Wings of the Wicked - By Courtney Allison Moulton Page 0,110

him back out the hole in the wall and into the rain and darkness.

“Will!” I shrieked, and grabbed my fallen sword and dived through the demolished wall. The deck groaned and shifted uneasily beneath my weight, but I didn’t care as I ran to the edge and peered over the shattered floorboards. Icy rain stung my skin, and I shivered viciously at the wind whipping my hair, clawing at my clothes, and beating my face.

Down on the cold, muddy ground, dashing through the rain, Will and Kelaeno were fighting. Talons ripped Will’s arm wide open and he yelled out, tearing away, as Kelaeno landed in a crouched position. She jumped up and swiped again, her claws shredding Will’s shirt. Kelaeno ducked as he swung his sword, and she kicked him in the chest, making him grunt and knocking the sword out of his hand. They collided in a fury of swinging, pounding fists.

I heard a tremendous sound behind me, and I whirled. Merodach and Rikken were nowhere to be seen, but Nathaniel was punching through the only remaining wall in the hallway leading from the kitchen to what was left of the front door. The staircase behind him was a demolished and nearly inaccessible pile of rubble. Nathaniel pounded his fists—left, right, left, right—into the wall, exploding wood, drywall, and insulation. I stared at him, distracted by my confusion as to why he would be trying to knock this wall down. For a second, I almost forgot about the missing demonic reapers.

Then Nathaniel stopped, and the hole he’d created revealed a set of various weapons hidden in the wall. He reached his arm into the wall and pulled out a dark metal object: a mace. The weapon looked old and heavy, and the shaft was long and wrapped in leather. The round head of the mace was made of silver, and deadly looking spikes stuck out in every direction, reminding me of Rikken’s skull.

Rikken. Where was he? And Merodach?

“Nathaniel?” came a small voice.

We both spun to find Lauren standing just inside the blasted-open front of the house, her long hair billowing in the violent wind. I was suddenly numb, and I glanced at Nathaniel, whose face was frozen with fear.

He shook his head in disbelief, his copper eyes flashing bright and vibrant like brand-new pennies. “No,” he breathed. “Lauren, you’ve got to—”

Before he could finish, Rikken appeared between them, reaching for Lauren, and Nathaniel hurled the mace with a cry of rage. Rikken leaned back, avoiding the blow easily, and as Nathaniel’s torso went down with the arc of his swing, Rikken smashed his elbow into the back of Nathaniel’s head, sending him to his knees. He recovered quickly and grabbed Rikken’s fist as the demonic reaper swung, and Nathaniel swept the mace up and raked the spikes across Rikken’s chest as Rikken jerked his head out of the mace’s path. Rikken doubled over, clutching his wounds as saliva poured through his teeth and hit the floor, and Nathaniel rose.

Lauren’s hands covered her mouth in terror. “Nathaniel!”

He reached for her, dropping the mace to the floor and grasping her hands with his own. “You’ve got to go. I can’t protect you.”

“Come with me. Please don’t stay here!” She let her hands fall, but his closed around them and squeezed them tight.

He shook his head and she started to cry. “I have to stay,” he murmured. “I’m sorry.”

With an awful sound escaping her, she nodded. He rushed into her and kissed her mouth fiercely, taking his hands from hers to firmly hold her shoulders.

“I love you,” he said, his copper eyes glowing. “Now run. Get in your car and drive away as fast as you can. Don’t stop until you’re out of gas. Lauren, run!”

She turned and bolted from the house. Nathaniel was trembling as we listened to her car start up and the tires squeal out of the driveway. I rushed forward to help him, but he held out a hand, stopping me.

“No!” he called. “Go help Will. He has both of them on him now. Go!”

I nodded and obeyed, spinning in the hall, and I darted through the hole in the wall Kelaeno’s body had made. Outside, I was back in the stinging, icy rain and she was nowhere to be seen. For a second I couldn’t see anyone, but I strained my eyes to make out a crumpled shape in the darkness of the lawn. My stomach dropped.

A hand fastened around my throat and another hand forced my