The scent of scorched air and blood clung to us.
Lionel finally lowered his rifle, scanning the empty ruins. “No more movement, we’re safe, for now.”
Eve brushed a few strands of hair back. “If there were others, they’re gone, considering our display.”
Malakai studied his gun before putting it back into his holster. “It was alone,” he said. “A scout, maybe, temptation demons don’t fight unless they have to. It was testing us.”
The words shook me.
Testing us, watching… It had been sent by someone who was looking forme.
I looked around the village, the half-collapsed houses, the dry fountain, the traces of claw marks along the stones. It didn’tfeelempty.
Only quiet, as if the whole place was abandoned to simply play the part of a larger trap.
Jaden kicked at a pebble, forcing a grin that didn’t reach his eyes. “So, what now? We call it clear and get the hell out before something uglier crawls out of the dirt?”
I shook my head. “Not yet, if we leave now and there’s still something here, the reinforcements coming after us could walk into the same trap.”
Malakai glanced at me, a flicker of disapproval behind his red eyes. “You want to stay another night inthis?”
“Yes,” I said firmly. “We sweep every corner, every cellar and every ruin. After that, we can leave with proof, not assumptions.”
He exhaled through his nose, but there was a faint curl of a smile. “Stubborn as ever.”
I met his gaze. “You wouldn’t love me otherwise.”
That earned a low chuckle from Nate, who was still sitting with Ashley beside the shattered fountain. She was pale, exhausted, but her eyes were clear again. “You’re really planning to sleep here again?” she asked, voice sharp.
“I don’t plan to sleep much,” I said. “We rotate watches and stick together. No wandering off.”
Lionel nodded. “Agreed. I’ll take first.”
Eve stepped beside him, tightening the strap of her rifle. “I’ll take it with you.”
He blinked at her but didn’t argue.
We gathered what we could, reset our perimeter around the least broken building near the square.
As we moved to search the area again, I caught a flicker of something, movement, far off near the edge of the fog. When I turned, there was nothing.
Only the wind whispering through the ruins.
Still, the unease wouldn’t leave me. Malakai noticed, he stepped close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating off him. “It’s dead,” he said softly. “Whatever’s left out there, it won’t come for us again.”
But the way his eyes flicked towards the fog said otherwise.
I forced a nod. “Let’s make sure of it.”
CHAPTER
25
The ceiling above had holes in it, but the cold outside was worse, so we huddled close, the night pressing at our edges like a sentient shadow.
No one spoke for a while. The demon’s ashes were long scattered, but its presence still clung to the air, sour and heavy.
Finally, Lionel broke the silence.
