The feathers were dark, and if I had to guess, that signified that he’s been tainted. He wasn’t pure, meaning that he was a fallen angel.

“You’re the one who put those sigils up, weren’t you?” Wren asked him.

“Perhaps,” he said nonchalantly. This guy’s entire demeanor was chill, which was scary. He was confident, and carried that confidence on him well for someone pinned against two demons. “I like to share my knowledge with my fellow brother’s and sister’s, but I feel that only an angel with a certain touch could execute a spell so complex perfectly. And since you’re asking, I figure it worked pretty well.”

Wren flashed him a cheeky grin. “Not too well. I still butchered a few of them on my way to your dungeon. Good ol’ fashion demon strength and blades.”

“And you bravely admit this sin to someone like me? You must be sick in the head, or suicidal. Either way, you’ll pay for spilling their blood.”

“I’d like to see you try.” Wren flipped the angle of her short blade with a flick of her wrist, pointing the tip of the blade down toward her elbow before she charged at him. She took a different approach for this opponent, Ava telling me why as I settled her feet on the grass.

“That’s Bishop,” she said. “A very dangerous fallen angel. He’s the defender of our church. I haven’t seen anyone who could match him yet. We call him the executioner around these parts. He has a real knack for terminating evil spirits on our campus. His head count is great, the highest I’ve ever heard of.”

I’d admit, he was fast. This was the first time I was witnessing a fallen angel in action. I remembered my harem telling me that angels by default were stronger than demons. I also remembered Lumi telling me that demons fell into specific ranks aside from their class structure. While I didn’t know what rank Wren was, she was putting in a lot of work with her shadows, making this asshole work for a win.

“Impressive,” Bishop complimented. “You’re the first efficient female demon I’ve seen in a while. You must be a true devil with talents such as yours.”

“Stop flirting with me and fight!” Wren barked at him as he weaved through her shadow blades. “I know you’re holding back!”

“How about you show me your true colors? Stop hiding behind that mask and reveal your true form. It’s the only way you’re getting out of this. Unleash your true potential. I know that human skin of yours is holding you back.”

Wren chuckled. “Show me yours first, and I’ll show you mine.”

He snickered. “Who is flirting now?” After all of that relentless bobbing and weaving, he finally struck, tossing Wren a high kick. I had a feeling that if I wasn’t a demon, I wouldn’t have been able to see it. It was so fucking fast, Ava not reacting until after Wren barely blocked it in time with a shadow shield.

“You’re quick,” he said with a frown. He didn’t seem too happy about Wren reacting the way she did. This fallen angel probably thought Wren was like the other demons he’d fought.

I wanted to step in, but Wren’s body language was telling me to stand down. It must have been a pride thing, and for now, I’d spectate, just as long as she could handle herself.

So far, she was doing a good job keeping him moving. But something told me that was about to end. Wren summoned a shadow pool under his feet, Bishop noticing and standing there anyway. The shadow pool ran its length up his feet before hardening.

“That wasn’t very smart,” Wren said, the cocky son of a bitch falling for her trap.

“You can absorb powers?” he asked as he stretched one arm out, and ran his hand down it. Something made out of blue light began to form, a crescent blade with a handle constructed along his sleeve.

“Don’t be stupid. Demons can’t harbor divine light.”

“Then this power you’re taking from me, it has to go somewhere. Where are you housing it?”

Wren grunted. “Are you trying to dissect me, bastard?!”

He chuckled. “Simply buying enough time for me to do this—” He flicked his middle finger with his thumb, a gust of wind directed to Wren making her wince and shield her face. I blinked once and all of a sudden the tables were turned! Somehow, Wren was the one trapped in her shadow ankle locks, being bolted down on the ground while her powers were being absorbed.

“It’s been interesting, but I had plans for tonight. I heard a disturbance and rearranged my schedule. I hate rearranging my schedule.” He gripped the light crescent blade and drew it upward. “If you’re not going to show me all of your tricks, don’t bother wasting my time. Like I said, I’ll make you pay for slaughtering my community, and I’ll make you pay in blood!”

“Wren!” I cried, prepared to jump in and take this Bishop guy head on, but Wren was ready, somehow keeping him locked in place.

My mouth slipped ajar stunned by how strong she was. Bishop had his hot blade over his head, but he couldn’t move it downward. In fact, he was struggling to, the subtle shake in his body making me believe that Wren was controlling him somehow.

That’s right, Wren had a telekinetic specialty…

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“Well, aren’t you full of surprises?” Bishop smiled. “Although, I take it you can’t hold me long. It must be a burden trying to fight at reduced power. You could have gotten rid of those leeching shadows, but it already got the job done. Tell me I’m wrong?”

“You pompous fallen birds sure do like hearing yourselves talk!” Wren strained, mist starting to form on her face.

“And you blood-sucking demons love to stick your heads where they don’t belong!”

Shit! Bishop regained control! I stepped in; screw Wren’s pride. I wasn’t going to let her die here. He was ready to decapitate her until I crossed him. He wasn’t ready for my speed, my low uppercut allowing me to lodge my fist inside his gut! This time, I didn’t hold back. He might look like a human, but this bastard was far from it. He was powerful, and if I wanted to take him down, I had to give it all I had!

My fist went through one end and out the other. Bishop hacked a gush of blood from his lips, the trauma rendering him temporarily defenseless. However he didn’t drop the blade, and he didn’t step down. All I managed to do was enrage him, the fallen angel gripping my arm while he jerked up and slashed at Wren.

Wren stumbled back but she couldn’t avoid his blade. Bishop sliced up her chest, the outpour of blood splashing on my face devastating me. As soon as she collapsed, Bishop turned his attention to me. He capitalized on my distraction, slicing his blade down my arm and disattaching me from him and leaving part of me in him.

Damn it—I didn’t even feel that—he made it look like he was cutting through butter…

It wasn’t until I looked down at my arm did the pain start to register. Bishop was revving up another attack, but I step-dodged in time, giving us some space. The fallen angel was relentless, chasing me down with my fist still jammed inside of him. I ducked and rolled, until I’d had enough, showing him the same respect by sweep kicking him and following up with a low vertical up kick.

While I wasn’t a seasoned demon, I still had my spare Martial Arts to fall back on.

My kick was so strong that it snapped his arm right off its joint. Once the deadly blade was out of the picture, I was the one applying the pressure, bombarding him with straight jab after straight jab while my arm regenerated.

He caught on to what I was doing and side stepped me. Playing dirty wasn’t out of the playbook in a fight between a demon and an angel, so when he yanked my arm lodged in his guts, I expected him to attack me with it. Sure enough, he did. Shit, for someone with one working arm and a hole in his gut, he still had some strength to him. He managed to push me down as I blocked my face with my fist, my bent knees fighting to keep me up as he continued to wallop.

At some point he lost some steam. As soon as his rapid attacks slugged down, I jumped.

I charged my first flame shot. With a battle cry, my fist swallowed up in flames. The heat didn’t faze me, but it scared Bishop away. And before I could even swing at him, he disappeared.

I stared blankly at the scene—Wren down for the count, and Ava over there trying to stop the bleeding. She had to have known that Wren was a demon by now; in any case, she went over to help the girl who had been two seconds from killing her.

“Even I have my limitations…” Bishop said, his voice coming from behind me. I jerked my head back and caught him staring at me with a creepy smile. “If I hadn’t been a fallen angel, this fight would have ended differently for you. As a punishment for being exiled from heaven, I lost my celestial vessel, and was turned into a creature of flesh and blood. While I retained my angelic grace, I’ve lost the endurance of the perfect divine body. I’ll give it to you, you’re the only demon who managed to make me bleed. It’s been a long while since I met someone as strong as you. Then again, you aren’t a regular demon, are you?” The hand he had on his gaping stomach started to glow a light blue. He had just healed himself, but his missing limb was a different story. “Staying here would only prolong the inevitable. You’re at a clear advantage, Samael.”

He knew who I was…

“It’s so obvious now, I’m upset at myself that I didn’t catch on sooner. The superior strength, the speed, the flames. You’re a prince of darkness, a formidable foe.” He chuckled. “Next time, I’ll adjust my approach, and tackle you differently.”

“You son of a bitch! There won’t be a next time!” I bellowed, prepared to charge at him again. But he disappeared, doing another cowardly vanishing act.

“Isaac!” Ava cried, dashing over to me. To my surprise, she gave me a tight hug. After everything she’d seen, she wasn’t afraid of me in the slightest. “You’re okay!”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, looking down at my hands impressed. “I went total DBZ on that cocky fallen angel.” During the fight, I hadn’t had a moment to appreciate the perks of being a demonic prince. I was fast, nimble, and my endurance… somehow, I felt like I wasn’t even scraping the tip of the iceberg. This energy pulsating inside me—it was wild, exciting, fun, and adventurous. Hell, I didn’t even break a sweat.

“I can’t believe you scared Bishop away,” she said with a chipper voice.

I cocked my eyebrow at her. “Honestly, I wasn’t expecting you to be happy about that.” When I opened my mouth to ask her about her wounds, I saw a blade close in on her neck. She gasped, Wren threatening to end Ava’s life right in front of me.

“Don’t move…” Wren croaked, her grip on the blade shaking. Ava noticed and took care of her on her own, kicking the heel of her foot against Wren’s leg and then tossing her over her shoulder.

Wren dropped hard on the ground between us. The little effort Ava did to defend herself left Wren out cold. Ava noticed she was weak after all of that blood she’d lost, so she capitalized on her disadvantage and flipped her like a champ.

I was pretty damn impressed that Ava could take care of herself.

I snickered, scratching at the side of my head sheepishly. “Looks like she won’t be bothering you again,” I said, realizing when Bishop had sliced her, he snapped the clasp of her bra wide open. Her wound sealed up through regen, but her clothes didn’t, leaving her perky and round puppies out on display.

“I’m sorry!” Ava apologized.

I scooped the KO’ed demoness up and over my shoulder. “Don’t be. She’ll be all right. All she needs is her fix.”

“Is she with you?”

“You could say that. She is part of my family. New family, new part. Egh, it’s complicated.”

“May I come with you?”

I looked at her strangely, taken off guard by her question.

“Only of course, if it’s all right. I… need someplace safe to stay for the night…”

“And you think staying with a demon and his harem is safe?”

“Better than having to face my brother’s wrath when he finds out what happened tonight.”

“Ava, I’ll take you to my place, but, I can’t guarantee you my girls would appreciate you being there. Either way, I’ll talk to them. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that you’re safe.”

She clasped her hands together and bowed politely. “Thank you!”