Page 214 of Nightshade

Under any other circumstances, I would’ve cringed at myself for thinking of it right then.

Except, the creature froze in place, snapping its teeth and clawing at us.

“Holy shit.” A burst of laughter flew from my chest. “It worked! I can’t believe it worked!”

“You speak Caelicolan?” The confusion in Jericho’s voice matched my own.

“No. What is that? I don’t have a clue what the hell I just said.”

“Language of the Nephilim.”

After what Drystan had told me about her, that made sense. Another time, another place, it also might’ve left me feeling a little creeped out at what she’d been actually warding off.

But as a second creature barreled forward, I relented those thoughts and spoke the same words, bringing that one to a halt, as if its limbs had gone frozen.

“What is this?” Drystan asked, repulsed.

Linking my arm into Jericho’s, I kept my hand held outward, and we backed ourselves toward the edge of the building.

Two more creatures dashed forward, and as I opened my mouth to speak the words, Drystan sent another bolt of electricity down on us.

I didn’t bother to say them aloud that time, and the moment the creatures leapt for us, they fell to the ground, hit with the electric charge that had been meant for Jericho and me.

Another of the Alatum charged toward Jericho and I, stopped short when Jericho swung out the sword and lobbed its head clean off its shoulders. As more of them advanced on us, he took hold of my arm, and I let out a gasp as he dragged me over the edge of the building.

A scream died in my throat when Drystan reached out and clutched my leg, holding me suspended between him, above me, and Jericho, who dangled from my outstretched hand. Pressure tore at my limbs. I let out a cry of pain. I was going to split in two.

One of the Alatum leapt onto Drystan’s back, the hard impact of its landing bouncing me in the air on a stomach-curling dip. Drystan’s grip faltered, and the sound of his curse thundered above me.

All at once, the pressure gave way. I fell like a pile of rocks toward the church’s parking lot. My stomach rose up into my chest, and I opened my mouth for a scream that failed to come out. Down, down, we fell, and at a flash of light from above, the world shifted to darkness.

An intense heat beat against me, and I shook as it felt like I’d been engulfed in flames.

I screamed so hard, my voice turned hoarse, and the darkness lifted to the whoosh of Jericho’s wings.

His wings!

Growls whizzed past us, as the wingless creatures fell toward what was no longer the church parking lot, but a forest, clawing at us as they passed. Another bolt of lightning railed down on us from above, and Jericho’s wings lit up, sending an intense vibration through me.

We flew over treetops and open fields, and when I dared a downward glance, I saw the demons scrambling on foot to keep up.

A flock of ravens dove toward them, and the creatures swiped out at them, their pace only slowed by the attack. Beyond them, Jericho angled toward the ground, sending a nauseating tickle to my chest with the sudden descent, and he set me down in a clearing.

The demons charged toward us, growling and hissing.

He held out his arms, while jagged lights of energy sparked over his wings. He thrust the lightning toward the oncoming beasts, and their screeches echoed around us. More galloped behind them, and Jericho sent another round, scattering them in all directions. Flames caught on the forest bed and quickly ignited to a blazing wall of fire.

Drystan touched down outside of the flame and pushed to his feet, stalking toward us. Swiping me up into his arms, Jericho took flight again, and before I knew it, we’d reached the cliff where Blackwater Cathedral stood just a short distance away.

Once again, he set me down on the ground, just before a bolt of lightning struck him. I could hardly see in the darkness, as he shot into the sky like a dark arrow.

Cerberus and the other two dogs trotted up alongside me, and I watched the sky, as jagged slivers of lightning lit up the clouds overhead. A storm waging above me.

At the snarling of the dogs, I lowered my attention to one of the demonic creatures edging toward me.

Fear gripped my throat. The dogs continued to growl in threat, the hair on their backs standing on end.

Undeterred, the demon prowled closer and stretched its bony arm out, only inciting a frenzy of snarls and barks from the dogs that guarded me at both sides. Clutched in one of the demon’s claws was an object I recognized. The small piece of metal that Garic had used to end his life.