Chapter 49
Iducked, the hammer hissing past my head. With a roar, I drove my dagger up, slicing open the Demon from abdomen to sternum. He fell, clutching at the wound, and the weapon clattered away, under the feet of the others fighting at my side atop the wall.
A presence crashed into my mind again like a clap of thunder.
“Sylaira, get out.”
Another grunt launched at me. We were outnumbered again, and I had to focus on what was in front of me. Yet as I parried the attack and used his momentum against him, her panic only rose.
“I love you. I’ll be fine,” I tried to reassure her, hating that when she wanted to be in my mind, I couldn’t bear to have her there.
“I can’t lose you.”
Her reply stole what little air was left in my lungs.
Those four words were everything I’d been dying to hear from her.
I’d been aching for her to love me as much as I loved her—and that was the closest I’d ever come to feeling it.
Because there was no way she could ever experience the same intensity I did, and I was fine with that. So long as she let me give it to her.
“I’m not going anywhere, little fugitive.” I slipped around my attacker, driving a blade into his side before scaling the edge of the wall and attempting to steal a moment to catch my breath. “Now I really need to focus. I promise I’ll check in with you when I’m done here.”
“Okay.” Her melodic voice echoed in my mind even as she retreated.
I surveyed the fight, chest easing at the sight of Oshenai and the islanders corralling a group of Demons, slaughtering them with brutal efficiency.
We’d ambushed the group, hoping that our surprise attack would aid in our victory.
But more had surged from the base of the wall, their black membranous wings blotting out the blue sky.
I looked down, spotting another group racing up the hill.
“Fuck.”
This needed to end. My eyes dipped closed as I dove into the well of my exalted power. I opened my mouth, sucking all the air around us into my lungs.
And then I issued my Command.
“HALT.”
The group froze midstride, the thrall of my magic keeping them aloft.
And fuck how good it felt to wield my Goddess-gifted power again against my enemies.
White wings burst from my back as I leaped from the stone barrier, soaring toward the line of them.
Sweat slicked my spine as I darted between the Demons, gripping the threads of white to hold them still while slicing their throats to ensure they never made it to my soldiers.
When the last one bled, I surrendered control. Each body thudded against the ground, ruby staining the soil. That blood magic living inside me sat up and salivated at the sight of it trickling out.
How many of these males possessed a similar power?
I shook the thought out before it could take root. There was no time to linger. I took a quick perusal, searching for any sign of further attack.
No one else moved downhill.
I flew back to the fray just in time to see an Angel go down, a sword through his stomach. I lashed out with a luminous whip, wrapping it around the attacker’s neck and yanking him backward. His fingers scrambled for purchase against the rope but swiped through nothing.
A Demon with blood-red eyes shouted out, and those remaining backed toward the wall.
“Kill them all before they flee!” I barked, stabbing the one I had under my control. I stepped over his lifeless form, once again sucking in air and preparing to stop their retreat.
Black wings unfurled from between their shoulder blades.
“FREEZE.”
Their bodies snapped taut, suspended in midair. Angels flew up to meet them, slitting their throats the same way I’d done to the others below.
Exhaustion tugged at my limbs, my power still straining after months severed from it. The moment the last had been finished off, I released my Command. The corpses dropped with satisfying thuds.
It was so much better to be killing Demons than my own kind.
I swiped the sweat from my brow, sinking back against the rock. I desperately needed sleep, to restore the white in my well to its full strength. But there was still so much to do.
Maelsar sauntered up, his pewter hair a wild mess, and handed me a waterskin. I drank from it greedily.
“Think we got them all?” I asked.
“Aye. Now we need to tell the group in the foothills to ascend.”
I nodded, dragging in a deep inhale and letting it out, trying to slow my breathing. Others found our dead, dragging them off to one side, while the Demons they piled on another.
Oshenai shouted instructions to prepare a pyre for our fallen soldiers.
“They’re gone,” I said to Sylaira.
Her presence leaped into my mind a heartbeat later. “You’re uninjured?”
“Tired, but no cuts at all.”
Thank the fucking Goddess—I didn’t need the temptation to end everyone. The blood magic growled even now in my ear, displeased that I’d held it back when it could have aided me in slaughtering everyone.
“What do you want us to do?”
“Pack and ride up here. There’s a watchtower close by where we can stay. Then I want to hear about your vision.”
I’d had to shut it out the moment it claimed her. Our bond had roared at me to turn around and attend to her. As much as I ached to, I had to clear the path for us. I had to ensure that we all survived.
“We’ll be there shortly. We really need to discuss it as soon as possible.
” Trepidation threaded her tone, the echo of it lingering as she drifted from my thoughts.
Though our connection remained wide open, there at a moment’s notice should either of us need it.
How different from most of our relationship.
With a groan, I got to my feet. “Oshenai,” I called out.
“Yes, Issaraeth?” he said, interrupting his conversation with his nephew.
“Put the Demons on a pyre too,” I told him.
He dipped his chin, though his eyes tightened at the corners. “As you wish. Prepare a second,” he instructed his kin. The young male offered us both hasty salutes, then trotted off to assist his fellow soldiers.
“May I ask why?”
“I’m feeling generous today,” I shrugged, draining the last of the water.
“Your Command seems to work well,” he commented, gaze flicking to my scarred, lavender eye.
Thankfully my hair was soaked enough to warrant the darker color. I took it down, raking my hands through the tangles, before securing the knot atop my head again. “Thank the Goddess. My sister’s cruelty knows no bounds.”
“I am starting to understand that. To send you off to the front without it…” The chieftain trailed off, shaking his head, his own thick locks spilling over his broad shoulders. “It is barbaric.”
“You and your kin fight well.” For people who spent their lives at sea, they were formidable warriors. They needed no extra training—unlike many of those who had lived in the Angel Realm’s largest cities.
“Our people value strength. Weakness does not serve anyone on the water. The ocean is as cruel a mistress as the Korona,” he chuckled.
I found myself grinning. “You might be right about that, Chieftain.” I clapped him on the shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “I’m going to go to the watchtower and prepare it for the injured’s arrival.”
“Go. I can manage the dead,” he said.
I nodded, spinning on my heel and shouting for Maelsar to join me. And then, we opened the door to the tower atop the wall.
Only to be met with a ferocious shout.
“What the fuck?” Maelsar said, stepping into the darkness and tossing bubble lights into the air.
Light gray hair, matted with blood, stuck to the side of the male’s head. Ripped leathers exposed his tattooed chest—a familiar lion staring back at me. In his mouth was a thick gag, silencing him in a way that the monster inside me savored.
“Well, look who is at our mercy now,” I crooned, stepping up beside Maelsar and staring down at Calrien.
He spit something around the fabric between his teeth that sounded a lot like ‘fuck you.’
“It’s the perfect time to start knocking more names off our list,” Maelsar laughed, low and predatory.
“Truly. And this time, we won’t even have to make his death subtle. Who is going to tell Iaoth that you suffered?” I taunted, circling him.
His hands were bound behind his back in bronze, shutting off access to his magic, while his ankles were secured with a thick rope, preventing him from moving. With the toe of my boot, I freed the gag, if only because I wanted to hear his screams.
“You spent years with us, only to betray us?” I tutted, shaking my head. “Loyalty was never your strength, Calrien.”
“You can’t kill me,” he snapped, though his tone held a desperate edge, like even he didn’t believe he’d survive the day.
“What did the Demons do to you?” I asked, crouching in front of him.
Maelsar prowled a circle around him. “It seems you’ve lost a lot of blood.”
“Not all of that is mine. They killed the females in some sort of sacrifice to their false idols,” he snapped. “They didn’t use mine at all.”
“Are you certain?” I said, pressing a finger into the wound on his chest.
He swore, jerking back. “Of course. I know the consequences. I would never let them.”
To be tainted by a Demon ritual was an offense punishable by death under the Goddess’s new order. The three Fates demanded blood sacrifices—which was why so many Demons had blood magic.
And me.
Maelsar shook his head, then crouched with me, running the edge of his blade along Calrien’s neck. He went stock-still at the feel of it. “I very much doubt that.”
These types of beliefs were ones we’d have to unwind to make peace with the people who shared our continent. Along with ones like the unholy trinity. There were so many entanglements with the faith and the law when it came to how Angels could interact with Demons.
The beliefs that they were nothing more than monsters ran so deep. Yet now that I bore their magic…I couldn’t continue to think as I once had.
With Demon magic flowing in my veins, do the Fates watch over me too?
A chill settled in my marrow, but I didn’t have time to examine the possibility now.
I found myself aching for Sylaira. For her unwavering belief that they could be good. That they deserved to live alongside us.
It was her defiance, her stubbornness, her strength that I loved most. That kept me whole and sane when everything else attempted to coerce and control me.
“You don’t have to do this,” Calrien shouted, trying to wriggle out from the hold we had on him.
“Iaoth would be disappointed in me if we didn’t. After all, the reason you’re here, the reason Althirion and Nymirae were here, was to ensure I obeyed, wasn’t it?” A smirk rose to my lips. Luminous drips leaked from me in a demonstration of the power I possessed once again.
“You motherfucker,” he cursed me, eyes narrowing.
I sucked in a breath, the air in the room expanding my lungs. “OBEY.”
Calrien’s eyes went glassy as he fell under my thrall.
“Cut the ropes on his ankles, I want him standing for this,” I told Maelsar.
My second-in-command sliced through the strands, and I Commanded Calrien to rise.
Bloodlust surged inside me, the Demon magic twisting tight with the Angelic white.
It whispered for me to cut myself so that the lines of his veins would dance in my vision, ready to pluck like they were strings of an instrument.
“Stay grounded,” Maelsar warned.
“You kill him.” I shook myself out of the stupor. If he’d noticed a change in me, I couldn’t risk using any more of my power to finish the job. I had no cuts to unleash that beast, and I didn’t want to test whether it would find a different way out of me.
“WALK.”
Calrien did, exiting out the opposite door, away from Oshenai and the rest preparing for the army’s imminent arrival.
A cool breeze blasted us the moment we stepped outside again.
“ON THE WALL.”
With shaking limbs, Calrien climbed onto the edge, peering into the Demon Realm.
Maelsar hopped up beside him, knife pressed into his side. He gave me a nod, and I dropped my hold.
With one swift strike, Maelsar punched Calrien—blade first—in the ribs. A scream tore past his lips, and he tumbled forward, a trail of ruby in his wake. I hauled myself upright just in time to see his body break against the ground.
Dark satisfaction curled inside me at the way his neck hung at an unnatural angle.
“Diving headfirst never goes well,” Maelsar grinned, knocking his shoulder into mine.
“Truly, he should have known better,” I drawled.
“Are we going to burn his body?” Maelsar asked.
“No. Let him rot.” I leaped to the ground and strode for the watchtower again. “We don’t have time anyway. Sylaira and Lyriasthe will be here soon.”
“Where are they?” he asked me, jogging to catch up.
I tapped into our bond, sensing her down the hill. “Five minutes out. Let’s clear the tower and then we’ll meet them.”
I ascended the stairs, finding food stores on the next floor and bunks on the highest two. But no one else remained—thank the Goddess.
Which meant that we could finally bring our warriors back into our realm.
And start the next phase of our plan.