Page 128 of Demon Touched

Which is true, really, so I don’t have a good response.

“What do we do now?” Filippa asks.

“Now we wait,” Hodges says. “And keep an eye out for anything hitting the ground that might be particularly valuable.”

I glance at Filippa, expecting her to find this morbid, but she’s watching the battle with an analytical stare.

“Is it always like this?” she asks after a few minutes. “I mean, I’ve only seen the Brigade in action once before, but that time, it didn’t seem so…intense.”

I study the battle playing out, quickly realizing what she means. The Brigade are fighting like—well—demons. I’m not seeing the precision and neat tactics I expected. Instead, it’s more like a roiling horde of golden armor and flashing white lightning. It’ll surely lead to the soldiers burning out sooner, but right now the ephilium are like a wild flame, flaring as fiercely as it can.

“You’re right,” I say. “The Aradis troops are pissed.”

“It’s got to be because of the coup,” Filippa theorizes. “This is their first battle since then. If the seraphim still think Infernum was involved in orchestrating it, they’ll want to make them pay.”

It’s a smart assessment, typical for Filippa, but before I can say that, something catches my eye.

“That’s new,” I say. “What is it?”

Hodges follows my finger, squinting. “What?”

“That hummock—it looks like dirt’s been dug up there.” The landscape of this battlefield is constantly changing—new craters formed from weapons blasts and soldiers on either side falling out of the sky—but this seems different. Planned.

“I don’t see anything,” Hodges says.

I’m confused for a beat until it dawns on me that maybe he can’t see it. My eyesight has gotten sharper like my hearing, after all.

Before I can ask Filippa if she sees it too, there’s a rush of air behind us, and I whip around, only to see a certain demon lord has joined us.

“What are you doing here?” I ask Syrus as Hodges and Filippa both straighten up beside me. Filippa seems wary, but Hodges looks terrified, his eyes darting from me to Syrus and back again.

Syrus holds out his hands. “Your note said you were going to visit your scavenger friend, and then I heard the bells ringing, and I thought that maybe you’d go to the walls for old times’ sake.”

By now, I should be used to Syrus knowing these little things about me—being able to read me when I least expect it. I turn to my friends.

“Filippa, you’ve not met Syrus properly, so let me introduce you. Hodges, you always wanted to see the Lord of Malice in person, right? Well, today’s your lucky day.”

Hodges makes a choking noise, while Filippa just nods at Syrus. After everything I told her earlier, she’s better prepared for this meeting, even if she still looks cautious.

“Nice to meet you face-to-face at last, Hodges,” Syrus says smoothly, stepping forward to offer the scavenger his hand. “I hope you put that gold of mine to good use.”

I glare at Syrus. Neither Hodges nor Filippa are aware that Syrus has watched both of them before, inside my head. There’s no non-creepy way to mention it, so instead, Syrus has decided to have a little fun by bringing up some Infernum gold I gave to Hodges for doing me a favor a few months ago.

“Be nice,” I say firmly to him, as Hodges splutters a little.

“Well done for taking such good care of Leah’s cousin,” he says, giving me a look that asks, nice enough? Then he leans around Hodges and smiles at Filippa. “It’s good to see you’re on the mend.”

“Thank you,” Filippa says slowly, still unsure.

As entertaining as this is to watch, I find my eye drawn back to that hummock out on the plains.

It’s just a dark pile of dirt amid miles of gouged earth, maybe eight feet wide at most. It shouldn’t hold my attention, but there’s just something about it. My gut twists in an ugly way as I examine it.

“What is it?” Syrus asks, noticing my distraction. I point again.

“Filippa, do you see it? That hump in the ground?”

“Yes,” she frowns. “And now you mention it, it’s giving me a weird feeling.” She glances up at the soldiers clashing in the air. “Like something is about to go very wrong.”