Page 305 of Sorrow & Strangers

My darkness coils inside me, begging to be set free, to make him scream, and his cry of agony pierces my eardrums in the most delicious way. Mira, distracted by Dimstraeux, doesn’t see her attacker rally. He catches her by surprise when he lunges for her, hitting her so hard she is thrown to the floor, the marble cracking beneath the force with which she was hurled.

“Sum!” Alice calls, and I look around. Rafe’s eyes have gone completely black, and he roars animalistically, and then he’s on his knees, drawing Infernal runes with his blood on the floor.

Tears of black blood trail down Rafe’s cheeks, but then I lose sight of him as hundreds of dark fae appear from portals dotted around the room. They completely swarm me, and I yank my sai free, swinging it, trying to get free.

I feel a sharp slice into my arm, and I scream. As Dimstraeux cackles at my injury, the power shifts in the room again, and I feel him. His silhouette appears between me and the advancing fae, and he holds his hand out to me. I take his hand, and he pulls me in against his chest. I feel his power surge, and everyone within a twenty-foot radius turns to ash.

He looks down at me, and then the remaining vampires are yanked into the air. I gasp and look up, my stomach roiling when I see them hanging from the rafters, their entrails as their own nooses. Vampires slam against the heavy door that was locked the second we entered the room.

“Hello, little fae.”

I pant and look up at him, leaning against his solid form. “Stranger.”

He tenses, and a moment later, I sense the dark power. I look over his shoulder and clutch at his arms when I see Lucifer speaking with Rafe. As I watch, Lucifer brushes some blood off of a kneeling Rafe’s face.

“When did he⁠—”

Mira releases another blood-curdling scream as a vampire stabs her in the chest. Lucifer lifts his hand, and the vampire stills, shaking as if in enormous pain. Rafe looks at Mira and then up at Lucifer. The King of Hell smiles at his heir and snaps his fingers.

The stranger wraps his arms tighter around me, pulling me deeper into the shelter of his body. The stifling power of the dark fae is suddenly ousted, and the veil they were using to access this realm snaps closed before anyone else can come through. Vampires shriek as they burst into black flame, and the room quakes beneath the power it is struggling to contain.

Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Seven

Rafe

It all happens so fast. I know battles rage in the blink of an eye, that you survive on instinct, training, and luck. The moment the sword of hellfire forms in my hand, I fall back into the lessons my father hammered into me, his instructions echoing through my head with each swing. But they are ready for us, ready for Summer, ready for Alice. It is a trap made to divide, and we fall for it.

Make a deal, and I’ll save your sisters and your mate. I only ask . . .

This time, the voice in my head isn’t the demon but Uncle Lu himself. Most demons would be horrified to hear the king, but I feel only relief.

My fingers barely shake when I draw the Infernal runes to call him, so sure that this is the only way to victory, the only path forward. Uncle Lu’s presence descends like a veil over the throne room, and vampires scramble to get out of his range. He smirks and snaps his fingers, and their bodies explode, painting the room in blood and viscera.

Uncle Lu doesn’t kill like the stranger, who leaves only ash and dust. He kills to send a message, and he does so with a single snap of his fingers. He wants to leave remains and proof of the carnage he so enjoys. The devil is in the details, as he so often said to me.

“I’ll see you soon, sweet boy,” Uncle Lu says, brushing a lock of my hair back and giving me a small smile. For a moment his eyes seem almost sad, but I blink and the expression is gone. Only those close to him are allowed to see that side of him.

Hellfire leaves a ring of Infernal runes on the floor as he vanishes, leaving us surrounded by the carnage of the battle. The blood of the slain vampires is already encroaching on the Infernal runes, covering the markings. It doesn’t matter. The deal is made, and there is no going back now.

I struggle to my feet, my body aching. “M-Mira?”

Her screams still echo through my head. I knew those sounds. I’d heard them often enough in Hell when I used to fight in the pits. It was right above the torture chamber of the depraved, where Lilithim devour the sins of those condemned. It was a scream of death. I shouldn’t have asked her to come with me to Drãculea. This is all my fault. I limp to her and drop to my knees at her side, pulling her head into my lap. They’d torn into her with claws, rending her flesh from her right shoulder, across her chest to the dip of her waist. She is soaked in blood, her breathing labored and shallow.

“Hey, I’m here. I got you, Mira.”

They knew exactly where to strike each of us. They summoned the dark fae for Summer, not only to distract her but Alice as well. Her innate protectiveness of her best friend hadn’t gone unnoticed. They divided me from my mate and made her scream so the demon would make me careless. I couldn’t get to her, no matter how I tried.

If the stranger hadn’t appeared to handle the dark fae, and Uncle Lu to take care of the remaining vamps, we wouldn’t have left this room alive. Worse, that power I felt Summer summoning when the dark fae appeared could have been unleashed. The demon wanted it and was eager to revel in the darkness she would sweep over the realm, over every realm.

I scan Mira’s injuries, letting out a howl at the severity of her wounds. The slash across her chest was the biggest one, but she had countless others. I hear Summer call my name and run toward me. My hands tremble as I grab the obsidian dagger and cut into my arm. Dipping my fingers into the blood, I start to draw Infernal runes on Mira. They are the only runes that will work for me, but I don’t know if they will work on Mira. Maybe Infernal only heals demons? Fuck, why didn’t I study more about it? The only thing I really know about Infernal is what I’ve learned from watching Summer.

Summer kneels next to me and gently slides her finger over one of my wounds. Gathering my blood, she sketches much more complex runes onto Mira’s pale skin. I want to thank her, but my throat is clogged with emotion. Mira can’t die.

“Rafe. Summer,” the stranger calls, his voice sounding far away. “I can heal her.”

I snarl at him, continuing to focus on the Infernal runes, but my rune work is sloppy, and the runes are not sitting right. Even when I’m mimicking Summer’s sharp lines perfectly, it doesn’t work for me.

“Rafael,” Summer says, covering one of my hands. “Let him help.”