Page 7 of Fated Angel

Colt angles his head, his dark gaze scanning the ruins. “There isn’t much left,” he muses quietly.

Gabby reaches out to brush his arm. “What did it look like?”

“It was a city within a city. A busy one, and a heavily protected one.” He looks up, his eyes narrowing. “There were more towers.”

“Is it hard?” Gabby asks, linking her fingers with his. “Seeing it like this?”

Colt turns to her, his chiseled lips tipping up at the edges. “Change is inevitable. Often fascinating. The foundation of progress.” He steps closer, running his finger along her jaw. “And it all led me to you.”

Gabby’s breath whooshes out. “For a demon, you sure know how to sweep an angel off her feet,” she whispers.

They lean in, only to be interrupted by faint, harsh voices. "I can feel it! The energy, the power, it's here!"

Gabby and Colt exchange a determined glance, their shared mission propelling them forward. Silently, they move through the shadows, their footsteps muffled by the soft crunch of gravel underfoot.

“Dig, you fool!” the same man hisses. “The glow’s getting brighter.”

Gabby and Colt stop, then peer around a crumbling wall. There, in the center of what was once a room, three men squat. A large slab of stone sits to the side as two dig frantically at a hole that’s already as deep as their knees.

The idiots have done all the hard work for them.

Gabby’s conscious there’s no way the cult would only have three members here to collect the second stone. More would be on their way.

Which is why she steps into the moonlight and unfurls her wings. She has every intention of being the one to lay her hand on the second shard.

The member overseeing the others stumbles back a step, then quickly recovers. He unsheathes a sword, the sound slicing through the night air. “We got company,” he growls.

The other two leap out of the hole, lifting their shovels. They won’t be giving up without a fight.

Just the way Gabby likes it.

With a cry, she leaps forward, Colt right beside her. Unsurprisingly, more cult members pour from behind the walls, their faces twisted with hatred and a dark thirst for blood.

Bring.

It.

On.

Gabby leaps high, welcoming the clash of good and evil. Her wings span wide with resplendent, radiant grace, casting an ethereal light that illuminates the courtyard and turning the moonlight into a celestial spotlight. In stark contrast, Colt's fiery aura blazes with infernal energy, weaving through the darkness like chaotic wildfire.

With each step, they move in perfect synchronization, their movements fluid and precise, a harmonious blend of celestial grace and demonic power. Gabby's wings gleam like starlight as she expertly parries and strikes, while Colt conjures flames that dance and swirl around him, incinerating any cultists who dare to get too close.

The night air crackles with energy, filled with the discordant symphony of battle. The battle of light and shadow echoes off the ancient stone walls, the cultists dropping with each collision. Fiery spells erupt from Colt's hands, streaking through the night and leaving trails of searing light in their wake. Gabby's twists and strikes, an angel of wrath and death.

Desperation marks the faces of the cultists as they fight fiercely, but they’re no match for the celestial and infernal duo. One by one, they fall under Gabby and Colt's relentless assault, littering the hole containing the stone like bloodstained petals.

Gabby stops, barely breathing hard, then turns to Colt. They grin at each other triumphantly. The cult never stood a chance.

She strides to the hole, stepping around the bodies. She used to feel for them, for the lost souls they had to have been to become the agents of darkness that they are. Seems fighting to save the world can leave sympathy in short supply.

Kneeling down beside the hole, she draws in a sharp breath as she registers that the obsidian shard sitting in the center, pulsing with the same black glow as the first one. Her hand reaches down as anticipation floods her veins. There’s no hesitation this time.

Just excitement.

The moment her fingers brush the smooth surface, the jolt shoots up her arm. Inky darkness injects up her veins, shooting straight for her chest. Her breath stutters. Her heart jerks against her ribs.

It’s electrifying. Terrifying.

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