Pushing down the fear and panic, I tightened the muscles in my legs and stomach. “How would I still be alive if I’m not in one piece?”

“You’d be surprised by what a body will survive,” he growled. “But you will discover such soon enough.”

“Sounds like a great time, but I’m going to have to pass.” I curled my legs up and then kicked out, slamming my feet into his chest.

The blow didn’t hurt him, but it surprised him. He staggered back as I broke his hold. I twisted as I fell, hitting the floor on my poor left hip. Pain flared, but I didn’t give my body a chance to really process it. I kicked out again, aiming for his feet, but he anticipated the move. In my blind spot, he grabbed ahold of my braid, jerking my head back.

“This seems familiar, doesn’t it?” he cooed. “You have to know you can’t beat me. That fighting back is pointless and painful. Why would you even try?”

“I don’t know,” I gasped as he strained the muscles of my neck. “I have a hard head.”

“Thick skull or not, I can still shatter it with my hands alone.”

“Congrats.” I thrust the sword out.

Gabriel spun to the side, but the edge of the sword glided over his thigh, slicing open the white pants and the skin underneath. Black, oily liquid splattered his leg as he sucked in a sharp breath.

My heart lurched as my eyes widened in surprise. I cut him.

Holy shit, I cut him.

My wide gaze swung to his, and I saw the shock on his face. Gabriel was unbelievably fast, but I cut him. Did that mean he was weakening? Maybe there was something to that gunk in his wings and veins—

The blow alongside my cheek stunned me. I toppled over like a pile of bricks. Blood filled my mouth. The Sword of Michael fizzled out in a shower of golden white sparks as my grace retracted. Tiny bursts of black dotted my vision as I rolled onto my back.

“Ouch,” I whispered, blinking away the spots from my vision.

A bare foot was inches from my face.

“Jesus,” I stuttered, throwing myself onto my side.

The floor rattled with the impact of his stomp. I pushed up, unsheathing my daggers. His fingers clamped down on my throat, cutting off my breath as he lifted me off the floor once more. I swung my arms in a wide arc, thrusting both daggers down into Gabriel’s shoulders. The blades cut through muscle and tissue, hitting bone.

He howled in pain. “You stupid—”

A series of pops interrupted him, reminding me of fireworks. Gabriel’s entire body jerked and spasmed. He dropped me, tearing free of my daggers in the process. I landed on my feet, off balance, as Gabriel whirled around. His wings smacked into me, knocking me aside. I fell, gagging as the pops went off again in another rapid succession. I lifted my head.

Captain Washington stood in the doorway, gun leveled on Gabriel. She fired without hesitation, striking the archangel repeatedly in the chest.

Gabriel’s roar shook the floor as hands grabbed my shoulders. I started to swing, but caught sight of reddish-brown hair and horns. Dez. Blood smeared his face. He dragged me aside as I turned to find Gabriel. Bullets wouldn’t take him out, and probably would only irritate him more.

But Gabriel...he was up by the rafters of the gymnasium, where the ghosts were scrambling over one another to get away from him. He flew back, in through the door he’d come out.

He retreated.

I couldn’t believe it as I dragged in deep, uneven breaths.

“Are you okay?” Dez lifted me to my feet, pulling me to his chest. “Trinity?”

I nodded as I looked to where Captain Washington stood. She still held the gun. Behind her, Teller and Jordan were struggling to their feet.

“I think I just shot an actual angel. Multiple times,” Captain Washington said hoarsely. “Does that mean I’m going to Hell?”

“The opposite,” I wheezed. “Believe it or not, it means the opposite.”

* * *

There had been no time to dwell on how close I’d come to getting captured in the aftermath.

The poor captain seemed like she was in a state of shock and finding her officers on the scoreboard didn’t help. I had no idea what Dez told her or how she was going to explain any of this to her department, the public or the families of the workers and officers. I didn’t envy her.

Or Dez.

Nicolai had showed up shortly after we’d exited the school, and the moment he saw me, he looked like he wanted to murder the Warden.

The only good thing that came from the little adventure was the shutdown of any and all work on the renovations and the discovery of Gabriel’s possible weakening. But those two things were overshadowed by the senseless loss of life. There was no reason for those workers or officers to be killed, and that was twelve sets of families and friends who would never be the same.

I’d crashed and burned the moment Dez had dropped me off back at the apartment. I knew the Wardens would be patrolling for Zayne, and would call if they spotted him, but instinct told me they wouldn’t catch one glimpse of him. I slept through the night, slipping into the kind of deep sleep where the horrors of the gymnasium couldn’t follow me. I’d slept well into early Monday afternoon, but I was still moving at the speed of a three-legged turtle when I finally dragged myself out of bed.

Getting ready took an extreme amount of time. My thoughts were consumed with everything from what happened the night before to my plan to see the Crone, and what I’d done with Zayne. Not only that, every muscle in my body was stiff as I pulled on a pair of black pants that were more leggings than they were actual pants, but came with handy back pockets. My back protested as I snatched up a sleeveless tunic that not only looked clean, but also hid the daggers strapped to my thighs. Forgoing the sneakers, I laced up a pair of thick-soled boots that had a lot of traction. I figured I was going to need it.