Page 365 of Commanding Blood And Bonds
“Oh, shit—shields!” Freya bellowed.
Every single one of us hit our knees, shields up, just as she tossed hers into the air and cast it wide over the manor. Alec appeared beside her, winked, and did the same—his barrier actually visible to the eye.
Incredible.
I turned back toward the now-fleeing horde just as Alvara raised her arms, throwing up a wall of fire.
Freya
With the Wings back at their posts, doing their best to repair the wreckage from the demon assault, Alvara stormed straight through the smoldering yard toward Cyrus and me.
“Now! Move your asses!” she barked, thrusting a hand toward me.
I pulled my gloves on and crossed the short distance, heart still thudding. “Nice to see you too,” I muttered.
She rolled her eyes. “No time. Let’s fucking go.”
I felt Cyrus’s hand land on my shoulder just as Ally’s fingers wrapped around mine.
Cali, you’re in command.
That was all the time I had before Alvara yanked us through a tear in the world and slammed us down into the middle of pure chaos.
Screams. Sirens. Alarms—buildings, cars, and emergency vehicles all wailing at once. Humans flooding the streets, running from—
“What the fuck in the armageddon black-hole bullshit is that?!” I barked, already lashing ribbons of power out toward the Renown wreaking havoc across the city. Their energy hit me like spoiled milk—rancid, putrid, and foul. But still…it was the fastest way to take them down.
“Good! Yes! I need a jump!” Ally shouted.
“What?” I snapped, glancing to my right—
Cyrus was standing in mute horror, staring at what could only be described as a portal to hell. Fiery red, ringed in a violet-blue halo, with demons pouring from its mouth like floodwater.
“Holy shit,” he breathed.
“Go!” Ally shouted again.
The snarl Cyrus turned on her could’ve curdled blood. “Absolutely fucking not.”
“I have her!” Ally insisted. “Now’s not the time, Stuart,” she snapped. “Hold them off while I get this fucking thing closed.”
“I go where she goes.”
“Closed?” I echoed, ignoring the argument as I focused on the swirling mouth of the thing. “Ally, how the hell do you intend to close a red hole in the center of the city?”
“Quickly. And just like sewing,” she said grimly. “But it takes more power than even August and I have and—”
“That’s where I come in,” I finished, exhaling hard as I stared down the nightmare. I’d never siphoned a demon before—didn’t know if it’d feel more like pulling on Renown, or like what happened in the field with the horseman. “Human jumper cable. Goody.”
“Only one way to find out.”
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered—but I followed her into the chaos, Cyrus flashing through the shadows beside us like a storm on the wind.
It shouldn’t have turned me on.
But with a literal gate to hell in front of us, I no longer cared that I was a psychopath because Cyrus kicking demon ass was sinfully sexy.
When we reached what I could only guess was range, Ally stopped, throwing her arms wide. Her power unfurled like ropes of fate, winding through the air and anchoring to the portal’s edges. I stared, stunned, as she wrapped her magic around the tear in reality and pulled, like she was lassoing a damn bull.
