Page 19 of Wings of Betrayal

I round the next corner, immediately coming to a halt when I spot him, and Finlay and Nilo bump into me. My focus zeros in on the fight taking place between Kyle, a bunch of other archangels, and the creatures, or lost ones, or whatever they are.

Em is here too, and jealousy swirls inside me. What is she doing here with Kyle? Questions buzz through my mind, but I don’t have time to second-guess her presence.

Drawing my swords, I race into the chaos, slashing a creature across its back. It lets out an ear-piercing screech and advances on me.

Kyle and I lock stares, and he dips his head in greeting before refocusing on the creature snapping at him. He plunges hisdagger into its neck, and black blood bursts out, squirting over Em. I can’t help but smirk, which doesn’t last long when another creature comes at me. I spin around and slash my blade across its throat, taking it down easily. Three more lost ones charge at me.

I pull my second sword and swing my blades through the air, slashing the lost ones as they advance on me, one by one. As I breathe hard, more lost ones appear, and it’s like a never-ending swarm of them. Where are they coming from? I have little time to think about that as they swarm me, and I slip into autopilot, utilising my training from the academy as I attack, taking them down.

But just as I’m pulling my sword from a lost one’s back, hot pain shoots down my shoulder, Kyle’s pain, and my attention shifts to him. He’s injured. Badly. I slash through the horde of lost ones surrounding me with one sole focus. To get to Kyle. I drop to his side as the others move closer to protect us, fighting the lost ones as I assess Kyle’s injury.

“What happened? Did it slash you?” I ask, frantically searching his shoulder for claw marks, but it’s just a gash, likely from a blade.

He winces through the pain. “No, it didn’t. I’ll be fine.”

I raise my hand and hover it above the wound on his shoulder, despite his protests, and allow my power to heal him as the chaos unfolds around us. I help Kyle to his feet as a scream cuts through the air, the situation stealing my focus for a moment, and it’s enough for a lost one to get the better of me.

It leaps at me and takes me down, and I land hard on my side. There’s a distinct crack, and I wince as a sharp pain radiates up my side.

“Zarla!” Kyle calls out.

The lost one snaps its rotten, bloody teeth at my neck and I push through the pain, using whatever strength I can to hold itback. I scream, the pain making it difficult to hold it back much longer. Glancing over to Kyle, I spot several lost ones homing in on him. He’s clearly outnumbered and can’t help me. There are far too many of them.

After reaching for one of my daggers, I stab the creature in the stomach, yanking my blade up, spilling its insides all over me. I heave it off and roll out from under it, shoving it to the side.

Gross. Totally gross.

I’m on my feet in an instant and blast my powers at the group of ravenous lost ones overwhelming Kyle, sending them flying across the pavement. It gives Kyle a chance to get back on his feet. But the relief is short-lived when a lost one leaps at me out of nowhere and slashes its claws down my back.

I cry out as searing hot pain slices through me, igniting my skin with a burning intensity unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I fall onto my hands and knees, my screams penetrating the air.. My vision blurs, and I fall face-first onto the cool concrete pavement. Panic takes hold of me when I find I can’t feel my legs.

Oh no. What’s happening to me?

A slash from a lost one can be deadly. Gods above, am I dying?

“Zarla!” someone calls, but I find myself fading.

The pain is too much to bear. Everything around me blurs as my vision shifts. Kyle drops to my side, and I know he’s doing something, but I can’t feel it. Male voices argue in the distance, and I feel as though I’m in a tunnel, far, far away.

I dart my gaze around and spot the others fighting the last of the lost ones. Finlay is somewhere behind me checking the slash across my back, and Kyle is gripping my hand tight with Nilo at his side.

“We need to get her to the healers! Now!” Nilo shouts.

Finlay tries to pick me up, and Kyle grabs hold of his arm to stop him.

“Do not touch her,” Kyle demands.

“I’m taking her back to Silanthia, to our healers,” Finlay says.

Kyle growls in warning. “No. She’s coming back to Zarquon with me.”

Nilo shoves Kyle. “Enough of this. Take her. Now!”

Without further discussion, Kyle scoops me up in his arms, and I can’t move. But the pain is still there, and it’s almost the only thing I can focus on. I’m fading further. Images blur past me, and I realise we’re flying.

In no time at all, we’re in Zarquon. I think. Kyle’s worried face is the last thing I see before I black out from the pain.

I wake in an unfamiliar room before realising I’m with the healers. I’m on my stomach, and the pain is still there, but nowhere near as bad as it was. Reaching up, I rub my eyes, and my focus clears. Kyle’s at my side, lying on his back on a table next to mine. The healers move around, brushing some sort of green paste across scratches and grazes on his skin that don’t look good.

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