Then I remembered that Taylor could alter the way I saw the astral plane.
I ducked and flung Amaya upward. She connected with something so hard the force of it reverberated down my arm and made imaginary teeth rattle.
White ash, she screamed. Hate!
White ash was used by witches to repel all manner of darkness, demons included—which meant that Taylor knew what my sword was.
Fuck, fuck, fuck!
I dropped her away from the invisible ash staff and scrambled backward. Taylor laughed, an eerie sound that came out of the emptiness surrounding me.
I didn't bother hanging around to see what he was going to do next, but lunged forward, using the tremor of recoiling air as a guide as I attempted to slice him in half. Azriel might have said it wasn't actually possible to do that on this level of the astral plane, but I had hurt him last time I'd called Amaya into action, so it was worth a shot.
It was a shot that proved futile, because her blade hit nothing but air. I paused, Amaya held at the ready, my gaze searching the immediate area as I tried yet again to pinpoint his position.
And in doing so, I realized the beach was different. It was fading. Or rather, a fog was devouring it—the same sort of fog that had greeted me when I'd first stepped onto the plane. But why? What advantage did it give him when I couldn't see him now under the fierce sunshine I'd imagined?
The thought died as awareness prickled my skin.
He was behind me.
I raised Amaya and spun around. Caught a glimpse of Taylor's wickedly pointed staff swooping toward me before the fog whisked him from sight. I lunged forward, under his blow, attempting to skewer him with Amaya's point. Once again I stabbed nothing but air. I swore and caught my balance. Felt the wash of movement against my skin and jumped back.
But nowhere near fast enough.
Taylor's staff whacked my left arm with such force that it knocked me sideways. The pain of the blow reverberated through every fiber, as sharp and as real as if I was wearing flesh. Warm stickiness flowed from the impact point and I glanced down quickly. There was no blood, no indication that I'd even been hit, nor should there have been since I wasn't here physically.
And yet the blood still flowed.