The Angel delivered a slap to Tolek’s face with the might of an almighty deity, sending his neck snapping to the side at an odd angle.
“TOL!” I shrieked as Thorn discarded him.
He pushed to his feet like he’d barely felt the hit, sights only set on me—set on reaching across realms to get me. Tol charged at the Prime Warrior, but he was weaponless.
“Tolek!” Cypherion called and tossed his scythe.
Tol snatched it from the air as Thorn raised a hand, riling the power of storms. Thunder rumbled through the chamber, down to my bones, and a bolt of lightning shot toward Tolek, the scythe’s glinting blade a beacon for it.
Tolek drew the weapon back, crying out as he swung forward.
The arched blade drew across the Mindshaper Angel’s torso, ripping a jagged line from shoulder to hip as lightning ignited the silver steel.
“Holy fucking Angels,” I breathed.
No weapon was supposed to be able to harm an Angel. Thorn still stood, but crimson blood streaked with glittering gold poured from that non-fatal wound, his surprise morphing into a sneer.
And then, everyone was screaming. The Angels were soaring down, forming a barrier between me and my friends.
Panic sank its claws into my chest.
“Tolek!” I shrieked again as he lifted Cypherion’s scythe once more, and the others drew swords and axes.
Thorn fell behind his brethren, stitching his wound with a flash of Angellight. Echnid’s cold hand latched around my arm.
“What are you doing?” My voice was raw and distressed as I lost sight of my friends beyond the wall of wings and ether. “Damien!”
He was the Mystique Angel. He was supposed to protect us, to guide us. I’d doneall of thisbecause he told me to.But he killed Annellius.
The betrayal sank into my gut. It was like being submerged into an icy river, awakening new senses that tugged my heart. It wrenched at the trust I’d handed over to our Prime Warrior, ripping up those foundations until I was a void.
I’d tried to do everything he directed. Tried to trust him.
Damien’s stare met mine, gold light tumbling from his wings, and remorse darkened his purple eyes.
But I felt nothing at it. Nothing beyond the pain shredding my body, the pit of anguish I was teetering over, and the fury of a thousand Angels searing through my blood.
Echnid’s milky eyes were gleeful as he tugged me closer, brushing my hair from my face. “Come, Ophelia. Let us work as a team.”
His touched crawled along my skin.
“Let me go!” I staggered back a step, but his grip was solid.
“Ophelia!” Tolek shouted, again and again.
Rina and Cyph, too.
Jezebel was spearing her silver-blue light toward the Angels, but they threw up their own shields of Angellight to quickly swallow her myth-born magic.
My hand was gripped in the grasp of a god, my life along with it. And then, Echnid ripped a tear between here and elsewhere.
Beyond the shimmering veil, a familiar mountain view lurked. One I knew, one I loved, but when I saw the rocky peaks between stone pillars and the city spread beyond, I felt nothing. Everything worth feeling was locked on the other side of the Angels.
Echnid smiled down at me, and those milky eyes halted on my Bind.
“Wait!” he shouted, holding up a hand. I wanted to burn the tattoo from my flesh if only to keep him from seeing this piece of my soul. “Bring the boy, too.”
My heart stuttered.
