Page 14 of Wings of Death

“This isn’t a fight you want to have, sweetheart,” he says, removing his cloak, and I’m surprised at how handsome he is. A thick scar runs up his arm, and I wonder what he did to get it.

“Oh, I think it is,” I say, flying forward and slicing my daggers across his side.

I spin back around and land in the yard as he thrusts his fist out to punch me, but I duck out of the way. He wraps his arms around mine from behind, and I can’t move. He laughs in my ear, as if he thinks he has me, but they taught us exactly what to do in this situation. I kick off the ground and flip over the top of him, pulling him down to the ground as I go. I smack my elbow into the back of his head, and leap away as he hits the ground.

He quickly gets to his feet and stares at me through wide, rage-filled eyes. Clearly, he underestimated me. I waste no time as I charge at him, spinning around and landing a kick to his stomach. He stumbles back, but rights himself quicker than I expect and punches me in the chest. My daggers slip from my grasp as I fly back and smash into a nearby tree.

Gasping for air, I look up to see Finlay lying on his back, both watchers now heading toward the porch steps. I push through the pain, coughing as I rise on unsteady feet, stumbling a little as I go.

A rage like nothing I have experienced before surges through me, and I scream, shoving my hands out in front as streams of white light burst out and blast into the two watchers. They shoot up into the air before falling back down to the ground with a loud thud. I slowly move toward them, but they’re lying still, in an unnaturally twisted heap. They won’t be getting up again.

“What the hell was that?” Finlay asks from behind.

My hands are shaking and I glance down, studying them as if they are foreign objects that didn’t just blast power. “I don’t know.” I meet Finlay’s curious eyes.

“That was your power, Zarla,” he states, blood oozing from a cut above his eye.

Without thinking, I reach up and cup his cheek, sending the white light through his skin.

What are you?—

Shhh, I mentally tell him.

He stands as still as a statue as the cut slowly knits back together, leaving nothing in its wake but dried blood.

“Did you just?—”

“Yes,” I interrupt, “I healed you.”

He blinks, reaching up to touch the cut that is no longer there. “You have more than one power? That’s impossible.”

I frown. “No, it’s not. I’m sure lots of angels have more than one. It’s nothing.” I turn and head toward the porch to check on Kyle, snatching up my daggers on the way and strapping them against my thighs. What did they want with my mother’s daggers, anyway?

“It’s not nothing, Zarla,” he says from close behind, following me up the porch steps. “I’ve never heard of that before.”

I bite the inside of my cheek and cross my arms. “I suppose you want to tell your daddy about that too?”

He runs his hand through his hair and sighs. “No, I don’t. Look, I’m not out to get you. I just want to be there for you. As your second.”

I roll my eyes, and he reaches out and places his hand on my forearm.

“I’m serious, Zarla. I’m sorry about what happened earlier, on the roof. It wasn’t cool, and I don’t know what came over me. I don’t know why I’m like that sometimes. I think I get it from my father.”

I laugh. “You think?”

He drops his hands. “I’m trying to apologise here. I won’t tell anyone about your powers, but you should. You need to know what you’re dealing with.”

I flex my hands, clicking my fingers. “Yeah, okay, I will.”

“Will what?”

I jump as Amaros lands in the yard near the dead watchers, flanked by two other angels.

“Nothing. Ah, I was just?—”

Finlay steps in front of me. “I was telling Zarla we needed to go back to the Kingdom to tell her father what happened here. Three watchers attacked us.”

Amaros scans the yard before settling his gaze on me. “Are you hurt?”

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