Demon Angel

it always been so apparent?" He held her gaze.
    "Yes. Not any individual thing you said or did; but after hundreds of years of failing to kill her, it was clear there was more than simple rivalry between you. We knew saving her had become your obsession. None of us were surprised when you chose to Fall after finally slaying her."
    His throat closed and he nodded. Blankly, he looked down at the envelope in his hands.
    "You killed her because she's a demon and you no longer cared to make the effort to save her, but discovering she was once human has made her worth fighting for?" Colin said from the doorway, sarcasm lending an edge to his question. The hell-hound padded past him, sniffed Hugh's bag as if searching for a treat.
    I remembered that I was human , he thought. But he only glanced at the vampire with mild reproof. "Don't be an ass."
    "She's going Below," Colin said. "And she reeks of you and of her emotions."
    Hugh rocked back on his heels, rose to his feet. "Think like a demon instead of a man. What would you do if you wanted to hurt her?"
    Colin stared at him, then crossed his arms, shaking his head. "You manipulative bastard," he said, with a touch of admiration.
    But Selah's voice held disappointment. "I am glad I did not learn this from you."
    "Perhaps I should have taught you," he said tightly. "Perhaps the corps would not be cowering before a horde of nosferatu and beaten down by demons had we not spent centuries upholding impossible ideals. We were men, not angels. It was why we were created, and yet we put ourselves above men anyway, put our code above their lives."
    Selah's eyes glowed, brilliantly blue. "No. We were created because Michael failed to protect your demon from Lucifer."
    Hugh stared at her.
    She looked away, as if ashamed she'd revealed that much. "Don't try to go this alone, Hugh. You may think you have no use for us, or our ways, but a complete reversal from our impossible ideals is not going to save her, either."
    His muscles like ice, Hugh took a step forward. "What—"
    The hellhound growled softly, his heads swinging toward the window.
    At the same moment, Selah frowned, turning to face the same direction. Her sword appeared in her hand.
    "Bloody hell," Colin said. He streaked across the room, opened a cupboard. Weapons lined the interior. "The basement is most easily defended." He slung an automatic rifle over his shoulder, and reached in again, selecting two rapiers.
    "Six or seven nosferatu. And a demon." Selah glanced at Colin, then Hugh. "You can't fight them. I'll get you out of here."
    Colin snorted. "You'll leave me here to be killed—and after I treated you so well?"
    "We'll go to the basement," Hugh said. Demons liked to talk, to brag; they might be able to find out part of their plan if they allowed them enough time. "Selah, take these." He tossed the files to her, and they vanished midair. He knelt, pulling his weapons from the duffelbag; the Japanese swords felt light in his hands, and he smiled grimly. Hopefully, the nosferatu would not get so close he had to use them. "And the rest."
    His broadsword and bag disappeared. He glanced at the hellhound. The dog shook his heads, and he had but a moment to see Sir Pup transform—terrifyingly huge, barbed spikes ripping from beneath his fur—before Selah lifted him and they sped downstairs. A crash of broken glass and splintering wood behind them. Colin groaned, but the sound was overwhelmed by the tortured screams of a nosferatu, and the eerie chorus of growls from the hellhound.
    Concrete walls ringed the basement; Colin barred the steel door. It wouldn't hold the nosferatu or demon back for long, but it would allow time to set up a defense.
    The basement was almost empty; only a few boxes and portrait-sized crates lay stacked on the cement floor. "There are more weapons in that trunk." Colin pointed to the far wall.
    "We should have brought the hound down with us," Selah said.
    "He chose not to come," Hugh said, and strode to the furnace. The floor was cold beneath his bare feet. "Lilith will have taught him to take out as many as possible before they can reach us. Is this gas?" If it was, it could be a useful weapon—
    "Coal," the vampire said. At Hugh's look, he shrugged. "I don't need heat."
    "And you're too cheap for updates," Hugh muttered, but he couldn't stop his grin. He met Colin's eyes as the door bent inward with an earsplitting screech. Another nosferatu screamed, and was cut short by a wet, tearing