Warmth settled into my palm, and I wrapped my hand around the familiar weight of the dagger. It had never let me down, and clearly it wasn’t going to start now. With a roar, I lunged, driving the dagger into the angel’s belly over and over as his words rolled around in my head.
Your father has quite the bounty on your head for ruining his good name.
My breathing was short and erratic as my lip curled in disgust. The man fell to the ground, clutching his wounds as he began to soak in a pool of his own blood.
One day I’d kill my father for everything he’d done to me.
Footsteps rushed at my back, and I whirled around with my dagger poised to fight. The man’s head flew off a second later, his body quickly crumpling to the ground. Steele stood over him with a look of disdain before fixing me with a stern look, “Pay attention, Princess. I taught you better than that.”
Then he was gone and back in the thick of battle.
Niz let out a mighty roar, and my eyes snapped up, instantly spotting him. His attention was fully on those on his eye level,and I watched as an angel swooped low to the ground to escape his attention before beginning to ascend once more, sword raised as if planning to strike his neck from below. I launched into the air, my anger at the thought of the wyvern being harmed growing with each beat of my wings. I flew faster than ever before thanks to my runes, catching up with her as she came within one hundred yards of him. I used all of my body weight to slam into her from the side, throwing her off-kilter before continuing my assault. I left her no time to regain her senses, grabbing her hair to yank her toward me before slicing my dagger along her throat.
“No one touches my wyvern,” I growled, letting her go and watching her crash to the ground, crumpled wings and all.
I didn’t have time to dwell on her gruesome death as the sound of beating wings forced me to turn around, finding a man the same hulking size as Steele shooting toward me with a sword. My hand tightened on my dagger’s hilt. There was no way I could reach him before his longer weapon sliced into Niz or me. I was at a disadvantage and would need to rely on my speed. I tensed my body, preparing to shoot away when he got close enough.
In a sharp sweeping motion, Niz’s tail flicked the man away from me and flung him through the air. A surprised sound left my throat as I looked at Niz, his black eyes glittering dangerously before he dove, aiming for a group of soldiers in white uniforms with an acid spray. He let out a mighty roar as they screamed.
“Amelia!” Steele’s scream echoed through the air, and my eyes snapped down to see him sprinting toward her.
I darted down, watching her stagger back as she held a hand against her side where an arrow was lodged. Dropping downward and retracting my wings, I landed next to where Steele knelt at Amelia’s side, Rebellion members closing ranksaround us protectively as we tended to her. I looked at her injury as her blood seeped into the dark dirt underneath us. Her eyes had fallen shut, and I grabbed her hand as my heart thundered in my chest. A small squeeze was returned, and I tried to hold back my tears.
We needed to staunch the bleeding. Now.
“Who hit her?” I demanded, wanting fast and dirty retribution.
Hold it together, Kieran.
I leaned forward and snapped the longer part of the arrow but didn’t remove it completely, knowing from various medical training classes that the wound needed to be stabilized for now.
“Does it matter?” Steele hissed. “What happened is that I was so distracted making sure you didn’t die, I couldn’t protect her like I’m supposed to.”
My jaw clenched at his dig, but I ignored it. Now wasn’t the time to argue. I tugged off my hoodie and then my shirt, needing the thinner material for dressings. I didn’t care for a second that I was in a sports bra in the middle of battle, focused solely on saving Amelia instead. Leaning forward, I wrapped it around the wound gently before applying pressure.
“Do you have any runes that could help her?” I shouted at Steele as I noticed him zoning out, his bloody hands resting on her arm as his eyes were glued to the wound.
He seemed to shake himself from whatever plagued his mind, finally springing into action. Pulling his dagger out, he began to draw on her forearm as he murmured, “All I can do is halt the progression of injuries. I can’t heal them.”
I was blind to the battle raging around us as I snapped my head up and called out to the wall of soldiers around us, “We need healers, now!”
“We can escort her to the medical center.” Two Rebellion members parted through the group surrounding us, and I gently helped them lift and move Amelia when Steele was done.
“Princess—”
Before I could look back at Steele, Niz’s deadly bellow filled the space before it was cut off abruptly, turning into a sharp whine. I pushed through the crowd that jostled too closely around me to let my wings out. Panic filled me and frantic tears began to stream down my face.
“Let me out!” I screamed.
I looked up, watching his massive body begin to fall through the sky like a meteor plummeting to the ground. Finally, I broke free from the circle, launching myself toward him with all of the speed I could muster.
“Niz!” I cried out, “I’m coming!”
The wind whipped my tears away, and just before his body crashed to the ground, he shifted. But it wasn’t into his smaller wyvern form.
I raced toward him, not believing what I saw as I landed.
What. The. Fuck.
