Page 32 of Prince of Ruin
Sera wasted no time. She threw herself in the car and yanked the door shut behind her. “Drive!”
Her heart was still hammering; a mixture of adrenaline and shock. Power thrummed through her, but it was no match for the kick of her heart every time she pictured his face when she’d picked up the sword.
I wanted you to see me.
I wanted you to know it was me.
She’d hoped to bury all those long-ago feelings. It had been time to look him in the eye, confront the past and let it die.
She’d wanted this crushing sensation in her chest to wither.
Instead, it felt like she’d struck a match and tossed it into gasoline.
“What happened?” Tay threw over her shoulder as Rodrigo kicked the car into reverse. “Have you got a fuckinglightsaberin your hand?”
You need to pull yourself together. They hadn’t escaped, not yet. She had the shard. And Azazel would never let it go so easily. “Long story.”
She absorbed the power in the blade and it died down, leaving just a hilt in her hand. Not restored then. Just not… entirely shattered.
“Is Azazel dead?” Tay’s eyes boggled out of her head.
“No!”
“Wounded?”
“No!”
“And he just let you walk out of there?”
“It’s complicated!” she yelled, then screamed as the car hit the gutter. “Jesus, Rodrigo! This is not the time to blow a tire!”
The tall warrior spun the wheel. “I wasn’t—”
One second she was staring at the back of his neck. The next thing she knew, she slammed into the back of Tayla’s seat and the car catapulted forward.
Fire bloomed around them.
She hit hard. Bounced. Rolled. Vision flashed past; of the street outside. And then the car screamed to a halt on its roof, droplets of flame dripping from the undercarriage.
Sera lowered her arms as the car rocked.
It felt like wading through treacle.
Her Grace flickered… and died.
What—?Where—?
She was on her back, lying on what had once been the roof of the car, and half of Tay’s technical equipment was smashed into her ribs. Everything hurt.Everything. But her mind started to kick back into gear, screaming back into function as it filled in the gaps.
An explosion.
The car was on fire.
“Tay?” she croaked.
Nothing.
Sera pushed upright, shoving equipment off her. She might have had her connection to Heaven torn from her by the maelstrom Lucifer kicked into place when he broke the city apart, but she was still enough of an angel to survive unscathed. Given enough motivation she could die, but even now she could feel the bruises and contusions starting to reknit.
