Page 126 of First Offense

A wing that was twisted the wrong way.

Broken.

Someone had broken one of her wings.

Someone who was about to die.

Someone who would meet myblades.

Thunder rolled through my soul at the visual, ripping out of me with a guttural roar that turned my vision red.

I sprinted forward, grabbing the Noir beside her with both of my hands and squeezing his neck until it snapped beneath my hands. Then I sliced the other two beside him in half, their blood my trophy and reward.

Two more stepped forward, words on their lips that I never allowed to pass, their heads severed in an instant, and I turned to face the rest.

They will all die.

I embraced the darkness and rage as it consumed me from the inside out. Icy heat poured from me, running down my legs and entering the ground below with each step.

This.

I sliced through a Noir.

Is.

I stabbed another.

My.

I returned to the one-handed Noir.

Playground.

And severed his head with a brutal swipe of my wing.

Who else?I demanded with my eyes, spinning to face the few that remained.Who else wants to dance?

Shadows formed all around me, my wings spreading into their lethal form, and darkness eclipsed the sun.

Perhaps it was fate.

Perhaps it was the gods showing their favor.

But I stood in the center of the bloodbath, a child of the night, surveying the field and awaiting my next contender.

Silence.

Everyone bowed.

Even the lunatics high on the ashes.

Because no one wanted to fight.

Good. I looked at Layla, noted her wilted form, and stalked toward my desired queen. Auric joined me, his white feathers saturated in blood. And we stood before those who were left, daring them to tempt fate.

They didn’t.

They kneeled and prayed.