Boots shuffled back and forth on concrete.
“Corvus and Jax have been handed RJE devices to the settlement. Wait for their directions. Good luck, soldiers. The fate of the realms is in your hands.”
There was a whirring noise. CRACK. Dick was gone.
The room erupted into motion.
Arabella scoffed beside me, “I can’t believe they just abandoned us here.”
“Don’t be stupid,” I sneered. “People in power always leave their messes to others. It was always going to be this way.”
“It’s still stupid,” she muttered. “Personally, I think we should let the ungodly do their thing. Who are we to intervene?”
Corvus huffed, “We’re the sun god’s kings. We’re built for war.”
“No,” she said. “You’re kings, I’m a queen. I was built for shopping and leisure.”
My Ignis choked, and I chuckled at how ridiculous she was. It was adorable. If I hadn’t fought beside her in gruesome battles, I would think she was serious.
My Revered liked to pretend she was a privileged despot. It was part of the reason we’d judged her so wrongly.
She hid her fierceness behind masks of sarcasm, but there was no mistaking that she was a force of rage and power.
She was savage.
And I couldn’t stop obsessing over her.
I grabbed her hand and threaded our fingers together, and hers were frozen like she was sculpted from ice.
Tension dissipated from my body at the contact, and I rubbed my thumb back and forth over hers. She tried to pull away, but my grip was steel.
The others gathered around.
“The champions and angels are going to RJE to the location for surveillance. Wait here for further orders. When we return, we go to war,” Corvus barked loudly in the quiet room.
“Yes, sir!” soldiers chorused back.
There was a clattering of wings as the angels walked over.
“You didn’t join us for the scouting trip,” Knox said in a smooth tone beside me. “We missed you.”
I bristled.
He hadn’t earned the right to miss her.
How fucking dare he talk to my Revered like he knew her? Orion put his arm around my shoulder and held me back.
Arabella chuckled awkwardly. “Yeah, well I can’t fly yet. I’m still working on it.”
“You’ll learn to fly,” he responded curtly. “You’ll train with us after this battle.”
“Don’t fucking tell her what to do,” Corvus snarled aggressively, and heat poured off him.
“That would work for me.” Arabella clicked her tongue. “But I’m really big on rest days. So let’s circle back to that idea next week.”
“Soon,” Knox said. “Until you learn to fly, you’re weak. You need to master your abilities.”
“Thirty seconds until we all RJE,” Corvus said. Wings clattered, and Knox made a sound like he’d been pushed to the side.
Jax replied, “Remember, we need to be discreet, no loud noises.”
“Got it, make loud noises,” Sadie drawled obnoxiously.
Arabella laughed.
It wasn’t funny.
Warm breath suddenly fanned against my ear. “Why did you have a hair band?” Arabella whispered so closely that she must have been on her tiptoes.
I closed my eyes and inhaled her intoxicating icy scent, and my heart pounded erratically like I’d taken a shot of caffeine.
“Tell me.” Her nails dug into the skin of my arm that was still gripping her wrist in a vise. She drew blood.
A shot of pure lust clouded my thoughts. Does she know what that means to me? Pain was my love language.
Her cold touch burned deliciously, and I grunted softly with pleasure.
The RJE device whirred as Corvus said, “Three seconds.”
I bent forward so my lips brushed against her temple. “Because you kept complaining about losing them, and I wanted to be helpful.”
CRACK.
The sound of jumping through time and space muffled Arabella’s harsh inhale, but I didn’t miss it.
I’d surprised her.
Cold air stung my cheeks, and I knelt on icy rocks. From the lack of hot steam, we were on the side of a mountain.
“Let go of me.” Arabella’s breath came out in uneven puffs.
My lips were still pressed against her icy skin, and it was like touching lightning in a blizzard. Electricity crackled between us.
“Never,” I promised as I released her hand.
She let out a little gasp like she was in pain, and I frowned.
Nothing should have hurt her, yet her breathing pattern clearly changed like it did when she was getting stitched up.
I didn’t fucking like it.
“Stay low, follow me. We’ll climb down the mountainside.” Corvus’s voice spoke loudly in our enchanted earpieces.
Arabella tried to take a step away from me, but I stepped closer. The battle might be starting, but a campaign was already being waged, and failure wasn’t an option when it came to her.
I would figure out whatever pained her, and I would destroy it. My Revered would never suffer in my presence, never again.
Orion’s touch guided me as we stayed close to our Revered and followed our Ignis into war.
Chapter 7
Aran
PREPERATIONS
Querencia (noun): an area in the arena taken by the bull for a defensive stand in a bullfight.
The infected settlement was a sprawling palatial structure, which filled the valley. It was composed of red bricks and arches that were dusted in snow.
In the center of it all, a sprawling courtyard was filled with trees wrapped in twinkling lights.
It was pretty.
Malum swore viciously as he lay on his stomach with binoculars pressed against his face. Jax was beside him in a similar position, frowning as he watched the valley below.
“What is it?” Cobra asked as he squatted under the low-hanging rocks with the rest of us.
Six angels.
Four shifters.
Three devils.
Two demons.
Two Princes of Darkness.
One half-breed.
And one fae queen who’d recently discovered she was an angel.
Twenty people who would never have crossed paths if it weren’t for nightmarish monsters, truant gods, and a controlling, oligarchic regime.
The twins sat behind me, and I leaned back against them with Sadie resting across my side as I inhaled her familiar cranberry scent.
Once again, we were together on the side of a freezing, snowy mountain.
Why weren’t more wars held in tropical locations? That was the real question.
The sun set on the horizon, and the sky was a dark gray.
Horse settled onto my shoulder, his long tail feathers hanging off the side of my arm majestically. At least someone was looking good these days.
“Fuck this,” Malum whispered. “Could one thing go right for us in this blasted realm?”
“What is it?” Scorpius asked, his arm draped over Orion’s shoulders protectively.
Jax and Malum dropped their binoculars and looked at each other. Ever since Dick had started preparing us for war, they’d been sharing silent glances and nodding. Like they could read each other’s minds.
“I’m getting worried,” Sadie whispered next to me.
I blew onto my stiff hands to warm them and replied, “Don’t worry. I’ll save you, princess.”