Page 26 of Wolf of Ashes
Her wings sweep outward, the force of their sudden extension so great that she not only knocks the leaping panthers out of the air but sends shards of glass scattering across the floor on either side of me.
A single beat takes her up and beyond my reach, but not so fast that she avoids the very tips of my claws.
They nick her stomach before she’s airborne above me.
At the same time, I narrowly miss the swipe of her sword as it wrenches back through the air with her, an inch from the right side of my face.
I snarl up at her from where I’m now kneeling on the floor, the panthers gathering around me. I’m acutely aware of the smears of black blood coating the floor behind me and the drip of blood across my calves where I kneel.
Up in the air, the Serene Commander snatches at the torn material of her white dress, her eyes wide in apparent disbelief at the short lines of red blood blooming across her stomach. Mere scratches. Surely, too shallow to be of concern to her.
Her glare rakes across my face, then fixates on my blindfold and her fingers twitch. Perhaps she’s imagining ripping it from me. As her wings beat the air, they send wind swishing around me, ruffling the panthers’ fur and billowing my knotted hair.
The energy crackling around the keeper intensifies, and I’m surprised he hasn’t released it now that the Serene Commander is located away from me in the air. An easy target.
I risk a glance at him, only to find him focused on the Commander’s face and not on her sword. His forehead is puckered and his head is tilted, as if he’s thinking hard about something.
Whatever it is, I hope he makes up his mind soon.
The Serene Commander allows the torn material across her stomach to settle back into place.
“You will pay for that,” she says, her lips twisting before she swoops down again.
The air rushes around me at her approach.
I jump into a crouch, balanced and ready to leap upward before she can pounce on me.
“Panthers! With me!” I cry as I harness the strength in my legs and leap upward.
The female panther jumps in time with me, close to my side, while two of the males are a beat behind us. Their jumps are perfectly timed to reach the angel’s wings as she extends them slightly to control her descent.
I sense the fourth panther crouched on the floor to my left, watching and ready, and it occurs to me that these beasts have been together for a long time. Their hunting skills may well be rusty, butdamn, they can move.
Despite leaping later than I did, the two males reach the Serene Commander first, their powerful bodies a mass of pure muscle driving them upward. Their jaws close around her wings, ripping feathers.
At the same moment, the female panther and I connect with the angel’s torso, the female panther’s jaws narrowly missing tearing off the woman’s ear, but her claws rip at the angel’s left shoulder.
My claws impale her right side.
There’s a flash of fear in the Commander’s eyes, but she still has her sword and it cuts far too close to the female panther’s body. My muscles tense at the last moment and I use my leverage to shove the Commander to the side, knocking her toward the ground.
Her sword sails over the female panther’s head. Feathers fly through the air around us as they’re torn from her wings with the force of her fall.
I land on the floor at a crouch and the panthers land smoothly around me.
One of the males spits a white feather from his mouth, pushing out his tongue, as if he’s never tasted anything so revolting.
The Commander isn’t idle, but she’s clearly realized that her wings are a liability. Hell, I could have told her that. Wings are a fucking nuisance unless you really know how to use them.
She retracts them as she hits the floor in a clumsy roll. Her sword also disappears into her fist—no doubt so she doesn’t chop her own limbs off by accident—but I’m sure the weapon will reappear at her command.
She regains control over her body as fast as I expected she would and her tumble becomes smooth. Within seconds, she’s back on her feet and charging toward me again.
Blood drips from both of her shoulders, but she seems intent on ignoring the wounds. They’re only flesh wounds, so I’m sure she’ll heal fast.
My eyes widen when her weapon takes on the form of a club a moment before one of the male panthers jumps at her. She throws herself to the floor just like I did and slides beneath his trajectory. The club connects with his left shoulder with asmackthat sends him sprawling across the floor. Twisting and launching herself upward as she slides, she thumps the other two males, one rapid swing after the next as they attempt to attack her. Both of them yelp and slide across the floor and I snarl with anger that she could have broken their bones.
Well, I suppose she isn’t the Serene Commander of this Order for no reason.
