by Cheree Alsop
A scream tore from my lips as the rebar forced all the way through my shoulder and left side, effectively pinning me to the wall. Blade raised his gray wings. “You’ll die and I’ll make sure Skylar pays for your intervention. She’ll curse the day she met you before she crumples broken to the floor.” He flew closer. “She’ll die loathing the day she ever heard of Galdoni. She’ll cry your name when I carve it into her flesh. She’ll—”
I grabbed his wings. Time slowed. I pulled him toward me in one last desperate attempt to stop him. He struggled in my grip. My hands were beyond the point of feeling, but they responded as I shifted my grip from his wings to his armor. The rebar that punctured my shoulder pressed against his chest. My strength rushed in one last surge.
“You will never hurt her!” I yelled.
I felt the rebar pierce through his armor. I gritted my teeth and forced it through his chest right where his heart was. Blade’s eyes widened in shock and disbelief. He opened his mouth; blood filled it. Fear colored his crazed eyes. His legs kicked, twitching in defiance. He shook his head, but already his movements were lethargic. The glaze of death brushed his gaze.
He blinked as if he suddenly saw things clearer. “I just wanted to fix this world,” he forced out. Blood dribbled down his chin brighter than the dried blood that already stained it.
“I think you just did,” I replied.
A strange smile crossed his face. He closed his eyes. A breath gurgled from his throat. He twitched, then became still.
The instincts for a Galdoni to survive were strong, but Blade couldn’t face the thought of peace and freedom. His love for violence had outweighed his ability to be a part of it. He had to die, I told myself. As the expression of hatred faded from his face, relief filled me at the thought that the other Galdoni would be safe, and he would never be able to hurt Skylar or anyone else ever again.
I gathered my strength and shoved his body away. The movement sent such fiery pain through my shoulder and side that I couldn’t bite back a yell. I willed my wings to work, but I didn’t have the strength to free myself. I forced a breath into my lungs. Black spots danced at the edges of my vision. I shook, and wondered if it was the building collapsing with me inside. I couldn’t fight the fog that filled my thoughts. My eyes closed against my will.
“Saro!”
I forced my eyes to open. Lem flew carefully down through the destroyed building. “Saro, where are you?”
I tried to shout, but my voice caught in my throat. The building shifted and the rebar moved with it, pulling at both wounds. A cry broke from my lips. Lem’s head turned. “Saro!”
His hands touched my shoulder. I gave into the darkness.
Chapter Thirty
I awoke to the sound of voices and a siren. I blinked. There was something clear around my nose and mouth. I tried to push it away. Pain filled me at the movement and somebody caught my hand.
“Saro, it’s me, Officer Donaldson.” He leaned over me, his grizzled gray hair and kind eyes coming into focus as the haze left. “You’re safe,” he said. “We’re taking you to the hospital.”
“Skylar.” The name croaked from my lips. I tried to push the oxygen mask away again. I needed to get to her. Blade knew about her. She might be in danger.
“I have officers at her house. She’s alright. You need to relax.” Officer Donaldson’s eyes shifted.
I followed his gaze to a man in green scrubs. “We need to get these wounds taken care of; you’ve lost so much blood I don’t know how you’re awake. Please keep still.”
Something poked my arm. I looked down to see a needle entering my skin. The instinct to survive rushed through my veins, fighting down weakness and filling me with adrenaline. I sat up and tore the needle away, followed by the oxygen mask.
Officer Donaldson held up his hands. “Easy, Saro. You’re safe here. You need to go to the hospital.”
“I need to go to Skylar,” I replied. I rose shakily from the tiny bed. The ambulance swayed and I almost fell over.
Officer Donaldson grabbed my arm. “Trust me, Saro. She’s okay.”
The words made my need to see her grow. I trusted her. It was the first thing I had known about Skylar besides her captivating blue eyes and the tattoos that defined her. I trusted her and I needed to see for myself that she was unharmed. She had trusted me to protect her. I couldn’t rest until I was sure she was safe.
“I need to go.”
Officer Donaldson shook his head. “You need a hospital. You could die out there like this. When the orange-winged Galdoni and that huge one brought you to the ambulance, I thought you were already dead. Do you want to push that?”
I shoved open the ambulance door. “There’s something I have to do,” I yelled over the sound of the road.
“You need to live,” Officer Donaldson shouted.
My words to Skylar filled my mind. You taught me what it meant to really live, Sky.
“Exactly,” I replied with a laugh. I lifted my wings and jumped out of the ambulance.
Training at the Academy didn’t cover jumping from ambulances, or else I would have been warned about the wind currents and speed. Our training had been a little short on practical applications; apparently, they didn’t think we would need to know more than five billion ways to kill someone. Go figure. As it was, I barely had the strength to rise above the road. Officer Donaldson stared at me from the back of the ambulance. Weakness filled my limbs and my wings wavered. Perhaps I had been hasty; I tipped my wings.
The bandages they had put on my wounds in the ambulance held as I flew. A light rain began to fall as I forced my weary body toward the city of Crosby. The patters fell against my face, beckoning me on. I used them as a guide, closing my eyes. My body faltered. I fell toward the ground.
I managed to catch myself, soaring low enough to land on the outskirts of the city. I was close to the Galdoni Center. The remains of the once great building were hidden behind the rain that began to pour in earnest. I ducked my head against it and walked the last few blocks to Skylar’s place.
She must have been watching. She ran out the door the instant I came into view. I tried to say her name, but I was too exhausted to do more than watch her dash through the rain as if she couldn’t hold back any longer. My knees gave way at the sight of her safe and beautiful, my sun, my moon, my stars, my Sky.
Skylar dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around me. Sobs tore from her as she held me tight. I took a shuddering breath and wrapped my good arm around her.
She cried against my shoulder. “I didn’t think you would be back. I was so worried.”
“I had to make sure you were okay,” I told her. Her head was bowed under my cheek. I closed my eyes and memorized the feeling of her soft hair against my chin.
She sat back. “Are you alright?”
I smiled down at her and gently wiped the tears and rain from her cheeks with my gauzed fingers. “I am now.”
“I love you so much, Saro.”
I pulled her close. “I love you, Sky.”
My world was safe. Blade was gone. The female Galdoni had been found and rescued, and the Advantage Corp employees would undergo the punishment they deserved. I could breathe again, I could fly again, and all I wanted to do was hold Skylar in the rain and remind myself over and over again that she was safe. She was indeed my everything.
***
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About the Author
Cheree Alsop is the mother of a beautiful, talented daughter and amazing twin sons who fill every day with joy and laughter. She is married to her best friend, Michael, the light of her life and her soulmate who shares her dreams and inspires her by reading the first drafts and adding depth to the stories. Cheree is currently working as an independent author and mother. She enjoys reading, riding her motorcycle on warm nights, and playing with her twins while planning her next book. She is also a bass player for their r
ock band, Alien Landslide.
Cheree and Michael live in Utah where they rock out, enjoy the outdoors, plan great adventures, and never stop dreaming.
Check out Cheree’s other books at www.chereealsop.com
A Quick Thank You
I just want to say thank you to the many people who helped make this book possible. Thank you to my husband for patiently reading each draft, for finding plot holes, and for adding depth to scenes and helping them come alive. I couldn’t do this without you!
Thank you to my children, my beautiful daughter Myree and my twin sons Ashton and Aiden. Your adventures, laughter, and love fill every corner of my life. I love every moment I’m with you. You are truly amazing and can accomplish anything you put your mind to. Thank you for your patience while I write, and for only destroying one computer in the process (the result of a sippy cup disaster). I hope someday you will lose yourself within these pages and fall in love with the world of your mother’s imagination.
Thank you to those who have read drafts and given me valuable feedback, as well as catching as many typos as possible (and I apologize for those mistakes that still managed to sneak their way through). Thank you to Sue Player for your editing and your feedback. Thank you to Andrew Hair for designing the beautiful cover; it always comes back far more amazing than I ever could have imagined.
Thank you to my family for being patient with my runaway imagination and lapses into the world of fiction. I love you!
Thank you most of all to my readers. I am so grateful for your time, for your reviews, and for the emails I receive. I used to escape into books when I was younger and I always wanted to give the same escape back to others. I hope you found Galdoni 2: Into the Fire and the Galdoni Series enjoyable and heartfelt. This was written for you.
With love, Cheree.
Table of Contents
Copyright
ALSO BY CHEREE ALSOP
PRAISE FOR CHEREE ALSOP
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
About the Author
A Quick Thank You
