Page 168 of Living Legend

"Makes sense." I subtly looked behind him for signs of anyone else.Where the fuck is Reese?

"New friends, Nick?" Ollie asked, giving me a small smile, one side of his mouth tipping upward. His gaze yet again lingered on Dani, and it made me uncomfortable.

There was a small growl that came behind me, and I didn't have to even look to know that it was Elise. "Something like that."

"Ah, well, we should probably get inside. Jonah will be really happy you're alright." Ollie sounded so nonchalant, so easy going. He sounded like himself, but then again, he didn't. He started to walk past us, causing his shoulder to run into Natalia's as she turned around to follow him. Her breath caught and her eyes widened, but then settled back into their normal state. She glanced over at me, her brow furrowing, and she gave her head a small shake, as if she was telling me no, this didn't feel right.

"Where is everybody else?" I asked. He stopped walking and slowly turned around.

"Some of us are watching the borderline of the woods and others are inside. We saw the portal and I was told to check it out. How did you even get a key? I don't remember you ever having one." He quickly looked at Natalia, as if he knew the answer but wanted me to say it. How did he even know I had a key? I ignored his question all together. Another small growl came from Elise as she swiped her eyes along the woods, as if she was searching for something I wasn't aware of.

Ollie waited for a beat and then said, "it's whatever, come on." He cocked his head towards the entrance.

I didn't like this, and by the looks of the people around, neither did they. Ollie was a good guy, but right now, the guy I knew was a blur and the one standing in front of me seemed to want to give off friendly vibes, but the vibes were distorted and unfamiliar. "I think I'm gonna wait for Reese."

He combed his fingers through his hair. "Reese is fine, Nick. There are plenty of us around the grounds, so one of us had to have seen him and probably brought him inside."

"Reese wouldn't have just let you take him inside without letting us know he's fine." That I knew for an absolute fact.

Ollie let out a small breath, patient and steady. Elise took a few steps forward. "I don't particularly like Blondie, but I'd have to agree that he wouldn't have just left without an explanation." Elise was obnoxiously short compared to Ollie, but she stood as if she was as tall as a redwood tree. I could see black veins pulsing in the back of her arms.

"Why doesn't Jonah just come out to see us and bring us inside?" Natalia suggested, the musical lightness of her voice and the High Priestess regality pushing through. Her amber eyes scanned him, searching for something.

Ollie’s dark eyes shot over to her. "He's busy. I'm going to bring you to him. I don't know why you are making this difficult." His voice sounded deeper, as if something inside of him was getting angry.

"It's not difficult, Ollie. If Jonah wants to see us, he can meet us out here. It's actually pretty simple," I said. "While he's at it, he can bring Reese out with him since he's fine, right?"

Ollie cracked his neck. "Have you always been this stubborn?"

"Yeah, but I also don'ttrustyou."

The already thick air grew thicker. I could taste something on my tongue, but I couldn't make out what it was. Ollie bore his eyes into mine, as if he was trying to penetrate my very soul. "You think I'm lying?"

I didn't look away from him as I clenched and unclenched my fist, aching to get my hand around my sword. Something inside of me was screaming that I would have to use it. "I do."

Something flashed across his eyes that caused me to take a step back. It was misty and dark, that friendly demeanor disintegrating before my eyes. The darkness in his eyes had a glassy haze over it, as if his vision was misshapen. "I never really understood why Jonah took such a liking to you."

Even though I couldn't see it, I knew the thick air around us was caused by him and everyone else here. They weren't protecting the border of the woods around the The Skies; they were here, in the shadows. We were always taught to hide, track, and be stealthy in our training, but magic was never a part of that. There was something else here, something else motivating them. I heard a loud groan and the clashing of weapons where Reese had flown off to.

Elise darted her tongue out as if she was licking the air and smacked her lips together. "Oh, I know that taste. Compulsion is so heady."

"It’s almost as strong as mine," Dani said under her breath.

Ollie's nostrils flared. "You want to be difficult? Fine." He reached towards the hilt of his sword. "You could have been left out of this. Protecting her, choosing them, will be the worst decision you've ever made." He said the words directly at me before he drew his sword but decided to elbow Elise hard into the side of her shoulder, sending her flying. He twirled the sword in his hand, the dark mist in his eyes deepening. The trees rustled, but not from the wind this time: from other angels. Large wings fluttered and footsteps sounded all around us.

I noticed silver tips of dark flames in my periphery and saw that both of Dani's arms were completely engulfed in dark magic. Wings flapped hard above us and feet hitting the ground to scuffling on the grass surrounded us. This was an ambush of a different kind. I recognized different faces and felt a pit in my stomach with what I was being made to do. I wasn't going to go quietly.

The angels drew their weapons as they charged towards us. Ollie swung out, causing me to jump back and snap into focus. I drew my own sword, slicing it back at him. Dani shot out rope after rope of black magic and Natalia wrapped a bright yellow electric ribbon around one sentry, closing her fist to tighten her hold, and used him as a weapon, throttling him into different angels back and forth.

They all seemed hellbent on getting to us, not letting the crack of their own bones stop them. They were like the shadow demons from before, but these were faces I knew.

Ollie's face was menacing and irritating. He swung back and forth, each turn of his sword harsher than the last. He wanted me to bleed, to feel pain. I brought my weapon down at an angle, slicing his arm. He hissed and I swiped down at the other arm, but before I could connect my blade with his skin, our weapons clashed. Under this compulsion, he felt stronger than me, but I knew our skills were the same, our training exactly the same. He shoved me back and I collected my footing before he barreled at me. I blocked his sword with my own, bringing one of my legs back for extra stability as I bent my other knee. He was using all his weight to push against me, and I was starting to sweat from pushing back at him.

I saw angels fly back from the violent blast Elise had thrown at them. She hopped up on one of their backs and brought her hands around the female angel's neck, twisting it in a grossly disturbing angle until the angel was lifeless. Elise unfurled her healed tail, picked up the body with her shadowy appendage, and chucked it towards a horde of sentries.

Dani was on the ground face down with a sentry’s boot on her back. I watched as she spread her hand along the grassy surface and tendrils of black, dancing like snakes popped up from the dirt. The tendrils wrapped around the sentry’s legs and throat. The black coils searched for more victims, tightening around random necks and gripping so hard, their faces turned purple. Her eyes had turned midnight black, telling me her darker half had been let out to play.

I was so fixated on watching her work that Ollie had seen his opening and kicked his leg out, and I fell forward as he moved out of the way. My sword fell out of my grip and instead of picking it up, I used my hands to block Ollie's foot from landing on my throat. I grabbed the bottom of his shoe and shoved him back. I jumped up and before he could catch his footing, I shot my left foot out and kicked him in the stomach. He stumbled back into a tree trunk. I reached down for my sword and turned back to see him gripping his own so tightly, his knuckles were white.

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