Satan's Gambit (The Barrier War Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

had come to regard them as much a curse as a blessing. Anger that Danner
had disobeyed him overrode any thoughts he may have had that perhaps Danner had
a valid reason for utilizing his immortal power.
    “Danner!” he
bellowed, striding toward his friend. The angelic figure cut down a screaming
demon, then turned toward Garnet and regarded him with glowing blue eyes.
Danner was at best average in height, but when his wings were asolved he
emanated a power that made such considerations as physical size meaningless.
His short-cropped, dark hair was plastered to his head with sweat and blood,
and his youthful face was set in a fierce exuberance that faded as he saw
Garnet approaching.
    When he was
close enough that no one would overhear the quiet roar of his voice, Garnet
growled, “By Sin, San, Satan, and God Himself, I specifically ordered you not to use your wings. Just what part of ‘No’ didn’t you understand? You will learn
to control you impulses or, by God, you will no longer lead in this unit. Do
you understand me?”
    “Damn it,
Garnet, I…”
    Garnet held up a
hand to cut Danner off as he received a kythe from Brican that nearly stopped
his heart.
    “Garnet,
you’d better get over here,” Brican kythed, his mental voice tired. “We’ve
got four paladins down, and one of them’s your father.”
    Distantly, Garnet
recognized the sound of voices being raised to pass him a message. Danner’s
wings flickered, then disappeared. A Yellow paladin ran toward Garnet. Even
knowing the message that was needlessly being delivered, Garnet’s chest froze
into a solid lump of ice, and for a moment he fought just to breathe. He saw
the paladin’s lips moving, but it was an eternal second before Garnet could
hear anything over the pounding in his ears.
    “Man down,
Garnet. Man down.”

Chapter 2
    The body obeys the mind like the most obedient of
dogs. The mind obeys itself like the most fractious of felines.
    - Knerry Raltin,
    “Forms of Communication” (102
AL)
    - 1 -
    Danner followed
Brican’s mental directions and met up with Garnet and the other Shadow Company officers
a few seconds before they came upon the wounded paladins. Danner reverted to
his wholly mortal body and carefully avoided meeting Garnet’s eyes; he didn’t
want to see his friend’s anger, nor did he want his own irritation to bubble to
the surface. Instead, the five paladins and two denarae glanced at each other
to assess injuries, then immediately turned their attention to the four men
laying on the ground.
    Of the four men,
it was obvious three were dead. One of the paladins, from the Blue Facet, had
been practically shucked out of his torn armor during the fight, and one of his
arms was missing. A Violet paladin was missing most of one side of his face,
and a Red had a gaping hole in his chest where his heart should have been. The
fourth fallen paladin was Garnet’s father, and Danner nearly gasped in relief
when he saw the massive Red paladin’s chest rise.
    Garet was
covered with deep cuts and claw marks, and very little of his body was not
covered with his own blood. His customary chainmail armor had been removed,
presumably by the Green paladin already in attendance, and Danner could see
gaping holes where demonic claws had torn through the interwoven links,
corresponding to the injuries covering the Red paladin’s torso. Worst of all,
Garet’s right hand had nearly been severed from his wrist, and a tourniquet
further up his arm was the only thing preventing a fatal loss of blood. The
Green paladin was pale-faced as he held the partially severed limb, and it was
obvious from his face that he knew he wouldn’t be able to heal the grievous
wounds Garet had sustained.
    Garnet stared
down at his prone father, his face a mask of inscrutability that told Danner
more than anything just how deeply his friend was shaken by his father’s
injuries. Garnet took in the sight of the despairing Green paladin and
immediately shifted his eyes