Where was she?Whowasshe?
My head dropped into my hands when the world slanted precariously. I struggled to recall what I’d forgotten as the bones in my broken wrist set back into place with a click and the throbbing in it lessened. Lifting my head, I searched for that hair and smell, but all I saw was blood andfighting.
Then, my gaze fastened on the cloakagain.
Have to have it! Have to have it!The words became a mantra inmyhead.
Fangs sprouted into my mouth.That’s not right; I don’t havefangs.
I do now. Becauseofher.
Who?
I took a step toward the others to jump into the fight again, but I froze when a face materialized within the tempest rolling throughmymind.
Wren!
Once I recalled her, my urgency to possess the cloak lessened. I still wanted it, but I wanted her more. I spun toward where I’d left her in thewoods.
How could I have forgotten myChosen?
Wrong, this is all wrong, I realized as bits and pieces started fitting into place. There’s something else I had to recall, and I had to do it now, or we wouldalldie.
A rock hit me in the back of the head with enough force to stagger me forward. Someone launched onto my back, knocking me to the ground. Rolling, I slammed my fist into the chest of the demon perched on me. Lifting him up, I flung him over the top of me and sprang tomyfeet.
All around me, demons and humans brawled. A few bodies littered the ground; I couldn’t tell if they were dead or alive, but if this continued many would die, of that I was certain. Then, the demon holding the black cloak spun around. The end of it brushed over my skin when it swung out, and the compulsion to grab itseizedme.
Panting for air, I stumbled away from the fight and toward where I’d left Wren. I searched the forest but didn’t see her. That cloak wasnothingto me; she waseverything,and I wasfailingher.
“Whereisshe?”
Before I could stumble further toward where I’d left Wren, someone kicked my knee out from under me. My leg bent at an odd angle when I hit the ground, and the demonspounced.
* * *
Wren
I stayed low as I moved around the corner of the house and back into the trees. I caught glimpses of the melee in the clearing, but I didn’t look too long. I couldn’t be distracted by them right now, and I knew I might plunge in to help if I watched for too long. We’d all bedeadthen.
After we’d spent the night in the school, Corson sent most of the skelleins to the wall to speak with Kobal, and Raphael had gone with them. It had been the right choice for Raphael to go too, but right now Ireallywished the golden boy with his handy ‘suck the energy from things and blast them to kingdom come’ powerwashere.
Creeping around the corner of a large boulder, I spotted something standing amid the trees fifteen feet away from me. Ducking back behind the rock, I studied the forest for manticores, gobalinus, or some other nasty Hell creature comingmyway.
I slid my knife back into its holster as a strong gust of wind knocked some of the stubbornly clinging oak leaves from the trees. One of the leaves drifted down to stick to my face. I brushed it off and cringed when it made a small, crinkling noise. Nothing could have detected the sound, but it still made my palms sweat. I took another steadying breath before peeking around the boulder with my gun heldbeforeme.
Through the trees, the end of a horse’s red tail swept aside the leaves on the ground. I followed that tail up to the vibrant red of the horse’s legs, higher to its black body, and toward its front. My breath caught when I spotted the two heads attached to the horse’s long, muscular neck. The red stripe down the center of both the heads matched the red of its tail, mane, forelock, and legs. Four strange, fluorescent green eyes watched the clearing from the horse’sheads.
The rider on the horse’s back sat proudly in the saddle, his shoulders back and his blond hair falling around his shoulders. The pale skin stretched taut over his high cheekbones and pointed chin gave him the appearance of a livingskull.
On the rider’s right hand, rings covered all his fingers and thumb. I couldn’t see his left hand from where I hid, but I recalled seeing him before with the other horsemen and knew his left hand also had rings on it. Each of the golden bands held a different colored jewel. The rings were so large the bands took up the entire bottom half of his long, big-knuckledfingers.
This horseman had also worn a black cloak when I last saw him. I recalled that a jewel, the same fluorescent green as the rider’s eyes and those of his horses, had fastened that cloak at his throat. He didn’t wear thecloaknow.
My heart sank when I realized the others were busy trying to kill each other over thatcloak.
The horseman ran his hand over his thigh, causing the jewels in his rings to flash in the sun filtering over his body. A rainbow of light reflected off the trees and ground as his handmoved.
The sudden needto possess those rings almost caused me to burst out from behind the boulder and charge across the clearing at him. I’d bite his fingers off if it meant getting my hands on those rings. Not once had I ever wanted a piece of the jewelry before; if I couldn’t eat it, it was of little use to me, but suddenly those rings wereeverythingtome.
