Page 28 of Tortured Royals

Another archangel cries out, his head taken, and though I can’t see him, I know it’s Dante’s doing.

Electricity zaps into the air from a soldier somewhere to my left, and Alaric snarls, a blow hitting his shoulder before he manages to take the soldier down. More soldiers run at him, but Alaric gives them a dark smile, and his body starts to shift, growing until he’s in his giant form, an incredible mass that looms over us. He stomps around the sands swiping at the soldiers. With one blow, he throws an archangel at the royal box, and the archangel smacks into an invisible barrier not far from the queen’s position before falling to the ground.

Queen Vespera glowers at us, and more archangels descend from the sky above.

Three archangels circle me, and I have two down in a matter of seconds. The third lifts his hand and a dozen sand monsters materialize around me. Mason and I cut through them, moving quickly, before I take the archangel’s head.

One by one we spill blood, carving our way through the archangels. Shade flies from my shoulder watching from above and commentating on the activity. By the time all the queen’s archangels are down, I stand there covered in blood, my chest heaving. I don’t let myself think about the waste of life. At the fact that these soldiers would have been better used defending against the witches. This is the queen’s doing and there’s nothing I can do about that.

Going by the way her face is contorted with anger, I’m guessing Queen Vespera had expected this to be a much easier fight for her angels.

I turn my gaze to the cage. Nate still hasn’t reached the scorpions, and I send a thank you to Lady Fate.All right, now we just need to get him free.I take a step toward my shifter mate, but the instant I do, multiple doors on the side of the arena open, and more archangel’s march onto the sand.

The smug smile is back on the queen’s face, and I know what she’s doing. The queen simply wants to keep me busy for long enough that Nate dies. Once that happens, she knows I’ll be weakened. That the loss of my fated mate will likely distract me enough that she’ll be able to take me down.

Never surrender.The words sound in my head.

Gritting my teeth, I fight the closest archangel, throwing him over my head, and finishing him with my blade through his throat. Two more archangels come at me from behind, but Mason gallops to meet them, grabbing a discarded spear from the ground and throwing it into one of the archangel’s chests, then descending on the other soldier.

In the cage, Nate drops lower.We’re running out of time.Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and call to them. I can feel them around me, their tiny hearts beating in my mind. There are thousands of them, and they fly from the forest, the tops of the buildings, and the bridges along the waterways. The sky darkens as birds descend toward the stadium, thousands of wings beating at once, and the sound a steady hum in my ears. The fighting pauses as everyone looks up, craning their necks to see what’s above.

Opening my eyes, I lift my gaze to the royal box, expecting to see the queen cowed, but that smug smile is still there, pulling her lips even tighter. Immediately, I know something isn’t right. And then Mirelle lifts her hand.No! No! Oh, Lady No!

My heart slams against my ribcage as streams of white fire race up the walkways of the amphitheater, curving up, racing higher with every second.

Go back! Please, please go back!I scream in my mind, trying to warn them. Trying to save my birds. I tell them to fly away from the amphitheater, but some of them are already too close and they swoop down.

Stretching out my wings, I launch into the air, spearing straight up. I flap my wings hard, pushing my muscles to get to them.

Shade stares at me as she flaps in the air, panicked.“No Blake, you can’t!”

But I have to try. They’re here because of me. I’ve lost birds during battle before, but not this many. Thousands of the birds are still descending, still trying to get to me and answer the call I’d put out.

“Stop, my mate!” Mason calls, launching into the air behind me, but I only flap my wings harder, rising higher, racing Mirelle’s fire.

“Sister, no!” Prince Callan’s rough voice is a guttural plea to the princess.

“I said go back! Please, go back! Why aren’t you listening?”I scream in my head as Mirelle’s fire keeps climbing.

Alaric reaches up, as if to grab some of my birds. To pull them to safety.

I’m almost to them, almost to the top of the amphitheater, but her magic is too fast. Flames curve around the top of the amphitheater, creating a wall of fire in front of me and Alaric, and I only just manage to stop in time, heat blasting my face as I curve to the side, inches from the flames.

I hear as they fly into it, their little bodies sizzling as they impact with the fire, and their squawks and cries fill my head. My birds turn to ash in seconds, and the flakes rain down on us, the ash so thick it’s like snowfall.

“Oh god, Blake,”Shade’s voice trembles in my mind.

I lift my palms to the sky, cupping my hands like I’m still hoping to catch them. To save them, but the only thing around me is death.

“Selfish. I was so fucking selfish to call them here.”

“It’s not your fault,”Shade counters.“You can’t have known that would happen.”

“They still came here because of me.”

The angels in the stands are silent as the ash falls, the amphitheater a haze of gray flakes.

Cackling comes from the royal box, and the queen’s laughter is like a spark that ignites the fury inside me. I turn to the angel ruler, and the scream that comes from me is a raw, guttural, wounded sound. I’m not sure what happens next. One moment, I’m focused on the anger, drowning in sorrow for the birds, and the next a cold calm settles over me.

---