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Even with a literal battle happening metres away, with my devil touching me my soul sighedeverything will be okay now.
"Where's your magic, babygirl? I can't feel it in you."
I swallowed and stared into his deep red eyes. "I don't have it," I breathed. "I … I stabbed myself with the glass dagger, and then X took it out of me and—I think he has all the power."
"Which means he can end Eidolon," Dev realised, brushing a slobber-damp strand of pink hair behind my ear. Shit, was I in human form again?
"Hecan't,Dev," I argued, shaking my head—and ducking when something came sailing towards us, fast enough to blur. Dev tucked me into his big body and spun us out of its path.
It took me a moment to realise it was a dark blue wing, torn off at the root. Fuck. Were we losing? And how wereblood-peopleripping wings off our Murkyr demons? What about my cute little teddy bear demons? Ifanyonehad ripped their heads off, I would burn them to ash (just as soon as I got my magic back).
"What do you mean he can't?" Dev barked, his whole expression hardening until he looked a hundred percent the devil he was. Intimidating, powerful, untouchable. My heart beat faster, a little flutter going through my pussy.
"He's traumatised, Dev," I growled—he should haveknownthat—and edged past him to search for weapons. If I didn't have power, I could at least find something stabby. "You didn't see the look on his face when we got trapped with Eidolon. He'sterrified,and I'm not putting him through anything else. So find another way."
"There is no other way," Dev replied—sharper than usual.
Something crumpled in my chest, even though I knew he was stressed, not truly angry at me.
"You're the damn devil," I threw back at him, matching the hardness of his voice. "Find a way."
His eyes narrowed, but he straightened and something trembled through our mate bond. "You're right. I'm the devil—and you're my queen of Hell. We can take him down together. But we need that magic." He lowered his voice, his head dipped closer to me. "I have the sceptre shard, but Eidolon's as much the devil right now as I am. He's a match for me in power."
"But with the orb…"
"Exactly. And the crown is here; I can sense it."
"So we find them," I breathed, stepping over the bricks I'd knocked out of the wall. Golden fur was stuck between the bricks, because of course it was. "The orb got thrown, but I can find it. You steal the crown back and—what?" I asked, my heartbeat quickening at the look he gave me.
"It might not work."
"It will," I argued, wilfully stubborn—and grabbed Dev, shoving him aside when something came hurtling at us, covered in black fire. Oh, it was a head. Of course it was.
"Terrie,no!"Taj yelled, but his order did nothing to stop the giant golden retriever bounding gleefully over the wall to chase the dismembered head like it was a tennis ball.
She leapt past us, retrieved the burning skull, and loped back to Taj to drop it at his feet.
A delirious laugh puffed from my lips when he snapped, "This is not the time for fetch, Slaughter!"
Her wagging tail disagreed.
"The orb got thrownthatway," I told Dev, pointing across the field before I spotted a knife at my feet and pilfered it. "I'll get it. You find the crown. Anddon’tget hurt."
The heavy look he gave me told me he couldn't promise that. But he brushed a quick kiss over my cheek and took a step. I didn't know why he'd paused, didn't understand why he wasn't racing across the field to search for the infernal relics, or why my own heart began pounding at the dread on his face.
The sound began quietly, so low I didn't realise what it was until it grew in volume. And then creepy, jangly music made all the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
I turned slowly, my breathing racing, and scanned the fairground that had been utterly dead seconds ago. Now, lights flashed to life, first on the rides, then the rollercoaster, then the few game booths that were still here, and finally at the source of the music: the hall of mirrors.
I swallowed and gave Dev a panicked look.
"Call your circle," he ordered, his crimson hands curling into fists. "We go in together."
45
Ashudder sent cold slicing from my neck to my tailbone when a voice echoed through the silence, and bright lights flashed around us as we crept towards the house of mirrors. Dev had undone the compulsion keeping X immobile, but he was shaken and pale, his eyes darting around everywhere, waiting for Eidolon to jump out and hurt him again.
I wanted to hold his hand, but my hands were full of weapons and faint magic as we crept up the slope towards the brightly painted house. I jumped closer to him when the voice echoed again, like a creepy nursery rhyme in a horror film.
