He’s unconscious, and a very wary part of me thinks he’s been that way for a while.

Theo throws his fist into the ground, and three of the guards go flying through the air, their metallic wings bursting from their backs to keep them from falling. Theo’s eyes dart around, searching for his brother. He lets out a growl, charging at one of the guards with his fist ready.

He makes it halfway when another guard appears at his side like a shadow, smashing him in the stomach with his forearm until Theo slumps to his knees in pain.

The guard snatches him by the hair, pulling his head back to reveal the flesh of his neck.

Theo manages to find his knife and slashes angrily at the guard, who flinches only slightly before another guard appears and snaps Theo’s arm like a flimsy branch. The crack of bone sends him reeling in agony.

The blade clatters onto the ground.

I don’t know what to do—I don’t know how to help.

I promised I wouldn’t risk the Colony. But I can’t let Theo be taken. I can’t let this be the end.

My feet snap out of their trance and I run forward, chest aching. If these are my last moments of freedom, I’ll make them count.

I’ll go out fighting, until the end.

Hellfire rains down on the guards. Streaks of radiant blue find their targets, and all around me Legion Guards erupt in flames and smoke. They let go of Theo, confused by the blue fire—by the pain—and that’s when I see Gil, arms raised to the skies, brows furrowed as the wind hisses around him.

I knew he was powerful, but this…

This is superhuman.

In an instant, he flashes left, then right, sending a couple of the guards flying, before appearing beside Theo, his arm wrapped around him.

Legion Guards from Death descend to the earth to join in the fight, and thick vines burst from the pavement, snapping at the new arrivals and sending the guards flying backward. A tree rips from the ground and flies through the air, knocking several guards out of the way and clearing a path for Gil and Theo.

But the more Gil pulls on Theo’s arm, the more he fights him.

“I can’t leave Martin!” I hear Theo scream, face turning purple with anger.

“You can’t save him!” Gil shouts back, the terror in his eyes split in two.

And for a moment, I see him just as clearly as he’s always seen me. He’s scared of what this mistake could cost the Colony. But he’s also scared of the fight and what it’s forcing him to do. What it’s forcing him to confront.

I always knew he carried ghosts; I just didn’t know the battlefield would turn them into demons.