I groaned the moment he closed the doors behind him, dropping my head back into my hands.
The day was only beginning.
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
RONEN
My Dreads and I trudged through the slush of Hoar Hollow and split up into pairs, knocking on residents’ doors. We entered the homes of blood-banded and souls, searching through every room for a portal, a runed doorway, any kind of evidence to show us where the demons were coming from. The majority obliged without issue, but some put up a fight despite Lucifer’s orders.
After the first line of homes, we regrouped, and all my Dreads reported the same thing—nothing.
I sighed. “Break up and continue searching. We’ll meet back here in two hours.”
My Dreads dispersed, leaving me with my second and third.
“Well, this would be a bust if that gorgeous female hadn’t asked for a date,” Alexei commented with a smirk.
“You know, Lex, with how much you get around, I’m surprised any ladies want todateyou,” MJ countered.
“Let’s go. Today isn’t over yet,” I said, leading them out of the Upper City and toward the edge of the Lower City.
“Ronen.” Alexei nodded ahead.
“I see it.”
We stopped in front of an unremarkable corner house—same shingles, shutters, muted colors, snow-covered roof. Even the light post matched the ones lining the street behind us. But unlike the others, this one was lit.
It didn’t seem significant—not at first. Hell’s skies were always weary and gray, the sun hiding like it knew the sinful here didn’t deserve its warmth. But in the Lower City, where souls outnumbered the blood-banded, lamplight was a luxury. They had to pay to keep them burning, and even then, it typically only lasted through the night.
I walked up the stone steps and knocked on the door.
No answer.
I knocked again, refraining from pounding in case I alerted them.
Nothing.
I tried the doorknob. Locked.
“MJ,” I said, nodding her over.
She slid next to me, grabbing the knob. Red and orange flames swarmed her hand, heating the metal. Slowly, after a few minutes, the knob melted, oozing down the wood and letting us in. I eased the door open, staring into a long, dim hallway. I silently signaled them to assume formation, search, and follow. Alexei positioned himself at myback, and MJ almost entered first, but I gripped her shoulder, forcing her behind me.
We crept past an empty living room and down a hallway of closed doors. A sickly, rotten scent crawled into my nose and mouth. Death resided here. I turned around, motioning for them to stay alert. They nodded.
I sent out my shadows. They slithered through the door cracks and searched ahead for heat signatures. There were none on the first floor. I was about to send them upstairs when the smell became cloying.
Stopping, I surveyed the door to my left. The only thing out of place was the blood leaking beneath it. I motioned for MJ to open it, knowing nothing living was on the other side. She twisted the handle, and the door creaked as she pushed it. Decay shoved into my lungs, begging me to cover my nose, and we laid eyes on four dead blood-banded.
Each body showed different states of the demon infection. A couple had razor teeth, and one had horns. But what they all had in common were the black veins and chunks of skin sliding off their bodies in a slurry of red and black blood.
“Did the infection kill them?” Alexei whispered.
“Yes. Just like it did Bonny,” I answered.
“So blood-banded don’t survive the infection.”
