Darien lifted his chin as the creature looked him over—as it clinked the claws that were dripping blood. It stared at him for a long time, that gaping mouth lined with stumped teeth.
Darien stared back.
And then he smiled at the demon—at the death god of the Ancient World, eternally starved and bound to this house for the rest of time—as though he were greeting an old friend.
—
Loren’s lungs felt like they were half their size as someone’s breath rattled the earpiece on the headset. There was a muffled curse word, followed by shouting and screaming. Hungry roars and screams of terror vibrated the speakers on the laptop.
A moment later, the four Devils appeared on the camera. They were literallyrunningout the front door of the house, a phantom wind carrying leaves at their heels.
Ivyana tripped over her boots and fell to the ground out front, while the others lurched to unsteady halts and braced their hands on their knees.
Lace’s voice came through the headset, loud and clear now that they were out of that house. “Shit, Maximus,” she wheezed. “What the hell was that?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “But donotgo back in there, you hear me? That’s an order.”
Ivyana flicked on her headset with a wobbling hand. “What about Darien?”
Maximus had nothing to say to that. His expression was torn as he pushed the SUV faster. The engine groaned.
Loren spared a glance out the window. The street sign marking Tulsen flitted by.
They were almost there.
Maximus pulled to a jarring stop behind Lace’s car that was parked a block from the manor. From this distance, Loren could barely see the spires on the house poking above the canopy of the laurel trees dotting the yard. She held her breath as she stared at the camera feed. As she waited with the others to see whether Darien would emerge.
Another two minutes passed before he limped through the front door—alone.
Loren sat up, a choked whimper slipping through her lips at the sight of him, alive and still in one piece. Her fingers loosened on the hem of the hoodie she was grasping in her fists as relief flooded her body.
He was alive. He wasalive.
But the relief that weakened her knees disappeared as she realized Darien’s clothes were soaked with blood, his face and hair spattered with it.
Ivyana’s voice drifted through the camera feed on the laptop as she approached her brother, her every step slow and cautious.
“Darien,” she croaked. “Are you okay?”
“Where is she?” Darien bit out. “Where’s Loren?”
It was Jack who answered. “She’s alive, Dare. She’s safe.”
It took him nearly a full minute to find words. His shoulders were trembling and heaving. “Go on and wait for me in the car.”
Lace’s voice was so quiet, it was nearly inaudible. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I just…” He gave a wave of his hand, the skin of it unmarred.
The mark of the Blood Covenant was gone.
Darien added in a thick voice, “I need a minute.”
The others left at his request and came to wait at the SUV. Max and Tanner lowered their windows to speak to them, the lingering fear they’d felt a tangible thing. Dallas opened her door and scooted toward Loren, so that a breathless and trembling Ivyana could squish onto the seat beside them.
Loren couldn’t tear her eyes off the laptop—off the grainy image of Blackgate Manor. After a moment, everybody else was watching it, too.
On the camera feed, Darien slowly sank to his knees on the front lawn. For a moment, he swayed in place, staring at nothing. And then he pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes and began rocking back and forth. Dead leaves spun around him as he drew up a wall of magic—as he created a sound barrier that would stop anyone from hearing him, Loren realized.
