Extinction (The Divine Book 7) by M.R. Forbes Page B

close as both sides approached, squeezing it within me like a mystical singularity. I could feel the onrush of heat and cool as the demons and the Touched drew ever closer to me. I kept my eyes on Sarah, watching her and trying to meet her gaze. She hovered behind the action, not returning my attention, but not intentionally avoiding it either.
    It was as if she just didn't care.
    She could have killed Obi, and she hadn't. I knew that had to count for something. At the same time, if Adam knew I was here and summoned an army to challenge me, and sent her to watch, that counted for something, too.
    She was somewhere between good and evil right now. What I needed was clarity on that.
    The two sides were almost on me. I could almost taste the demons, sulfurous and decayed. I could smell the Touched, their freshly washed hair and their neat, clean clothes. They were both only a few feet away from me.
    I released my power, in a sharp line that stretched out from me, reaching across the plaza turned battlefield. It snapped out like a rubber band, and when the armies ran into it, it pulled tighter, slowing the entire approach, forcing the entire charge to fall apart. I wrenched it back toward me, and opponents from both sides were thrown to the ground, knocked over, or pushed back. I couldn't stop a fight like this completely, and there was no point to try. Angels and demons had been battling for centuries; it wasn't my job to make them friends.
    I wanted to get to Sarah. I needed to know where her head was at. I started moving forward, certain that Obi could take care of himself, and that Alfred would come to his aid if he couldn't. The first rows of demons were off-balance from my initial outburst, and I moved past them without intercession.  
    I heard shouting, growling, screaming, yelping. I heard Touched die. I heard demons die. I waded into the thick, the horde a blur of misshapen faces, claws, and leathery skin. Of course, they tried to attack me. I looked like any of the other mortals. I greeted them with hard punches. I pushed them back with my power, I wrapped myself in it and absorbed their strikes. These demons weren't powerful enough to hurt me. I cut through them as a dervish of energy, batting them aside like matchsticks and making a path through the center, my eyes always on Sarah, growing closer to her with each heartbeat.
    I was halfway there when she finally noticed me, her eyes landing on mine for the briefest of instants. I thought I saw her brow furrow slightly when they did; her face flashed a look of absolute sadness and guilt. Then she looked away, over me toward the rear. Then she started moving, to my left where a line of Touched were breaking through and flanking the demons.
    She drove in at them, grabbing one by the neck, her wings sweeping around and cutting him in half. She dropped from the sky, landing, ducking, spinning and slashing, cutting two more down with those infernal appendages. An angel joined the fray, sword bright with angelic scripture. Her wings wrapped around in front of her as the sword came down, striking against them and skipping harmlessly away. She threw them out, catching him full in the chest and throwing him backward. He caught himself and charged again.
    She let him come. A dagger appeared in his hand, slashing toward her as he rushed in. She dropped low again, putting her wings out to the side and throwing herself forward, past the angel. Her wings decapitated him, and he vanished amidst the crowd.
    I had never seen her fight like this. I had never seen her act like this. A look had appeared in her eyes, a bloodlust that chilled me to the bone. Whatever had been there a moment ago vanished in the midst of the destruction.  
    I knew I had to stop it.  
    I knew I was the only one who could.
    I slapped my power out, knocking aside a devil who was getting too close, trying to run me through with his sword. Then I threw the power out behind me, using it to propel me forward, over