Archangel's Legion(133)
Elena grabbed his jaw, slamming a kiss on his lips. “Batshit Lijuan will get us anyway so forget about protecting me and reach!”
A hard glance out of eyes of wild blue yet free from the oily black, and then she felt a wrenching inside her that made her scream . . . as Raphael’s shield turned electric with wildfire. Yes! Throat raw and chest aching, she looked at his wing to see the black eaten away to leave only luminous white-gold in its wake.
Another chilling scream, Raphael having deflected Lijuan’s needles right back at her. Stay close.
Snapping out her wings when he released her, she grabbed the handguns at her hips, mourning her custom-built crossbow, as well as the absence of the machine guns. As it turned out, she only had to shoot a couple of enemy fighters. Clipped by one of Raphael’s bolts, which destroyed the bottom half of her right wing, Lijuan called a retreat, and her entire force fell back behind the defensive perimeter.
Elena didn’t fly to the Tower but to her shooting team, dreading what she’d find. But somehow, the entire group had made it through, injured but alive. Walking over to her, a bloodied but whole Ransom said, “You owe me a big, wet kiss,” the wound on his thigh bleeding through the field bandage.
When she scowled and told him to get himself to a medic, he rolled his eyes and withdrew his hand from behind his back. “Your crossbow, Consort.”
She did kiss him then, to the wolf whistles of the rest of the team.
That, however, was the sole point of light in the darkness. As night turned to dawn, the city drained of power, the Tower running on massive generators stored below ground and turned on only when Raphael and Lijuan weren’t in the air, they cataloged their losses while watching for any movement from the opposing camp. The news was bad.
“Half of the injured,” Dmitri said, after sharing the pitiless numbers, “will be able to fight again in a few hours, but the rest are either dead”—a grim look—“or so badly injured they’ll be out for days at least.” Black T-shirt wrinkled and bloodied from where he’d fought a squadron that had landed on a Tower balcony, he shoved a hand through his hair. “Jason, did you manage to get any reliable numbers on Lijuan’s casualties?”
The spymaster nodded. “Double ours.”
Everyone in the room understood that even with the impressive abilities of the Seven in the mix, that still left Lijuan at a huge advantage, and the remainder of the time was spent discussing what they could do to lessen the near-impossible odds. It was grueling, because there weren’t many more rabbits they could pull out of hats. Especially given the fact that while Lijuan hadn’t begun any hostilities in the Refuge, Galen reported that her stronghold was bristling with aggression.
“The instant they see any sign that we may head your way,” Raphael’s weapons-master had said, “there’s no question they’ll attack.” A tic in his jaw, he’d shaken his head. “If Lijuan survives this war, she’ll do so with more enemies than she knows. Every man, woman, and child in the Refuge understands the threat originates from her.”
An hour after Galen’s message, Jason received another report—more cargo planes were being stocked with weapons in Lijuan’s territory, and this time, instead of vampires, there would be reborn in the holds.
“It appears,” Raphael said, rage a cold burn in his blood, “the goddess has decided there is no dishonor in using her ‘servants’ to win this war.”
“You know,” Illium said with a smile that held no humor, “it’s a compliment. She’s starting to worry you might actually hurt her and win.”
Too bad the compliment could well lead to hell on earth.
• • •
Having forced herself to grab a couple of hours of down-time while she could, Elena was still grappling with the horrific possibility of a New York overrun with reborn when she walked into the refueling station to grab a cup of coffee just before dawn. “Sara.”
Face drawn, her best friend shared a photo her parents had sent of Zoe peacefully sleeping somewhere in a commune in Nebraska. “We’ll beat Lijuan, Ellie, whatever it takes.” An unyielding vow. “I will not have my baby growing up in a world ruled by a monster.”
Deacon came in just as they finished their coffee, and Elena left to give them a few minutes’ privacy, Deacon’s wide shoulders blocking Sara from view as he drew her into his arms. Elena couldn’t imagine how hard it must be for the two of them to be so far from Zoe. As far as she knew, their little girl had never before gone to bed without a kiss from Mommy or Daddy.