Page 17 of Fated Angel

Colt lips thin. He doesn’t like how connected she is to all this. Just then, the first man comes around the corner and Gabby drives the Spear forward without mercy. She stabs him in the side, slicing him open from rib to hip. He screams once, sharply, and falls dead.

“These are mine,” Gabby snarls at the man, and snatches a satchel from his cold, dead hands.

Behind her, the cult begins to chant as they each prepare a weapon for battle.

“They’re strengthening their witch,” Colt growls, his wings sprouting from his back as he summons dual blades. He flaps once, shooting over their heads and flanking them from behind.

“For unity,” Gabby cries, rushing the men.

Colt has a brief second to see Xeven dart between the legs of an oncoming attacker and crawl through the fray. Just as Colt suspected, he won’t be fighting.

As if they’re one being, closing the gap like a great pair of hands, Colt and Gabby hack and slash their way through the cult members. Gabby’s enraged, her movements faster than ever, her Spear turning and twisting so fast even Colt can’t quite keep up. He runs one blade up through a man’s jaw, as Gabby spins and takes out four at once with her razor-sharp wings.

“They don’t stand a chance,” Gabby laughs, and it chills something deep inside Colt.

The cult presses on, not asking for mercy, not running for their lives. They keep going, sprinting at each of them in a blind rage. It’s almost too easy, too fast before there’s only a handful of men between Colt and Gabby.

He crosses his blades, lashing out and gutting the last man in front of him just as Gabby lunges. Colt falls back on his ass, staring up in shock at Gabby as she holds the Spear to his neck. There’s real celestial fire in her eyes now, her mouth drawn into a frightening grin.

“Gabby? Angel?” Colt whispers.

She blinks, focuses, and drops the Spear before she screams. “Oh god! Did I hurt you?” she wails, throwing herself in his arms and searching for any wounds.

“No, Gabby, but?—”

“It was a pleasure doing business with you,” says Xeven. “My master will be pleased.”

Colt leaps up, holding Gabby to him. Xeven’s at the end of the tunnel, holding a tattered scroll with a grin on his face that could be wicked, or happy, it’s impossible to tell. Gabby lifts the Spear an inch, but Colt reaches out and stops her.

“He may have more information! We need to find out?—”

Gabby’s jaw drops, her eyes wide in disbelief. Colt turns back to see what she’s looking at, but there's nothing there. Xeven is gone.

“He just…walked through the wall,” Gabby whispers, her voice seeming to not believe the words coming out of her own mouth.

Together, they walk over to the ladder and Gabby places her hand where Xeven disappeared. The stone is cold, slightly damp, but rock solid.

“I swear Colt, he waved to me and backed up right through this wall,” Gabby gasps.

Colt puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “I believe you,” he says. Xeven clearly controls powerful magic. “Did you get the other two stones?”

“First thing, well, second thing I did.” Gabby holds up the man’s satchel with a victorious smile. It pulses with a double dose of that eerie black light.

“Good, stuff it in your bag just like that. No need to touch them.” Not waiting for her to comply Colt quickly snatches the satchel and jams it in the bag for her.

Gabby narrows her eyes, but then slings it over her shoulder. “If you say so,” she smiles, standing on her tip toes to press a hurried kiss to his lips. “Next?” she asks hopefully.

Colt stabs a hand through his hair. “Already? You didn’t get any rest.”

“One more and we’re done. And I can already see the location. With most of the stones together, it’s crystal clear.”

“Well…that’s good,” Colt mumbles, crossing his arms and waiting for her to tell him.

Gabby frowns as she closes her eyes. “I’m seeing a lot of sand.” Her brows sink lower. “There are remnants. And I keep seeing the word Atlantis, which doesn’t make sense.”

Colt instantly knows the location she’s describing. “The Lost City of Omar,” he says. “Also called the Atlantis of the Sand.”

Gabby’s eyes pop open. “Yes, that’s it!” She takes a few steps away, looking over her shoulder. “Shall we, demon of mine?”

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