Crimson Wind Read Online Free PDF

and his body stirred in instant response. He shoved it away. This was no time for distraction.
    The angel shook his head. “She told me she was coming here in case she did not return, so that someone would know. I chose to wait.”
    Alexander’s jaw knotted. “You let her go in alone, knowing she thought she would not come back?”
    “It was her choice. She could have sent me.” The angel made an uncharacteristic shrug. “I told her she should.”
    “You could have volunteered,” Niko pointed out through clenched teeth.
    Again the shrug. “She didn’t want my help. Said it was her problem, and he’d kill me anyhow, so she’d have to go in herself eventually. She said it would be a waste.”
    Fury snatched Alexander in a bone-crushing grip. He did not think. His hands locked together and he smashed Tutresiel’s chest with a hammer blow. The angel crashed against the wall. Alexander ducked beneath a whistling whir of silver death, rolling under Tutresiel’s slashing wing. Rock shards and sparks flew as the metal feathers chiseled through the wall. Alexander slammed into Tutresiel’s knees and the angel tumbled over him. Silver feathers sliced into Alexander’s back, scraping bone. Blood streamed down his back. He hardly felt the pain. He leaped to his feet, jumping high out of the way as Tutresiel’s wings flayed the air where he had been.
    He landed, and the angel caught him around the neck, speed blurring his hand. Tutresiel hoisted Alexander into the air. His feet dangled a foot above the ground. The angel was smiling like a cobra, his red eyes glistening. His wings fanned forward, each feather rapier sharp. His head tilted slightly to the side. “Are we going to play a game together, then?”
    His fingers squeezed, and his wings curved around to brush Alexander’s sides. His T-shirt shredded under the light pressure, and blood ran in ribbons down his skin. Alexander could not breathe. In the throes of rage, he did not care. His stomach muscles clenched. He swung his legs up, bracing against the angel’s hold as he ran his feet up Tutresiel’s chest and kicked him in the chin. Tutresiel’s head jerked back with a cracking sound. At the same time, Alexander used his telekinesis to force the angel’s fingers apart. He dropped to the ground, rolling backward to his feet and sucking in deep breaths.
    Tutresiel was already coming at him, his smile wider now, his red eyes gleaming with delight. Alexander crouched to spring up into the air, but before he could, Niko and Tyler grabbed his arms and shoved him back against the wall, their bodies a pitiful wall against Tutresiel’s menace.
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Niko demanded as he strained against Alexander’s struggles. “He’s a fucking angel. And he’s a member of Horngate.”
    You’re not. The unspoken words hung in the air like lit dynamite.
    “He needs a lesson in loyalty.” Alexander’s fury boiled hotter as the truth burrowed through his chest. He had no place here. His face contorted. He would be damned if they made him leave. He would make them give him a place here.
    His hands clenched. He kicked out, and his foot rammed flesh. Tyler made a guttural sound and buried his fist in Alexander’s gut. Fire spread along his ribs as bones fractured.
    “One of these days soon, you and I are going to have a serious talk,” Tyler said, shifting position and locking his arm around Alexander’s neck in an iron chokehold.
    “Anytime. The sooner, the better,” Alexander rasped, never looking away from the angel. He did not have the strength or concentration to use his telekinesis on his two captors. It was a recent talent, and he was still learning to use it. Nor did he want a fight with them and Tutresiel. He would not win that battle.
    “I think it is you who’s in need of a lesson,” Tutresiel crooned softly, his eyes crimson slits, his wings fluttering with a chiming sound. “Do you really think you can take me on and