“Shapeshifters,” Faelin hissed, forming a barrier of swirling gales that was meant to slow approaching enemies. “They’re copying her of all people?”
Another shape lunged at Lionel and Ashley tackled it to the ground, leaving a bomb with it as she threw herself to the side. The charge went off soon after, a bright burning light before the boom. The blast evaporated three of them, but five more rose from the dust, each one a distortion of someone we knew.
One wore my face.
My pulse was roaring in my ears. I felt my threads twitch before I meant for them to, sharp as razors, drawn to the smell of demonic blood. They flared red in the gloom, slicing through the copy-cat in a single violent motion.
“Malakai!” Lionel’s voice cut through the chaos. “Control it!”
I couldn’t. The power surged, a living snarl, threads whipping through air and demon alike. My weave of threads grew, devouring a larger and larger area around me. The forest floor splattered with black blood, absorbed by the dirt on contact.
Ashley grabbed my arm mid-swing. “Hey, hey! Save some for the rest of us!”
Her hand burned where it met mine, but she didn’t release her grip.
“Let go,” I growled.
“Not a chance.” She yanked a dagger free with her other hand, slashing a demon that got too close. “If you lose it now, we’ll all die before we find her.”
Eve cursed from her vantage point, firing into the darkness. “He’s going to bring the whole damned army down on us!”
“Let him,” Ashley shot back. “At least something’shappening.”
Lionel was beside me then, his rifle forgotten, one hand braced against my shoulder. “Malakai, look at me.”
I tried, but the demon inside of me didn’t like being commanded by others or ignored by me.
“She’s alive.” Lionel’s voice was steady. “But she won’t recognize you if you walk in there like this.”
His words hit harder than a blow. For a moment, I saw her, the way she’d looked the night before she vanished, laughing at something Ashley had said, firelight reflecting in her hair.
The threads stilled, just for a breath.
Something big crashed out of the trees, a shadow demon, limbs too long, teeth glinting wet. Nate shouted a warning, pulling Faelin down as it swept its claws where her head hadbeen. Jaden brought the ground up under it, spikes of stone impaling its long legs, but the thing kept coming, breaking the rock as it screeched.
I felt a sudden pain, unbearable and crushing. It clung like a disease, but it wasn’t mine.Herblood was pumping faster, scorching. Had she been hurt?
I stopped thinking.
The blood threads lashed forward, wrapping around the demon’s throat and I yanked.
The head came apart in a matter of seconds, my power cutting it off like blades. The rest of its body crumbled, black ichor spraying like fireworks, splashing all of us.
Silence followed, heavy and horrified. Even the fog seemed to still in dread.
Eve lowered her rifle slowly. “Tell me again why we trustthat?”
Faelin didn’t speak, but her magic coiled defensively, the air humming faintly around her.
Nate forced a laugh, thin and shaky. “Because without him, we’d all be wall decorations right now.”
Lionel didn’t answer. He just looked at me, the way people look at a storm, knowing they can’t stop it, only steer clear of it.
Ashley finally let go of my arm. “Next time,” she said, unexpectedly soft. “Aim away from the team, yeah?”
I looked at the blood still glistening on the threads, felt them tremble, alive and eager. With effort, I drew them back in. My arms hurt, every line of my demonic markings stinging like a cut. It was a sign; I was going mad, and my blood was thrilled by it, fighting against the cage I had crafted for it for so long.
“I told you,” I said quietly, trying to take deep breaths. “I’m not stopping until I find her.”
