“Oh, we know already,” she says, irritated. “You’ve wanted her from the moment she stepped into your space. She’s all you can think about, all you can feel.” She lifts her blade. “But what makes you think you can have a happy ending? My father doesn’t get to live in a world where he knows his love is alive, and that means you don’t get to either!”

She attacks again, and I block. Then her blade latches on to mine, and I’m jerked forward. I swing at her with my scythe, and she jumps back, disengaging our weapons. She tries the same move again, but I’m ready, and as her sword hooks into mine, I twist my blade. Her black knife comes free from her hands and falls to the ground. She’s quick to retrieve it. I stay in the air, hovering.

“Where’s Anora?”

Her answer is to withdraw a gun. I shift into raven form in an attempt to move faster, but she fires, and the bullet goes straight through my wing, and I am blown backward. I land hard on the ground, shifting into my Valryn form. My wing droops, and blood drips on the floor.

“You’ve had that the whole time?” I ask, getting to my feet. Blood covers my hand as I try to put pressure on my wound. “Why the hell did you fight me with a blade?”

“I just wanted to spar.” She pauses, looking at her weapon. “Guns are so much better.”

A pain I’ve never experienced before hits me square in the chest. It takes the breath out of me and burns at the same time. It’s nothing compared to the pain in my wing. I could stand before, but this drives me to my knees. I have no experience resisting it—this is Anora’s pain.

“No!” Lennon screams. “No, no, no!” She grabs a fist full of my hair. “What’s happening?” she demands. “Tell me what’s happening!”

The pain in my chest restricts my words. Lennon lifts her gun to shoot.

But something barrels into her. She pulls the trigger, and as she goes flying, her bullet lands in my shoulder.

Damn, this is the worst.

We hit the ground at the same time, groaning, and stare up at Roth DuPont.

“What are you doing here?” I manage between painful breaths.

“I thought it was obvious. Saving your life,” he says, reaching down to give me a hand.

“I was fine without you,” I say as he drags me to my feet.

“There was a gun to your head, Savior.”

“I was handling it,” I say, and as we both look in Lennon’s direction, she’s reclaimed her gun and aims it at us.

“Down!” Roth commands, and we hit the floor as she fires at us and flees. “You were handling it, huh?” Roth asks as we scramble after her.

“Why are you even here?”