Page 71 of Crown of Blood and Vengeance

Forty

Serenity

Hellhounds and demonsstreamed into the glade. The stench of sulfur burned my nose and made my stomach heave. Trystan’s wolves howled in agony, the sound cutting straight to my core. Each cry felt like a knife to my heart. These wolves had protected me, had become family. Keir’s harpies formed a lethal barrier around him, their razor-sharp claws ripping into anything that dared come close. Blood and feathers filled the air, a grotesque dance of violence and death.

Enzo had yanked me next to him. I could feel his muscles coiled tight, ready to move at the slightest threat. My back burned where my wings yearned to break free, but I couldn’t control them, couldn’t help anyone. The power inside me pulsed uselessly, just out of reach.

A massive hellhound burst through the portal, its eyes glowing like burning coals, acidic drool sizzling the grass where it fell. Something inside me recoiled at its presence, an instinct I didn’t understand yet. Holy blood, angel blood, whatever Iwas, every cell in my body screamed in protest at these hellish creatures.

The hellhound’s howl pierced the night, too close. My heart slammed against my ribs as Enzo shoved me behind him, his sword gleaming in the darkness. Dimitri flanked my other side, both vampires forming a protective wall between me and the approaching demons.

“There’s too many of them,” Dimitri growled, his fangs extended. The scratch across his cheek still oozed blood, evidence that born vampires weren’t immune to demon claws.

Another howl split the air, closer now. The sound made my wings itch beneath my skin, desperate to emerge, but I didn’t know how to control them yet. My powers flickered just beneath the surface, untapped and unreliable.

“We need to move,” Enzo said, his eyes scanning the treeline. “They’re trying to circle?—”

Black clouds roiled overhead like a living thing, and thunder cracked so violently my bones rattled. Lightning split the sky, striking the ground with explosive force. Through the afterglow of white light, I saw him: the tallest man I’d ever seen, materialized in the middle of the carnage. His long black hair whipped in the supernatural wind, falling over shoulders broad as mountains. The white sword in his hand blazed with holy fire, and his wings... dear god, his wings flared out like living moonlight, massive and terrible in their beauty.

The hellhounds and demons shrieked in pure terror, their courage shattering at the sight of him.

Lightning struck beside me, so close the energy made my skin tingle and my newfound power surge.

The dark-haired angel threw his sword with deadly elegance. It spun through the air like liquid moonlight, striking the snarling hellhound dead center. Holy fire erupted from the point of impact, consuming the beast from within. Its agonized howlsechoed across the glade as its massive body crumbled to ash. The sword whipped back to the angel’s hand as if drawn by an invisible force, not a single ember marring its pristine blade.

My throat constricted at the display of raw, terrible power.

Dimitri sprinted across the bayou, his vampire speed just a blur as he smashed into the oak doors. The impact echoed like a thunderclap, but he bounced back as if struck by an invisible force, crumpling to the ground like a dazed bird that had crashed into a window.

The angel’s sword blazed with holy fire as he raised it, his expression merciless as he moved to strike down the vampire.

“No!” The scream tore from my throat, raw with desperation.

Poison reached for me, fingers grasping, but instinct and fear gave me strength. I wrenched free from her grasp.

“Serenity, no. You don’t want to defy Michael.”

But Dimitri was family. He was bullheaded, strong willed, and sarcastic, but he was like a brother to me and Gianna’s mate. I couldn’t let him die—wouldn’t let him die.

My wings burst from my back in an explosion of white feathers, power surging through me as I launched myself through the air. I dove toward Dimitri, every fiber of my being focused on one thought—protect him.

I landed in front of Dimitri, my wings spread wide in a protective shield. I met the archangel’s eyes, raw determination burning in my chest as I silently dared him to strike.

He took a step toward me. Just then a hellhound burst through the trees, its mouth dripping acidic salvia, eyes blazing with hellfire.

“Focus.” Michael’s voice cut through my scattered thoughts like a blade. “Your power isn’t just in your wings. It flows through every part of you.”

I put my palms out and faced the savage beast. I drew on every ounce of power I had but nothing happened.

“I can’t just—” I started to protest, but Michael’s stern look silenced me. The archangel moved with liquid grace as he circled me, his own wings a shimmer of gold in the moonlight.

“You’re thinking like a human. Stop. Feel the grace that runs in your blood. Your father’s power is part of you; it always has been.”

I thought of Angelo, and the love I had for him roared through me like a charging bull, igniting something primal and ancient in my blood. White fire erupted from my hands with explosive force, engulfing the beast in holy flames just as it lunged for us. Its howl of agony was cut short as it dissolved into ash.

White light shot out of the broken windows of the cathedral. Agonizing screams set my nerves on edge.

“You’ve got to get me in there,” Dimitri said as desperation in his eyes matched my own, though he’d probably stake himself before admitting it. “Gianna’s in there.”

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