Free Angel's Shield by Erin M. Leaf Page B

face went from surprised to
worried.
    “Good, but that just means we have his pack to deal with now. Otherwise,
the house would’ve stopped burning. We still need to get out of here. They’ll
be even worse without a master.” He began to pull her back towards the trail
shelter. The trees loomed dark and silent above them, in direct contrast to the
licking flames consuming the house.
    “Shit. You’re right.” Haniel backed up, blade still in his hands.
It was caked with dirt, but he didn’t seem to notice. “Boar demons,” he said to
Charmeine, unnervingly.
    “What are boar demons?” Charmeine tried not to look too closely at
the fire. She couldn’t deal with the loss of her home right now. And it seemed
they had bigger worries, anyway. She stumbled when her foot caught on a rock.
Jeremiel kept her from going down.
    “They’re like attack dogs, only bigger,” he said, still pulling
her backward. Somehow, he’d managed to hang onto his blade and he held it up
defensively.
    “And they can spit acid,” Haniel added.
    Unnecessary details, she thought. She really, truly didn’t need to know that. “And
they’ll be after us? Won’t they just run away if their master is dead?” What
she knew about demons could fit on the head of a pin.
    Jeremiel pried her hands loose from his arm and set them on a
tree. “Here. Hold onto that. Try and move your wings, gently. You need to get a
feel for them.”
    “Oh my God,” she breathed, not listening to him. Dark shapes came
out of the fire and stalked toward them. They looked like small tanks—big and
sturdy, except they moved more like wolves. How could something so ugly be
so graceful? she wondered even as she fought to control her fear. Her heart
beat so hard she worried she was about to stroke out. She clenched her hands
around the tree, tearing off chunks of bark as she shuddered.
    “God damn it, there are at least ten of them,” Haniel said
harshly.
    “What do we do?” Charmeine asked, fingers moving over the tree.
She grabbed hold of a branch. The muscles in her wings tensed and she floated
just off the ground without even trying. She’d managed to rip off the tree limb
and held it in front of her, for all the good it would do. Wood burned.
    Jeremiel glanced at her. “If they overwhelm us, fly away. Save
yourself.”
    She glared at him. “No.” She wasn’t going to abandon them. Not
now. Not ever. She eyed the boar demons with the same combination of fear and
determination that she’d used to deal with her grandmother’s illness and death.
    “Charmeine, please,” he begged.
    She shook her head. He gave her a searing look, but he had no more
time to persuade her. The demons were too close. She clenched her fists around
her makeshift weapon, staring intently. If she was going to die, she wanted to
know what killed her. The demons’ smoky breath steamed in the air as if they’d
been chewing on lava and their eyes, God. They looked like embers and ash. She
could barely focus on their scales and talons because some instinct inside her
told her that they had far more dangerous weapons than mere armor. That same
instinct unfurled her wings and she floated up more—not to get away, but to
gain higher ground in order to fight more effectively.
    Haniel struck first, slashing with his blade so fast the edge
blurred. Jeremiel was right behind him, severing horns and talons, but right
away Charmeine knew it wasn’t going to be enough.
    Oh dear God, please help us. I want to live, she prayed desperately. Especially
now that I’ve just found them. She flew closer, stick out in front of her,
but there was no way for her to help without getting in the way. Her wings
drooped, mirroring her frustration. Haniel and Jeremiel worked like a
well-oiled machine‚ one slashing while the other distracted the creatures.
Unfortunately, even the most efficient of machines sometime fail, and Charmeine
saw the exact moment Jeremiel’s foot turned. He slipped on the slick