Wanted Angel - Sadie Moss Page 0,73

as if this guy wasn’t the one with his back to the wall last time. I know some of my angelic light pierced him. If I hadn’t lost control and blacked out, I might’ve been able to take him down.

Well, no time like the present to try again.

I summon my blade, feeling the weight of it in my hand, and give him a snarl of my own.

“All right. Let’s fucking do this,” I growl. Then I launch myself at him.

Salinas launches himself right back at me, and I hear the yelling of the men as they hurl themselves at the other corrupted, all of us turning this into a massive brawl.

Fighting Salinas is no easier the second time. In fact, it’s almost harder. He’s full of energy and triumph, already convinced he’s won—and I know I’ve said this before, but I really think it bears repeating that I am the furthest thing from a fighter. I’m not exactly trained in taking on the corrupted in general, never mind taking on a powerful demon like Salinas.

I’m scrappy though. At least I’ve got that going for me.

“Do you have any idea how pathetic you are?” Salinas hisses, getting his words out in between his breaths. Crap. If he’s strong enough to hold up a conversation while we’re fighting, then I’m not making as much of a dent as I’d hoped I was. “You could join me, you could have power, you could have everything you ever wanted! Instead you’re throwing it away? For humans who don’t even deserve it? Humans who were made to serve?”

I bare my teeth, trying to make myself as fierce as I can. “What I want is to help people! What I want is to serve humanity! The way angels are supposed to!”

My blade clashes against his, the heat of the volcano making sweat pour off me. Our swords vibrate with the force as they strike each other, again and again, neither of us able to get a firm advantage.

My arms are shaking with effort.

My legs are burning.

My head, of all things, feels too heavy from whipping it around trying to avoid getting hit and trying to keep an eye on him.

But if I can keep Salinas busy fighting me, then maybe, just maybe, I can keep him from completing his plan—

Before I can even finish that thought, the volcano erupts.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Remington

I’ve seen volcanoes erupt before. You don’t live as long as we all have without witnessing several major natural disasters.

But there’s nothing remotely natural about this.

Lava begins to rise from the mouth of the volcano, but instead of spilling over the edge and spewing into the atmosphere or sliding down the rocky mountainside, it travels straight up, as if it’s drawn by a magnet high in the sky.

“Shit! It’s starting!” I hear Trinity yell, and then her sword clashes with Salinas’s again.

The corrupted that the rest of us are fighting redouble their efforts, obviously trying to drive us farther down the mountain to keep us from interfering with whatever spell they unleashed in the depths of the volcano. Ford gives an unholy roar, bashing two demon’s heads together and then dropping their bodies to the ground like sacks of rocks.

“We need to get higher!” I shout, gesturing wildly before turning to face a demon who’s charging toward me.

“On it!”

Sawyer sends out a pulse of his magic, and several of the demons nearest him stop fighting and look around dazedly. Two of them start rubbing up against each other, and if I weren’t so busy trying not to get killed, I might laugh. Sawyer’s lust power doesn’t always work on the corrupted, and the effect won’t last for long. But it’s enough to give us an opening.

I catch the demon in front of me with a sharp right hook, then join my brothers as we sprint toward Trinity and Salinas. All eight of us need to make it to the rim of the volcano for this to work, and there’s no way I’d leave her to fight this asshole on her own.

But before we can reach her, she uses her wings to lift herself a few feet off the ground, then dive-bombs Salina, knocking him over and sending him rolling down the mountainside.

“Holy fuck! Nicely done, Trin!” Nix crows.

The fall won’t kill the demon, but it gets him out of our way for a second. I catch Trin’s eye and point toward where we need to go, and she wheels in the air, not even bothering to come