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“Come on, let’s go,” I chuckled, unlocking the door. “Let’s go find our army.”

Nero swung Sierra up onto his back, then followed me into the hallway.

We took the central staircase, making our way downstairs. The only soldiers we met along the way were headed down too. They were so focused on running toward the enemy army on their doorstep that they didn’t see the enemies right behind them. Us.

In the big hall downstairs, the battle was in full swing. Our soldiers poured inside too fast for the Guardians’ forces to stop them.

Faris was fighting Regin.

Arabelle, Devlin, Punch, Patch, Octavian, Stash, and Theon were fighting Regin’s offspring. They were joined by Nyx and Ronan.

Soldiers were closing in around Bella. She took them all out with a single, controlled burst of her magic. Harker sidled up to her, then they hurried off with Li to find their next foes.

General Silverstar, Damiel, Cadence, and Sunfire had gone vertical. They were on the upper balconies overlooking the grand hall, jumping from box to box, taking out the archers and snipers. Cadence was locked into an aerial battle with one of the dark angels working with Regin. He unleashed wildfire on her.

“Stay away from my niece, you fiend!” Sunfire bellowed.

The Immortal launched a gadget at the enemy soldier. The spider-like apparatus clamped around the dark angel’s body, pinning his wings to his back. He dropped like an anchor plunging into the ocean.

There were more enemy soldiers, sprouting out of the ground. They aimed for me, Nero, and Sierra. They held glowing chains in their hands. They swung them wildly around. Like squirming tentacles rising from the dark depths of the dungeons, the chains snapped at us.

Leila, Jace, and General Fireswift caught the thick, heavy chains. Then, swinging them like they were lassos, turned them back on the enemy soldiers.

The ground shook again and then spat out more enemies. There were waves of them, pouring out like vomit.

“Just how many more of these guys are down there?” I demanded as Angel landed in front of us, tail swishing in agitation.

My cat charged through the line of soldiers, swiping and scratching, launching and leaping. One of the soldiers slid past her. Angel let out a high-pitched war cry, body-slamming him away from Sierra. The soldier pivoted to face the cat, swinging his sword. She jumped back, then leapt forward. Her enormous, lion-like jaws sank into his arm.

“Go, Angel! Get bad man!” Sierra cheered her on.

Nero and I hit the soldiers with our magic, but they just kept coming. The battle raged on, a storm of soldiers against a pair of angels, our tiny daughter, and our pet cat.

Alec tackled a trio of enemies to the ground. “Nice body, boss,” he commented to Nero, grinning. Then he smashed the soldiers hard, driving them through the floor. He fell with them.

I hurried to the hole Alec had made, searching for him.

“He’ll be all right, Leda,” Drake said, coming up beside me. “Alec has a hard head.”

And then Drake, the Earth Dragon of Storm Castle, pounded his fist to the floor, setting off a quake that knocked the whole contingent of soldiers besieging me and Nero right off their feet. Drake punched the floor again. There was a long, loud, grinding creak, like a metal beam squeaking as it turned, then the ground tilted sideways under the enemy soldiers. They slid into the big hole in the floor. Drake winked at me, then turned and dove in after them.

Ivy came up to me and Nero. “Are you all right?” she asked us.

“We’re all good,” I told her.

Ivy gave Nero a curious look. “General Windstriker?”

“Yes?”

“Uh, nothing.” She coughed. “Good to see you again.”

Basanti came bursting through the solid line of soldiers that had coalesced to cut us off from the rest of our army. She slid across the floor, shooting all the way. Finally, she came to a stop in front of us.

Stood up.

Met Nero’s eyes.

And then declared, “You’ve never looked so good, Nero.”