Az strode toward me with his sword held high. Before I could talk myself out of it, I pulled a deep breath in through my flared nostrils and threw all of my emotions toward him. I still didn’t know how the hell to use this thing. I just went by instinct. All I thought was push.

An invisible force slammed into Az and threw him out the window.

Not the window.

The blank wall that held no glass.

His eyes widened as he hurtled out into the darkness. My heart stopped beating, and my helpless cry was muffled against the rag. Even though he’d been two seconds away from sacrificing me to his demon overlord, the last thing I wanted was to kill him.

Just as he began to tumble toward the streets, he pushed his dark feathered wings from his back. In the darkness, I swore I saw the flicker of a smile.

My heart thundered back to life, galloping up into my throat. I’d managed to knock him back, but he’d return with a vengeance now. And I was pretty sure this ring had to recharge before I could use it again. All I’d done was make him angry. Whoops.

Az flapped his enormous wings, his gaze zeroing in on me. And then two massive figures thundered into the ball, appearing out of nowhere. Their golden wings gleamed against the candlelight, their shirtless bodies corded with power and rage. Suriel and Gabriel shot toward the cloaked figures with swords bigger than my body.

My mouth dropped open. Or, it would have, if it hadn’t been stuffed with a rag that tasted like socks. The angels swung their swords at the figures. Several of the supernaturals screamed and ran, charging toward the elevators. Only a few stuck around to fight.

Blood arced through the air as the swords made contact. Bodies tumbled to the ground. With tears in my eyes, I scrabbled away from the carnage and pressed my back against the nearest wall. The other human sacrifices joined me and tried to shield their eyes. I hated being helpless like this, unable to do anything other than watch the angels strike down their foes.

If I survive this, I swore to myself, I’ll learn how to fight.

The battle was over not long after it began. The two fallen angels stood heaving over the supernaturals. The whole thing had been a blur, and it had been next to impossible to follow the fight. All that mattered was that our captors were dead. The ones who had survived had fled. Glancing around, relief filled my heart.

Az wasn’t among the dead.

Ugh. Why should I even care? He’d tried to sacrifice me.

Suriel strode toward me, knelt, and unbound my wrists. Then, I yanked that stupid rag out of my mouth and spit. Not very ladylike, but whatever. That thing was gross.