Tameka let her wings lift her, spun, and kicked Rayne in the head. Her foot went through the brunette’s after-burn image. Nothing left but the blue afternoon sky. The redhead growled in frustration. The girl was too damned fast.

“I’ve got her!” Sagan cried as she almost landed a blow on their upgraded bestie. “Fuck!” The blond’s legs swept comically into the air as her ass met the sand.

“Come on, guys! You know what to do!” Andrew hauled out of the sparkling lake where Rayne last dropped him.

Before the girls protested, Sagan pulled her top over her head with only a transparent bra beneath. She gasped as she realized what happened.

Rayne stopped shifting around and gaped at Sagan with eyes wider than her mouth.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Tameka drop-kicked the brunette and rode her to the ground. As she pinned Rayne’s wrists, she checked on Sagan, “Are you good?”

The Lt. General glared at Andrew as she recovered her shirt. “I’m fine, no thanks to this sneaky fucker.”

Andrew shrugged. “You were thinking it. I just helped you along—”

“Can someone take the blindfold off please? I wanna help.” Kyle begged for the sixtieth time.

All four answered in unison, “No!”

Ringing out his shorts, the bare-chested Progeny boy continued, “At least now we know Rayne’s one and only weakness is Sagan’s boobs.”

Still pinned, the General grunted in the sand.

Kyle squeaked, “Please?!”

Tameka despised the sound of his voice. She believed Rayne about their staying together, but every breath Kyle took was a breath Xelan would never take again. Like a gut-punch, the air sucked out of her with each reminder. One day, she’d let him know how it felt—

Rayne took to the air with Tameka riding on her back. “Hey!”

“Well, I had to do something to get your attention.”

For a moment, they stared at one another. The stratified canyon walls acted as a backdrop. Rayne’s bright blue eyes sparkled against the sky and practically glowed when she smiled. “Sovereign Ambassador, get your ass back down there and keep up the excellent work.”

It was so like something Xelan would say that it summoned a smile instantly from Tameka. Aloud and unintentionally, she added, “You’re dressing like him, too.”

Rayne startled, but her smile remained. She tried to shrug off the comment. “It’s practical. Works for all situations. And—” She shoved her hands deep into the black cargo pants. “—Pockets.”

Tameka giggled and sighed. “I wish I could hug you.”

The other woman’s smile softened. Her voice heavy with emotion as she admitted, “Me, too.” Rayne suddenly snapped her fingers. “Shit… I just figured out Smith’s crime…”

Tameka surprised both of them with a chortle. “Well, you better tell him when they get here in two days.”

The currents shifted, and both women stared in shock. Sagan flew into the air, followed by Andrew. “Are you guys done up here?” The blond’s eyes shone with warmth. “Or do we start aerial training?”

Tameka gaped. “Where did you get wings?!”

Rayne gave Sagan a knowing smirk. “Her donor’s motives are a little—how did you put it, Andrew?”

He crossed his arms over his golden chest. “Murky. Korac’s intentions are—”

Tameka scoffed, “I’m sorry. Did you just say Korac?! As in the Icarean General?!” It made so much sense. Sagan’s reaction to his presence at the school. Her attachment to that axe. “I… I…”

The group waited for Tameka to catch up with expressions ranging from concern to humor. She balked. “I really can’t believe given all of our different sexual histories that I’m not the one who ended up with the bad boy.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Andrew busted out laughing first. The two women followed. Tameka blinked at them all. Truly stunned. Not that Rayne ended up with a bad boy. More like would end up killing one.

Their laughter died down, and Tameka hated herself for bringing this up, but— “What will we do in five days?”

Sagan nodded. “I’m not too keen on the world ending.”

Rayne offered, “We could all surrender?”

All four shared a look.

They would not go gently into that good night.

The General accepted their answer. “We train. We prepare. We fight. We win. We are the Shadow Progeny. There is nothing but us. All of us.”

It wasn’t like Tameka could miss that poignant look.

Andrew echoed her, “Our family.”

“We’ll save the worlds,” Sagan declared.

Rayne turned to Tameka. The look on her face concerned the redhead. “It’s time to practice your ability.” Before she could shake her head, the brunette smiled. “You’re so integral to our victory, Tameka. We need you.”

“But I might hurt one of you. I need more time—”

Andrew offered, “No. You need someone you don’t mind hurting.”

As it dawned on Tameka, she backed away from them. “No. I don’t like him, but I would never torture someone.”

Rayne leveled a reassuring smile at her. “He volunteered, Tameka. That’s why he’s here.”

Each member of her Shadow family shared the same reassuring smile.

“Okay.”

They traveled back to the lakeside with flourishes of their wings.

“Hey, maybe we can go on a wing trip sometime?” Sagan offered when they alighted.

“When this is all over, I have a huge list of things I want to do,” Andrew confessed.

The blond girl winked at him. “And how many of them involve your Icarean stallion?”

He grinned like an idiot. No blush. No shame. “One hundred percent of them.”

Tameka interrupted them, “Kyle.”

With the blindfold wrapped around his long curly brown hair, Kyle turned to the sound of her voice, “Tameka.”

“Are you sure?”

“I want to help. But can I at least see? It smells amazing out here.” He wiggled some in his restraints.

Tameka unsheathed the knife. She ignored the press of the others’ gazes as she freed him of his bonds. He stared into her eyes as if it hurt to look at her. “Hi.”

“Hey.”

Then he blinked against the sun and took in the gorge. “Wow.” He turned back to Andrew. “Hey, did I actually miss Sagan topless?”

The girls groaned.

Andrew smacked himself in the head, exasperated.

Tameka said, “Anymore of that and I’ll gag you, too.”

“Fine. Fine.” Kyle stood and stretched. “Okay. I’m ready. Suck away.”

She held the knife point under his chin. “Your brand of humor bordered on enraging before—” she couldn’t say it “—Cinder. Don’t test me.”

His eyes softened at her. “I’m sorry.”

She swallowed hard and looked away. Placing one hand on Kyle’s shoulder, Tameka checked with the others. “Ready? I’m not sure what this fight will be like.”

They took up fighting stances in response.

Empty. So very empty. The well inside Tameka sensed the source in Kyle and tapped in. She tried to sip. Little takings of his life, but the grief in her blamed him for her sorrow. It siphoned his breath away. His heartbeat. His will to live—

All of it gone.

Tameka knew power as Kyle collapsed to the ground.

Sagan and Andrew rushed to his side. “He’s not breathing,” Andrew ground as he clipped fangs into his wrist and held it to Kyle’s lips.

“His systems are recovering. He’ll survive.” Rayne faced Tameka. The wind trailed brunette strands through her lashes, and the woman never blinked. “Are you ready, Tameka?”

Tameka almost didn’t recognize her own voice, “I. Am.”

Rayne ran a circle around the group, leaving several after-burn ghosts of herself. Tameka wanted life. Craved life—

She snatched Rayne by the arm and kicked her in the head before the General blocked the blow.

Sagan whispered, “Hey, Kyle, are you with us?”

“I think I died,” Kyle groaned.

Andrew muttered, “We got you. You’ll be fine.”

Rayne took to the air, and Tameka pursued. Power. Thirst. Life. She shifted quickly into the other woman’s space and speared both hands under the brunette’s ribs.

For the first time that day, Rayne cried out in pain. Then she tilted her head to the side and went all vacant.

Tameka took advantage and aimed another kick to her middle.

Rayne dodged and tapped Tameka on the shoulder before she could blink. “You’re doing great!”

Tameka swung to backhand her, but Rayne clasped her fist. They grappled as the brunette took both of the redhead’s hands. This was it. Tameka’s chance. She opened the well to draw from Rayne.

Utterly. Unpredictable.

Lightning struck them in the air. Rayne’s eyes glowed bright white. Her mouth, nostrils, and ears all suffused with light. It encompassed the entire gorge. A strange, high-pitched whine filled the air.

The energy left Tameka and went into Rayne. Filled the woman like a receptacle. The redhead let go when tears streamed down the brunette’s cheeks; her face contorted in pain.

Sagan cried from below, “Rayne!”

What happened? Did they lose her? “Rayne… Can you hear me?” Tameka sensed something in the other woman. It surged through her like a leviathan gliding under the water’s surface. Like staring into a flare, it fucking hurt staying this close to her best friend. Blood and tears streamed from Tameka’s eyes as she cried, “Rayne?!”

Sagan Seamswalked and snatched Tameka from the air. She tossed the entire Progeny group into the lake. The vacant white space Rayne created receded before they drowned, and Sagan pointed up to the water’s surface. She broke first and, after scanning the area, waved them on.

The Progeny gulped for air and searched for Rayne. Andrew whispered, “She’s on the shore.”

Kyle swam to her. “Are you all right?”

Rayne knelt on one knee with her head hanging low. Her voice sounded so drained as she pleaded, “Don’t come any closer.”

They all exchanged a look. Tameka offered, “It’s okay, girl. It’s better learned here than on the battlefield, right?”

“I almost killed you. I can’t—” She stood and stared at her reflection in the lake. “I have to go.”

Sagan cried, “No, Rayne! Stay—”

Their General disappeared.