Page 56 of Semi-Fallen

He was taller than her by at least a foot, outweighed her by who the hell knew how much, he’d just defeated the strongest fighters she’d ever seen in her entire life, and Lane knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that none of it mattered.

She was going to put him down like a rabid dog.

In her peripheral vision, she saw lots of movement. Everyone was panicking, probably, as she stepped up and stood toe-to-toe with the archangel who’d killed her birth mother, chased her birth father into hiding, hurt her adoptive parents, and had the absolute gall to attack her mate.

No one needed to worry about her anymore.

She had this.

Rion had the nerve to laugh at her. “Child, just because I can’t kill you doesn’t mean I can’t make you suffer.”

Lane smirked at him. You can try. Without taking her eyes off Rion, she signed in Lucien’s direction, Make everyone cover their ears.

Don’t do it. Get out!

His thoughts were chaotic and desperate, but she caught that one clear as day.

I can’t. I’m sorry.

Rion’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not strong enough to hurt me.”

“I am today,” she said out loud.

He barely had enough time to get his hands up before she hit him with every bit of power, rage, and hate in her body. The energy pouring out of her into him was pure white and so hot the flooring beneath them started to melt. He shoved his own power back at her, but it was like throwing a cup of water on a raging brush fire. It didn’t do anything but piss her off more than she already was.

Rion’s face took on an expression she hadn’t seen up until that point.

Fear.

She could’ve quit at that point. But she didn’t. She kept battering him with her power until she was weak and sweating, muscles shaking, and when she wasn’t sure she had anything left, that’s when she opened her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs.

She’d never had this kind of power before. She had no idea where it was all coming from. She supposed it might have always been hiding deep within her. Or maybe the ghost of Cassiel was somehow helping her from beyond the grave. But she knew the why of it all didn’t matter. All that mattered was this was ending today.

Right. Fucking. Now.

Rion desperately tried to throw more power at her, but his body couldn’t hold up under the onslaught of her power. First, his right arm snapped. Then his left leg.

Then his spine.

Only when he was on the floor at her feet, no longer defending himself, did she pull back her power.

She wondered at that point if her bones were broken, too, because her legs gave out and her knees suddenly felt like they were made of pudding. Lucien caught her and hauled her up against his chest before she could hit the floor.

He gave her a little shake when her eyes fluttered shut for a moment. “What the hell were you thinking? You could’ve been killed!”

Raising her hands to sign felt like way too much effort, so she just twisted her head a little and pressed a kiss to his throat. He worried too much. Hopefully now he could worry about her a little less.

Is he dead? she thought at Lucien.

“No,” Lucien said with a grim frown. “He’s hurt, but he’ll recover. I doubt he’ll ever want to come after you again, though.”

Lane glanced around to make sure everyone was safe, only to find Harper, Benny, Nikolai, Quinn, and Gabriel kicking the crap out of Rion while he was down.

First lesson Seven ever taught her? When your opponent goes down, kick the crap out of them so they can’t come after you again. Clearly everyone here had trained with her at some point.

Speaking of Seven, she was helping her now-shifted (and very naked) husband to his feet with one shoulder under his to help support his weight. Adrianne seemed to be soothing an upset Fluffy by telling her what a strong, brave girl she was. Hunter was carrying Mischa, but neither of them seemed to be too much worse for the wear after their brawl with an archangel.

That’s when it really hit her.

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