The explosion that ripped out of Diego bashed into my eardrums, numbing my senses. This was more than just electricity, but a pure bolt of power I couldn’t understand in all its strength.
The blow hit the creature in the chest and lit him up from the inside, showing his skeleton like a superpowered X-ray machine. His back arched and his wings went wide as he basically turned into a living breathing spotlight, the power tracing blood vessels, showing his heart beat and every tiny part of him.
I scrambled backward, still on my butt, and kept my weapon trained on him. There was no looking away, not for any of us, as his body began to shift and change. The leather skin of his wings sprouted feathers, his extra set of arms absorbed back into his body leaving him with only two, and his legs smoothed out and became strong, sleek limbs that any woman would want to dry hump like her life depended on it.
“Oh,” Dinah said. “I’d bang him like a screen door.”
Everything about the monster had shifted to a beauty so stunning that there was no earthly comparison for it. He slowly lowered to the ground and went to one knee, his back muscles rippling and trembling as his wings stretched wide. Fallen angel indeed.
He lifted a perfectly formed hand, his broad white-feathered wings dusting the ground. “How is this possible?”
Even his voice was beautiful, but no one had a chance to answer him.
A crack rent the air and the ground opened under him, red light spilling out. More hands than I could count reached up and pulled him into the crack, wrenching him into a space that was far too small for his large body and wingspan. Feathers burst up around him as those beautiful wings were shattered, ripped apart between the hands and the small space.
He screamed, reaching for his buddies, but they were already flying away.
Gone.
I blinked and the crack closed rapidly even as I stared at it until all that was left was a pile of white feathers. Silence ruled the world for a good ten seconds before car alarms started going off all the way up and down the street, and the neighborhood dogs began howling. Ruby bumped her head against my shoulder and gave a low growl as we stared at the still-smoking crack, but that was it from her.
“What the actual fuck just happened?” Peter stood next to me and reached a hand out. I took it and he helped me to my feet.
I swallowed hard, my throat dry and tight from all that power running through me. I had no answer, but a fearful possibility had begun to form inside my head.
The crack in the ground, the hands drawing the fallen down . . .
“Raid the truck,” I said, my voice growly.
We moved fast. Cowboy and Carlos helped, silent. I didn’t know how much they’d seen. What I knew was that my energy was going down the drain fast. I gritted my teeth and stumbled through the truck as I did a last check for needed items. Four bags of gear, tactical wear, walkie-talkies, anything we thought we could use. Including a tablet. I touched it and it lit up.
Clearview Rehabilitation Center.
I grabbed it and stuffed it under my shirt.
We stumbled out under the weight of the gear.
“Here,” Carlos opened his garage and his four-door truck waited. “Throw it all in the back.”
We did, and for a moment, I thought about letting Ruby get into the back too. Forget it. I took the front passenger seat and she climbed in with me, sitting at my feet. I tapped my lap and she climbed up, all sixty pounds of lean muscle, curling up like she was a lap dog. She let out a contented sigh. “Fierce, guard,” I mumbled, trusting her to keep me safe as I leaned my head back. “Head north.”
And just like that I was out cold.
Whatever had happened with the energy exchange was different from what I’d done before with Killian. With him, the electrical charge had left me feeling pumped, ready to fight, and full of energy I could barely contain. There had been no downside. But this . . . if someone had come at us right then, I would have been next to useless. I had no strength left in me. I couldn’t even stay awake, never mind fight.
I slept for a few hours, truly slept, with no dreams of Bear, no walking through the foggy darkness of my sanctuary. When I woke, we were still on the road, heading north like I’d indicated before passing out.
Ruby was on my lap, snoring through her slightly flapping lips. Peter drove; Carlos and Cowboy were quiet in the backseats. The kid was out cold, but Carlos was awake.
“That dog of yours just rushed in there to help you.” Peter shook his head. “You gave her a name?”
“Ruby,” I said. “She’s a gem.”
She gave him a look with her one eye and a soft woof. He shook his head. “Never had a dog like me before. They always know what I am.” He reached over and touched her on the head with one finger. She gave him her one-eyed stink eye and licked his hand.
“What are we going to do with the kid?” Peter said. “He’s not a bad one, but, Jesus. He’s like a puppy too big for his own feet stumbling and tripping over himself.”
“The plan hasn’t changed. He’ll come with me,” I said.
Peter didn’t answer. Carlos tapped the back of my seat. “The kid’s abilities are strong, if untrained. And the fact that he avoided capture for so long says something, don’t you think? I don’t know if he’ll be able
