“From view,” he stressed, shaking his head. “It’s invisible to the eye essentially. They won’t stop someone from running right into our territory, though. We don’t have a Caster powerful enough to do that within our ranks. I’ve heard that the council mentioned wanting to ask Bastian, but they’re a bit wary of asking him for help.”
My brows furrowed. I had no doubt Bastian would have done it if they had asked. It was clear proof that they didn’t trust us yet, and annoyance flared within my chest. Gabe continued, “With the trackers we found on the scouts, it easily narrowed down where they needed to start looking. We just didn’t think they would comethissoon.”
Steele’s voice sounded in the break of the sirens just as the noise of clashing swords and booms of magic began to prickle my ears. “Don’t try to be a hero on your own, Kieran. You don’t know how to use your abilities, and you aren’t strong enough in combat, even with the runes’ power.”
There was no point in arguing with him, so I simply gave him a quick nod of understanding.
As we drew close, I hesitated in the air, my wings keeping me afloat as we came to the edge of the common area. My eyes widened at the sight of the absolute chaos that met them.
Beneath us, buildings in the marketplace were destroyed, and bodies littered the ground. While there was light from the moon and a few nearby streetlights, it wasn’t nearly as much as I needed to see every potential threat, especially in the sky.
What looked like maybe Alfemir soldiers were in combat with our own soldiers in the sky in front of us. The sound of swords clashing and arrows whooshing through the air between the pulsing siren blasts caused my ears to ring.
Steele dove toward the ground and we followed, darting through the air until our feet touched down. My wings tucked away on instinct, and I was suddenly overwhelmed with the stench of blood.
I could feel it beneath my shoes, slippery and coating the stones of the pathway. The bodies littering the ground were a mixture of Rebellion and Alfemir soldiers, and my adrenaline surged at the sight. I may have never killed someone before, but a clear line had been drawn in the sand for me.
This was my home. These were my people now.
I’m going to protect them.
“Kieran!” Gabe’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts as a body nearly collided with mine.
I sidestepped the Rebellion soldier falling to the ground but quickly leapt in front of them as an Alfemir soldier darted after him with his sword raised to make a final blow. My training kicked in as I brought my sword up, the clash of metal vibrating through my arms as I met the eyes of a woman who seemed close in age to me.
Pushing against our clashing swords, I threw my body weight into it to try to force her weapon back. I felt the moment my body began to sync with the power of the runes, pulling it into myself. My teeth gritted with the effort, and I leaned my shoulder into the movement and took a step forward, forcing her to stumble back. A Rebellion soldier jumped onto her back, knocking herto the ground before scrambling to sit on top of her and driving their dagger into her chest. After pulling the dagger out and wiping it on the dead soldier, they offered me a nod before running back into the fray.
Just like that a life was extinguished and we were on to the next.
Focusing on the battle waging around me, I caught sight of my guys fully engaged in battle—their lethal bodies flowed through the space as dark crimson blossomed on the uniforms of their enemies with each deadly hit.
Ronan moved with a raw, blunt force that countered Steele’s coordinated training. Gabe cut through the air around him like he was in a dance that only he knew, and he was so fast I could barely track it. The way they moved was so damn impressive, and I couldn’t help but search out Bastian, though he seemed to have momentarily disappeared from sight.
A bellow sounded from above, pulling my gaze snapping upward and distracting me momentarily. My eyes opened wide as my heart hammered in fear. Niz had shifted into his full form and was bringing the fight to the Alfemir angels in the sky.
His black and green body soared above us as he roared again, causing members of both factions to scatter before he shot acid toward a group of retreating Alfemir scouts. His aim damn near perfect, clearly trying to avoid those on our own side. The sound of agony-filled screams as acid hit the enemy soldiers and ate through their armor and into their skin and bones was deafening.
They would die an agonizing and slow death.
IknewNiz could bring absolute death and destruction down on this entire battle, killing everyone no matter their allegiance, but trying to avoid our own people was going to make it a hell of a lot harder on him.
Suddenly, the sirens stopped, putting me on further edge. Had they gotten into the administrative building to turn them off? We needed to end this quickly before citizens began to come out of hiding, thinking the battle over.
A chill of awareness crawled up my spine, and I turned quickly as a man nearly four times my size barreled toward me. I darted to the side in a practiced, fast movement, bringing my sword down toward his midsection on instinct. Shock filled me as it sliced through his flesh. The sparring swords would have never been able to do that, but I had reacted as Steele had taught me, body remembering every lesson instinctually.
My first kill.I stared at his eyes as the light faded out of them, forcing an unknown feeling to the deep corner of my mind to process later.
Bastian appeared by my side, out of fucking nowhere before pressing a bloody kiss to my cheek. “Watching you spill the blood of my enemies is a new favorite hobby of mine now, Darling. Absolutely splendid.”
I didn’t have time to answer before he turned toward a crowd of Alfemir soldiers closing in on a group of Rebellion citizens huddled together on our right. Bastian’s silent, lethal magic acted like a deadly poison, seeping through the air toward his targets. The Alfemir soldiers froze under his magic, and he smiled manically before they dropped like stones, blood leaking from their noses and eyes. I stared with wide eyes at the Caster. After all this time, it shouldn’t have surprised me how powerful he was, but somehow seeing his magic in action still had the ability to take me off guard, the raw strength of it far more attractive than I wanted to admit right now. I wasn’t sure what that said about me.
Gabe’s sudden curse had me looking over toward where he was fighting off two large enemy combatants, one of them wielding two fucking swords. Holy crap. When Gabe took off inthe air with the two opponents quickly following him, I prepared myself to launch into the air.
“I’ve got it, Darling!” Bastian soared past me with glee pouring from his words.
When we’d met at the portal, he told me he wanted a way to get back at Alfemir, and I suddenly realized this was his first chance. I hoped it soothed something in his soul in the end, even if only a little.
I considered joining them anyway, but a sudden blunt pain to the back of my head caused me to cry out. I turned sharply, bringing my sword up only to have it nearly knocked right out of my hand by a man bearing down on me. His smile was filled with dark intent as he murmured, “There you are, Kieran. Your father has quite the bounty on your head for ruining his good name.”
