Chapter 186: From Inside out

Azriel

I slammed my palms together, raising a dense crimson blood-barrier around myself.

The swords struck the shield and exploded in bursts of light that rattled my teeth, but the barrier held.

Before the smoke cleared, Draca dropped lightly onto the cave floor and pressed his open palm flat against the stone.

The earth groaned as the ground beneath him liquified into a churning vortex of stone and sediment.

Boulders and jagged rock daggers erupted from his palm, hurtling toward me in a crushing avalanche.

"An earth manipulator," I muttered, sweeping my arms to shatter the oncoming stone with my aura.

I countered at once, spinning on my heel and kicking forward to launch a spray of crimson diamond shards straight at his chest.

Draca moved like a phantom, stepping onto the vertical cavern wall and sprinting along the stone to slip past every shard.

He pushed off, hovering high above me, and brought his hands together, releasing a concentrated flash of divine light directly into my eyes.

It detonated in my face with a deafening boom.

Pain seared through my eyes, blinding me instantly.

White noise roared through my ears as I staggered backward, every sense spinning wildly out of my control.

Before I could steady myself, a cold line of agony tore across my chest.

A scream ripped out of my throat as another slash opened my abdomen, then a third across my ribs.

Through the white haze of my ruined vision, I could barely make out the outlines of thousands of spectral blades closing in from every direction, carving into me with terrible precision.

He meant to flay me alive, one cut at a time.

Those blades were not forged steel. They were coated in a black celestial toxin, designed to rot divine and demon flesh alike.

As a half-demon, half-celestial prince, the poison hit my bloodstream like liquid fire.

My celestial half burned beneath the holy venom while my demon half fought viciously to purge it, turning everything inside me into a battlefield of its own.

The pain dropped me straight to my knees. Blood poured from dozens of deep gashes across my arms, chest, and face, pooling on the cold stone beneath me.

I gritted my teeth hard enough to taste copper, chest heaving as my magic drained away at a frightening rate.

"Oh? The mighty Sin, losing his fight over a handful of scratches," Draca’s voice drifted down from above, cutting through the endless sound of slicing metal. "Lyrielle would be so ashamed of you. She was no mere demon princess. She was a legendary warrior, and yet her son cannot even defend his own skin."

He landed in front of my kneeling form, looking down at me with open contempt.

"You are weak, Azriel. How do you intend to protect that precious mate of yours when you collapse this easily? Once I have torn you apart, I will take the child from him. I will mold your offspring into my finest puppet, my true successor, since my own worthless son decided to play house with Elysium instead."

His laughter filled my skull, drowning out everything else as the toxin spread toward my heart, dragging my consciousness steadily down into the dark.

"Azriel!"

A voice cut through the fog clouding my mind, coming from somewhere high above the battlefield.

"Azriel!"

My fingers dug into the cracked stone as I fought against the creeping paralysis.

I forced my blood-soaked eyelids open, straining to see through the blur.

I wanted to answer him. I wanted to tell him I was fine, to tell him not to look at me like this. But my throat was too thick with blood to form a single word.

"Azriel!" Seraphel’s voice rang out again, raw with agony.

Through the chaotic shadows, I saw him break from the protective alcove, his face pale and streaked with tears as he sprinted straight toward the storm of blades surrounding me.

"Do not go to him!" Luceriel’s desperate shout came from the side. "There is nothing you can do right now. He will handle it. Seraphel, stop!"

"Seraphel..." I choked out, my heart dropping as I watched his frail frame stumble toward the crossfire.

No. Stay back. Do not come near me.

Draca’s eyes snapped toward the running omega, a cruel smirk spreading across his face.

He lifted his hand, gathering a massive bolt of divine lightning aimed directly at Seraphel’s exposed chest.

Time seemed to stop.

Luceriel lunged to intercept it, but his weakened legs gave out beneath him, sending him crashing into the dirt.

My brothers were all pinned down by the Demon Lords.

Seraphel was running completely defenseless, exhausted, his guard wide open.

The bolt tore through the air, aimed straight at his heart.

No!

Something deep inside me snapped.

The agony burning through my veins simply vanished, drowned beneath a wave of pure, primal fury.

The need to shield my mate overrode every toxin, every wound, every limit my body had left.

My crimson eyes ignited with blinding red light.

I threw my head back and let out a demonic roar that shook the entire mountain. The shockwave of my aura blasted outward, shattering thousands of poisoned blades into harmless dust.

I moved in a streak of crimson light, stepping directly into the path of the oncoming bolt.

I threw my arms around Seraphel, wrapping my body around his as the divine lightning slammed into the back of my head and down my spine.

A deafening ring exploded through my ears. The impact rattled my skull, sending agony racing down every nerve I had.

But I did not fall. I held him tight against my chest and took the full weight of the strike, letting not a single spark reach his skin.

Warm blood ran down my forehead, dripping off my chin and onto his robes.

My vision faded into complete darkness as the toxin flared back to life, setting every cell in my body alight.

My knees shook violently, but I kept my arms locked around him.

I leaned down, resting my head heavily against his shoulder, my trembling fingers reaching up to cup his wet cheek.

"Seraphel..." I rasped, my voice barely more than breath.

Behind us, Draca’s furious roar echoed faintly. "You insane fool! That light was meant to devour Castiel’s divine aura! It will destroy your body from the inside out!"

Seraphel’s blue eyes widened in terror as he took in the blood covering my face, feeling the tremors racking my frame.

"Azriel!" he screamed, his voice shattering into a frantic, sobbing cry as his hands fisted into my blood-stained robes. "AZRIEL!"