"Nicholas Morningstar Tesalor, it has been a while," said the man who appeared out of thin air in front of Nicholas as he approached the private jet.
"Gabriel," nodded Nicholas. He appeared calm and collected on the outside, but the hand he had stuffed into his pants pocket was clenched into a fist.
Why the fuck was this pretentious prick here?
"Destroyed any worlds lately?" Gabriel asked. It seemed like he was trying to play it off as a joke, but everyone there knew just how serious his question was.
"Not lately," shrugged Nicholas. "But I am getting a tad hungry. Are you offering up your realm?"
The white feathered wings on the back of Gabriel twitched at his words, and he knew he had scored a direct hit.
"You are not supposed to be here," hissed Gabriel, no longer even trying to hide his hatred of the demon.
"Neither are you. And yet, here we stand," shrugged Nicholas, praying to whatever God was listening that Natalia was carefully hidden away in the car. Worlds really would be destroyed and realms eaten if the angels found out about her right now.
"You promised that you would never return here," sneered Gabriel, and the angels behind him shifted their weight as if preparing for a fight. But there were hundreds of them here, and even with the three legions and the other men, Nicholas was going to be vastly outnumbered.
"No, the deal was that as long as my treasure was safe, I wouldn't be back here."
"No one cares about your treasure, Eater of Realms," shouted one of the men off to the side of Gabriel.
"Clearly, that isn't the case, Michael; if it were, I wouldn't be here. The vow would have prevented it," smiled Nicholas as he checked his nails. "I mean, it was enough to keep me away for a little over 200 years."
"Go home, Nicholas, we don't want you here," snarled Gabriel, bringing everyone's attention back to him.
The sun had completely set, and the only lights illuminating the private airport Nicholas owned were the lights coming off the building. It would give him and his men a bit of an advantage, but not enough of one to guarantee victory.
The angels never fought fair, and he doubted this would be the first time in the history of all the worlds that that happened.
A sword materialized in Gabriel's hand as if he, too, just noticed the darkness surrounding them all.
"Feeling nervous?" smirked Nicholas as he directed his men to where he needed them most. Even if they all died, Natalia needed to live.
"Hardly. But everyone knows that you can never trust a demon. We are just being careful," laughed Gabriel as the sound of hundreds of swords being unsheathed echoed in the quiet night air.
"Ah, but that is the crux of the matter, isn't it? It's like my m—sister's favorite movie said: 'Everyone expects demons to be dishonest, and a dishonest demon can always be trusted to be dishonest'. And yet, they are ever so surprised when the angel is dishonest. I wonder why that is? We are, after all, essentially the same."
A dagger flew through the air and almost plunged into Nicholas' shoulder. If it wasn't for the fact that he expected one of the angels to lose their mind with his statement, he might not have seen it coming fast enough to move.
"Nicholas!"
Fuck. This wasn't going to be good.
Turning his back on the army of angels in front of him, something that he had never done once in his long existence, Nicholas looked for the voice that had screamed his name.
"Abomination! Abomination!" screamed one angel before others took up the cry.
But it didn't matter to Nicholas. He was Nicholas Morningstar; Destroyer of Worlds and Eater of Realms. He would easily take out the angel realm for her if they dared to be proven a threat.
Or they made her cry.
Or because they pissed him off.
Or if they breathed wrong.
There was a lot of reason to destroy the angel's realm, and if they didn't stop chanting 'abomination' at his treasure, he would make sure they were trapped on Earth until such a time that he managed to kill them slowly.
He watched as the most important person in all the known realms weaved in and out of his demons like they didn't exist, only to launch herself at him.
"Are you hit? I saw the flash of a knife! Are you hurt? Hurry up and take off your shirt; I need to know that you are okay!"
Nicholas could see the tears forming in Natalia's eyes as she frantically ran her hands over his chest and back, making sure that he was okay.
"I'm fine, Butterfly," he smiled. His back was crawling, knowing that the angels were behind him. But a knife or a sword through the back wouldn't be enough to kill him. His Butterfly was more important.
"Abomination," hissed Gabriel, causing Nicholas to spin around until he was facing him, Natalia protected in his arms. Calling up a shield, he waited.
"Excuse me?" demanded Natalia as her spine straightened and she glared at the being in front of her. "What did you call me?"
"You are nothing more than an abomination, something that should never have existed. And I will make sure to wipe you out of existence so that there are no more of your kind left anywhere," snarled Gabrielle as he flexed his wrist, bringing up his long sword to a guard position.
"And just what is 'my kind'?" asked Natalia, and Nicholas could feel her wrapping herself up in her power.
"A half-breed. An abomination. Something that never should exist."
Nicholas looked down, only to see his Butterfly looking up at him. "What is the idiot talking about?"
"You are the only one of your kind left in the world," started Nicholas, and Natalia nodded at him.
"I know. I am the only ribbon girl in existence."
"You aren't a ribbon girl, Butterfly. You are half demon, half angel. And as such, you cannot be killed."