a collective gasp went up from the crowd, followed by a cheer. when i let elyssa go, she seemed a little dizzy, as if she couldn't believe i'd just done that. i winked at her.

"congratulations, templar borathen."

her lips curved into a smirk. "thank you, mr. slade."

my blood caught fire.

the next cadet approached, a lean, muscular guy. when i shook his hand, he gave me a disappointed look. "don't i get a kiss?"

as the next initiate came up the stairs, something in the back of the seated crowd caught my attention. a young girl frantically waved her hands at me. not just any girl.

it was ivy.

chapter 18

for some reason, neither nightliss nor thomas seemed to see my sister. i looked and saw two more initiates remaining. i couldn't just leave until the ceremony was over, but something had to be terribly wrong for ivy to be here. this couldn't wait. i really had to talk to her. i stared at her, wishing i could just pause time and find out what was going on.

the last two initiates finally passed by. i leaned to nightliss. "i have an emergency to take care of."

she gave me an uncertain look but nodded.

i descended the podium as thomas gave a speech, and made my way down the center aisle, feeling eyes on me the entire way. i reached the house and went to the corner.

"justin, something terrible is about to happen," ivy said.

i reached out a tentative hand, and felt warm skin. "you're not projecting," i said. you're actually here." i went to hug her.

"i couldn't project here. the perimeter is warded." she pushed me away before i could embrace her. "we don't have time," she said. "you have to warn thomas borathen that the synod wants him dead."

"the old templar leadership? i think he knows that," i said.

"he's a good man," ivy said. "bigdaddy said so a lot of times, and i heard him arguing with daelissa not to do this. he said for her not to let vengeance control her."

"what? i don't understand."

ivy gripped my hands. "tell him now. please."

"why do you care?" i asked.

she bit her lower lip. "bigdaddy said it's wrong. and i got to thinking about the things you told me about daelissa, justin. she can be mean. i followed her one time and saw her do bad things to people because they wouldn't obey her."

"has she repaired the grand nexus?" i asked.

"no," ivy said. "we don't have time to talk. i have to leave."

"wait," i said. "i'm trying to save mom. can you tell me where she is?"

ivy made a frustrated sound. "in the basement of the house. but you can't get to her. not even i can." she scrunched her face and blinked away in a puff of shadows.

"damn it," i said, pounding a fist into my hand. i looked up at the podium as thomas spoke, and considered ivy's warning. what if-i saw a shadowy figure positioning what looked like a rifle on the crenelated walls atop the flat church roof. everyone seemed too intent on thomas's speech, even the patrolling templar sentries.

i raced around the front of the house to keep myself hidden from view, and down the path to the church. i spotted a templar standing guard at the front of the church and ran to him.

"i think there are people on top of the church," i said.

"please, go back to the assembly," he said. "we have people positioned on the church standing guard."

"i need to be sure they're supposed to be there," i said.

the man seemed to reach a decision. "of course. i'll go with you."

"thanks," i said, and turned toward the church.

a flash of blinding pain struck me in the lower back. i twisted, felt the sting of metal tear my flesh, saw the man thrusting a knife at me. my hand flashed to his wrist. gripped it and squeezed until i heard bones crack and a scream of pain. his foot flashed out. i somehow dodged, letting my demonic instincts take hold as i had when fighting against thomas borathen when he wanted nothing more than to take my head clean off for daring to date his daughter.

one of his fists slammed into my chest. i dodged the next blow directed at my throat, and lashed out with my hand. heard his arm break. then i slugged him in the face. he dropped like a rock. the people on the church roof had to be with this guy. assassins.

i wanted to shout an alarm, but the crowd burst into loud cheers. i saw the other commanders lining up in front of the podium, and realized with sudden horror why the assassins hadn't struck at thomas yet. they didn't want just him. they wanted to kill as many leaders as possible. i ran to the church doors. locked. i kicked them with all my strength and nearly broke my foot. magically reinforced, those bastards!

running to the side of the building, i jumped, my hands seeking purchase on the stone blocks so i could scale the building. my hands slipped as though the building were coated with grease. how in the hell am i supposed to get on top of this place? i had no choice but to run for the front of the assembly and warn them. then i saw a dark figure positioning himself. saw several others rise from behind the parapet, aiming more guns. i might be able to stop one of them with magic, but not all of them.

if only i could-i pause mid-thought and remembered my accidental blink across the arch room. i could do it again. i had to. i looked at the nearest assassin. i focused on that spot with all my might, and imagined opening a portal there. the world vanished in a puff of black. when it reappeared, i saw blue sky for an instant before i fell, crashing on top of someone who let out a muffled cry of surprise.

dizziness washed over me, and i felt my gorge rising. i looked and saw several masked figures staring at me, each one holding a sniper rifle that could probably stop a charging rhino.

i am so screwed.

the figure closest to me slammed the butt of his gun into the side of my head. i saw stars, and felt the stone roof smack my face.

"execute your orders!" one of the men shouted. "kill slade afterward."

i heard the guns cock. heard the man say something in a calm voice, though my ears felt as if they were stuffed with cotton. i gritted my teeth, fought off the fog. opened my eyes, and saw fingers pulling on triggers.

i raised my hand, and shouted, "no!"

a brilliant fireball burst from my hand, detonating above the heads of the assassins. shots exploded. i heard the sound of ricocheting bullets and a cry go up from the crowd. then i saw one of the figures aiming the huge barrel of a gun at my head. a brilliant bolt of ultraviolet light speared through his chest. his mouth opened wide as if trying to scream though his lungs had charred to ash.

i crawled, watching other bodies crumpling nearby, some full of the silver lancer darts used to incapacitate. one of the figures ducked low, tugging a lever on his gun, apparently trying to fix it. templars raced from the door on the roof toward him. i managed to gain my feet, sucking in deep breaths to ward off the dizziness and nausea threatening to overwhelm me.

the masked figure looked at the templars. he snatched a device with a switch from the belt at his side. it was then i noticed the large backpack at his feet, and even more importantly, the bricks of explosives and wires spilling out of it. he had a detonator!

"die you demonic son of a bitch," the man behind the mask said, and flicked the switch on the detonator.

i didn't think. i acted by pure instinct, and threw myself off the building.

a tremendous boom went up from the roof. heat washed over my skin as a shockwave flipped me through the air, end over end. i bounced off the roof of the house. rolled over the peak, and slid down the other side. my fingers caught on the gutter before i plummeted three stories to hard concrete and the promise of broken legs and agony. i shimmied to the side and gripped a sturdy downspout, braced my feet to the sides, and slid down.

the templars had formed ranks around the podium, and i saw the bluish tint of a shield in place. other templars herded guests into an underground bunker facility, while teams of black-clad soldiers fanned across the area, probably looking for more intruders. still choking back the urge to vomit and staggering, i weaved through the crowd to the front. two grim-faced templars parted ranks to let me inside the protective circle. what i saw made me even sicker.

two of the commanders lay dead, a fact made more obvious by the complete mess the huge sniper rifles had made of their heads. i saw thomas borathen on the ground nearby, a gaping hole in his shoulder being tended by healers. christian salazar looked unhurt, as did the other commanders.

arms wrapped tight around me. i looked into elyssa's worried eyes. she kissed my cheek, my lips, my forehead. "oh, god, i saw you up there. i tried to get to you but there were too many people in the way."

"it's okay," i said, brushing back her hair with my hand. "i'm okay." i looked at thomas. "how's your father?"

"he'll be fine," she said, relaxing her embrace. "whatever you did up there saved his life."

i must have distracted the shooters enough to hurt their aim. but what if ivy hadn't warned me? would i have still been up on the podium? would my head look like a pulverized tomato? i felt relief and, despite the terrible circumstance, happiness my sister had risked so much to help me.

it only reinforced my determination to rescue mom and get ivy out of there. if she was starting to see daelissa's bad side, maybe it wouldn't be hard to convince her. on the other hand, she still adored jeremiah conroy, and his argument with daelissa over attacking the templars might have only reinforced her feelings for the crotchety old bastard. she wouldn't betray the people she thought were her grandparents, even though i knew by now they had no relation to us at all.

i watched nightliss as she helped with a wounded initiate. anger flared in her eyes. she looked at me, lips pressed tight. i knew she wanted to punch daelissa in the throat as badly as i did. unfortunately, during her last confrontation with the other angel, she'd nearly died. despite her recovery, she couldn't solo daelissa-not a chance.

thomas held a meeting with the surviving commanders in his underground war room despite the healer's recommendation he rest for the remainder of the day. even with the supernatural protection granted him by daelissa centuries ago, it would take time for the large wound in his shoulder to heal. the only reason i knew about the meeting was because, for some unknown reason, thomas had invited me. elyssa and her brother, michael, were also present, along with nightliss.