“We’re tired,” I snarl, taking a second to stare down each member of my pack as I acknowledge our exhaustion. “We’re hurt and we’re barely standing up, but it’s not like we don’t welcome a fucking challenge. Right?”
Taniya smirks back at me, my wolves growl, and Koda gives me a bliss-filled smile that promises death to the angels no matter what.
“We will prevail.” My claws snap down, my teeth sharpen, and I call on the remaining darkness within me.
Approaching from our left, Haldi points her sword at me and screams, “Capture them! We will imprison them in the forest, where they will finally perish.”
“Then you can convince yourselves that your hands are clean, you fucking murderers,” Taniya screams back.
She rolls her shoulders and spreads her wings as the first angel attacks. Rising into the air, Taniya kicks the angel in the teeth and disarms them at the same time. Sword in hand, she plows through their oncoming ranks, cutting and slicing but staying within the canopy of darkness.
Koda is quick to join her, headbutting the nearest angel and using the next as a shield. Within seconds, he holds a blade, which he uses to both defend and attack.
The angels are skilled, but my sister and brother are fierce. Survival is in their very bones. They also have my wolves, who tear through the oncoming angels like dark shadows, cutting the attackers down.
Within seconds, it’s a bloodbath on my left.
On my right, Malia’s magic explodes into the group of angels approaching from that side—including Galvin.
Only Haldi escapes the blast. Proving that her combat skills are a level up, Haldi tucks her wings, somersaults through the air, and swoops down at me. At the last second, the blades of her sword flip out on both sides to form a gleaming double-bladed rod with a handle in the middle to safely hold it. She expertly spins both sides of the weapon as she drops to the ground, preparing to swing and cut my head from my shoulders.
I guess she’s already given up on merely capturing me.
I leap back just in time, sensing one of the hot blades slicing through the air right across my chest.
She doesn’t stop, striking again and again as I evade her attacks as fast as I can.
“Nova! Catch!” It’s Malia’s voice, but I can’t take my eyes off Haldi even for a second. There’s a glint at the corner of my vision—an unwelcome brightness that quickly reveals itself to be a very welcome sword she’s throwing to me.
I reach up, snatch it from the air, and bring it down just in time to block Haldi’s next swing.
The angel’s face flushes with anger as she snarls, “You won’t beat me.”
I hide my fatigue as I mimic her arm action when she extended her sword into a double-edged rod. The blades respond, clicking into place as I reply with a confident, “We’ll see.”
The two weapons spark as they beat against each other, and I call on all of the relentless training I’ve undertaken in my life to hold off Haldi’s attacks and strike back, fighting with everything I have left.
Which is nothing.
I have nothing left.
With every move I make, my energy drains further. The way Haldi’s smile grows tells me there’s no way I’m hiding my exhaustion from her. By now, my face must be completely pale and the rings under my eyes black. I can’t hide the trembling in my arms or the heaviness of my breathing.
She uses my fatigue to her advantage, driving me toward the light at the edge of the canopy. I try to fight back, to stand my ground, but this only seems to enrage her. She screams and appears to lose control. Beating at my weapon, over and over, she drives me down to the ground until I’m on my knees.
I attempt to block the downward cuts of her sword, forced to lean back under her attacks, when the top of my head extends into the moonlight.
It’s an instant drain on my energy. So intense that I nearly drop my weapon.
Haldi holds her sword against mine and pushes down. My muscles strain as I try to push back. A little more of my forehead extends into the light and a whimper leaves my lips.
“We will rid the world of you, Nova,” she says. “Eventually, we will kill all demons.”
I groan under the strength of her attack, too tired to scream.
Just as I prepare to leap into the light so I can get out from under the angel, Taniya rears up behind her.
Taniya’s talons are extended, and her arms are splattered with blood. It’s clear that her bloodthirsty harpy is completely in control when she croons, “Good luck with that.”
