Page 40 of Wings of Valor (Silver City University #4)

I slip the rune-stitched shirt over my head and pull it down, reveling in the soft fabric. It still baffles me that this clothing, as beautiful as it is, has added protection to it. Whoever the rune weaver is, she’s an artist.

Assessing the weapons laid out on the dresser, I put each one into its proper sheath, including the secret pockets I discovered when I put this on the last time we went into battle. If only we’d been able to wear them then.

This time, the Archangels didn’t even try to get us to wear their special clothes. Probably Remiel having seen the fight we’d have put up for it if they tried. But after the explosives incident from last time, I don’t think anyone can blame us for being reluctant.

We can trust these clothes. At least, as much as we can trust the rune weaver. Okay, so maybe that’s not very much either, but I trust Raduriel’s judgment. He wouldn’t have given her information to us if it would put his brother in danger.

As soon as I’m dressed, I head out to the main room in our private quarters and find my parents waiting for me. Mom sobs when she sees me, and Dad looks just as worried for me while trying to console her.

“I’ll be fine,” I assure them, pulling on the optimism they instilled in me. “Basically invincible, remember?”

This has Dad rolling his eyes and Mom’s crying turning into laughter. “Well, I guess there’s that, huh?” she says, wiping the tears from her face.

“We’ll be throwing ourselves into planning for the future. It’s about damn time we mend the relationship between Pure and Fallen,” Dad says, looking somber.

“I’ve already got a ton of ideas,” Dina says, coming out of her room with a notebook tucked under her arm.

“Destroy those fuckers and be safe, alright? I need my bestie at my side in this new future.” She looks from Zeke to Theo to Raphael, and then back to me before adding, “Ugh. Sometimes I hate that you’re the chosen one,” she teases.

She’s not wrong. They do look damn fine in their armor.

I hug them each as tightly as I can, but refuse to say goodbye. None of us are dying today.

Another tear tracks down Mom’s cheek as she stands in the doorway. “I’ll have something tasty waiting for you when this is over, so come back in one piece, okay?”

“You heard the woman,” Raphael says. “End this as quickly as possible so we can eat Mari’s famous food.”

When they’re gone, I turn and survey what’s left of our group. The guys look incredible in their rune-stitched clothing. It’s criminal, really. I hope that whatever happens today, those clothes don’t get ruined, because I can think of quite a few scenarios I’d like to use them in.

Roleplay, anyone?

Castiel isn’t here. He came back from his secret rendezvous with the trusted professors but only stayed long enough to grab his things before heading out.

They’re keeping the plan pretty close to their chest, but it sounds like everyone we expected to say yes did, and even Phiel agreed to help.

If Atlas tries to take over the guild as Mira suspects, he won’t get far.

As if hearing my thoughts, Mira comes out of her room looking gorgeous in her rune-stitched clothing. Her outfit is different from mine, more fierce somehow. I wonder if that was done by request, or if the rune weaver could sense that about her.

Mira hands me the power suppressant elixir, this one modified to only diminish my power to mimic a normal level instead of hiding it entirely. Then she hands me the antidote.

We’d made this plan only yesterday, which meant Mira had spent most of the night working on both liquids. One so I could blend in, and the other to make me stand out and hopefully lure the bastard Auriel to my position.

Mira clasps her hands behind her back. “I’ve already given the main army a few bottles of that power spray, too.”

“Clever trick, using their strengths against them,” Theo tells her, sounding infinitely impressed.

If I didn’t trust him fully, I might worry that he was interested in her romantically, but I know he’s only curious about the making of her potions.

This one is new. A spray that mimics the power essence of an angel.

Kirach and his team will douse the Fallen district down in the hopes it’ll confuse the demons enough to not come after me when I use the antidote.

“It was actually Dina’s idea. With her, Mari, and Cam, we’ll probably have hundreds of viable options to fix this rift between Fallen and Pure.”

From outside our rooms, I hear the alarm blare. The scouts Mikhael sent to keep track of enemy movements must have found something. It’s our cue to get going so we can be in position before shit hits the fan.

Kirach and the main army already have their boots on the ground in the Fallen district, which I’m told had already been evacuated quietly. Same with the production district, though the machines are still pumping out smoke to appear as normal as possible.

We won’t know whether we’ve fooled Auriel until his army swoops in.

Zeke stops by my side, carrying a bundle of imbued crossbow bolts. He pulls me into him and kisses me like he never wants to stop. Like he needs the very air from my lungs to exist. And when we break apart, I think maybe we do. I need them just as they need me. “Please be safe. Don’t be reckless.”

There’s a glint of mischief in his eyes, but it passes when he says, “You come back to me in one piece. Take care of each other out there.”

I offer a nod to Mira, and then they’re gone. The power suppressant tastes just as awful as it did before, but I swallow it down, hoping it’s the last time I’ll ever need it.

With one final check to make sure we have everything, Raphael, Theo, and I head out to meet Remiel on the cliffs overlooking the guild and Fallen district.

We make it in record time, not wasting a single second in case we miss our chance at spotting Auriel.

It’s him I need to find and destroy. It’s him only I can take care of.

There’s an uncomfortable silence as we stand on the cliff watching the empty landscape. Didn’t the scouts report movement? Where is everyone?

Something shifts on the horizon. My eyes stay glued to the spot, and I try not to blink for fear of missing anything.

There’s a hint of darkness that grows until a horde of demons seems to fill the sky.

How are there so many of them? On and on they come, flying like a cloud of locusts.

There are more demons than angels, but I still spot a few feathered wings among them, and not all of them are black. Pures have joined Auriel’s cause.

Standing on the ground below them is Auriel. His four wings are set free and spread wide behind him like a damn peacock. He’s not alone. I spot at least one angel and demon with him, but all the group has done is watch as the demons and angels in the air grow closer to the Fallen district.

This asshole doesn’t intend to fight with the others. He wants to watch. He’s going to fucking sit back while the rest of the city fights for their lives, then he can swoop in when it’s all done and lay claim to a Pure city.

Over my dead fucking body—and I’m damn hard to kill these days.

“We could go to him, since he’s mostly alone, but if we want to keep the element of surprise in an area we know well, we’ll have to lure him like we planned,” I say, whispering even though I know the bastard can’t hear me.

“When the battle begins, we’ll get in position,” Remiel replies with authority.

“When will—” Raphael starts as a barrage of imbued arrow tips flies through the air toward the oncoming horde. Some manage to hit their target, turning demons to ash in seconds, but enough of them miss to be a problem.

The ones who survived dive toward the shooters. Why aren’t their forces splitting between the Fallen and production areas as expected? Unless … someone fed us false information. Again.

Fuck!

I turn to Remiel. “Our intelligence was compromised. Call off the forces at the production district. Now. Have them join the army here as quickly as possible. It’s our only chance—”

“Already on it,” he assures, but we may already be too late.

A sickening sense of dread seeps into my bones.

There’s no turning back now.

We cannot fail.