The wind ripped through my hair, taking my ball cap with it as we surged forward, only to come to a sudden halt when Declan spread his wings, indicating that we were within striking distance.
The moment the truck flipped, I superheated the remaining gun that had a man stationed at it, shooting at anything that got close enough.
His hands ripped from the gun, leaving hunks of his skin behind.
The man shrieked in pain as the nerves in his hands started to convulse, and I smiled, heating the gun even more until there was nothing left of it but smoldering metal that soon ignited the bullets that were laying at his feet on the floor.
Declan pulled away just as the explosion filled the sky like a painting back drop of the setting sun.
BOOM!
The explosion rocked the two trucks beside it, and I turned to focus on the van that my brother was fighting.
Fighting and losing.
Whatever was in that van wouldn’t be stopped by magic.
It’d have to be stopped by brute force.
Something my brother had already figured out.
Declan, let me off. Head towards the van from the opposite side but stay out of sight, I ordered.
I can’t. Whatever he has isn’t allowing us to cloak. I can stay high in the clouds, though. That should prove to be enough cover until you need me.
I nodded and took a running leap off into the street, weaving in between the stopped cars that had stunned drivers at the wheel.
This fighting wasn’t done.
We never wanted to scare the population.
Sure, we employed the best hackers in the entire world, but no matter how hard we tried, this would never be undone, and Joseph knew it.
It had been his intention.
Because why else would he have come with so much force not caring who saw?
All previous battles had been fought in the shadows of the darkest of nights.
No one had been the wiser of the war between the Purists and Dragon Riders.
Now, though, it was over.
The rose glasses had been shattered, and tomorrow a new world would be sitting before us.
Tonight, though, all bets were off.
As I used the hood of a little Porsche Cayenne as a slip and slide, I arrowed in on the van, running up the side of it and launching myself at the top of the box.
I caught it easily, hefting myself up and over the back until I was standing on the roof.
What’s the weakness? I asked my brother.
Bulletproof glass, reinforced metal sides. Something inside of it keeping me from doing anything structurally with the composition. It’s like he’s in a lead proof box.
I smiled. The problem with reinforcing the sides with steel was that where the two pieces of steel met, there was always a weakness.
And as I caught the axe that was tossed down to me from my brother who’d come up with the same response, I started to hammer into the weakness until there were the smallest of holes.
Now.
Declan swooped down and caught ahold of the gap with his talons, then promptly ripped the roof off the van like a sardine can.
“Hallo there, Joseph,” I said in a faintly tinged English accent.
Joseph smiled, and then the little red dot I caught sight of on his chest suddenly exploded.
Everything shattered as I was thrown from the vehicle by the force of the explosion.
Time seemed to stand still as I felt myself moving through the air.
I watched as horror registered on Nikolai and Jean Luc’s faces.
Watched as Declan turned, leaping from the road where he was thrown, trying to get to me.
But he didn’t make it.
I felt the impact of the brick building hit me like a million pounds of iron.
My shoulders and head took the brunt of the collision, followed shortly by my back and hips.
I felt bones break.
Blood spurt.
The breath left me.
But nothing hurt.
Nothing.
And then I realized that nothing hurt because my body was in shock.
I watched as the ground rose up to meet me as I fell forward onto my face.
But then something weird happened. My angel spoke to me, and suddenly everything was okay.
You’ll live because you’re needed. I love you.
I started to get feeling back.
Bones started to heal.
Spurting wounds closed over.
And breath entered my lungs.
I was able to take my first full breath in long minutes, and it was glorious.
What wasn’t glorious was the pain.
But the pain was manageable.
Pain meant I was alive.
“Keifer!” Nikolai screamed.
Something’s wrong.
Farrow.
Why was Farrow here?
He was supposed to be taking care of Blythe.
What’s wrong, I croaked.
She’s convulsing.
She was fine, talking to me and everything. Then her entire body started to convulse and she screamed. Her back bowed up out of my arms, and I think she’s stopped breathing. I’m not sure, but she feels like she has. And I’m still over a mile from the sanctuary.
My heart froze in my chest as I realized just what she’d done.