One
BECKS
The floorboard beneath me creaks, loud as a gunshot in the stillness. Talon glances over his shoulder, and I tamp down the impulse to return his sharp look with a one-finger salute.
It’s not like I did it on purpose. At six-two and over two-hundred and twenty pounds, I’m not exactly a small guy. Stepping lightly isn’t my strong suit, especially in a place this old, where creaky floorboards are a given. In fact, with the busted-out windows, dust-covered cobwebs, and sagging ceiling, I’m shocked this building hasn’t been demolished yet.
Talon is almost as large as I am, yet somehow moves like a ghost through the crumbling building. But whatever. I wasn’t raised in a shady secret society like he was or trained to be a shadow. Invisible. As the former dragon heir, I was groomed to stand out. To be seen and heard. To command attention and respect. Not slip through the darkness unnoticed.
This cloak-and-dagger stuff? It’s all new to me.
Talon tips his chin toward the room at the end of the hallway, and I nod in return. With my enhanced senses, I smell the blood too. I scented it the moment we reached this floor, and it chills me because of what it probably means.
Another dead girl.
We take careful steps forward, readying ourselves for whatever we may face in that room. We’re not carrying any weapons. We don’t need any.
We are the weapons.
Even though Talon doesn’t use his magic often, I grudgingly admit he’s still a force. I get why he’s stingy with it. He was taught to hide what he is from an early age, and that kind of conditioning sticks. But I think it’s a mistake. Our magic gives us an edge, especially in the human world. It’s the exact reason why Talon and I are the first ones to step into the line of danger. Kade and the other humans in the Silent Order are formidable, but not the way we are.
I draw my power to the surface, holding it taut, ready to unleash a blast of fire should we finally come face-to-face with the entity we’ve been tracking for weeks.
The demon.
The monster that’s left a bloody trail of female corpses all over the country.
The scent of blood intensifies as we near the room, stealing any remaining hope that we made it in time to save someone’s life. The door is cracked, and Talon moves cautiously forward, slipping inside. I follow close behind, alert to every sound and movement.
Talon stiffens at the same time I spot the figure in the middle of the space.
I lock up too, hit by a mix of dread and horror.
The hair. The eyes. The petite build. The delicate features. Even the smattering of freckles across her blood-splattered face.
She’s familiar.
For a moment, I can’t breathe. All I see is Locklyn lying in a pool of her own blood, her guts ripped out and yanked from her body, strewn about the room in a chaotic sprawl that looks more like a slaughterhouse than a crime scene.
Then I blink and it’s not her, just someone with similar features and coloring.
A shameful wave of relief hits me, loosening my muscles and making them weak.
Trying to shove Locklyn from my mind, I focus on what’s true.
Finding the dead girl means the demon hasn’t found Locklyn’s sister yet. Because if it had, she’d still be alive. At least for now. It needs her too badly to kill her just yet.
But that doesn’t bring me any comfort, only rage. Because a girl still died. Needlessly.
There’s no joy to be found here. No real silver lining.
Even as my skin heats and ash taints the air from my faltering control, a cold creeps through the room.
My gaze cuts to Talon. You wouldn’t know he’s affected by looking at him. His expression is almost clinical as he surveys the room and the dead girl at our feet, but the chill in the air betrays him. His ice dragon powers slip through.
And I know exactly why.
It’s the same reason I’m struggling to keep my magic tamped down as well: the girl’s resemblance to Locklyn. More so than any of the others. She looks so much like Locklyn she could pass as her sister, maybe even her twin.
