I didn’t realize I’d stopped breathing until she squeezed by him and ran toward me. The lean muscles in her lithe, agile body flexed with every step. She kept her head down as her arms and legs pumped while she ran. For as large as he was, Mytaz was surprisingly agile as he spun and ran after her.
“Run,” Bale breathed as she sprinted past me.
I had no intention of running; I would buy her time to get to safety.
Mytaz was nearly on top of me when I backed away a few steps and swung the blade at his feet. The lumbering giant chuckled, but at the last second, I jerked the blade back before it could hit him or he could stomp on it.
A glance over my shoulder revealed Bale hadn’t left the cave. She’d stopped a few feet from the end and was coming back toward me.
“Get out of here!” I shouted at her.
“I’m not leaving without you.”
I swung at Mytaz’s feet again, and this time when he laughed, I jerked the sword up and leapt into the air. With a ferocious shout, I swung it down and into his neck. The blade sank into the sinew of his thick neck before catching on his spine and halting halfway through.
“Let go of the sword!” Bale shrieked.
Gold spread through the blade so fast it was to the hilt by the time I released it. Bale warned me his power traveled through things, but I hadn’t expected it to do so with such speed. This demon was a bigger adversary than I’d realized.
I backed away as Mytaz’s red eyes narrowed on me. He wrapped one meaty hand around the sword’s hilt and plucked it free. Blood, the color and consistency of mud, oozed down his neck and dripped off his chest.
In his hands, the sword looked small and ineffective. He eyed the weapon before spinning it and flinging it at me with a flick of his wrist. I threw myself down in time to avoid taking the spinning blade to an eyeball, but my head spun toward Bale as I hit the ground. She avoided the sword that flew out the opening by falling straight back.
The sword clattered as it hit the ground and spun across it before crashing into a statue. The earth vibrated beneath me as Mytaz barreled toward me. I scrambled to my feet and sprinted toward Bale as she rose. When she saw me coming at her, she turned and bolted out of the cave.
* * *
Bale
I was almostto my sword when something flew by my head. Instinctively, I threw up my arms to protect myself from whatever it was. Then I realized a flash of black had accompanied the movement. Lowering my arms, I skidded to a halt when Caim settled onto the earth a few feet in front of me.
“Here you are!” And then his eyes widened as they ran over my naked body, and he grinned. “Here. You. Are. Looking good, Bale.”
I didn’t realize Wrath had caught up to us until he punched the side of Caim’s head. The angel let out a muffled cry and staggered to the side as his hand flew to his battered cheek.
“Don’t look at her!” Wrath snarled.
“Don’t!” I shouted and leapt forward to stand between them.
Fire shimmered in Wrath’s eyes as he bared his fangs at Caim.
“Ow, damn,” Caim said as he rubbed his cheek, and his head turned back toward us. “What? She looks good.” Then Caim’s eyes landed on the bite mark on my shoulder. He stopped rubbing his cheek as his mouth dropped. His gaze shot from me to Wrath and back again. Finally, his black eyes, full of concern, landed on me. “Well, it seems we’ve missed a lot.”
“We have to get out of here,” I said to him. “Now.”
“The others—”
I had no idea what he was about to say as a roar sent us all scrambling seconds before Mytaz’s fists crashed into a statue, shattering it. Caim took to the air, and Wrath stayed by my side as I ran for my sword.
“Who’s the big guy?” Caim asked as he swooped past me.
He didn’t wait for an answer as he rose higher into the sky and looped over toward the other mountain. I lunged forward and grasped the hilt of my now golden sword. It was heavier in my hands, but it felt so right as my hands had molded the handle to fit them over the centuries.
“I told you I’d get my sword back,” I said to Wrath, who stood beside me.
“I’m happy for you,” Wrath replied, though his tone sounded anything but happy. “Do you think you can kill him with it?”
I doubted that, but I couldn’t get those words out of my mouth. The wound in his neck was already healing, and the blood was only a trickle. He looked unaffected by the injury Wrath delivered, but he’d forever altered my sword.
