Grace and Glory (The Harbinger #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,38

it two steps when a shadow dropped out of the sky, landing on the roof with a hard thump, and then another and another—

Seven imps stood in front of me, their bodies hunched. Maybe eight.

I skidded to a stop, my eyes widening as one of them hissed. Imps never traveled alone. I’d forgotten. “I’m the dumbass,” I whispered, backing up as my grace throbbed inside me.

One of them lurched forward, and I hit the floor of the roof. Its outstretched arm swept over my head, and I popped up, shoving the dagger into its back. Heat blew back at me as I whirled, jabbing the dagger into the chest of another.

Flames erupted as a wing cut through the air, slamming into my side, and knocked me sideways. I tripped over a lounge chair that seriously came out of nowhere, landing in...plush grass.

Oh, hey, I found the green space.

I sprang up, scanning the shadowy rooftop, and spun around, heart thumping as I looked for any sign of the imps. There had to be five or six left. I wasn’t sure. Counting was hard.

A blur of matted fur and red appeared in front of me. The imp was too close. I jumped back, grabbing the lounge chair that had just attacked me. Picking it up, I threw it at the imp.

The imp squeaked when the metal chair smacked it in the face. I stopped, never hearing a sound like that come from an imp before. “You sound like a dog toy. It’s kind of cute.”

Swiping the chair aside, it charged me.

I danced to the side, catching the demon in the throat with the dagger. The scent of sulfur choked me as I hobbled over the remains of the chair. “You don’t smell cute, though.” I gagged. “Or look cute at all—”

Talons gripped the back of my shirt, and a heartbeat later, I was in the air, high above the roof and rapidly climbing. The way-too-large shirt lifted as the imp flew over the roof. I began to slip out of the shirt. Panic exploded. What undies did I grab? Oh God, it was the pair that had Hump Day plastered across the ass. I was going to fall out of this damn shirt to my death and be found splattered on the sidewalk in undies that said Wednesday and it was Sunday.

People were gonna think I’d been wearing these for days. The medical examiner was going to be horrified.

I could not let that happen.

Still over the roof, I swept the daggers in a high, wide arc and sliced them through the imp’s arms.

The imp shrieked as hot, wet blood sprayed the top of my head, and then I was falling, and fast. A wicked sense of déjà vu hit me, but this time there was no Protector to save me. This fall wouldn’t kill me, but it was going to hurt bad, like a whole lot of broken bones kind of hurt, and I just got done healing.

At least, I didn’t think this fall would kill me. My heart stuttered as I braced myself for pain—

An arm snagged me around the waist, stopping my free fall so suddenly the air was punched out of my lungs. I was a yo-yo, jerked up so fast that my entire body spasmed. My hands opened and the daggers slipped free, falling to the roof as my back connected with a hard chest that was colder than the air.

Wintermint surrounded me.

Heart thudding fast and heavily, I turned my head, catching the sight of plump white feathers streaked with gold cutting through the air.

Zayne had caught me.

Where he’d come from or why he was here didn’t matter. He caught me, just like he had before, and that was further evidence he was still in there.

“You saved me,” I gasped. “Again.”

“Did I?”

“Obviously,” I forced out, barely able to breathe through the gust of the cold wind as I looked over my shoulder.

Vivid blue eyes lit by grace met mine. “Huh.”

I started to frown. “What does ‘huh’ mean?”

He veered to the left, out of the path of an imp. “It means this.”

Zayne let go.

He dropped me.

10

Zayne actually dropped me.

I was too stunned to even scream as I plummeted. There was a shriek as the dark shape of an imp shot toward me, and wouldn’t that be some shit if a damn imp saved my life.

Zayne caught the imp midair—

The shock of water seized my lungs as it reached up and swallowed me, dragging me down. Chlorine burned my eyes