Drea stood before me, light weapon in hand.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
She bent down and picked up my dropped sword, handing me the hilt. “Don’t lose this again,” she said. “Remember, only light weapons kill these guys.”
I nodded and grabbed it from her, equal parts embarrassed over how I’d just performed, and traumatized by almost getting my face sucked off by a giant spider demon. I mean, I didn’t know if that was possible, but I’d seen all theAlienmovies and that shadow demon looked a little too close to the facehugger creature in the movie for my comfort.
Drea tapped her hand against her wrist and pulled a short sword off her skin. The blade shone with a faint bluish-white glow like the rest of the light weapons. “Use this one for the demons that get too close.”
After slapping the extra blade into my free hand, she jumped back into the fray, slicing and stabbing anything that got within her reach.
Okay, Tatum. It’s go time. Don’t make Drea regret bringing your newbie butt along.
Kicking off of the rocks where I was crouched, I burst into the melee with my light weapons held aloft. Just as a demon neared me, I felt a tingle along my arm, and then the blade’s blueish-white light intensified, causing the insect demons in the vicinity to scurry away in fear.
Score.
It didn’t scare all the demons though. A bat-chicken chimera creature flew at my head, and I slashed my large glowing light sword upward into its shadowy chest, making it poof and disintegrate in seconds. Another and another flew at me, the barrage of creatures swarming us in an attack so thick I couldn’t see two feet in front of me.
“Ow!” Marlow yelled and I side stepped to where I’d heard her voice, cutting through half a dozen shadow demons on the way. There must have been over a hundred of them. Marlow was slumped at the base of a tree, a cockroach demon with wings was attached to her neck.
Without hesitation, I brought my smaller sword down and lashed through the back of the roach demon, but not before Marlow let loose with another wail of pain.
Crap.She’d been bit.
“Jacob! Get Marlow out!” Drea called to my left. With a swoosh of golden wings, Jacob landed beside me and scooped Marlow into his arms. She was shaking, teeth chattering, and I wondered if she was going to be okay. Jasmine was okay after her bite from a level two, but—
“Tatum, look out!” Skye screamed and I spun just as the ugliest creature I’d ever seen scampered into the air from its place on the rocks and flew at my face.
Not again.
Using both the swords in my grip, I made a protective X in front of me and pulled it apart just as the creature reached me, cutting it right in half.
“Help!” Dash cried out, and I had no time to even revel in the fact that I’d totally just kicked demon butt or thank Skye for warning me. It was absolute pandemonium. I spun and searched for Dash to find that he was pinned at the base of the large tree trunk, where demons had just dropped down on him from above. Skye was already coming to his aid, which was a relief as I was farther away.
Knowing that Dash had help, I focused my attention on the demon swarm. It had thinned, and now I could see there was someone in the center of their little shadowy tornado. Someone who had remained hidden up until now.
Another demon? Were they protecting them? I could only see the outline, but their form looked humanoid. Chills broke out on my arms.
“Guys, I think there’s a level eight inside—” The words had barely left my lips when the flying demons parted, as if they shared a hive mind and were suddenly told to make a path.
The breath caught in my throat when my gaze fell on the woman in the crisp black cocktail dress. She had glossy black hair that was gelled back, falling in loose waves to her waist, and skin so pale it looked like she’d never seen the sun. She looked completely human, but I knew she couldn’t be.
“Is that a…?” I couldn’t even speak it.
“A level ten. Run!” Drea called out the command, but my legs locked in fear.
“Hello, Tatum, I have a message from your father,” she purred in a silky voice that made my stomach roil.
Drea scrambled to get Dash up from where he’d fallen at the trunk of the tree, and Skye stood protectively in front of both of her friends, but I just couldn’t move.
What if this message was about my mom?
My transparent white wings snapped from my back instinctively and I prepared to fly, but not until my friends were clear of this place.
“What’s the message?” I asked, determined to keep her talking as Drea dragged an injured Dash backward and away from the level ten. Skye looked from Drea to me, sword pulled out as if she was deciding to go with them or stay and protect me.
Go, I wanted to shout at her. I had wings and she didn’t.
