“No. They killed themselves before we got to them.” Harker met Colonel Fireswift’s gaze with darkness in his eyes. “They were six of our own. Legion soldiers.”
Shock flashed across Colonel Fireswift’s face. It was an expression I’d never seen there before. “Deserters? Six at once?”
He looked disgusted, angry, outraged, and worried—all at once. That was another new expression for him. But a moment later, his face hardened with resolve, his cold, cruel shield sliding into place once more.
“No, they weren’t deserting,” Harker said. “They were committing suicide. The saboteurs never expected to survive this ordeal. They were hoping they’d take us down with them.”
Colonel Fireswift’s mouth tightened into a hard line. “Fanatics then.”
“No—”
Raised voices clamored behind us, drowning out Harker’s words. Doctors rushed about frantically, gathering around a convulsing female soldier on one of the beds. Her body rattled and shook, her wounds pulsing blood. Bathed in crimson, I hardly recognized her. It was Major Kendra Fireswift, Jace’s sister, Colonel Fireswift’s daughter.
And she was dying.
Her face contorted in agony as the life dripped out of her. The doctors rushed around her bed, trying to save her, but nothing they did made a difference. They were losing her.
Colonel Fireswift rushed to his daughter’s bed, pushing the doctors aside. He set his hands, aglow with healing magic, on her chest. Desperation crinkled his brow as he poured magic into her. But his angelic healing powers were no match for whatever was killing her.
Jace stood on the other side of her bed. He had no healing magic, but he wasn’t idle. His hands were a blur as he mixed potions and set bandages, trying to stop the bleeding.
Beneath the splashes of crimson, Kendra’s face had grown deathly pale. She was screaming so loud that the windows were shattering all around her.
“What happened to her?” I asked Harker in horror.
“She was poisoned,” he told me. “The saboteurs used bullets infused with Venom. She was hit. And now the dark magic is destroying her light magic, unraveling her piece by piece, strand by strand.”
I stepped forward, determined to help. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I had to do something.
Harker caught my arm. “It’s no use,” he said in a low whisper.
“I can save her,” I whispered back. “I can suck the Venom out of her. Just like I did to Basanti.”
“It’s too late. The poison has spread too far for her to survive. At this point, sucking the Venom from her would only expose your dark magic. There’s no hope for her.”
I watched Kendra convulsing against her father’s hold, her blood splashing him and Jace. Acid rose in my throat.
“How can you be so sure?” I demanded.
“Because I’ve seen this poison work. I’ve already watched half of our team die in agony to it. I tried to heal Selena. I watched her die in my arms, unraveling to nothing.” There was a haunted look in Harker’s eyes. “We very nearly lost Basanti. The Venom bullet only grazed her arm, but if Nero hadn’t been so quick to cut away the infected flesh before the poison spread, she would be dead too. Selena and Kendra were some of our best, next in line to become angels. They were both chosen for this mission for their powerful magic. And now they’re dead because of it.”
“Colonel Battleborn?” I asked.
“He was hit with a Venom bullet as well. He died even faster than Selena.”
The more light magic you had, the faster the Venom killed you—and the more it made you suffer as it ripped the shreds of your light magic apart.
“How did Legion soldiers get their hands on Venom?” I demanded.
“I do not know. But the Legion has suffered a mighty blow today,” Harker said darkly. “Colonel Battleborn.”
Kendra’s screams had stopped. She lay motionless on the bed, but even in death, she didn’t appear to be at peace.
Harker’s face was blank. He was blocking out his emotions before they overwhelmed him. “Selena and Kendra, both rising stars, both so close to becoming angels.”
Colonel Fireswift removed his bloody hand from his daughter’s forehead. He stepped back from her bed, his eyes aflame with manic energy. I saw the moment that he lost it, the moment his control snapped and his pain consumed him. I just couldn’t move fast enough to stop what happened next.
Magic exploded out of the angel. The shock wave cut through the room, toppling everyone in its path. What remained of the glass doors shattered, raining down like tears, the tears the angel himself could not shed.
The Legion had suffered heavy losses today, and we were going to lose a whole lot more people if someone didn’t stop Colonel Fireswift now. Harker ran toward him, but his brush with death had taken its toll. He was slower, less coordinated than usual. Colonel Fireswift tossed him aside easily.
The wounded soldiers in the room weren’t in any condition to restrain an enraged angel. The doctors were no match for him either. One look at Jace was all it took to realize he would be of no help. He was just standing there in shock, holding his dead sister’s hand.
Which left me.
I rushed toward Colonel Fireswift, intercepting him before he split a hospital bed—and the patient on it—in two. I put myself between the bed and the angel.
“Colonel Fireswift,” I snapped sharply.
He didn’t even seem to realize I was there. His pain had blinded him.
I’d just been arguing with him, telling him off for being inhuman, and then this happened. He’d lost his daughter. Much as I disliked him, I couldn’t feel anything but bad for him right now. His eyes glistened with unshed tears. I could see the agony eating away at him, forcing him into a rage. He actually could feel and care. Apparently, he was more human than I’d thought.
The revelation, unfortunately, didn’t do me any good. I wasn’t strong enough to contain an enraged angel. If only Nyx were here. Or Nero. My heart thumped out a sharp jab of pain.
Colonel Fireswift threw a chair at Harker. I caught the flying piece of furniture and tossed it aside.
“This is your fault,” Colonel Fireswift growled at Harker, his voice more beast than man. “She’s dead because of your incompetence.” His words dripped menace.
Harker was injured. In a fight, he wouldn’t stand a chance. Colonel Fireswift would destroy him. The Legion would lose another angel, and I would lose a friend.
Colonel Fireswift swung a punch at Harker. I slid between the angels, catching Colonel Fireswift’s fist between my hands and pushing back. Surprised, the angel stumbled back a step.
“Get out of my way,” he snarled at me, magic flashing in his eyes.
“No.”
He swung a punch at me. I tried to evade, but he was too fast. Pain exploded in my body as his fist crashed into my stomach. I doubled over, coughing up blood. He moved around me to get to Harker, but I mirrored his movements, making myself the shield between the two angels. The look Colonel Fireswift shot me declared loud and clear that he had no qualms about breaking right through me.
The rational part of me knew I was no match for Colonel Fireswift, but the rebel in me refused to listen. Sure, he was faster, stronger, and had buckets more magic than I did. By the rules of this universe, I didn’t have a chance in hell of beating him. But I also didn’t play by the rules.
As he moved in for his next barrage, I hit him hard with my siren magic, locking it around him. “Hasn’t the Legion lost enough today?” I said, my voice as soft as my magic was hard. “We can’t afford to lose Harker too.”
He slowed but not enough. He was still moving.
“Would the First Angel want you to kill an angel?” I asked him.
He stopped, his breathing slowing. The fog of his rage must have cleared enough for him to recover his mind and realize what he was doing. Disgust washed across his magic—disgust that even for a second, he hadn’t been in complete control of himself.
His hands trembling in anger, he glared at me. How dare you put your unclean magic around me, he growled in my mind.
My magic isn’t dirty. It is the same as yours, Colonel. It comes from the same Nectar as yours.