Page 82 of Wings of Valor
As if hearing my thoughts, Mira comes out of her room looking gorgeous in her rune-stitched clothing. Her outfit is different from mine, more fierce somehow. I wonder if that was done by request, or if the rune weaver could sense that about her.
Mira hands me the power suppressant elixir, this one modified to only diminish my power to mimic a normal level instead of hiding it entirely. Then she hands me the antidote.
We’d made this plan only yesterday, which meant Mira had spent most of the night working on both liquids. One so I could blend in, and the other to make me stand out and hopefully lure the bastard Auriel to my position.
Mira clasps her hands behind her back. “I’ve already given the main army a few bottles of that power spray, too.”
“Clever trick, using their strengths against them,” Theo tells her, sounding infinitely impressed. If I didn’t trust him fully, I might worry that he was interested in her romantically, but I know he’s only curious about the making of her potions. This one is new. A spray that mimics the power essence of an angel. Kirach and his team will douse the Fallen district down in the hopes it’ll confuse the demons enough to not come after me when I use the antidote.
“It was actually Dina’s idea. With her, Mari, and Cam, we’ll probably have hundreds of viable options to fix this rift between Fallen and Pure.”
From outside our rooms, I hear the alarm blare. The scouts Mikhael sent to keep track of enemy movements must havefound something. It’s our cue to get going so we can be in position before shit hits the fan.
Kirach and the main army already have their boots on the ground in the Fallen district, which I’m told had already been evacuated quietly. Same with the production district, though the machines are still pumping out smoke to appear as normal as possible.
We won’t know whether we’ve fooled Auriel until his army swoops in.
Zeke stops by my side, carrying a bundle of imbued crossbow bolts. He pulls me into him and kisses me like he never wants to stop. Like he needs the very air from my lungs to exist. And when we break apart, I think maybe we do. I need them just as they need me. “Please be safe. Don’t be reckless.”
There’s a glint of mischief in his eyes, but it passes when he says, “You come back to me in one piece. Take care of each other out there.”
I offer a nod to Mira, and then they’re gone. The power suppressant tastes just as awful as it did before, but I swallow it down, hoping it’s the last time I’ll ever need it.
With one final check to make sure we have everything, Raphael, Theo, and I head out to meet Remiel on the cliffs overlooking the guild and Fallen district. We make it in record time, not wasting a single second in case we miss our chance at spotting Auriel. It’s him I need to find and destroy. It’s him only I can take care of.
There’s an uncomfortable silence as we stand on the cliff watching the empty landscape. Didn’t the scouts report movement? Where is everyone?
Something shifts on the horizon. My eyes stay glued to the spot, and I try not to blink for fear of missing anything. There’s a hint of darkness that grows until a horde of demons seems to fill the sky. How are there so many of them? On and on theycome, flying like a cloud of locusts. There are more demons than angels, but I still spot a few feathered wings among them, and not all of them are black. Pures have joined Auriel’s cause.
Standing on the ground below them is Auriel. His four wings are set free and spread wide behind him like a damn peacock. He’s not alone. I spot at least one angel and demon with him, but all the group has done is watch as the demons and angels in the air grow closer to the Fallen district.
This asshole doesn’t intend to fight with the others. He wants to watch. He’s going to fucking sit back while the rest of the city fights for their lives, then he can swoop in when it’s all done and lay claim to a Pure city.
Over my dead fucking body—and I’m damn hard to kill these days.
“We could go to him, since he’s mostly alone, but if we want to keep the element of surprise in an area we know well, we’ll have to lure him like we planned,” I say, whispering even though I know the bastard can’t hear me.
“When the battle begins, we’ll get in position,” Remiel replies with authority.
“When will—” Raphael starts as a barrage of imbued arrow tips flies through the air toward the oncoming horde. Some manage to hit their target, turning demons to ash in seconds, but enough of them miss to be a problem.
The ones who survived dive toward the shooters. Why aren’t their forces splitting between the Fallen and production areas as expected? Unless … someone fed us false information. Again.
Fuck!
I turn to Remiel. “Our intelligence was compromised. Call off the forces at the production district. Now. Have them join the army here as quickly as possible. It’s our only chance—”
“Already on it,” he assures, but we may already be too late.
A sickening sense of dread seeps into my bones.
There’s no turning back now.
We cannot fail.
32
We stay close to the cliff wall as we descend. As much as I might want to join the fight, we need to remain unseen for as long as possible. And even though it makes more sense to fly to our lure point, the demons would spot us and everyone knows the golden rule of fighting demons: remain on the ground. No matter what.
