“There she is,” a raspy voice shouted. Xander! What was Xander doing here? Wherever here was? Maggie turned to watch the scene unfold.
But Xander wasn’t alone. Gideon was there too. And Niklas and Mikhail. And two other demons she’d never seen before, one tall, blond, and knock-out gorgeous. The other had jet black eyes, mocha-colored skin, and a goatee. The latter carried a long, ancient-looking sword with a huge bloodred stone set into the pommel and some kind of runes carved down the length of the blade. They swarmed the cage, beating back the ghouls.
A dark laugh came out of nowhere, seeming to echo through the valley. The remaining creatures melted back in fear. The six demons turned, moving to stand shoulder to shoulder, all preparing to fight as they formed a barrier between the caged angel and the new threat.
“Maggie!” Someone took hold of her shoulders and shook her. “Maggie, are you all right?”
Maggie blinked and sagged into Gideon’s waiting arms. “I’m fine,” she whispered.
“What happened?” Gideon swept an arm beneath her knees, scooping her off her feet.
“No! Put me down. I’m fine,” she insisted.
He ground his teeth. “You have dark smudges beneath your eyes, and you looked as if you were about to pass out again,” he informed her. She struggled in his arms until he put her back on her feet, but he kept a careful arm around her waist.
“I had a vision.”
Xander and Kyanna moved closer.
“You were there, Gideon. And you, Xander. Niklas and Mikhail too. And two others. One who…well, I imagine, looks much like a Norse god.”
“Sebastian,” Kyanna supplied, earning herself a peeved glare from Xander.
“The other one had dark skin, jet black eyes, and a goatee.” She glanced back and forth between Gideon and Xander as she filled in the rest of the details from her vision, being as specific as possible. She didn’t miss the look that passed between Xander and Gideon when she mentioned the sword.
“So Asher was there too,” Gideon observed, stroking his fingers along his chin.
“We’re going to have to call the others,” Xander said.
Gideon nodded. “Do you suppose it’s the sword? And if so, how the hell did Asher get his hands on it?”
Xander looked just as troubled as Gideon by this observation. “Who do you suppose the angel in the cage was?”
Maggie shrugged as everyone’s attention turned to her. “I don’t have any clue.”
“It’s time to call it a day,” Gideon decreed at length.
“I’m not done training yet.” Maggie stood firm, ignoring him, waiting for further instruction from Kyanna and Xander.
Gideon all but snapped his teeth at her. He turned to Kyanna, desperation leaking into his voice. “Can’t you tell how tired she is? She’s pushing herself too hard. We’re all pushing her too hard, expecting too much.”
“Stop hovering,” Maggie told him as she tried to focus. “Help or go away.”
“I have been helping,” he shouted.
“No. You’ve been hovering,” Xander corrected.
“And you haven’t?” Gideon shot right back. “What was that earlier? When Maggie read that incantation wrong and Kyanna went flying? What do you call that? I’ve never seen you move so fast in your existence. Not even when that Ralsha Demoness decided she wanted you as her mate.”
“What was that?” Kyanna asked, eyeing Xander. “What Ralsha Demoness?”
“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Xander said, cringing and shivering like something extremely unpleasant was crawling all over his flesh.
“Mmm-hmm,” Kyanna said with patented disbelief and a we’ll-discuss-this-later glare.
“I was simply taking proactive safety countermeasures and offering a bit of constructive criticism,” Xander said, glaring at Gideon.
“‘Proactive safety countermeasures’, my ass,” Gideon complained, getting right up in Xander’s face. “Careful, Xander. You’re starting to sound like the hot air bag you were trying to be a little while ago. If you can’t take a little constructive criticism, don’t be so quick to hand it out.”
God, she couldn’t take another second of this. She wouldn’t be a bone of contention between Gideon and his friends. But neither would she live in ignorance because he was afraid she might break a friggin’ nail.
“Damn it, Gideon! Enough!”
He glanced over at Maggie’s furious outburst, clearly ready to argue his point. The words died on his lips as his eyes all but bugged from his head. He, Xander and Kyanna all stared at her in similar shades of shock.
“What?” Frowning, Maggie glanced down.
She stood in the fighting stance Xander had taught her, her hands open at her sides. And hovering above her palms were twin, pulsing balls of white energy. Not exactly plasma balls, but remarkably similar.
Something they most definitely had not taught her.
Maggie screamed. She hopped back, shaking her hands wildly, but the balls would not be dislodged. If anything, they only grew.