Caught by surprise, Ellie froze for a second, unsure what to do. In her very long existence, nobody--not once--had ever charged to her rescue before.

The part of her that remembered her Infernal origins was spoiling for a fight. It wanted to boil to the surface, shove Belial out of the way and tear into Beelzebub, rip up that sneering too-pretty face and hang the consequences.

She fought it down, drawing deep breaths and letting them out slowly, leaning into Belial's reassuringly solid back to steady herself and silently express her gratitude as her claws slowly retracted. Steady, steady...let him deal with the son of a bitch...