“Are you threatening me to return to you?” I teased as I stepped out onto the window’s ledge.
“Threatening?” she asked sweetly. “Nope, that’s not a threat, it’s a promise. Iwilldo something stupid if you don’t return safely.”
I smiled at her. “Well, I guess I will just have to return then. If only so you don’t do anything reckless.” And with that, I leaptoff the windowsill, free-falling for a moment before I tugged on my wings, feeling them expand wide on either side of my body as they caught a gust of wind, and I let the current pull me up. I hovered mid-air, the light from her window illuminating me far more than I wished at the moment.
“You will come back for me?” she confirmed, toying with her bottom lip. “Even in the darkness?”
“Yes,” I replied as I shot her a grin. “I will always find you, starlight.”
PART THREE
“Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town.”
Joshua 6:5
36
CALLUM
DAY ONE
An incessantly blaringalarm woke me the next morning, and I groaned as I rolled over, punching Axel from where he slept on a military-style cot beside me.
“Turn the stars-damned alarm off,” I muttered. I heard his hand tap against his alarm clock seconds before a louder alarm sounded from the center of the war camp, this one causing a prolonged groan from Pierce as I sat up. The light streaming in through the tent signaled the start of our first day flying around The Wall. I half groaned at the thought as I stood, pushing past the exhaustion I felt from having flown to see Raelyna last night.
I began gearing up for war, strategically strapping weapon after weapon to my bulletproof vest. I ensured that all weapons were easily accessible and my gear offered the maximum protection possible.
“Is there even a point to bringing weapons if Elion stated we aren’t to engage the target until the seventh day?” Axel questioned from beside me as he laced his steel-toed combat boots.
“Well,” I replied, “I, for one, don’t intend to give them a chance to find me an easy target . . . So, yes? I’d say so.” I firmly secured my vest over the bullet-resistant material of my shirt.
“Even though you won’t be firing them?” he insisted, leveling me a look.
“It would feel wrong not to carry my stars-damned weapons,” I retorted.
“It’s also going tofeel wrongnot fighting back when the RSG spot us and begin to rain down an arsenal of fire upon us.”
I grunted in acknowledgement, trying to force that thought to the back of my mind as I finished strapping on the last of my tactical gear.
I thanked the stars that Elion had worked with the top armory company in Aurum Quarter to design bullet-resistant uniforms for the Guild. While not completely bulletproof, the tactical combat uniform we’d all been assigned would protect vital areas from fatal wounds—though the bruising left behind was less than ideal.
As I secured the last of my blades into place, I headed outside the tent, finding the war camp to be bustling with action, soldiers flying around as they prepared for the first of seven flights around The Wall.
In the distance, I could see Commander Drachen shouting commands toward his men, calling for the first of the cohorts to begin to form.
I watched as a series of wings lifted in the distance, golden feathers spreading wide as nearly fifty angels began to fly in the direction the commander had indicated. As the first of the sections touched down, just outside of camp, more angels began heading toward their position.
Soldiers began forming into groups, all geared up in combat attire, with tactical, bulletproof vests strapped to their chests. I could easily spot the cohorts filled with the Guild’s spies—the vast array of weaponry strapped to their vests a stark contrastto the indifferently assigned rifle and pistol the Aurum Army soldiers were given when they joined.
Units of soldiers began lining up, cohort after cohort, seven soldiers wide and seven deep. It was impressive, truly, watching the sheer number gather in groups, as we prepared to take Solis down. Golden wings gleamed through the ranks, every angel preparing for the flight we would be making.
The ranks of angels began to grow, the line stretching into the expanse of vacant desert, and I knew it was only a matter of time before my own cohort would be called to assemble its rank.
My phone chimed, and I grabbed it from my back pocket, eyes scanning over the text as a grin curved up my lips.
Rae: Don’t do anything stupid today, okay?
Me: I make no promises.
