Luella jerked. Tharen and Az both stilled her with unyielding hands. The force of their grip was bruising. Her mouth twisted into a grimace.
Then another scream. The sound ripped through the roaring wind like shattered glass.
Another.
And another?—
Mixed with the zing of blades and cries of fury.
Her tortured brain grasped the things she did know with unfaltering certainty. But what she didn’t know? It haunted her.
She was herded further away from the sounds. The soles of her shoes slipped over the stone, then she felt pebbles biting into her heels. They’d forced her beyond the arches. Away from those terrifying sounds of battle and blood.
Through the tight press of their bodies, air whispered over her cheeks—as if to comfort her. She sighed, and the windtrembled. An echoing crack of lightning lit up the sky in a jagged line.
The brief flash of illumination cast everything in a wash of white and deep blue.
Revealing the grim sights.
Luella wished she hadn’t seen.
The stone floor was coated in gore. Bodies lay splayed on the ground—in pieces. Feathers swirled in the air, drifting in a haze of maroon and pitch, falling in pools of blood. The Umbra swept from the shadows, swords dripping with blood, plunged into bellies, and swiped straight through bodies, cutting them clean in half.
Others weren’t so lucky as to receive the mercy of death.
Umbra with straight, blunt teeth descended upon the Fallen, tearing into their flesh, skin stuck between their teeth. That was all it took.
The lightning fizzled away.
Darkness.
Her breath hitched.
No—no.
Another zap of electricity in the air—closer this time—as the lightning filled the sky. One, two, three streaks. More.More.
Each bolt cast them all in deep, wretched shades of blue and purple.
The sky was so thick with a storm that the darkness of night had twisted until it became something other—something sharp and charged.
Her hair rose. Static crackled under her skin, racing through her veins.
Az grumbled, his fingers digging into her flesh harder, deeper, as the tiny bolts raced from her skin to his. He didn’t let her go—neither did Tharen.
The bitten Fallen fell to the ground, bodies shaking, then the awful convulsions stopped in an instant. Spines straightened. Wings snapped out. They stood. Stalking through the room to possess their next prey.
It was a slaughter.
Through the melee, she couldn’t see anyone she recognized. Just blood and bodies and the flash of a spear or sword.
The lightning cut out. Thunder drew nearer. Her bones rattled.
In the darkness, her breath stalled, then stuttered as a hand touched her neck. She gasped—loudly.
"Luella, Luella," Graves whispered harshly. She’d been so overcome and distracted with fear and chaos, she’d not been able to hear him come.
She sobbed quietly. Tharen stepped back. As his hands fell away from her, she trembled, alone, seeking out Az’s warmth and safety before her. Her demon placed his hands on her shoulders. The grumbling vibrations that reverberated through his chest soothed her somewhat. She pressed her cheek to his chest and rubbed against him like a feline.
