Fallen (60 page)

I knew then what she planned…but it was too late.

“Eran, so good to see you again…” she
whispered in a low drawl.

“No!” I screamed
enraged,
waiting for
Eran
to fall
to the ground, whimpering
with
desperation
as Rufus had done
.

Eran remained standing.

A moment passed and Sarai’s face contorted
,
confusion
setting in
. Her state of shock became more defined,
deepening
further when he finally replied.

“You don’t work on
me,
Sarai…
” I watched in disbelief as his gorgeous smirk
,
the one
I missed so deeply
,
rose up. Eran turned
and his
stunning eyes
settled on
me
, concentrating so
intently
I could not have mistaken his message
.
“
I’m already in love.”

The world changed for me
at that moment
. As Eran’s confession hung in the air, I felt the passion
and
the power in me
swell. Nothing was impossible now.

Sarai’s
mouth fell ope
n
, a shaken sigh escaping. She then looked at me, her eyes narrowing in fury as Eran’s words sunk in.

Eran
flippantly disregarded her
, turning to address
Abaddon. “
You are outnumbered. You are overpowered. You have
allowed yourself to be cornered. Shoddy work, Abaddon.”

As I watched their interaction, it dawned on me that Eran was enjoying this moment and
that it
appeared to
have been long overdue.
I felt a smile on my lips, nearly causing me to giggle.

It was then Abaddon released me. I fell to the ground,
hitting it hard but
overwhelmed with relief
. I glanced up, wondering what power Eran had over Abaddon to give up his hold
on
me.

In an instant, I realized what had happened.

Abaddon had
let me go willingly. He
needed his energy – all of it – for another reason…

Leaning forward
,
Abaddon’s
arms extended, his feet sweeping up from the ground, as he
lunged for
Eran.

The two of them met, twisting, spinning,
and
flipping over and under one another.

I had never felt horror before
,
but it now washed over me like a tidal wave
. Desperately, I watched, feeble and unable to help Eran
.

As if a trigger had been snared, the alley
beca
me a ba
ttleground. White lights darte
d
from building
to build
ing, swooping down, picking up
Fallen One
s, limbs and white lights weaving between one another.
Grunts and shrieks filled the air.

Suddenly Sarai was standing in front of me. Her l
ips
pursed out of
fury as she took hold of my shoulders, digging her fingers
into
my flesh.

I brought my arms up
,
trying
to force
her away from
me but Sarai was too quick. She lifted me as if I were nothing more than a pillow and threw me
toward
the concrete wall.

Something soft
, yet
burning hot
,
stopped me from colliding with
the concrete;
and
I knew that Eran had somehow intervened. My feet landed safely on the ground a moment later. I instantly swiveled my head from side to side, looking for him, but found only a dizzying array of bright lights darting around the alley.

An infuriated screech resonated around me, one that I remembered clearly from fencing class.

It was Sarai and she was charging
toward
me, crouched
,
with her fingers reaching
out
like claws.

I didn’t move, knowing already what I would do.
Just before her hands
were about to touch
me, I sidestepped away from her, watching as she slammed
into
the wall where I’d been
standing
.

A muffled grunt could be heard as she slumped slightly against it
, her knees nearly collapsing below her
. She
recovered,
drew in a breath
,
and brought her head up to meet my gaze.

“
You know…
I
guess I did
learn a thing or two about footwork
in f
encing
,
” I
said
, grinning.

Then I noticed the blood.

A drop of it hung at the edge of her mouth.

Stunned, I said, “Do you feel pain too?”

As I moved
toward
her,
I pulled back my arm
and
squeez
ed
my hand
into
a fist, lean
ing
my weight into
the force behind
my
punch
. As she had thrown her entire body at me, I
was
now
throwing
my entire body at her.

I made contact just where I’d hoped, in
the center of
her face.

I felt our skins meet; hers solid but flexible, mine taut and unforgiving. Her head snapped back, smashing against the wall
and
making a sickening thud.

She released a low g
r
unt
.

Then, to my alarm, she brought her head back, steadying it. Her shoulder’s lowered, relaxing.

And t
hen she smiled.

“I’d almost forgotten how you hit,” she stated casually.

Confused
, I
gazed back at her. Sarai and I had met before?
I had no memory of it.

Her
comment
did the job she’d intended. It caught me off guard long enough to draw my attention away from her.
S
he didn’t waste any time.

I felt her fist hit me like an explosion had
ignited
my cheek
. My body fell back, crashing to the ground, spots from the force of
her
strike
obscuring my vision.

I felt her weight on top of me
then
. Her
gloved
hands clenched around my neck, squeezing
and
closing off
my
airway.

From a
bove
,
she
smil
ed, and her hands tightened.

My arms flailed, beating her sides, limp strands that barely made a dent. It was no good.

I saw my vision narrowing
…
blackening, and I knew I was losing consciousness.

Then something remote, deep inside me, clawed its way out. A faint memory that steadily grew more detailed. With it, I knew one thing with absolute certainty.

I had been in this very position before. And I had
escaped
it.

My
body moved
based on
instinct
; t
he muscles recognizing what they needed to do before I could even command them.
My hips rose and twisted. Sarai’s weight shifted off-center. She fell slightly, releasing her grip just enough. The heel of my hand came up and made contact. Her nose bent disturbingly to the side.

She groaned and released her hold on me.

I shifted again. Her weight rolled off.

I was on my feet. She stood too, blood trickling from her nose to her lips.

With m
y back
arched
and my hands rising, balled into fists
,
I
darted
forward, bringing the force of my weight
toward
her.

Though, we never made contact
.

As s
he
stood slouched, her head bowed, s
omething curled out from behind her, steadily
and
methodically. There were two of them, one on each side. They unfurled and in the end their span reached beyond twenty feet. They were grey and each
one
was
thickly
covered in feathers.

With a single, smooth swipe, the wi
ngs lifted Sarai off the ground. Another flap and
the inky night sky swallowed her whole.

I
didn’t move, too stunned to think
straight
. I heard the commotion again behind me and
turned to find the alley still in chaos. There were more bright lights attacking each
of the Fallen Ones, I noticed. A
t least
four
lights were
on each of them now. It took only a second for me to realize that
it wasn’t that
more of Eran’
s friends had
arrived. There were less of the Fallen Ones. Eran was winning.