I nod, saying nothing.
“You’re… different.” A whisper comes from Onyx beside me. Too close.
She’s staring, scanning my whole body from head to toe, or rather, head to my hideous pink heels.
I frown. Her gem-dark eyes flicker red when they meet mine, but it vanishes so fast I can’t even be sure I saw it.
No. Not going to ask. Maybe they’re all haunted.
Maybe they reallydidcrawl out of hell. And I’m not about to be the girl who asks too many questions and dies first.
Nope.
“Bay, we’ll be at the other end, instructing the men. Novax started moving,” Pedro calls out, passing the SUV as the others head deeper into the alley.
Only Malec turns to look at me—for half a second—before vanishing with them into the blinding early morning light.
I shift, uncomfortable under Onyx’s stare. She’s leaning in like I’m a zoo animal, and she’s the annoying kid poking it with a stick.
Before I can say anything, her hands snap to my throat.
She squeezes so hard I can’t breathe. Her eyes are glowing red again—this time blazing—as she glares at me with fury carved deep into her face.
I claw at her arms, gasping, choking, my vision going blurry. Somethingburnsat my neck, sharp and searing, and I try to scream, but my voice barely escapes.
I think I hear Bay screaming something, but my pulse is pounding too loud to focus. Tears run down my cheeks.
“You hurt my brother! You took him from me—so now I’ll take your life,” a deep man voice growls through her.
But it’s not hers.
It can’t be.
I’m seconds from meeting my death when I’m suddenly shoved backward. My spine slams the pavement, and I suck in a shaky breath, coughing so hard my lungs burn. The sharp pain at my neck makes me cry out.
I think my hand is bleeding from the land, but I can’t evenfeelit yet.
“We treated your chosen one like our own, and this is how you repay us?” Bay’s voice booms as she steps in front of me, shielding me.
My vision sharpens just enough to make out Onyx.
She’s glowing.
Red.
Her entire body flickers like fire, her eyes burning. Haunted. Possessed. And then, the same man voice rumbles from her mouth again.
“She hurt my chosen one’s brother—she does not get to choose life.”
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in.
My heart slams in my chest as I drag myself backward, scraping along the pavement with every step thatthingtakes toward me.
And then—just when I think it can’t get worse—Bay’s body glows bright purple.
A white light spirals from her chest.
I lift my head in horror just in time to see it.
