Infernal God (Claimed By Lucifer Book 3) by Elizabeth Briggs (summer reads TXT) 📕

I shot brilliant blue and red hellfire at him, but he always managed to escape it. I kept firing, pushing him back and back, toward the battle behind him. Then I released all my War powers and grabbed hold of every one of his undead soldiers, turning them against each other. Against him.

They swarmed his body, a writhing mass of bones and dead flesh, and I felt a deep sense of satisfaction at the sight. But then an ear-shattering roar burst out of Death and he shifted and grew, becoming a giant black wolf with glowing purple eyes and talons that turned the ground black around them. Fenrir's wolf form, now with an apocalyptic twist. Shit, maybe this really was Ragnarok.

Wolf-Death launched himself at me, and only the swift beat of my wings got me out of the way in time, though he did manage to rake a claw down my side. His mere touch leeched life out of me, and a deathly chill spread through my body. I sucked in air as I tried not to let Death overtake me. I was too strong to be so easily defeated—but how long could I last against this apocalyptic Death wolf?

Fingers curled around mine, and I looked into Hannah’s face, smears of blood covering her cheeks, her hair coated with a fresh layer of fine gray ash. She'd managed to defeat Pestilence and Adam, and now she was by my side again, ready to face our other eternal enemy.

“Let's finish this." She sent a little life-giving energy into me, allowing me to fight off the last of Death's touch. "I can rip Death out of Fenrir. I just don't know what we'll do with him after that."

"I'll get him back in the tomb." Time for plan B. Or Q. Or whatever the fuck we were on at this point.

Hannah held her hands out, her body emitting a green glow as she sucked at Death's essence. He let out a skin-crawling howl that echoed throughout the battlefield, making everyone cover their ears. Then he charged her with his wolf body the size of a dump truck. I blasted him with hellfire so strong it knocked him back and set his fur on fire, but he stood up and shook it off, snapping at me with his massive fangs. Then a giant paw tried to rip me apart with its claws, but I flew around him and kept firing at him, distracting him while Hannah leeched away his life force. He grew weaker and weaker, the purple in his eyes dimming, his movements slowing down.

“I’ve nearly got him,” Hannah ground out.

Purple essence seeped out slowly, unwillingly, from Fenrir’s mouth, nose, and ears. I rushed to the base of the Sphinx, looking for Death's tomb—but it wasn't there.

Death suddenly released Fenrir's body, launching out of him, forming what looked like a spectral Grim Reaper in the air as it hovered over us. Fenrir shook out his wolf body, but then the two began to merge again—Death trying to return to its host. I shot all of my power into Death, holding him back with everything I had, but knew it wouldn't last. We had to kill Fenrir to sever the bond.

I quickly sought out my sons, even as I struggled to hold Death back. Belial was closest, and oddly enough, the one I trusted most with this task. I met his eyes and pointed at Fenrir, and he nodded as understanding settled over him.

Belial handed Aurora to Damien, unsheathed Morningstar in one quick movement, and plunged my old sword into Fenrir's throat. He acted quickly, bringing Morningstar down fast and sure, no lack of certainty and no hesitation. Fenrir couldn't even struggle, not as the light-infused blade cut him down, and he hit the ground hard. As he died, his body returned to his human state, looking small and broken on the ashen ground.

Fenrir was dead, but Death still remained. An Elder God with no tomb to lock him inside, and no Void portal to send him through. But he needed a body.

Death yanked himself free of my hold, and his essence began to float forward toward the person he'd already chosen as his new host. Death was the absence of indecision—and I knew his choice even before he got there.

Aurora.

“No!” I began to run toward my children. “Not her!”

Damien tried to rush away, carrying Aurora in his arms, but Death's skeletal army surrounded them from every side, with Theo at the head of them. Kassiel began to fight them off, and Olivia and her other mates joined him, but Death was too fast and too powerful.

Belial flew in front of Death's essence, shielding his siblings with his wings, his beautiful ombre feathers spread wide. He thrust Morningstar into the air, right into the middle of Death’s essence, and the mist swirled around the blade, almost like a caress, spiraling to Belial’s hand and arm like it was tasting him.

"Take me," Belial said. "Not the girl. She's only a child, and still weak. You'll be too easy to defeat in her body. But I'm also your grandchild, and I'm almost as ancient as you are. With our power combined, we'll be unstoppable."

"Belial!" Hannah screamed. "Don't do this!"

I grabbed her hand and held her back. "No. He can do this. I have faith in him."

She looked at me like I was insane, but there was only one person here strong enough to contain Death. Hannah and I couldn't do it—we were already Elder Gods. It had to be Belial.

"But what if we lose him?" she whispered.

I squeezed her hand. "We won't."

"Why do you want this power?" Death asked Belial.

Our oldest son straightened up, his eyes blazing with fury. "To defeat my father once and for all and take my rightful place as Demon King."

His words were like a blow to my chest. After all we'd been through, did