“I got your back,” Jacob’s voice came from beside me just as the alarms stopped their screaming.
“Thanks,” I huffed, and no sooner had the words left my mouth than the ugly goat monster leapt from the stage with inhuman speed and grace.
Crap.
I raised my sword and it flared to life with a white glow that was ever so faintly blue. Jacob and I shared one look and then went ballistic on the creature. We took turns stabbing and slashing until he was a heap of shadows at our feet. With one final effort, the beast reached for my ankle, but I stumbled backward and ran into someone.
“I hate that we keep meeting like this,” a familiar female voice spoke behind me, and chills ran the length of my entire body.
I turned slowly, coming face to face with Skye’s killer.
“Run!” Drea shouted.
Level ten. Oh, this was so a trap.
Her glossy black hair fell to her waist in waves as she peered at me with a pursed lip look of annoyance. She might have looked like a human—granted, she was the most seductive and beautiful woman I’d ever seen—but her energy felt heavy, like a blanket made of lead that was smothering me. I couldfeelthe evil within her. She felt like death, hate, wrath, and every other vile emotion I could think of.
My wings snapped from my back as I prepared to flee with my friends, and she grinned.
“Do I get to take another one?” She raised her wrist, pointed at Jacob behind me, and it felt like my soul left my body. I didn’t know if it was triggered by anger or terror or what, but I had an out-of-body experience; time seemed to stand still, and all my power flooded to the surface of my skin and then released like a dam breaking.
Planting two hands on her chest, I shoved her. A shockwave of unseen force left me and blasted the she-devil across the room. She sailed over Drea and Marlow’s heads, snarling, and crash landed at the far end of the room.
“You willpayfor that!” she shrieked, and the walls of the club shook.
Oh, crap.
I stared at my hands, wondering what kind of power that was, when I noticed one of my angel marks was active and spinning. Arcs of glowing white swirls danced along the underside of my wrist.
Sweet.
“Get behind me,” I called to my friends, who were scattered throughout the now miraculously empty club. The fire alarm had worked wonders, and the bear-headed demon was dead on the ground and disintegrating into shadows. The goat demon Jacob and I had killed had already disappeared.
Marlow, Drea, and Dash started to run to me when I saw the anger wash over the level ten’s face, turning her pale skin ruddy. She was hell-bent on murder. She wanted to take another one of my friends, I could feel it in my bones.
“Don’t,” I shouted, and ran out to intercept her, passing Drea and the others as they fled to safety behind me.
Her hand flicked, and I reacted.
With a battle cry, I threw both arms out, and this time consciously pulled for my magic, thinking of protection. I envisioned a shield between my palms, similar to how I envisioned a portal, with no idea if that was even one of my abilities but letting instincts I didn’t know I had guide me.
A purple translucent bomb of power exploded from my hands and collided with whatever dark magic she’d sent our way. Sparks of purple and orange showered the room, and the floor shook.
“You little pain in the ass!” the level ten demon screamed. The shaft of a glowing orange spear appeared in her fist.
What the heck was that? Now she was creating weapons out of magic?
I glanced over my shoulder to see my friends standing behind me with swords drawn. They hadn’t left.
“Go,” I hissed.
“You come too,” Drea snapped back.
I wanted to, I so totally wanted to run home and watchSpongeBobwith Gran and never see this evil demon again, but I feared if I let my guard down I’d be burying another friend, and this one might not come back as a super-annoying ghost.
Marlow gasped at something. I turned back just in time to see the spear sailing through the air, headed right for Drea’s heart. I leapt to the side with every intention of intercepting the projectile when the space between the glowing spear and me opened up and some large creature flew out of it.
Is that a glowing lion with wings?
