Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Enzo
"Serenity, no!"
The loud, desperate cry tore through the air, raw with terror and love.
The sound made me jump despite my dying state, the final burst of adrenaline shooting through my drained system like lightning.
I forced my heavy eyelids to open, fighting against death that wanted to drag me under. Was that Angelo?
"You're next, bitch." Gunnar narrowed his eyes, and his black wings flapped harder, lifting me higher into the midnight sky. But I could hear something else in his voice—surprise, maybe even fear.
A brilliant white aura blazed through my blurred vision, moving toward us with the speed and grace of a falling star. The light was so pure it made my eyes water, cutting through the darkness of my fading consciousness like a sword of divine fire.
Suddenly, Gunnar's crushing grip released me.
Freedom and terror collided as gravity seized hold of my lifeless body.
I fell faster and faster toward the ground that rushed up to meet me like an inevitable grave, tumbling over and over again through the night air.
The wind screamed past my ears, drowning out the sounds of battle below.
My stomach lurched sickeningly with each rotation, and I could taste bile rising in my throat.
The bayou ground grew larger and more detailed with each passing second—grass, mud, and hard stones becoming visible, promising a brutal end to my fall. This was it. Death by falling. Pathetic.
Just as I thought I would smash into the unforgiving ground and feel my bones shatter on impact, strong arms encircled me. The jarring stop nearly knocked the breath from my lungs, but it was infinitely better than the alternative.
"I've got you." The voice was melodic and warm, melting through my panic like sunlight through fog.
I looked up through eyes still swimming with tears and exhaustion.
Serenity's face hovered above mine, ethereal and beautiful, framed by cascading golden hair that caught the moonlight.
Her massive white wings beat steadily behind her, each powerful stroke creating downdrafts that stirred the dust and debris around us.
She gently lowered me to the ground, her movements as graceful as a dancer's, her feet touching the stone with barely a whisper of sound.
The moment her hands made contact with my broken body, her healing power rippled through me like warm honey flowing through my veins.
The sensation was indescribable—like being wrapped in sunlight and love, every cell in my body sighing with relief as her magic worked to mend what had been torn apart.
Behind her, Gunnar descended like a bird of prey, his massive wings cutting through the humid bayou air with deadly precision.
A feral snarl twisted his handsome features into something monstrous, and pure hatred burned in his eyes like twin flames of hell.
The sound of his wingbeats was like thunder rolling across the swampland, promising violence and death.
"Serenity, you need to leave me," I panted, each word scraping my raw throat like sandpaper. My chest heaved as I struggled to draw breath into my battered lungs. "Get back to Angelo. He'll protect you."
"That's not my plan." She released me gently, and I collapsed like a broken marionette, my body splayed out across the soggy bayou ground. Mud and moss squelched beneath me, the earthy scent of decay and stagnant water filling my nostrils.
Some of my strength had returned—I could feel it trickling back through my veins like slow poison being drawn out—but it wasn't nearly enough to help her. My limbs still felt like lead, unresponsive to my desperate commands.
In the distance, the sounds of battle reached me—the clash of steel, the inhuman shrieks of dying Dark Demons, the wet thud of bodies hitting the ground. Angelo was fighting like a man possessed, but he was too far away, too engaged in his own battle to reach us in time.
Instead of darting away from Gunnar's approach, instead of using her divine speed to escape, Serenity did the unthinkable. She turned and flew directly toward him, her white wings spread wide like a challenge, her form blazing with celestial light against the dark bayou sky.
“Don’t do this,” I whispered.
But she ignored me as she flew straight into death, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do to stop her.
A low, menacing snarl cut through the chaos around me, bringing my attention snapping back to immediate danger. Hades was slowly approaching me across the muddy bayou ground, his form moving with deadly precision.
His golden mane framed a face built for killing, those massive jaws hanging open to reveal fangs designed to tear flesh. His eyes burned with intelligent malice, tracking my every movement. Despite his compact size, his muscled frame spoke of raw power poised to strike.
One lunge from those powerful haunches and the precious healing Serenity had given me would be for nothing. His red-tinged wings spread partially, and though they weren't massive, they gave him an otherworldly, threatening presence that made me breakout in gooseflesh.
His claws—razor sharp and gleaming—clicked against the stones with each deliberate step, promising to do serious damage despite his size.
The beast's low growl vibrated my bones, and sometimes the most dangerous predators came in deceptively small packages.
Another loud cry pierced the battle-torn night—agonized and unmistakably Gunnar's. The sound was unlike anything I'd ever heard from him before—like his very soul was being ripped apart.
Hades' head snapped toward the sound, his eyes blazing with alarm rather than predatory excitement.
He snarled, but there was confusion in the sound now, then he launched himself into the sky with powerful beats of his red-tinged wings.
The downdraft from his takeoff sent mud and debris flying across my face, stinging my eyes.
The moment he was airborne, I was moving. Serenity. I had to get to Serenity. She'd flown straight at Gunnar to save us—to save me—and I'd been pinned down, useless. Not anymore. My legs burned as I ran, but I didn't slow. Please let her be alive. Please.
Above us, Gunnar had arched his back like a bowstring pulled taut, his entire body trembling violently as Serenity clasped his arms. Her white light blazed against his darkness, and whatever she was doing to him was causing him excruciating pain.
He thrashed back and forth in her grip like a wild animal caught in a trap, his agonized screams echoing across the bayou.
His wings beat frantically, creating chaotic gusts of wind that sent Spanish moss swaying like ghostly fingers.
A large black bat streaked through the night sky toward Hades with record speed—Angelo. Even in his transformed state, I could sense his desperation, his fierce need to protect Serenity from whatever Hades might do to interrupt her work.
Drawing on my depleted power, the familiar sensation of bones shifting and reshaping rushed over me as I transformed into a bat.
But unlike Angelo's graceful flight, my wings were heavy and uncoordinated.
I flew erratic patterns through the thick bayou air, struggling to maintain altitude as my weakened body fought against the transformation.
My vision blurred as I lost precious feet, the soggy ground rushing up to meet me before I managed to catch an updraft.
But I wouldn't let anything happen to Serenity—not after she'd saved my life.
Hades roared as he drew closer to Serenity, the sound reverberating like thunder.
His massive paws were extended, claws gleaming in the moonlight like curved daggers ready to tear flesh from bone.
The wind from his wings created a downdraft that whipped Serenity's hair around her face as she maintained her grip on the writhing Gunnar.
He'd land on her back any minute. Death was only a few seconds away.
The scene unfolded in horrifyingly slow motion.
Serenity was completely focused on whatever healing magic she was channeling into Gunnar, oblivious to the lethal predator diving toward her.
Her white light pulsed with each of Gunnar's agonized screams, and I could see the strain on her face as she poured everything she had into saving him.
Angelo was still too far away, his black bat form streaking through the air but not fast enough to intercept Hades. My own flight was erratic and weak, my damaged body barely keeping me aloft.
Hades was three seconds away. Two seconds. His roar of triumph split the night—
Then something massive and dark shot between them, colliding with Hades in mid-air with a bone-jarring crash that sent both creatures spinning through the darkness.
But in the chaos of wings and claws and snarls, I couldn't tell who had intervened—or if they were friend or foe.