Angel Fury (Immortal Legacy #2) - Ella Summers Page 0,66

walls made of raw stone bricks. There were no decorations of any kind. Honestly, I’d expected a great deal more flamboyance from the Hive, given their ostentatious uniforms. Any one of their soldiers wore more decorative pins and insignia than even a Legion archangel.

We’d reached a four-way intersection in the hallway. Synchronized footsteps broke the absolute silence. The welcoming committee had arrived. Eight soldiers waited in front of us, eight behind, and eight each to the left and right. Four Hive squads. We’d sure jumped right into the deep end of the battle.

Damiel drew his Sapphire Tear, the Destroyer dagger. He used it to draw five flaming symbols in the air. The Immortals’ language. I’d learned a bit of it from an old book, but my mastery over it wasn’t nearly so complete. I supposed the Master Interrogator had access to the Legion’s secret stash of magic texts.

Damiel’s symbols flashed once, then exploded. The resulting shockwave knocked the Hive soldiers on their backs—and broke the bonds of magic linking them together.

We made a run for it, charging over them to make our way deeper into the fortress. Hive squads poured down every staircase, ran down every hallway. They were coming at us from all directions.

The battle on Nightingale had been a mere precursory whisper to this. Here, we were on the Hive’s home turf. There were many more of them. Breaking the bonds of their magic with the Sapphire Tear took too long. By the time Damiel broke them all, the first groups had reformed their bonds, and he had to start all over again.

“We need to destroy all their bonds at once,” I told Damiel after we took cover behind a stack of storage crates. “We need to find the source of the spell the Hive is shooting up into the sky. If that spell is what makes their magic so strong, breaking it would greatly weaken them. It would give us time to find the immortal daggers and get out of here.”

“We could hook up the eight Magitech devices to the Destroyer dagger and pulse that magic out to the Swarm soldiers,” he replied. “Do you think you could set up something like that?”

“Yes, but it will take time.”

Damiel handed me the Sapphire Tear and drew his gun. “I will cover you while you make the necessary modifications.” He fired at the approaching Hive squad, and they withdrew back around the corner. “Cadence, we need to talk.”

“About what?” I opened up the first Magitech device.

“You are upset with me.”

“Very observant. I guess that’s why you’re the Master Interrogator.”

“We need to fix this.”

But I didn’t want to talk about it. “Now?” I demanded. “You want to talk about this now?”

He fired a few shots to push the Hive soldiers back again. “Right now, you can’t run off.”

“I’m busy.” I had all eight devices open now.

“You’re a very clever angel. You can multitask.”

“Oh? I thought it was you who’s smarter than everyone else.”

He frowned. “You know what I meant by that.”

That he could outmaneuver everyone. But I didn’t enjoy being outmaneuvered.

“I’m not really interested in hashing out who’s dominant right now, Damiel.”

“There is little point in doing so. I am dominant. I outrank you,” he said in a voice that was more factual than arrogant.

“Maybe I’m not willing for things to be unequal in our relationship.”

“You are taking this entirely too personally.”

“It is personal. Your decision to exclude me from this mission was personal.”

“For your protection. I thought you’d appreciate that I cared.”

“I don’t appreciate being ordered to stand on the sidelines, powerless to help you. You should have treated me like the angel that I am.”

A heavy sigh rocked his chest. “I know. But you aren’t just an angel to me, Cadence. I can’t let anything happen to you.”

“You need to trust that I can take care of myself. Or at least that we can take care of each other. If you can’t do that, then this will never be more than an assigned marriage.” I handed him the Sapphire Tear, which was now magically linked to the eight Magitech devices. “It’s ready.”

His hand closed around the hilt. He drew several lines of Immortal symbols this time. They burned brighter and brighter, until they were a flash of blinding white light. I shielded my eyes.

There was a boom, and then the light went out.

I stepped out from behind the boxes and looked around. Hive soldiers everywhere were rising from the ground, their eyes unsteady, their movements disoriented.

“The spell has