I muttered an apology to him and told Sera to give me more notice next time.
‘I can’t. Go left,’ she shouted.
“Left here!” I pointed to the road we were about to pass.
The tires squealed as we made the turn, and Noah gave me a glare.
“She can’t help it! Drive slower,” I shouted at him.
“Yeah,” Shea backed me up.
Noah sighed, easing on the brakes and slowing to a crawl. We made our way slowly into the city of Inferno, almost to the outer edge where there were high gates and tons of demon guards.
“What’s that?” I whispered, staring at the gates.
“We call it the city of Limbo. It’s a demon stronghold,” Noah explained.
Oh God. If Lincoln was in there, I would cry.
‘Left and stop. He’s here. The big brick building up ahead,’ Sera told me.
I relayed her words to Noah, and we turned left and parked. Up ahead, there was indeed a large red brick industrial building. It felt like the gauntlet all over again.
‘How can you see when you don’t have eyes?’ I asked Sera.
‘I’m an angel blade. I don’t need eyes to see,’ she retorted.
Show-off.
Not one of us dared leave the car for fear of tipping them off and them killing or moving Lincoln.
“I have a plan,” Michael said over the radio. “Our Light Mage says this building is heavily guarded, and I don’t want to spook them. Brielle, do you feel ready to do a mission?”
To save my boyfriend from Tainted Army assholes? Hell yes!
“Yes sir,” I told him. Raphael could be ‘Raph,’ but Michael was always ‘sir.’
“Let’s fly, then.” And the line went dead.
Noah pivoted toward me. “Are you sure you’re ready for this? You can say no.”
I rolled my eyes. “Are you kidding? I’m going to help Lincoln.”
Noah shrugged. “Lincoln would want me to try to stop you at least once. Now, I can say I did. Good luck. We’ll be right behind you once you secure him.” He clipped a walkie-talkie to my belt and nodded.
Lincoln would want Noah to protect me, because Lincoln was always protecting me. The thought made my heart pinch.
I’m coming.
Shea reached over and squeezed my bicep, and I squeezed her hand back before exiting the car. Michael was waiting for me on the curb, wearing a hooded sweater. His wings were drawn as far behind him as possible so as to appear normal to a passerby, I assumed.
The moment I stepped in beside him, he started to walk.
“We’ll land on the roof. They won’t expect that. When we get inside, I’ll fight you a path to Lincoln. I suspect he’s restrained, so untether him and call for backup.”
I nodded. Didn’t sound too hard.
Michael grabbed my arm. “If at any time you feel your life is in mortal danger, you break a window and fly out of it, understood?”
No way.
“Yes, sir.”
He grinned in a mischievous way that told me he most definitely had read my mind.
Just then, his wings snapped out and he blasted off the concrete into the sky. I stared at his miraculous flight in awe.
‘Get up there, you dingbat!’ Sera shouted.
Oh shit. Right.
My wings snapped out, and then I was right behind him, flapping and pumping my black wings to crawl high above Inferno. It was a ghastly town, full of demons, poverty, and death. I wanted to free the humans being held there. Knowing that was ultimately the Fallen Army’s plan, I couldn’t wait to be a part of that.
The air was freezing, as we were super high. Higher than I normally went in practice drills with Lincoln.
Michael suddenly pivoted in the sky and started to drop down, me right on his tail. Lincoln Grey was not someone I planned on ever living without.
Our boots landed on the rooftop, and Michael wasted no time cutting down the Monkshood demon that stood guard. His sword literally cut through the demon like he was made of butter, leaving a blue fire in its wake. It was both a glorious and disgusting sight to behold.
Next, Michael used his sword to cut the door handle off, again like butter. I was starting to see why the demons would find his sword so valuable.
He peered inside the now-open doorway and lurched backward just in time to miss having his face marred with acid.
God, the Snakeroot demons were populating like crazy! Michael sliced him down too, while I just stood there stupidly, holding Sera, waiting to see if he would need any help.
He didn’t.
We ran down the stairs two by two until we reached a closed door.
Cut off handle, kill demons guarding, rinse and repeat.
We’d gone down three levels when I heard it—Lincoln’s strangled cry one floor below.
“Lincoln!” I shouted, my entire body clenching as my fight or flight mode kicked in. Pivoting, I beelined for the doorway, leaving Michael to fight the Yew demon on the current floor we were on alone. I ran full speed down the stairs to the floor below, just in time to see two big-ass Tainted Academy students dragging a barely conscious Lincoln out the door. His feet, legs, and wings were bound with thick leather-looking straps.
How. Dare. They.
Anger exploded inside of me as I thrust Sera in front of me and released a savage battle cry. She pulsed a white light so bright that the men holding Lincoln were forced to drop him and cover their eyes. I lunged forward, slicing into the brute nearest me and gouging his side, letting my knife sink into his rib cage.
You kidnap my boyfriend, I cut you.
He fell to the ground with a groan, and then I was working on the next guy. He was still momentarily blinded, which was nice, but he also looked like a Dark Mage. Slashing out, I carved an X into his outstretched arm.
While he was distracted, I pulled out my walkie-talkie. “I’ve got Lincoln. Send backup.”
I’d just replaced the walkie when I saw an angry reddish magical ball hurtling toward my face. Arching my back so it wouldn’t collide with me, I dodged it, but also fell to the ground in the process.
That’s when I saw Michael casually watching my little fight from the stairs. How long had he been standing there?
“Why don’t you get Lincoln out? I’ll finish up here.” He winked.
Whoa. His wink was powerful, doing things to my insides. A sexy angel wink was like two Lincoln winks.
I simply nodded from my place on the ground, and then Michael was leaping over me to take on the Tainted Academy asshole.
“Brielle,” Lincoln croaked.
I shot up into a standing position and started to cut off his wing bindings first, then sliced his ankle restraints, and finally the ones around his hands. All within a minute, thanks to Sera’s help.
Grabbing Lincoln’s right arm, I pulled it over my head so he could lean on me, and we started to walk down the steps to the bottom floor.
“I can’t believe Noah let you come,” Lincoln growled in anger.
“It’s great to see you too.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m glad you’re alive,” I added curtly. He was limping; they’d clearly injured him.
He sighed and then stopped, turning to face me in the darkened stairwell. “Thanks for coming, I’m happy to see you,” he amended.
That was better.
I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and held Sera before me, ready to blind whoever it was, but when Noah’s head peeked over the railing, I relaxed.
“Upstairs.” I pointed to where Michael was.
Noah took the stairs two at a time, only stopping to pat his best friend’s shoulder for a moment. When we finally made it outside and were walking to a worried-looking Shea, who was keeping the car warm, I asked Lincoln what was on my mind.
“What did Tainted Academy want?”
Lincoln growled. “Maybe just a personal vendetta for coming on campus that day, but the guy knew everything about me, so I think it goes deeper.”
Bastards.
From now on, I was keeping an eye on Lincoln, just as he did for me. It looked like I wasn’t the only one in danger.
Chapter Fifteen
Two weeks after Lincoln’s kidnapping, he had fully healed and was barking orders as usual.