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And then, it was full-on go time.
When we land, we’re in the middle of a shitshow. It’s clear that things had already veered away from what we’d planned to be confronted with; we were surrounded by both fae and Paras.
Sariel yanked me backward as a fireball flew by me, close enough to heat my face, and I could hear a soft debate happening over the sounds of fighting.
“I’m sticking to the plan,” Reese said firmly. “We’ve got this.”
Atlan looked like he wanted to argue, but ultimately nodded when she dug out a tiny black ball. He vanished into one of his gateways as she gripped it tightly, looking around the chaos with wild eyes. I looked away when Neo approached her, gently taking his hands in hers for a moment and murmuring something I couldn't hear.
Sariel didn’t, though.
“Fuck!”
The curse surprised me for a moment before his wings exploded behind him, shredding the back of his shirt as he lurched backward. I heaved when my stomach dropped with the movement. We stumbled to a landing a few yards back, only for me to spin and realize that we were all scattered.
Reese was surrounded by black smog, and Neo was on the ground in front of her, unmoving.
Dread hit me in the chest. I knew exactly what had just happened.
When I wriggled to go to her, Sariel just held me tighter. “Sariel—!”
I felt him shake his head. “I know, but I can’t. You can’t, either, Aria.”
I’d forgotten thatIwas now housing an angel, too, and there was no guarantee that I could survive that gas if it were meant to kill angels.
Luckily, it didn’t take long for Johnny and Marilyn to realize our predicament, and a sudden gust of wind dissipated the black. I watched as it rolled through the masses, several people dropping as it passed through them, which in turn gained us unwanted attention.
Johnny bolted once it cleared, snatching up Reese from where she’d collapsed by Neo and hauling her back toward us despite her flailing limbs. I looked away from them to check on Marilyn, nearly choking when I saw a dark form barreling toward her from the left.
“Marilyn!”
My scream reached her just in time for her to spin on her heel to blast the incoming wolf. In another heartbeat, Johnny had dropped Reese a few feet away and slammed into the other shifter; I took the distraction to cover the distance and crouched down with Reese, who was curled up on the ground.
“I killed him,” I heard her whisper. My stomach dropped. She sounded so lost, and when I reached for her, she flinched when I reached for her. “I didn’t mean to! It wasn’t supposed to bounce back like that!”
“I know, Reese,” I soothed. I didn’t let myself stop to think about what had just happened, just focusing on trying to get her moving. “I know you didn’t, but we have to go meet up with Kiran now.”
Johnny let out a loud yelp. Sariel’s wings fluffed with anxiety at the sound, but he didn’t leave us unguarded.
“Aria, I killed him,” she repeated desperately.
Blinking back tears, I realized that she wouldn’t be able to work through the shock fast enough. I looked up at Sariel with wet eyes.
“Sariel, go get Marilyn and Johnny. I’ll carry Reese.”
My wolf howled at the thought of leaving Neo’s body behind, but… he wasn’t in it anymore, was he? I wasn’t going to waste my time dragging back a dead body when our other friends were very much alive.
I hissed in pain when my wings suddenly snapped out of my back. My angel was clawing her way to the surface, full of righteous fury.
Shaking the feeling off, I reached for Reese again, and this time, she let me pull her into a hug. Even though her sobbing was shredding through the last bits of my control, I tried to breathe through it as I hefted her up. My wings were little more than a useless decoration as I tried to orient myself with a trembling human in my arms.
I then spotted Sariel dragging a wounded,humanJohnny along back to us—but no Marilyn.
My chest tightened, and I swallowed thickly.Oh no.
Don’t think about it,Sariel ordered, though his inner voice sounded strained as he helped his friend limp away from the warzone we’d stumbled into. While the gas we’d sent out was still spreading, it was clearly growing weaker the longer it was exposed to open air, though it nevertheless bought us time to haul our wounded and disoriented friends away.
When I reached for my wolf, she came without complaint.Put Johnny on my back and fly Reese out of here.
