Page 107 of Blood So Brutal

“Draw your sword,” I ordered. “We have to get Huntyr and Rummy.”

“They followed us this entire time?” he asked, unsheathing his sharp sword from his waist. “What the fuck are they after? What do they want?”

I pulled my small dagger, waiting for the rebels to show themselves. “They want what we want.”

Even over the roar of the river, I heard my father yelling. One glance over my shoulder told me Huntyr and Rummy were safe from the first hit of arrows.

Were they fucking shooting blind? Those arrows landed way too close. One wrong step, and Huntyr could have been hit.

“Fly back!” I yelled to Jessiah as I stepped toward the forest, away from the river. “Protect them. Avoid the arrows, your angel blood won’t heal you if you’re hit by one of them. I’m going to find the rebels!”

Jessiah gripped my arm and spun me around as I tried to push forward. His eyes were chaos, wide with fear, adrenaline, and confusion. “You’re working with them?”

He didn’t need my answer. “Protect them,” I repeated. “I’ll find you when it’s done.”When Asmodeus is dead.

His jaw tightened, his eyes darting between myself and whoever may have been hiding in the thick trees of the forest.

But then, he nodded. “With my fucking life.”

I didn’t look to see if Jessiah made it across the riverbank in one piece, didn’t look to see how Asmodeus and Luseyar were reacting.

This was going to be our only fucking chance to finish what we started before we made it to Scarlata Empire.

I ran as fast as I could into the foliage, limbs and branches slashing at my body as I pushed through.

“Nathan!” I called out. “Hold your fire!”

Arrows continued to spray into the air. A few seconds passed, I kept pushing deeper and deeper into the forest, toward where the sound of arrows slicing the air originated.

Until a solid body slammed into mine. We both fell to the ground with an impact that pulled the breath from my lungs.

“What the fu—” My words hitched in my throat as Nathan’s face loomed over me, a warrior’s gaze lingering in his eyes.

“Good to see you’re still alive,” Nathan said. I shoved him off me and we both scrambled to our feet.

“That was fucking reckless! Huntyr could have been hurt!”

“We’re trying to get rid of him for good! You’ve known the plan, you knew there was a level of risk involved. Huntyr is fine, our shooters are careful. Now, grab a bow and help us pin them before they get away!”

He tried to turn, but I grabbed his arm. “Your arrows are too dangerous! Huntyr and her friend, Rummy, are with them. Asmodeus would use their bodies as shields, I’m damn certain.”

Nathan looked between me and the riverbank. We could barely make out the bodies on the other side.

“You have the weapon to kill him?” I asked. “You’re certain?”

Nathan turned behind him. “Voiler, come here.” Voiler, the small but surprisingly strong fae I met in Moira, stepped out of the forest. She survived the Transcendent. She made it into The Golden City, and now, she fought with them.

The rebels.

She held a sword—a sword I recognized immediately—in her hand. It glowed with a white aura, shimmering with its own magic.

This was Luseyar’s sword. Hejusthad it, he always carried it with him. She must have taken it recently, there was no way he would continue without it.

“That’s it?” I asked. “Luseyar’s sword is what will kill the archangel?”

Voiler’s features were fierce. Confident. Unwavering. Exactly what I needed from someone set to kill an archangel.

“This is it,” she answered. “We only have a few minutes before he realizes we have it. Get me close enough to use it, and it will be done.”

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