Angelfire
Page 90

Ivar snarled like an animal up at me, her corpse blue lips curling back and flashing viper fangs. Her wings spread wide, and I swore as I watched the damaged wing regenerate to perfection. Her power erupted in my face and sent me flying through the air. I landed on my back hard enough to crack the steel surface of the deck beneath me.
"El ie!" Wil cried when he saw me hit the ground. He was battling against Geir, and I lost track of both of them through the hysteria.
"Where is Nathaniel?" I yel ed as I climbed to my feet. My fear for his life made me forget about the pain in my back. Ivar's too-large pale eyes glowed bright white until her pupils nearly vanished and a cruel smile spread across her lips. "You don't have to worry about him any longer," she sneered as she took a step toward us, her wings wide and blocking out the light. The movement of her wings and swirling wind stirred the hem of her dress at her ankles, and I could see that she was barefoot. "You kil ed Ragnuk, and I thank you for ridding us of that annoyance. However, I must confess I didn't think you had it in you."
"It's your mistake that you keep underestimating me," I shot back, my grip on my sword tightening. I searched the deck for the other and spotted it lying against the cabin door. Ivar scoffed. "Don't presume too much, child. Bastian seems to think very highly of you, though. In fact, he even wants to meet you."
"Excuse my lack of enthusiasm," I growled. "The feeling is not mutual."
Ivar pouted. "He'l be so disappointed."
"Bite me," I snapped.
Her lips curved into a sensual, eloquent smile. "I can do that."
She lunged at me, but I twisted around, bolting for my sword by the cabin door. In two long strides I was there, grabbing the hilt with my free hand and lighting it with angelfire as I turned around. Ivar slammed into me and sent us both crashing through the wooden cabin door, splinters flying everywhere. I smashed into a wooden table and Ivar landed on top of me. I shoved a helve into her throat as she gnashed at my face, snapping and snarling like a wolf. Her fingers grabbed at me, pul ing at my shirt and hair, her claws slashing away at my skin. My power slammed into her, launching her into the ceiling and fil ing the cabin with bright white light. Her body crushed the fiberglass; the glossy surface crumbled into chunks and the flakey insides fel like snowflakes, covering Ivar with powder. She flapped her wings and settled graceful y down to the floor. The room was entirely too smal for her wings to be spread as wide as they were.
She grabbed hold of my shoulders, swung me into a strung-up fishing net, and then smashed me into a set of shelves. Clutter rained down on me, and I fought my way to the surface, clawing free of the net. Ivar's fingers curled around my shirt and lifted me until I was eye level with her.
"I'm going to enjoy kil ing you," she sneered. "And when you come back, I'l enjoy kil ing you again. If the Enshi doesn't eat your soul, I'l gladly eat your heart."
Instead of replying, I stabbed her in the gut with a Khopesh. Her eyes bulged and she dropped me. I pul ed the flaming sword out and slashed, but she caught my wrist before my blade could catch her skin, and she hissed, pul ing her lips back viciously.
"Wrong move." Her flesh healed shut with only an ugly marbled scar left behind. She lashed her black power at me, striking me across the chest like a whip, and I staggered back. I shook off the blow and saw her lunge for me through the smoky remains of her attack. My own power detonated in a deafening explosion of white and col ided with her. It blew her through the cabin, and she crashed through the wal and flew back out on the other side of the deck in an explosion of fiberglass and steel.
Ivar hit the deck and climbed shakily to her feet as I stepped through the wreckage of the cabin. Instead of coming for me again, she snapped her eyes to the side, and my gaze fol owed hers. Wil stood there with his hands at his sides.
"Wil iam!" she sneered, her voice ringing out over the crashing waves. "So good of you to join us!"
Wil said nothing and threw his arms up and fired Nathaniel's two pistols into Ivar's body. Bul ets ripped through her chest, spraying blood like confetti, forcing her back. She jerked and screeched as he unloaded both clips into her. When the guns clacked empty, Wil dropped the clips, reloaded effortlessly, and began firing again.
A hand fel on my shoulder and I swung a sword. Nathaniel caught my arm. "Hey, it's me."
I breathed a sigh of relief and hugged him. "I thought you were dead."
He shook his head when I let him go. "I'm fine. Are you okay?"
"Yeah." I looked beyond him for Wil and spotted him fighting Ivar hand to hand now. Her dress was riddled with bloody holes, but she appeared unharmed. "Where's Geir?" I asked Nathaniel frantical y, grabbing his shoulder.
"He must be below."
We rushed past Ivar and Wil , saying a silent prayer for him to be alive the next time I saw him. Nathaniel kicked the door to the hold open. It swung wide and we descended into the dim, greenish-blue light. The dank odor of the room fil ed my nose, and I heard a faint, raspy whimper from somewhere within the darkness. I strained my eyes and spotted the untouched sarcophagus. But who else was down there?
Nathaniel threw a hand over my chest and I froze. A dark shape rose, and a head swiveled toward us, revealing the shark-mouthed face of Geir, his teeth stained red, his yel ow eyes mad like a wild animal's. The light coming in through the door cast a sickly glow across his pale skin and mud-colored wings. Held tightly to the reaper's chest was Jose, gaping unseeingly at the ceiling, his complexion ashen. A chunk of his throat had been torn out, but the massive wound wasn't leaking nearly as much blood as it should have been. Geir had drunk it al .