Orek charged at me and I held my sword, ready to defend myself. Will appeared out of nowhere to my left and pounded his fist into Orek’s head. The nycterid’s jaws snapped and crunched air, questing for soft flesh. His tail swung, nailing Will in the chest and sending him rocketing through the air—and over the side of the roof.

“Will!” I shrieked, and threw myself to the rooftop edge.

He plummeted toward the ground, and his white wings sprang free and beat powerfully, righting his body in midair. He hit the middle of the street on one knee, wings spread their full sixteen feet, his sword in hand. Cars swerved to miss him, spiraling into one another, grinding metal against metal as horns honked and tires screeched. A cacophony of screams erupted around him as people scattered in every direction. Those who didn’t run stood in shock, staring at the winged boy who had just fallen from the sky.

Will rose and looked desperately up at me. Darkness crashed over on me like a great wave, and I ducked. Orek leaped over my head and sailed off the roof toward the street as I gaped in horror. The nycterid landed with an earth-shattering thud right in front of a large U-Haul truck. The driver slammed on the brakes and swerved, nearly tipping the truck over, but the massive reaper hurled his shoulder and wing into the side of the vehicle. It flipped into midair and smashed, sliding, into the ground on its side with a violent roar of metal against pavement. Pedestrians bolted in panic, shrieking, slamming into one another in complete pandemonium.

I froze, confused and unsure of how to handle the chaos erupting on the street below. I’d never fought in front of humans. Orek, jaws snapping and tail swinging, descended on Will as he held his sword ready. Ava was next to me suddenly, one foot on the ledge, looking over.

“What do we do?” I asked, my voice shaking and loud above the commotion.

“We can’t help him now,” she said, her voice eerily calm. “We can’t make this any worse than it’s already become.”

“What do you mean we can’t help him?” I cried. “We have to get down there!”

She looked at me, her face hardened. “Will knows he has to lead Orek away from the humans. The mortals have seen too much already. But the chaos is fortunate—they won’t understand what they’ve witnessed.”

I stared at her, shaking with fear and rage. What kind of planet did these reapers live on, where chaos was fortunate? “Orek will kill him!”

She grabbed hold of my shoulders. “No, he won’t. Will knows what he’s doing.”

I looked back down at my Guardian, battling the reaper for his life in the middle of the busy street. My heart pounded so hard, I thought it might burst from my chest. I tightened the grip on both my swords. I couldn’t stand there and watch him die.

I leaped over the edge of the roof as Ava reached out to me and yelled at me to stop. The wind rushed against my body so wildly that I heard nothing but thunderous screams. Orek looked up as I rocketed toward him, and he jumped into the air, beating what was left of his wings awkwardly as he flew higher. His jaws opened wide, and I stared down deep into his gaping throat. I swung my sword as he snapped. The blade sliced cleanly through his neck, and his head went spiraling through the air. I fell through reaper flames and ashes toward the street below as his body exploded into angelfire all around me. I shut my eyes as embers hit my face, searing my skin, and I prepared to hit the ground. Something thudded into me faster than I thought it would’ve taken for me to reach the street. Arms wrapped around me, and I was suddenly soaring higher and higher. I opened my eyes to Will’s determined face. Clutching me in his arms, he flew us both up and over the city streets and rooftops.

We descended in a quiet patch of woods, where Will set me down shakily. I started to collapse on my feet, but he caught me and held me so I wouldn’t fall.

“You are out of your mind,” he said, his hands and gaze moving all over me, inspecting for injuries. They lingered over every cut on my neck and arms, over the reaper ash caking my skin. “Why would you do something like that?”

I trembled still, trying to forget the images of the reaper fireball bursting all around me and the ground hurtling faster and faster toward my face. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw myself falling through fire. “I was worried about you.”

He laughed and kissed my forehead. “Don’t ever worry about me. You could have been killed.”

I forced a smile. “That wasn’t my first thought, I’ll admit.”

He stared at me, his green eyes bright in the darkness, his breath clouding in the air between us. “You are amazing.”

My cheeks flushed red, mostly because of the way he was looking at me, making me want to believe him. His gaze flickered back and forth before he stepped away.

“I’ve got to check on Ava,” he said, “and make sure she gets out of there. Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” His wings beat once, and he rose into the air and into the Grim. Then he was gone, and I was alone in the cold.

I didn’t know where he’d taken me, but it looked like a park or maybe one of the few patches of undeveloped or overgrown land in the area. The snow was above my ankles here, and the trees were tall and dark. I could hear the wail of sirens back toward where we had just battled, and I felt a twinge of fear. People—mortals—had seen everything. They’d seen Will’s wings, seen him fall. They’d seen a dinosaurid monster flip a truck over and then burst into flames in midair. I prayed no one had seen my face or taken a photo or video.