My heart soared. That’s IT. With her snarling in my soulmate’s direction, I reached down and pulled one of my sais from my thigh. Then I wiggled my jaw until I got the right angle and sank my teeth into the palm of her hand. She hissed. Those glowing red eyes turned back to me. Pure, white-hot rage pumped through my body. I swung my arm, slicing the long blade of my sais right across her eyes. Blood rained down on me.

She wailed and released my face, pressing her hands to her eyes. Her black wings flapped once, then she was shooting into the sky, flying right through Tegan’s hurricane. Soneillon was gone.

All at once, the students stopped fighting. Instantly. In perfect unison, they all dropped to their knees. They stared at their hands and their peers in horror and shock. But the Unseelies were still there, still attacking the now motionless students who were ripe for the picking. There was a flash of white light, then Tegan’s hurricane-ceiling vanished. I scanned the room for her, but she wasn’t anywhere. Yet neither was Tenn. That made my stomach turn. I hadn’t seen Tenn since fighting Asmodeus.

I tried to get up, I needed to get into that fight and help, but my body was spent. Soneillon hadn’t been wrong. I’d used all my strength. It would come back, just not fast enough. It was taking everything I had just to breathe. After a few moments, I managed to roll onto my side, yet even that made the world spin. I squeezed my eyes shut and just breathed. Come on, lungs. Stay with me. When I opened my eyes, I wanted to cry. Everest was as far away from me as possible, and he was surrounded by at least a dozen Unseelie knights. Against him. Alone. My stomach tightened into knots. My heart pounded against my chest. I gripped the stone floor of the courtyard and pulled myself up onto all fours, then I had to stop because I was choking on the air I breathed in.

Everest’s blue and white gaze snapped to me, widening just a fraction.

I smiled and nodded. It was the most I could manage. I was okay though. I just needed a minute. Fighting a fallen angel was harder than I realized. It wasn’t until she was gone that it registered just how much strength I’d been using. I was still trying to breathe normally when Azazel stepped out of the shadows. My Coven-mates looked toward him, but they were all fighting Unseelie.