he’s interrupted it somehow. As he flies, the silvery strands emerging from the enchanted object turn transparent and gossamer, then seem to dissolve into nothing.
“Shit!” I yell as Hellfire bursts from the damaged net, hurtling toward the sky. The flow is still partially obstructed, but unless we get that cube back in place, the Hellfire will be able to reach the Heavenly light in the atmosphere.
“Oh, no, you don’t!”
I hear Trinity’s scream a second before she shoots into the sky after Anderson, a look of fury on her face. Of course she’s pissed. This guy was once her angelic superior—someone she looked up to, or at least respected. And now he’s teamed up with demons and who knows how many other rebellious angels to try to bring about the destruction of Earth.
She streaks through the air toward Anderson, drawing her angel blade as she does. He turns and sees her coming, a startled look passing over his face.
I have a moment of pride for her as I realize that this fucker never really expected her to be a real threat.
Then their swords clash, sparking in the sky.
Screeches and grunts draw my attention, and my gaze is pulled away from Trin as I fight off the new wave of corrupted that have reached me. A little way down on the mountain, Knight and Ford are working together to battle Salinas—Knight distracting him while Ford leaps in to deal heavy blows.
Sawyer, Ryland, Beck, and Nix are all fighting to keep any of the corrupted from stealing another cube. If we lose two, we’ll never get the net back up. Even now, the pillar of Hellfire is rising higher and higher into the atmosphere, the damaged net straining as the beam of lava and fire blasts upward.
If it reaches the Heavenly light, it’s all over.
“Remi! Remi!”
Trinity’s loud yell makes my head snap up. Her heavenly light glows from her like warm sunshine, drawing my gaze toward her like a beacon. I dart around two corrupted, racing toward her as she struggles against Anderson in the air. I’ve never wished so badly in all of my existence that I had wings.
“Here, Trin!” I call, shouting up into the sky as I come to a stop roughly below her and the high angel. “I’m here!”
With a feral yell, she flies upward and then does the same dive-bombing trick she used against Salinas, turning her own body into a torpedo as she streaks toward Anderson.
The older man’s eyes widen. I’m sure that move isn’t in any of the battle angel handbooks. But that’s what makes it so damn effective. He wasn’t expecting it at all.
He swings his sword, and my stomach clenches as it whistles through the air, just barely missing Trin. She plows into him, sending him hurtling backward through the air. They tussle high above me, and a moment later, a small silver object flashes as it falls.
The cube.
She got it.
My gaze zeroes in on it as I leap forward, positioning myself under it and holding out my hands. The cube lands in my outstretched palms. I throw my head back, smashing the face of a demon who’s tried to creep up on me, then pivot and sprint toward the spot Anderson stole the enchanted object from. I have to fight my way through two more corrupted to get there, and as soon as I do, I fall to my knees and shove the cube back down into the earth.
I mutter the incantation again just to be sure it’s still activated, and to my relief, silvery threads start emerging from it right away.
For a second, I have a terrible thought that maybe it won’t work. Maybe now that the lava and Hellfire have breached the net, that force will be too powerful to contain. Maybe the net won’t be able to repair itself.
But slowly, the threads start to knit back together, cutting off the stream again.
A scream echoes from behind me, so loud that even the corrupted who are rushing up to attack slow their charge. They turn, confusion and shock on their grotesque faces as they watch Salinas crumple to the ground. Knight and Ford stand over him, breathing hard and covered in blood.
Some of the corrupted resume their attack on us, but just like I hoped, some of them don’t seem sure what to do anymore.
“Angel!” Beckett calls. He’s fighting back to back with Ryland, the two of them moving in perfect sync as they hold off the last few demons who