Page 37 of Till Death

“How dare you!”

My shout did nothing to stop Eli from recalling his spear and hurling it toward Amon. I think we all knew exactly what to expect. But damn it if I didn’t agree with the gesture. Right then, with Amon using the dead angel’s face and body, I wanted him to suffer.Greatly.

Add it to the list of grievances I already had against the guy.

Adrenaline gave me wings I couldn’t summon and I shot back to my feet. “You have a lot of nerve,” I seethed. Gritting my teeth, I stalked forward. Hoping against hope I’d be able to hold myself up for this long overdue confrontation when my legs began to wobble. “Using Michael like that. After what happened to him, how dare you?”

Amon clucked his tongue.

We had to get out of here. The floor shook beneath us as Amon called his power to him and my heart felt like it was going to burst right out of my chest.

“This is just the start of our fun and games,” he told me.

“I’ve never really been good at games. Anyone can tell you.” I glanced around frantically at the others. Searching for a way to get us out and still seeing none.

Time to use my fists instead of my words.

Foolish sure, but I didn’t have time to think of an alternative. Amon was going to continue to fuck with us unless I distracted him to buy Eli enough time. I put on a singular burst of speed. Flung myself onto him and twisted my body so I would land elbow first.

Hopefully I hit him where it hurt.

Amon’s fingers snagged the back of my shirt and flung me off him. I managed to curl into a tight ball before I hit the floor but damn, it still stung.

“Better luck next time. Don’t think your little friends have earned a reprieve, Jade,” Amon said instead.

His chuckles echoed in my ears as he disappeared for the final time without reforming somewhere else in the room. I stared at the empty spot for a long few seconds before Eli burst out with something surprising.

“Fuck!”

When I shifted around to look at him, one hand raked through his dark hair and the other gripped firmly around the shaft of the spear.

“We failed,” he said simply when I met his eyes. “We failed.”

“We got rid of a room full of Halflings. I’d say it’s a job well done,” Lisa said as she slid the gun into the holster at her hip. She shot me a smile and I couldn’t help but return the gesture.

“I sure am glad to see all of you,” I groaned out.

Exhausted, and alone with people I mostly trusted, I collapsed on the floor and rested my head for a moment. Despite everything, despite the pain and the fear and the rage still pounding through my veins, I knew the respite was temporary. I had to keep going.

“We’re damn happy to see you too, girl. You can’t keep disappearing like this and expect to come out the other side in one piece.”

I didn’t even mind being scolded. When I blinked over at Lisa, her form solidified for a moment before returning to its normal ghost state and I wondered if that had something to do with where we were.

And why they were here.

“Not all the Halflings. There’s one left,” Eli growled.

I whirled in time to see him raise the spear against Cole.

Heat rose inside of me on instinct and I was on my feet instantly. Power blasted out of my palms in a ball of light fierce enough to burn a hole through a wall. I threw it at Eli before he had a chance to kill Cole, who tensed and prepared to launch himself at Eli. A low growl echoed in his throat.

“Don’t you dare touch him,” I called out above the crackling of energy from the power at my palms.

Eli’s eyes widened. “Jade, he’s a Halfling.”

He said it like I was being stupid. And maybe I was, but it didn’t give him leave to kill Cole.

“Are we going to have a problem, here?”

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