The dagger fell, landing with a soft thud.
Nate caught her as her knees gave out, pulling close with one arm despite the pain that must have coursed through his wounded shoulder.
“It’s okay,” he murmured, voice rough. “You’re back, you’re okay.”
She buried her face against his neck, hiding her fear from us. “They were everywhere, and I couldn’t find you guys… You were all gone and I was all alone.”
Malakai exhaled beside me, tension bleeding from his stance. “Clever man,” he muttered.
I pressed a hand against my arm where Ashley had nicked me, the blood warm and bright as my flames cleaned it. But I didn’t feel the sting. I just watched the two of them, my chest tight.
“Let’s get her out of here before the demon tries again,” I whispered.
Air rippled as if the world itself exhaled.
The fog, once a dull grey, pulsed crimson for a heartbeat before splintering apart. Malakai’s head snapped towards the movement at the far end of the square.
“It’s not gone,” he hissed. “It’s angry.”
The sand before us began splitting apart, like a sinkhole. From the ground, something crawled out, tall, skin like red glass, veins glowing orange beneath the surface. Horns curled back from its forehead, and when it smiled, the air shimmered with whispers and half-formed promises, sweet and poisonous.
A temptation demon.
Its voice slid through the air like silk. “So eager to fight, even after I offered her peace. Mortals are such loyal creatures.”
I felt the fire in me rise, answering its mockery. “You should’ve stayed away.”
It laughed. The sound crawled down my spine. “And miss the warmth of your thoughts, little fire? You burn so bright when you’re afraid.”
Before it could move, Malakai was already on it—fast, lethal. His red threads swirling around him slashed against it,meeting infernal flesh. The demon recoiled, hissing, and the world around us flickered again, half illusion, half real. For a heartbeat, I saw dozens of demons closing in, their shapes twisting in the red mist.
“Don’t look!” Malakai shouted. “It will make it easier for it to uphold the illusion.”
I grounded myself, drew in a breath, and let the fire surge. Flames roared to life around my hands, washing the illusions away in bursts of light. The true demon screeched as the fire hit it.
Lionel and Eve took position, Eve’s rifle firing, the shot piercing into the demon’s shoulder, while Lionel’s second shot drove it back a step. Jaden raised a wall of mud to block its counterstrike, and Faelin swept her arms wide, conjuring a whirlwind around us.
Ashley, still shaken, crouched beside Nate. “I can help,” she rasped.
He gave her a faint smile. “Then help me aim.”
Out of his pocket he revealed one of her handmade bombs and together they hurled it forward. It struck true, exploding in a flare of orange flame that tore out a gaping hole in the demon’s chest.
It staggered, orange glow dimming. Malakai pointed his gun dead center and pulled the trigger. The demon screeched in response, the quartz burning into flesh, its color shifting into a dull grey.
“He won’t stop until he has the flame-wielder…”
The threat echoed around us before it collapsed into dust that smoldered briefly as the wind took it.
Silence settled again.
“He? Who’s looking for me?” I panted confused.
“You don’t happen to know any other fire admiring demons?” Jaden joked and I merely glared at him.
Malakai’s jaw ticked, once, twice.
Had the demon spoken of hisfather?
