"Or Vex," Rose added quietly.
"You really think this will work?" I stared at the shard, mesmerized by the faint light still pulsing inside it.
Selena elbowed me. "You have to have faith."
Raven laughed. "The Archangel Michael is the strongest angel in the garrison. Do you really think he'd be armed with something demons could overthrow?"
Heat flushed across my face and I didn't answer her. It was true. I'd met the Archangel Michael. He never lost.
"Now." Rose motioned with her arm. "Everyone stand in a circle. I'm going to place the shard in the middle. Then Alice and I will cast the spell." Her gaze swept over each of us. "Everyone holds hands. Don't break the circle. No matter what."
We moved into position. Selena took my left hand, her fingers lacing through mine. Raven took my right, and Lucien stood on her other side. Valentin held Selena's free hand. Darius held Alice's and Lucien's. Rose completed the circle between Valentin and Alice. My heart thundered so hard I thought it would explode.
God, I wanted this to work. Please let it work.
Lightning flashed outside and the air crackled. The hair on my arms stood up. Was that — was that the Archangel Michael?
Rose placed the shard in the center of our circle. It pulsed once, faintly, like a heartbeat waking up. Then she returned to her place and closed the circle.
Thunder boomed outside, shaking the walls. Lightning split the sky again, closer this time. Beads of sweat rolled down my temples. Selena squeezed my hand tighter. I squeezed back.
Alice and Rose looked at each other, nodded, and spoke as one?—
"By the blade of Michael, forged in heaven's fire,
we call upon theLapis Umbrae.
Shield of the righteous. Sword of the divine.
Bind your power to blood and bone.
Mark us with the blade that cast the fallen into darkness.
No demon shall enter. No shadow shall claim.
By Excalibur's edge, we are sealed.
By Excalibur's light, we are shielded.
Gladius caeli, protege nos. Signa nos. Libera nos."
The shard spun. Slowly at first, then faster, faster, until it was a blur of white light hovering above the floor. The room grew brighter — so bright the shadows screamed off the walls and vanished.
"Don't break the circle," Rose called out, her voice barely cutting through the hum that was building in the air, in the floor, in my teeth.
Lightning exploded out of the shard — not one bolt but many, arcing wild across the room, sizzling into the walls, scorching stone. The air smelled like a forge. Like heaven was hammering something into existence right in front of us.
Then the shard found its targets.
A beam of pure white light slammed into my chest like a blade driven through my sternum. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. It was heat and pressure and power — ancient, furious, holy power — pouring into me like molten steel filling a mold. I felt it carving into my skin, burning deeper, past muscle, past bone, into something underneath that didn't have a name.
Selena's grip crushed my fingers. Raven's hand was iron around my other fist. Even if I'd wanted to break free, they wouldn't have let me. I could hear Selena gasping, Lucien swearing through clenched teeth, Raven breathing in sharp, controlled bursts.
I arched my back and screamed.
The light blazed brighter — impossibly bright, bright enough to burn through my closed eyelids — and I felt it. A sword. Excalibur. Not a tattoo, not a symbol, but the memory of the blade itself searing into my chest like a brand. Michael's power. Michael's promise.
No demon shall enter.
