“Something’s happening in the city.” She tied off the braid. “Come on.”
Mila grabbed my hand, and I barely spared another glance at the information I’d just found. The information that changed everything.
“Holy fucking Angels,”I breathed as Mila and I stood on the steps of the capitol building where just hours ago, Barrett and Dax had sworn their vows. Their blood from the scarring still stained the stone just beneath my boots.
Only now, crimson bathed the rest of the city, too. Rubble coated alleys and sand blew in great gusts through the squares. Soldiers marched down streets, attempting to fortify any walls and borders they could.
“What’s happening?” Mila asked.
A burst of light laced with inky black lashed down from the sky, illuminating the city in an eerie glow, and a feathered silhouette burst through the clouds.
“Fuck,” I answered as roofs and statues warped beneath the dark tendrils of power. “Bant.”
The Engrossian Angel dove from the sky with a grandiose ax in hand. His long black hair trailed on the breeze, dark ether shimmering and highlighting the sinister smile on his face. He plummeted for a group of warriors defending the square, weapon launching from his hand.
“NO!” I shouted.
Bant’s ax landed in the chest of a warrior commanding a small unit to clear an alley, and a ripple of power shuddered through Xenovia.
Behind me, Barrett echoed my scream as he and Dax raced from the capitol building.
“Was that one of yours?” I asked.
Dax’s jaw ticked. “Yes. One of our advisors.”
“What in the fucking Angels,” I breathed. Bant had just killed one ofhis ownwarriors. And he’d smiled as he did it.
Barrett tried to leap down the stairs, but Dax caught him with a grimace, pulling him back into his chest.
“Let me go!” Barrett roared.
“No,” Dax commanded. “I finally got you. I’m not losing you yet.” The general ripped an ax from his back and shoved it into Barrett’s hands. “Be smart.”
Once Barrett collected himself, Dax released him, removing his other ax and assessing the square below.
The prince’s outcry had captured Bant’s attention. Pulling his weapon from the warrior’s chest, the Angel flared his wings wide. And with one more gut-churning smile and a nod that seemed like a promise, Bant shot into the air.
More soldiers poured into the space, crossing to their designated zones. Soulguiders and Bodymelders carried away what injured they could, and a cluster of Starsearchers stoodbehind a Mystique line, reading for any hint of what forces would be deployed next and shouting commands ahead.
Still hovering over the square, Bant drifted in high circles, sending down another whip of tar-streaked light. He wrapped it around a chimney of a shop bordering the square, crushing it with a flick of his hand. The entire wall crumbled across a wide street leading away from the plaza, and warriors rushed to clear the debris.
It was quickly morphing into carnage.
“Malakai,” Mila said, gripping my arm, voice laced with fury.
I followed her stare to the center of the square where, perched atop the bronzed statue of Xenique, an all too familiar white-haired woman sat, leather wings exposed at her back.
“Rozelyn,” I growled.
The gorgons were here, too.
Their leader watched the mess unfold below, eyes locked on Bant’s recent kill. Horror knotted my chest as those eyes shifted to red. A warrior kneeling beside the one Bant had slain looked up as if summoned.
“Don’t!” I yelled, making to run down the stairs, but Mila caught my hand.
“You won’t make it!”
Bile crawled up my throat as the man’s eyes locked with the gorgon’s, ensnared in her trap, and he turned to stone.
