought like trojans. There was relentless biting, clawing, pouncing, hellfire-throwing, and whip-lashing.
The more the battle raged, the more insane the noise level became. The snapping of whips, the spitting of flames, the barking of hounds, the stomping of hooves, the crackles of magick, the squawks of ravens, the whooshes of zooming orbs—the combination was near deafening.
Hearing a pained neigh, he looked to see a hellhorse sprawled on the ground on its side, three strix crawling all over it. Viper lobbed one with ultraviolet orbs while Larkin swooped down and snatched away another. The steed then surged up, the movement so abrupt it flicked the last strix off like a fly. Before the strix could rise, Viper telekinetically lifted a trailer and plonked it on top of the offending creature, squashing it.
On and on they all fought, both sides primal and determined. Ashes wafted on the breeze that whispered over his skin and tousled his hair.
At one point, Viper took a moment to quickly let his gaze zip around. The strix’s numbers had dropped notably, to his entity’s supreme satisfaction, but they were still fighting hard. They wouldn’t retreat unless their queen ordered such a move.
His brothers were covered in burns and rake marks, but they were alive and on their feet—most were also smiling. The hellhorses were still hard at work, burning and biting and barreling into strix. The hounds and ravens attacked just as viciously.
The archangels had broken away from the Black Saints. They were now soaring around, having joined Larkin and the carrion birds in attacking from above.
Meanwhile, the enchanted vines continued to writhe along the ground, popping up to wrap around strix, flick them away, or drag them off.
An owl dived down toward his face, its talons extended. Viper reacted fast, telekinetically batting it aside. It screeched but managed to keep to the air. Then it was coming at him from another angle … and got snatched out of the air by a hellhorse’s teeth … at which point another steed appeared, and they began playing tug of war with it.
We should invite the clan to our battles from now on, Ghost telepathed along their club’s channel, a laugh lacing the words. They’re seriously entertaining.
A loud familiar curse caught Viper’s attention. He snapped his head to the side, noticing that Omen had been shoved onto the garbage pile and had two strix feeding from him while a third tried yanking off his head.
Viper teleported over there, grabbed one strix by the hair, and yanked it away from his brother. It whirled on him fast, dragging its nails down his face, slicing through skin. Viper retaliated with a telekinetic punch to the solar plexus that made it stagger backwards, trip over a vine, and tumble onto its back.