Page 5 of Fated Angel

“Nice move,” Colt whispers fiercely as he wraps his muscled arm around the man he attacked and snaps his neck in one quick movement.

“I’ve got a great teacher,” Gabby smiles at him.

Colt sneaks towards the ruined temple to look inside.

“Looks like they only left the two men to guard. The rest of them have already disappeared inside,” he tells her, turning to look at her and freezing in his tracks. Gabby’s slipping her bag off her shoulder and reaching inside. Her arm dives deeper than it should, and with a smile, she pulls out the shining Spear of Destiny and cradles it in her palms. “What are you doing, Gabby?”

“It occurred to me that Veritas could be raided. What good would it do if we did all that work just to lose the Spear because I left it on a table in the library?” She spins it deftly in her hands and grins from ear to ear. “Even if it has no power yet, it’s still sharp.”

Colt grunts a laugh, turning back to the temple and focusing on the task at hand.

“Let's go find out how sharp, shall we?” he says, leading the way.

The arches of the temple stretch out before them as they enter the great room where the people would normally gather. The glow coming from underneath the mosaic stone floor illuminates the entire building. Gabby’s shoes scrape on the dusty stones as she looks up in awe at the grandeur of what this place might have been.

“Shame it’s in ruins,” Colt says, agreeing with her unspoken admiration.

“It will probably be more ruined before we’re done here.”

They walk silently after that, tracking the footprints in the years of dust on the floor. The way to the crypts is no secret, not with the glow growing more and more intense the closer they get to the way below the temple.

“Are you ready?” Colt asks Gabby, and she nods. He steps forward, protecting her like he always will, and pushes open a solid wood door.

“I love you,” Gabby whispers fiercely, and Colt turns back to her with one foot over the threshold. “Just in case I don’t get to say it again…”

Colt reaches back to clasp her hand. “I love you too, and I'll still love you tomorrow.”

They share a smile, then refocus on the task at hand. Colt pulls her over the threshold and a chill settles in his bones. They quickly realize that there’s no need to remain quiet as the spiraling staircase they face echoes with the sounds of the cult below.

“It’s here somewhere. The witch’s spell can’t be wrong!”

“And if this is a decoy? We should have waited to see them come for it!”

“Why? So they could kill us first? I don’t think so.”

“I don’t know. Finding you cornered in a crypt makes our job so much easier,” Colt drawls.

The arguing quartet of men spin to face them. They have guns, knives, and magic in their hands. Colt and Gabby are more than ready.

One of the men roars, throwing himself at them, and Colt spins. His wings catch the man in the chin, throwing him across the room and crashing into a sarcophagus. His body crushes the old wood, sending dust and particles of death through the air.

Gabby slides beneath Colt’s wings, kicking the second man’s feet out from underneath him and rolling over his body. In a savage swing, she brings the leaf shaped tip of the spear down on his chest and twists, his bones cracking as his eyes bulge in surprise.

Colt sidesteps a dagger as the third man throws it. The fourth man begins chanting under his breath while a ball of crackling electricity forms in his hands.

“Gabby!” Colt shouts.

She rolls out of the way of an energy blast just in time.

“You’re done!” Gabby smiles at the man with the magic, pointing the spear like an extension of her own arm.

“The Spear of Destiny? It’s with you?” The shock on the man's face is palpable, but the regret that he won’t be able to share this information with the cult leader makes his face crumple in rage.

“Yep, with me, right where it’s safest!” Gabby pulls her arm back and with an Amazonian throw, hurls the Spear at the man. It runs him through and pins him to the stone wall behind him. With hands on her hips, she turns to face Colt as he kicks up a rifle from the floor and shoots the last man square in the chest and he falls dead on the floor.

“Well, that Spear may not have any magical powers—” Colt begins.

Gabby yanks it from the wall and out of the man’s chest. “But it still stabs like it should.”

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