Shadow City Read Free

this self-preservation.” He paused for a moment and then frowned. “I shouldn’t have to say this, but given the fact that most of you idiots at Horngate have a ridiculously overblown sense of responsibility . . . Stay put. I can handle this.”
    With that, he hopped into the circle. The moment his feet touched, the ground split open and the angel plunged inside. A moment later, the circle of emerald grass rippled flat and pristine.
    Alexander could only stare in blank shock. Of all the things he might have expected from the angel, this was not one. Tutresiel was a selfish bastard. He looked after himself and no one else.
    A few seconds passed, and a tremor shook the ground. Everything went quiet. Not even a bird chirped. A long minute passed. Then, suddenly, the grass inside the ring erupted. Blood, dirt, and gravel spewed in every direction. Tutresiel exploded upward in a shining whirlwind, his wings slashing and chopping.
    He halted ten feet above the hole, his sword held high. Blood and gore clung to his wings and splattered his body. He grinned with vicious triumph, and the sword vanished. He extended his wings, and the blood ran off them as if expelled, leaving them silver-bright as usual. He floated down to stand beside the gaping hole he had made.
    “Impressive,” Alexander said, peering down inside. The walls had caved in and there was little enough to be seen. “What was it?”
    “It was a nest of some kind and full of very hungry, very vicious young. I didn’t see any adults. We’ll have to keep watch. If they’d reached adulthood, they’d have infested the area like killer cockroaches.”
    “You should do a flyover,” Alexander said. “Look for the parents. I will search on the ground.”
    “First, I’ll go report to Niko. Unless, of course, you’ve decided to stop sniveling and do what you are made to do?”
    Alexander gave a short jerk of his head.
    Tutresiel shrugged. “Then I don’t think I’m going to bother listening to you giving me orders.”
    With that, the angel launched into the air. Alexander watched him disappear. His teeth ground together. The problem was that Tutresiel did not understand. None of them did. He could not take on Prime. If he did, none of them would ever see Max again.
    Pain boiled up inside him again, and he gasped, letting it flood through his body. He did not know how to survive it. But he had no choice.
    H E PAUSED ON A PINNACLE OVERLOOKING A SMALL VALLEY . A small herd of elk grazed below. A mountain lion sprawled watchfully on a limb on the far end, waiting for the elk to wander closer. There was no sign of the adult creatures or the fairies who’d made the mushroom ring.
    It was not long before Niko appeared. He was a blocky man with black hair. Muscles piled on muscles, moving like an oiled shadow over the ground. He was danger personified. But then, so was Alexander.
    “Something on your mind, Niko?”
    It pleased him to no end when the other man started. The thick smell of magic overwhelmed his own scent, and the power of his constantly aroused Prime was a thick cloud that spread over miles. Without a reliable scent trail, Niko had been forced to follow Alexander’s tracks and Tutresiel’s directions.
    The other man stared up at him, his body tense. He was itching for a fight. Alexander’s lip curled. Niko was good, but he was no match for Alexander.
    “You need to come with me. There’s something you need to see,” he announced curtly.
    Alexander turned away. “Get Tutresiel and Xaphan. Whatever the problem is, they can handle it.”
    “Fuck them. We want you.”
    “I just gave you my advice. There is nothing I can do that a pair of angels cannot. Besides, I am busy. We might have a fairy infestation, or did Tutresiel forget to tell you?”
    Niko growled in frustration. “The fairies can wait. As for your advice, you can stick it up your ass. This is a lot more important.”
    That caught Alexander’s attention. He gave Niko a long, hard look.