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Dantalion waved a hand, and Morex shoved Sierra away from him. She stumbled, catching herself awkwardly with her bound hands before she could face-plant into the floor. Her grimace sliced through me, but what really broke my heart was the determination in her expression. She was a fighter, but she never should have had to fight. It was my job to do the fighting for her.
“Now what?” I asked, turning my gaze to Dantalion, trying to keep his focus on me.
He took a step closer, and I closed my eyes, praying for the strength to face whatever came next and for Sierra’s safety. There was a possibility I was on Heaven’s shit list now, but I could only hope my prayers would be answered.
When I opened my eyes again, Sierra was reaching for one of my knives. The angle offered me a glimpse of her back. It was covered in slices just like her arms. So many of them it made bile rise in the back of my throat. How was she even conscious right now?
The answer was obvious. The baby. Even just the speck of angelic power was giving her strength.
Every fiber of my being screamed at me to go to her, but a hand fisting my hair stopped me. I’d always thought hair-grabbing was a chick thing, but I could see why it worked. Dantalion’s claws dug into my scalp, and it hurt like hell.
And then I felt the edge of a blade against the sensitive skin where my wing met my back.
I went completely still—an automatic reaction. The feeling of helplessness threatened to rise up and choke me. We might not get out of this. I might not be able to save her.
I locked my jaw, doing my best to prepare myself for what I knew was coming next.
The agony of a blade cutting through my wing was like nothing I’d ever felt before. My locked jaw did nothing to keep back the raw scream that climbed up my throat. The pain seemed to invade every cell in my body, overriding every thought and feeling, and black started crowding the edges of my vision. Fuck. This was too much.
I barely registered it when he cut through the second wing. Every pain receptor was already maxed out at that point.
My arms trembled as I struggled to stay on all fours instead of collapsing in a heap on the floor. I couldn’t black out yet. Sierra wasn’t safe. I had a job to finish.
That was the last coherent thought I had before everything became a jumbled mess of images, sounds, and feelings that I couldn’t quite make sense of.
Thirty
Sierra
Nate’s screamwas unlike anything I’d ever heard. I felt it in my bones. It burrowed its way into my very soul. Golden blood gushed down his back in a steady stream where his wings used to be.
Panic threatened to paralyze me, to make me shut down.
No,I prayed.It can’t end like this. Please help me save him. Please.
I didn’t have time to second-guess my next move. My fingers closed around the hilt of one of Nate’s knives. I was about ninety percent sure Nate had been trying to tell me to go for his knives, but I still half expected to burst into flames or face some other kind of horrific death.
Nothing happened. The knife didn’t start flaming like it did in Nate’s hand, but it also didn’t hurt me. I brought it down on the chain between my ankle shackles, and the blade sliced through the metal as if it were butter. I couldn’t reach the restraints on my wrists, but I didn’t need my hands free to wield the blade.
Using my foot, I slid the other knife across the floor toward Nate. He made no attempt to reach for it. He didn’t even seem to notice it was there. He wasn’t going to be any more help in this fight.
I pushed to my feet, and Morex lunged for me. I didn’t think, shutting down my brain and letting my body move on instinct. The knife made contact, and it felt like cutting through smoke rather than a flesh-and-blood body.
Killing Morex cost me no more than a second’s delay in my real goal. I ran for Nate. Getting to him was the only thing that mattered.
I was so close when Dantalion stepped into my path. The knife in his hand dripped with Nate’s blood. The sight made my stomach churn, but I shoved down the feelings and emotions. I had to be the strong one right now.
Dantalion’s lip curled, and if possible, his black eyes looked even darker. Gone was the cold calm and control from earlier. I could feel his hate and thirst for revenge radiating off his skin. Nothing about him looked human at all in that moment.
He came closer, and I steeled myself for what was coming next. I met his eyes, shaking off my fear and doubt as my body moved. One second I was watching him close in on me, and the next I was inches away, feeling his skin give under the blade I shoved into his chest.
I was pretty sure his look of shock was mirrored on my face. I knew how few perfect shots I’d gotten on Nate when we trained, and I hadn’t been handcuffed then.
“You will never touch my family again,” I hissed as he began to dissolve. And then I was left standing alone in a cloud of smothering smoke that made me gag and fight for breath.
I dropped the knife as I fell to my knees beside Nate, running my fingers over his face, pushing his hair back from his damp forehead.
“Nate.” He didn’t open his eyes, didn’t react at all, and all the fear I’d been pushing away crashed down on me. We’d beaten Dantalion, but it would all be for nothing if I lost Nate. “God, no. Please, Nate. Open your eyes.”
