Page 37 of Rage of the Fallen

Zara’s hands trembled as she held her orb. “It should hold long enough for you to use the hourglass to get us to Rosslyn Chapel.”

I slipped the harp off my chest, my fingers lingering on its golden frame for a moment before carefully placing it in my backpack. The weight of it settled between my shoulder blades like a reminder of everything at stake. With shaking hands, I pulled out the hourglass. I couldn’t risk trying to hold both artifacts during the fight. One slip, one moment of weakness, and we could lose them to the demons.

The phoenix’s song strengthened as if understanding the gravity of what we were about to attempt. It faded to a soft hum as Brody stepped forward. “All right, team. We need to move with precision. Sawyer, you take point with the hourglass. Lisa, Zara, the moment those doors open, launch the spell. Damon and I will guard the rear.”

His blue eyes swept over us. “We’re not running from those demons. We’re making a strategic advancement toward our goal. Every step brings us closer to ending this. Remember what we’re fighting for.” He placed a strong hand on my shoulder. “Each of us has a part to play in this. Together, we can turn the tide. Are you ready?”

I met his gaze, drawing strength from his steady confidence, but my focus was drawn inevitably to Justice. My heart twisted. “We need to be careful, Brody. It’s not only the demons and Maci who will attack us.” My voice caught. The man I loved was out there, transformed into something that wanted to destroy us. The thought of anyone hurting him, even in self-defense, made me sick.

Brody looked out the window at Justice, who stood like a dark sentinel, his posture rigid with barely contained violence. Nothing remained of his gentle smile, his quiet strength. He waited like a predator, daring us to step outside. Rage’s power rolled off him in visible waves.

“I know,” Brody replied. Those two words carried volumes. He knew what Justice meant to me, knew the impossible position we were in. He would try to protect both of us, even from each other.

“Sawyer,” Damon called. “We’re not going to kill him. But if he comes at us…” He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. “Look, sometimes you have to hurt someone to save them. You know that better than anyone.” His eyes met mine, full of memories of all the times we’d had to make impossible choices. “We’ll do what we have to in order to keep you alive long enough to save him. That’s the deal, okay?”

His words hit me like a physical blow, but I forced myself to nod. My vision blurred with tears that I refused to let fall. “You’re right,” I managed to whisper. “Just…try not to hurt him too badly.”

I looked back at Justice, remembering all the times he’d protected me, fought beside me. Now, here we were, about to face him as an enemy. My fingers curled around the hourglass, its cool surface grounding me in the moment. Sometimes, love meant making the hardest choices. Sometimes, it meant hurting someone to save them.

I gripped the hourglass tighter. “I’m ready. I won’t let anyone die or leave anyone behind. Ready?”

Everyone nodded, their faces set with grim determination.

Brody and Damon took their positions on either side of the glass doors, muscles tensed like coiled springs. The dawn light caught their shadows, stretching them across the castle floor.

“When we open this, they’ll attack,” Brody cautioned. “Be ready.”

Lisa and Zara stood on either side of me, palming their magical orbs. Above us, the phoenix flapped its magnificent wings. Its radiance pushed back the darkness, making the demons beyond the glass writhe and hiss.

I drew a deep breath, feeling the weight of the backpack against my back, the cool glass of the hourglass in my hand, and the warmth of my team around me. “Open the door,” I announced. “It’s time.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Brody and Damon pulled the glass doors open, and the air hit us with a blast of cold that had nothing to do with the temperature. Justice’s reaction was instant and violent. He hissed, the sound more animal than human, pulling back his upper lip to reveal fangs that gleamed like daggers in the morning light. His eyes, once so gentle and brown, now burned blood-red with a hatred that pierced my heart. He crouched low, every muscle tensed to spring at us. At me.

Behind him, Maci’s transformation was terrible to witness. Her human form ripped away like tissue paper, revealing the massive shadow dragon beneath. Her wings unfurled against the pale sky, blocking out the sun. Her shriek shattered the morning and vibrated through my bones, making my teeth ache and my grip on the hourglass falter.

Rage moved through the chaos with casual confidence, each step deliberate and mocking. His crimson eyes locked onto mine as he swaggered forward, his lips curved in a smile that promised pain. He didn’t need to hurry. In his mind, he’d already won. Behind him, the demon horde moved as one writhing mass, their true forms no longer hidden, their grotesque features twisted with anticipation of the kill.

“Now!” Brody’s command cut through the chaos.

Lisa and Zara hurled their orbs into the midst of our enemies. The magical spheres exploded in blinding white light, making the demons shriek and recoil. A shimmering dome of energy expanded around us, pushing back against the tide of evil.

But Justice moved faster than the shield could form. He launched at me with inhuman speed, his face a mask of rage and hunger. Damon tackled me aside as Justice’s claws raked through the air where I’d been standing, and the shield closed us in. The hourglass nearly slipped from my sweating palms, but I clutched it tighter, my heart hammering against my ribs.

“Little sister.” Rage’s voice rolled across the courtyard like thunder. “Did you really think you could save him?” He gestured at Justice, who circled our shield like a caged tiger searching for weakness. “He’s mine now. Body, soul, and all that delicious anger.”

The phoenix’s song rose in defiance, making the shadow dragon rear back with a roar of pain. Maci’s massive form blocked most of our escape routes, her wings creating a canopy of darkness above us.

“Sawyer,” Lisa called, her voice strained from maintaining the shield. “Whatever you’re going to do with that hourglass, do it now!”

I held up the artifact, its glass warm and vibrating in my trembling hands. The ancient symbols carved into its frame glowed with an inner fire. “Take us to Rosslyn Chapel,” I commanded.

The phoenix swooped down, its feathers radiating heat and light, and touched a golden talon to the hourglass. The contact sent a shock wave through my body like lightning in my veins. White light exploded outward, so bright it turned the world into a negative of itself.

A vortex of power caught me up like a leaf in a storm. My feet left the ground as nameless colors whirled around me. The wind roared in my ears, carrying echoes of times past and future. My stomach lurched as reality itself bent and twisted.

Screams pierced the chaos, my team’s voices mixing with the inhuman shrieks of our enemies. Someone’s hand brushed mine in the maelstrom but was ripped away before I could grab it.

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