Protect Her: Part 11 Read Free Page A

said he’s helping us, but he’s really just helping himself.”
    “The archangels have survived for a millennia by being crafty and playing dangerous games of politics to jockey for their position in Heaven’s hierarchy. No one played the game better than Benjamin,” Viho said. “I was their prisoner for twenty-eight years. I listened to the rumors. I watched the inner workings of those that led them all. You think demons are scary in their conniving. Very few have the same talents as the archangels.”
    “That doesn’t make me feel any better,” I said with a heavy sigh. I leaned back in my chair. I wasn’t ready to open the folder yet.
    “May I?” Viho asked, pointing at it.
    “Be my guest,” I said.
    Viho slid the folder closer to him and flipped the cover open. I saw there were pictures inside, but I averted my gaze and let Viho flip through them. A few minutes of silence later, and he closed the folder again.
    “So?” I asked. Viho’s face was pale. I sat up straighter alarmed. “What is it?”
    “What do you know of the demon official hierarchy?” Viho asked.
    I wrinkled my nose. “Not much. Bruno Proctor was as bad as they came, and he was second only to Lucifer. I’m not sure who else would compare.”
    Viho slid the folder over to me. “I think you need to look at this.”
    I steeled myself as I opened it. The face that stared back at me wasn’t the one I expected, and a bubble of laughter escaped my lips. I saw Viho’s incredulous look. I wheezed as I felt the air trying to escape from my lungs. “Oh, it’s not funny. Not funny at all. But, I mean, the irony, right?”
    Bruno Proctor’s face stared back at me. Standing beside Riley. In front of hundreds of faces that burned with blood red eyes.
     

CHAPTER THREE – PAIGE
     
    So that was that. Somehow, Riley had raised Bruno from the dead. Why would remain a mystery, but the images were burned into my brain. Riley was amassing an army of demons. That was another mystery. No wonder he hadn’t gone straight to Calamata Island. He had been too busy recruiting.
    I had the van going as fast as I dared. Getting to Alice as quickly as possible seemed to be imperative. She was in danger, and although I hated admitting it, the rest of us were as well. It wasn’t just Riley’s loved ones. It was the whole world. If he set those demons loose on innocent people, it would be a genocide of epic proportions.
    “I still can’t believe it.” The words were whispered, but I saw Viho turn toward me once again.
    “He’s not himself. You know that. If he was looking for allies, this kind of thing shouldn’t surprise us,” Viho said.
    “Allies with Bruno Proctor? Talk about making a deal with the devil,” I said.
    “If he conjured him from the dead, then he has complete control over him,” Viho said. “And Bruno was well-connected and had a legion loyal to him alone. That would make him valuable for whatever Riley is planning.”
    “What exactly do we think that is again?” Klein asked. He had taken a break from the computer. He looked green, and I knew that despite his big talk, looking at endless blood and gore wasn’t something he was used to. He was hanging in there nonetheless.
    “He said that he was going after Adam,” Viho said. “But it could be that he has decided to take on Lucifer for Hell. Or even something as mad as trying to take over Heaven.”
    “Why would he do that?” I asked. “If he wanted revenge, he’d go after Adam.”
    “Power corrupts,” Viho said as if that was the explanation for everything. “I have little doubt that is how it all started. How the darkness whispered to him and seduced him to begin with, but now that it’s taking hold inside of him, he would turn to much bigger plans.”
    “This isn’t Riley at all,” I said shaking my head. “He’s had the vengeance bloodlust. But to do this is insanity.”
    “I didn’t think to check missing persons reports at the places we know he’s been in