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Malakai crept into the house first—
A dark shape swung at his head.
The Reaper ducked, that shape nearly taking out Max next.
He reared back right on time, his boot squashing Dallas’s foot.
“Mother trucker!” she exclaimed.
The shape hurtled for the Reaper’s head again—
Malakai dodged the hit. “It’s me, you old fucker!” he hissed.
“And th-that is s-supposed to make me f-feel better?” Erasmus’s voice wavered in the dark. He stood in the foyer, weapon held before him in shaking hands.
Malakai’s hand closed around the broom before Erasmus could swing again. “It’s supposed to make you stop trying to decapitate me!” He forced his way into the foyer, hand still gripping the broom.
Erasmus held onto his end, though he stumbled back as Malakai advanced on him. “Wh-who’s with you?”
Max stepped in, the girls following. He felt for a light switch by the door and flipped it on. Light flooded the foyer, blinding them all for several seconds.
“Relax,” Dallas crooned, wings twitching. “We won’t let the big bullies hurt you.”
Malakai was still gripping one end of the broom. “Can I let go now, or are you going to swing at me again like I’m a fucking flightball?”
“He won’t,” Max said. Erasmus looked his way, breathing heavily, eyes wide behind round glasses that needed cleaning. “He’s already caused enough damage. Haven’t you, Erasmus?”
A beat of silence passed before Erasmus let go. Malakai leaned the broom against the wall—out of reach of Erasmus.
“What made you think I was here to kill you?” Malakai asked, his jaw still flexing with irritation.
“Y-you’re a Darkslayer. It’s your j-job.”
“Fair point.”
He assessed the four of them. “If you’re not here to k-kill me, then what do you w-want? Is Loren—”
“She’s fine,” Max said quickly.
“She’s n-not at the hospital anymore.” None of them said anything. His eyes filled with fresh dread. “Is she—”
“She’s fine, and that’s all you need to know.” Max’s voice was firm. “We’re here because we need you to help us.”
Sabrine stepped forward. “We need to know if you have another necklace like the one you gave to Loren. The Scarlet Star.”
Erasmus’s only answer was a noisy gulp.
“We know it’s a key,” Max added. “And if you care at all about your daughter and the mess you’ve put us all in, you’ll help us find the answers we need.”
Erasmus looked like he was going to throw up, his mouth tightening into a grimace. Max had seen that same look on Loren, back before Darien broke the spell on her.
Footsteps sounded on the carpeted stairs. Cyra appeared, freezing on the third step from the bottom. She wore satin pajamas, her eyes puffy with sleep. She blinked, shielding her eyes against the light—and gaped at the sight of the group in the foyer, and Erasmus cowering against the wall.
“Erasmus?” she said. “Is everything okay?”
Sabrine stepped forward and pulled up an image on her phone—the photograph she’d snapped of the symbol in the library. She showed it to Cyra. “We found this in the library of Angelthene Academy. We need to know—do you have another key?”
Cyra’s hand went to the chain she wore around her neck. Only the top of the chain showed, the rest hidden under her pajama shirt. But she didn’t speak, didn’t remove it.
