How many Skyhunters has Constantine been working on? Was he in the process of building an entire army?

The thought sends a ripple of animal strength through me. I duck as the Skyhunter attacking me sheers his wings at me, seeking my throat. Then I run. As the other Skyhunter gives chase, I speed up, pointing my boots in the direction of the atrium. Everything is cast in a shade of crimson. There are soldiers everywhere, all bathed in the bloody light. They hesitate at the sight of me—and I realize that, for a split second, they can’t tell the difference between me and the other Skyhunters, thinking that both of us are war machines loyal to the Premier. I take advantage of their confusion to barrel past them. Behind me, the Skyhunter draws near.

As he reaches me, I suddenly halt and twist around, grabbing for one of his wings. He shoots me a furious look of surprise—my hand closes around one of his bladed feathers. It cuts deep into my palm. I ignore the sharp pain, then use the momentum of his movement to swing around until I’ve leaped onto his back, then grab the edge of his wing with my other hand too.

He twists, frustrated, trying to reach me. We spin in a mad, chaotic circle in midair. Then he does what I want him to do—he launches upward, right at the glass ceiling. His wings curl forward to protect himself.

I shut my eyes and brace myself.

He hits the ceiling with all the force of an explosion. Glass shatters in every direction—shards rain down to the atrium below us as we burst onto the roof. The impact nearly knocks me off his back, but somehow I manage to hang on as he twists again and again to reach me. Finally, he hurtles to the roof, turning so that his back will take the impact.

I let go the instant we hit. The force knocks the breath from me. My body rolls—the world spins furiously around me. I shake my head, then glance up for an instant to see Constantine’s lone figure standing at the other end of the roof from us.

But it’s not him that my eyes jump to. It’s Talin. She’s in midair, struggling to fight two Skyhunters at once.

I can’t get to her fast enough to protect her. All I have time to do is leap to my feet, still gasping, and send a searing message through our link. Talin. All I can say is her name. For an instant, I feel her response come through the bond—a trembling, angry, terrified tremor.

At least she knows I’m here.

But it’s all she can do. Because in the next moment, she arcs back in agony as one of the Skyhunters grabs her by the throat.

And as I look on in horror, the second Skyhunter grabs one of her wings and—in a single, violent gesture—rips it completely from her back.