“What’s your name?” I asked.
Her chest plate rose and fell as she swallowed her defiance, using it as another layer of armor while her one good eye continued to scan the room. “I don’t answer to the false king or his whore.” She spat at my feet. “Die.”
My brows rose. “That’s a terrible name, honestly.”
Samkiel stomped toward us. I raised my hand as if those five digits could stop the maelstrom forming behind me.
She sneered as best as she could, the skin around her burned face crackling. I knew this was nothing but bravado because I could smell her apprehension and fear. She kept it barely contained, but it brewed just below the surface. “You think we fear you or him?” Her eye cut to the man behind me. “She will wipe the world clean of you and anyone loyal to you. They all will.”
I glanced back at Samkiel.“They?”
“Perhaps Nismera’s legion?”he replied.
“Or that nasty bitch has something else up her sleeve.”
He nodded once but didn’t say anything else, letting me continue. I turned back to our captured general.
“They? Her legion? I’ve already seen half of you.” A small snort left my lips. “You all aren’t that scary. You’re all pathetic. Weak.” I leaned forward, whispering softly, “I’ve faked better orgasms than the performance you all put on. You’re all lackluster at best.”
Her smile morphed into a laugh, revealing the red sheen of her teeth. Cameron’s grip tightened on her collar as she leaned closer to me.
“Your arrogance will bury you,” she said. “Bury you both. You have no idea what our king has or what she has planned.”
Hook meet bait.
“Oh, so not her legion, then.”
But as the general smiled, I realized maybe I had not won.
“No,” she said, “her armada.”
I glanced up at Samkiel to see him frowning, his confusion telling me he didn’t know what she was talking about. I’d give her credit. She didn’t back down. She watched us and laughed again. “You are both so clueless. You have no idea what is coming, and just so we’re clear, I wasn’t running from you. I was running to spare my life when she arrives.”
“Nismera?”
She shook her head and looked up at the tent’s ceiling, her grin firmly in place. A loud boom cracked the air. Cameron and I dropped to our knees, hands covering our ears as it echoed off the trees. It sounded as if a bomb had gone off in the sky right above us.
The tent vibrated, my vision blurring from the sonic blast. I saw the general get to her feet and hobble away, neither Cameron nor I in any shape to stop her. Another blast hit, this one putting us all on the floor. I gritted my teeth, my head throbbing. The sonic high-pitched echo pulsed against our eardrums until I felt blood drip from them. I licked my lips, the coppery flavor filling my mouth as it poured from my nose. My jaw clamped tight, my teeth gritting as I writhed on the floor. Cameron was on the ground twitching, the black mist of his beast jumping and ebbing, trying to protect him. I had no doubt mine was doing the same.
There was another blast, and lightning speared the sky. Next to me, Samkiel’s back bowed, and I could see that his mouth was open in a silent scream of agony, the sound rocking him to his core. When silver blood began to pool in his eyes, the beast in me that had claimed him roared to the surface. The ancient predatory need to protect, to defend that which I could not live without, broke my beast free. Whatever was making that noise was hurting not only me but also them, my family. I ignited the fire in my chest, the burn of it overriding the pain. In a corner of my mind, a dark and jagged Gathrriel smiled proudly and stood.
“There,”he said, his voice primal.“My vessel.”
Wings erupted from my back as scales replaced my skin. Horns grew from my head, and razor-sharp talons replaced my nails. Before I had finished the transformation, I was bursting through the tent. I rocketed into the sky and slammed through the massive ship hovering above us. It exploded, and debris flew in all directions, fire bathing me in orange and red waves of heat. I turned and hovered, watching the pieces of golden metal burn and crash to the ground. A warship?
I spread my wings wide and threw my head back, a war cry ripping from my throat before I dove for the ground, returning to my mortal form just before my feet made impact. The warship was broken into three pieces, smoke crawling from each. I strode toward the largest pile of wreckage. Whoever had been piloting it would pray for death by the time I was finished with them. I gripped a piece of the twisted hull and ripped it off, looking for the pilot or crew. Flames licked at the broken interior, and wires sparked. I smelled death below the acrid scent of burning metal, fabric, and plastic. Blood and tissue splattered the inside of the ship, and were those … feathers?
What the fuck?
The ground shook, a thud coming from behind me, then another.
“How did you manage to break out of that?” Cameron asked, coming to my side. Blood stained the sides of his face where it had leaked from his ears.
“What the fuck is that?” I said, pointing at the mess inside the burning wreck, ignoring his question.
Samkiel came to my right side, wiping at the flecks of blood from his ears and the sides of his face, seemingly completely recovered. “We leave,” he said, grabbing my hand and gripping Cameron’s arm. “Now.”
I spluttered, trying to form words and get the answers I knew he had. He ignored it all and took us into the sky, flying us away from the wreckage. Samkiel had never moved this fast with me. He was a flash of silver, and I swore we outpaced time. He took us high into the mountains and settled the three of us onto a thick branch overlooking the clearing and the mess far below.
