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nbsp; Instead, after the clash of metal sounded, my eyelids sprang open and I gasped to see Manuel standing over me. He had his own sword in hand. The muscles of his back rippled in an effort to fight off Oscar’s attack. The two of them struggled against each other, before Oscar’s sword clattered to the ground and Manuel stood triumphant.
“What are you doing?” Silvia stormed up to Manuel, her whole body shaking. “She’s a threat to the entire world. Can’t you see? Her death would mean salvation for all.”
I couldn’t see his face as he stared her down, but his quiet response reached my ears. “It is not right to sacrifice an innocent life.”
“Innocent?” She tore at her hair and crazy desperation filled her eyes. “How can you call her innocent? She’s part demon. You kill demons for a living, remember?”
“She is innocent.” His voice took on a stubborn tone. “She can’t help what those things did to her. I will not allow her to be killed.”
She snarled in response and her voice got deadly quiet. “Are you determined to follow in your brother’s footsteps, Manuel? A traitor to your own kind? I will see that you are buried for this.”
“Do what you will.” His shoulders straightened. “But this isn’t right, Silvia. This isn’t you. The woman I knew fifty years ago would never have ordered the execution of an innocent woman.”
She stared up at him, confusion and pain flashing in her eyes. At the same time, Gabe began to wake and he pushed himself up to sit. I took his face in my hands, turning it each way to assess the damage.
He blinked several times, blurry-eyed. “What happened?”
“Oscar tried to kill me. You got in his way,” I said, matter-of-factly. For some odd reason, it was getting easier and easier to talk about someone trying to kill me. I guess I’d had too much practice.
His eyes flashed angrily. “Right!” Hopping up, he held onto me as he stumbled forward. “Where is that traitor?”
“He left,” I said, looking around. Somehow, that giant man had managed to disappear through the mess of Nephilim milling around. “Manuel stopped him. I’m okay.”
Taking my hand in his, he pulled me up and grabbed me by the shoulders, looking me over.
“Really, I’m okay,” I told him. Surprisingly, the attack hadn’t left me a quivering bowl of jelly. “We’ve got other things to worry about.”
Manuel was still in the act of calming Silvia down, but a protective circle had formed around us. Adam, Ashley, and Raquel had managed to push through the crowds and acted like human shields, fending off anyone else who might seek to do me harm. Luke had managed to shake off his captors, his face an ugly shade of red, and joined them. I’d never seen him so angry.
Before anyone could make a move, the long low sound of a horn swept through the manor. Everyone froze and the room went deadly silent. I looked up at Gabe to see him similarly immobile, his eyes drifting to the doors.
“What? What is it?”
“An attack.” He swallowed and licked his dry lips. “The manor is under attack. Those are the alarms. They’ve burst through our first line of defenses.”
I shivered. Luke had once told me that nothing could get through the series of mystical borders around the manor. But that had been before a small army of ferals had slipped through Hell’s gate.
“Come on,” Gabe said, pulling on my hand. Everyone was beginning to move toward the exit. There was no panic, no confusion. It was as if they’d been preparing for this moment their entire lives. “We need to prepare. They could get through the final defenses in no time.”
Closet doors and storage rooms that I had never seen the inside of were opened throughout the hallways and the grand lobby. Stockpiles of silver-lined swords, daggers, and bullets filled each one. Despite the confusion of the last few minutes, the Nephilim assembled like soldiers and lined up to receive their weapons of choice. I found a pair of boots to cover my naked and dirty feet. Someone shoved a collection of daggers and a single pistol in my hand. The horn sounded again and the urgency in the room picked up a notch.
“They’re here,” someone shouted from outside.
We raced out the front door, my hand still in Gabe’s. It wasn’t until we reached the lawn did I gasp in horror. At least three hundred ferals stood down the field, facing us. Their eyes flashed violent red as demons of every shape, size, and color snarled. It was an army of death, outnumbering us by more than double.
“I thought you said there were only fifty.” Adam appeared next to me, his sword unsheathed.
Ashley and Raquel popped up on his other side. Ashley sported nearly every type of weapon available. Daggers sprouted from the tops of her knee-high leather boots. A sword and crossbow hung from her back. A pistol hung from her hips. Raquel had just one weapon of choice—her gun. A few extra magazines were stashed on her belt.
“There were only fifty,” I grumbled to Adam. “They must’ve joined forces with others in the forest. I had no idea they’d gang up on us.”
Ashley spun a dagger deftly between her fingers. “They’ve been too numerous for us to keep in check lately. What they need is a good and proper extermination.”
“Yeah, and we’re going to give it to them.” Raquel brushed her red hair out of her face, a look of pure determination on her brow.
I cringed at the thought of her out there fighting. She was only a couple years younger than me, but she seemed so young. I wanted to tell her to turn around and lock herself in our room, but it would’ve been about as effective as telling a brick wall to crumble. Besides, in less than a year, she would be initiated in as a full-blown warrior. Who was I to lock her away? We certainly needed all the help we could get.
This was war.
