10. Demon

10

DEMON

I reached my mate’s side with a speed that would have rivaled that damn vampire, scooping her away from him and nestling her in my arms. But her screams didn’t stop. Her body began to seize and spasm, her vampire strength giving her convulsions such force that they nearly threw her from my grasp.

“What the fuck is this?” Clay cried. “What’s wrong with her?”

Lars stared with horror, wordless.

I, too, was beyond my ability to speak.

But words would not be needed to kill that which harmed my mate.

Holding her close, I raked eyes over the forest. Something was out there. I could not smell it. Could not hear it.

But it was here somewhere.

“Cas, help her,” Clay begged. “Please!”

The vampire extended his hands toward my mate. I started to snarl.

Don’t you fucking dare, the broken one snapped.

I snarled at him instead.

“This…” The vampire’s eyes went from my mate to the forest and back. “It’s fighting me. I cannot protect her and locate the source at the same…” He swore, dropping his hands. “Perhaps Byron can?—”

I did not wait for more. Beating my wings hard, I took to the air. The scholar had abandoned the clearing some time ago, the moment it became apparent what was about to occur with my mate. Whether he realized that it was his own suppressed desires that had been the catalyst for the intensity of my mate’s need and the other men’s reactions, I could not tell. Perhaps that was why he had resisted allowing his magic to touch her in the first place, never mind that such opposition was foolish. His spell never would have worked that way.

Yeah, and what about your part in it, huh? the broken one snapped, contempt thick in his voice.

I swatted at him in my mind. He wanted to place blame? He, who thought himself capable of taking control of my body and stopping me from claiming my mate when she lay before me, ready and willing?

Willing? the broken one’s voice was a roar of rage, his fury burning as hot as my flames. She was under the influence of magic, you primitive son of a bitch! You saw her face, and I damn well know you smelled her confusion. Her body wasn’t fully under her control, which meant no, that didn’t count as fucking willing ! But could you bother to care about that? No, you were still going to rut her like a damn animal !

I growled, but his words still stung. She… yes, fine, had possessed a hint of confusion in her scent. And her eyes flickered with worry. But perhaps that was for him and how he’d tried to take control rather than let us lay together.

Except… what if it hadn’t? What if I had been mistaken yet again?

Shame began to gnaw at my belly.

The broken one continued, his voice scathing. The minute she’s safe, you’re done, you hear me? We’re done. We can’t be trusted near her. Not if you can’t respect her like she deserves.

That drew another snarl from me. Like hell he’d keep me from my mate.

In my arms, she twisted again, agony on her face.

Dammit, fly faster, you ? —

I shoved him down hard. I’d had enough of him. Of all of this. I knew what needed to happen. The scholar had likely fled to the camp after leaving the clearing. That was miles from here, but I was fast. I would reach it in moments.

And there, the scholar would cast spells to stop her pain while I hunted down the source of her suffering, because whatever harmed my mate would die. Bloody. In pieces.

And then I would kill it again for good measure.

The black blur of the vampire shot through the forest below. Some distance back, the twins ran, leaping logs and tearing through branches, moving fast even if their top speed was no match for my own.

In my arms, the princess’s struggles slowed, but one glance told me it was not because her invisible assailant had fled in fear. Her skin held the bloodless pallor of death. Her breaths were as weak as a dying breeze.

This was killing her.

I roared, rage and fear pounding through me. No, she would not die. I would hunt down and kill the threat to her first, and then everyone would be grateful. They would understand they did not need to protect her from me. That they did not need to pull her away, encouraging her to retreat to supposed safety when I was inches from filling her sweet pussy with my cum. My mate would forgive my mistakes in the clearing, the broken one would leave me be, and then everything would be all right.

Deep inside, the broken one glared at me, believing none of that.

To hell with him. This was his fault as much as anything. How, I was uncertain, but surely he also shared blame for?—

A gray and brown blur raced through the forest, coming this way, with a cloud of black smoke on its heels. The creature was larger than my mate’s men, with horns on its head and the body of a wolf, but running on two legs.

The beast-man and that shadow mutt.

At the sight of me, the beast let out a howl. Bloodthirsty threat was in the sound. Promises of torturous retribution from which the escape of death would be a mercy.

He thought I did this?

He was a fool.

Another convulsion rolled through my mate. In the forest below, the beast stumbled, crashing into the undergrowth like his legs had gone out from beneath him. The smoke-wolf swirled around him, shoving him back upright. But still the beast’s howl turned anguished, a cry of horror for my mate’s pain.

But I would save her. I would fix this. He would be grateful because I would?—

My enemy raced over the horizon.

A snarl tore from me, my fangs bared. In a wave of black ink, the twisted magic coursed through the ground like poison racing along the earth’s veins.

And it was coming for us.

For her .

The camp came into sight below. The fragile humans were on their feet, staring around, and a shout went up when they spotted me. My roar must have reached even their small and dull ears. But near the side of the clearing closest to where the beast-man had run into the forest, the one called Dex stood, his sword drawn. The scholar was nearby, his bag of magical tricks gripped tightly in one hand and his weapon clutched in the other, as if he hadn’t been able to decide whether magic or metal was needed.

Swiftly, I dove to the earth. All around the camp, the horses went mad, rearing and making their annoying, shrill noises of fear. I did not care for those creatures. They became twitchy when the broken one went near them.

But now the horses’ fear was not for me.

They knew something was coming too.

At the sight of Gwyneira, Byron immediately dropped his sword and raced toward me. “What happened? Where is everyone else?”

The vampire flew into the clearing. Coalescing into solid form without ever slowing his pace, the vampire ran toward us.

“Do you feel that, scholar?” he called. “The threat on the horizon?”

Byron looked around quickly, confusion on his face. “Feel…” His face went slack with horror. “Oh gods.”

Dex wasted no time with questions. “Demon, get the princess to the carriage. Byron, Casimir, do whatever it takes to help her. General! We’ve got to move!”

A dark-haired woman nodded once at his words and then began shouting orders at the humans. I liked that one. She was efficient, and she made my treluria happy in some way I couldn’t quite define.

Like a friend, you idiot, the broken one snapped from deep inside. The word is friend .

Damn him! How was it he was still here, even after I shoved him away? And on top of that, now the vampire and scholar were coming toward me as if to take my mate from my arms. That would not happen. I was the demon. I could protect her better than those two ever could—and certainly better than some foolish box of wood on wheels.

And if whatever the fuck that is tries to attack her physically? the broken one argued furiously. The carriage could take the blows instead of her.

I growled. How dare he delay me, then?

I strode for the carriage.

The ground began to rumble before I made it three steps. I dug my feet into the dirt, fighting to stay upright while humans shouted and my mate writhed, short and sharp noises of agony escaping her.

I would kill this. I would burn it to ash for the pain it caused.

And then I would hunt down the gods and burn them too for allowing her a moment of suffering.

The beast-man rushed into the clearing, that irritating shadow dog beside him. Humans began panicking yet again at the sight of them, but the beast-man shifted quickly. Rage on his face, he strode toward me. The ground became steadier the closer he came, as if he was stabilizing it even in his fury.

“What did you—” he started.

“The demon did not cause this,” the vampire interrupted.

He defended me?

I did not trust that.

The beast-man looked barely mollified. “Then what the hell is happening to—” Cutting off, he whirled quickly, staring to the east.

In the distance, my superior vision caught how the ground began to crack. Fissures ran through the rocks and soil like tree roots were ripping through the earth.

Casimir’s senses were adequate enough to allow the vampire to spot the damage a moment after I did. A curse in another language slipped from him before he spun to me, shouting, “Forget the carriage! Fly!”

How dare the vampire give me orders like a?—

Fucking fly, you idiot! the broken one shouted so loudly in my mind that my wings beat the air like his fury had propelled their motion.

How had he?—

FLY!

I snarled as my wings spasmed again. To hell with them both. I would fly, but only because it was what I would have chosen to do anyway.

Beating my wings hard, I took to the air again, cradling my mate in my arms. On the far end of the clearing, the twins raced into view, breathing hard and smudged with dirt from their desperate attempt to catch up to me.

But even though I lifted my mate away from the earth, she continued writhing as if attempting to escape her pain.

Furious, I turned my eyes to the east again. Whoever cast this magic to torment her would beg me for death by the time I was through.

The fissures were fools, though. They underestimated my power, continuing to race closer like deranged arrows seeking their target, darting left and right across the terrain with every passing second.

But they weren’t like those the broken one had seen before, when the foul Voidborn tried to enter this reality to unleash their destruction. This time, gnarled vines shot up from the darkness within the cracks, twisting and thickening with unnatural speed until they became trunks and branches.

Trees, but not like those in the rest of the forest. These reached for the sky as if they were diseased hands, their branches clawing like the fingers of the damned. Sickly leaves sprouted from their mottled bark, each encrusted with virulent pustules that steamed in the cold air.

The vampire-angel muttered another curse when he spotted the diseased trees as well. “All of you!” His arm sliced the air as he gestured. “Run!”

The humans looked around in confusion, as if uncertain whether to obey Casimir’s orders. But the giants had no such trouble. Immediately, they ran for the horses. But while Dex hauled his panicking animal around and swung up onto its back like he was accustomed to handling a horse on the verge of bolting, the others struggled.

I growled in frustration. The men were not familiar with how to control those infernal, braying creatures. Neither was I, but that would not have slowed me. The horses would have obeyed me or died.

That’s not fucking helpful, the broken one pointed out testily. But the horses will run from us if we come close or use any fire, so stay away.

He was infuriating . Surely he could see that the men needed to move? The cracks were coming closer. And while I wouldn’t have cared previously, these men were less annoying than most.

Besides, my princess would be upset if the giants and the vampire died.

One by one, most of the giants managed to clamber onto the beasts, until only Clay remained struggling.

“Here!” On a massive horse built like it was intended for war, the dark-haired woman charged toward Clay.

Valeria, the broken one snapped. Her name is Valeria, dammit. I know these names.

What was that supposed to mean?

The one called Valeria reached a hand down to Clay and then shifted her position on the horse so that he could scramble onto the large creature. “You heard the Zeniryan king!” she shouted to the humans. “Move!”

The humans and giants took off, while the vampire and that infuriating shadow mutt did the same. Beating my wings, I held my princess close and cast another glance at our approaching enemy. The fissures were moving faster now, slicing the earth like lightning bolts.

But as the fleeing horses ran, the cracks split off. As if guided by a powerful hand, the jagged lines moved to cut off any escape.

In my arms, the princess gasped, her body spasming like those tears were actual lightning striking her.

The fissures encircled the humans and giants. The horses reared and whinnied, sending several riders toppling to the ground. Trees shot up from the cracks, growing at high speed.

Their branches wove together, forming a net between me and the people below.

A furious roar tore from my throat, echoed by the beast-man as he stared up through the branches at the princess in my arms. But he needn’t have worried. I would burn these impudent trees. I would scorch them from the earth itself for daring to?—

The branches began to change.

Against my chest, the princess whimpered as if too weak to even cry out anymore.

Like bulging, jaundiced eyes glaring up at us, round growths swelled to life between the rot-encrusted leaves. As yellow as a pus-filled wound, they grew until they were the size of a human man’s fist.

And then their surface changed. Darkening to bloody red, they glistened brighter than the forest around them and steamed in the cold night air like they were heated from the inside.

Oh, gods, the broken one breathed in my mind.

What? I demanded silently, before snarling at myself for how ridiculous it was to respond at all. I didn’t need his input.

He answered anyway. Apples. Like in the forest where the queen killed her.

His memories rose, playing out like a nightmare. The snowy slopes of a mountain range. A desperate attempt to escape the queen’s pursuit. A forest like death, where decaying red spheres clung to leafless gray trees, rotting before our eyes and plunking to the earth like globs of filth.

But in those brief moments when she’d been beyond our sight, the princess had taken one of them. Eaten one of them.

And died.

Rage coursed through me, hotter than the fire that lived inside my veins. The world would burn before I let anything take her away. And if Death itself thought to visit her again, I would prove that even that could not survive me .

“Swords at the ready!” Valeria called to the humans. “Jakob, Erlek, take the lead and?—”

She cut off as suddenly, a crooning sound rose. It twisted around us, seeming to come from everywhere. Soft and gentle and soothing, it used no words as it promised that now, oh yes now, everything was fine. Peaceful. Safe.

I flinched, confused. How could that be true? Moreover, my ears swore I was not actually hearing a thing. No, this strange melody spoke to me like the broken one. Like it was in my mind. Yet it was not him.

Maybe that was fine too…

Air spilled from my wings, dropping me closer to the branches before I could stop myself. But I didn’t need to worry about that, the crooning sound whispered. All threats were gone now. It was safe to come down among the trees. Nothing would hurt me.

Beneath the interwoven branches, several humans slipped from their horses, moving like they were in a dream. In fits and starts, Ozias tried to shift back into his beast, but he failed, his body seeming to resist obeying his command. Appearing dazed, he shook his head hard as if attempting to dispel a persistent bug buzzing around his ears.

Like a man with numbed limbs, Byron fumbled for his bag. “Don’t…” He grunted, struggling with something. “Don’t lis— Gods…”

Nearby, Casimir dropped to his knees, gasping in air. His shadow dog paced around him, the creature’s infuriating snarling discordant amid the crooning, making the beast even more irritating than normal.

No, the broken one gasped as if he was struggling too. Listen to Ruhl. Focus on him.

Why would I pay attention to that annoying mutt?

Because this is a lie. The broken one’s voice was a distant whisper now, nearly drowned beneath the lullaby. Air spilled from my wings again, dropping us down until we were only a few feet above the trees. It’s a ? —

His whisper turned to wordless choking, as if even he couldn’t keep speaking over this sound.

But why should I care? Everything was fine now.

More air spilled from my wings. My claws were only inches from the trees, and it would only take a small flex of my muscles to grasp one of the glistening apples perched high in the branches.

And they would taste wonderful. I knew that, even without the crooning noise murmuring such promises. I would be fine if I landed on these silly little trees. I could relax now. I didn’t need to fight or protect the girl in my arms anymore. I could just let her go.

I jerked my foot away from the tree branch. Wait, this… this noise would dare to tell me not to protect my mate?

I scoffed. That was a mistake.

My lips pulled back from my fangs and a low growl rumbled through my chest. The broken one was right. This was a lie. Nothing on this earth could tell me that I should not defend my treluria. Especially not when she was curled silently in my arms, her eyes squeezed shut with pain while tears slipped down her bloodlessly pale cheeks.

Heat built in my chest. This forest deserved to die.

“Hold…” Valeria’s voice carried up to me past the net of branches. She rocked on her saddle like even her own body was fighting her order to remain still. “Hold positions. Stay where you?—”

I snorted. I would not. This crooning sound deserved death for what it was doing.

Wait , the broken one gasped. Think, dammit.

Of what? I would burn this forest and everything in it would…

Oh.

Then everyone here would burn too.

I shook my head hard, fighting the vestiges of the crooning. There had to be a solution. I was the demon. I would find a way.

“ Hold, dammit.” Valeria’s voice was strained. “Look for… for a way out of…”

But the humans weren’t listening to their commander, and they were only making things worse. Stumbling away from their horses, they staggered toward the very trees I intended to burn as if they were being pulled by tethers.

“Stay… stay put!” Dex barked, his tight grip on the reins blanching his light-brown knuckles to the color of bone. “Dammit, Byron, can you?—”

“It’s everywhere.” The redheaded giant grunted and shook his head in pain. “I can’t?—”

“Jakob!” Valeria shouted.

A brown-haired human stretched up for the nearest of the putrescent apples dangling from a tree. With an enraptured expression, he plucked the fruit.

“Don’t,” Valeria gasped, her voice weakening. “That’s an order?—”

The man sank his teeth into the apple’s red flesh, while all around him, other humans plucked fruits to do the same.

Bliss took up residence on their faces.

“You’ll want this, General.” Jakob approached her, extending the bitten apple.

Valeria shuddered, but her hand rose as if it wasn’t under her control.

The man smiled. “Take a bite. Do it. You?—”

Clay grabbed the reins from her, yanking the horse into a retreat before Valeria could grasp the fruit. “Get that fucking thing away from us,” he rasped.

“But you don’t understand,” Jakob protested kindly, undeterred. “You’ll want this. You?—”

A shudder suddenly coursed through his entire body. For a moment, he froze, overcome by a stillness so profound it was like he’d become a painting of a man.

But then his smile grew, stretching to the limits of his muscles and skin. A giddy chuckle escaped him, the sound utterly deranged. His gaze slid upward, finding me.

Finding my princess.

Darkness swirled through his eyes like ink in milk. When he spoke, it wasn’t his voice but a woman’s. “I see you, Gwyneira.”

Like a wild animal, Jakob sprang into the nearest tree and scrambled upward. His eyes never left my treluria. His mouth never stopped grinning madly.

I beat my wings, lifting higher in the air.

Or trying to.

Suddenly, it was as if I was fighting my way through sludge. Like the crooning sound that even now still twisted on the air was dulling my reactions.

But not his—nor those below him.

The humans who’d bitten apples spun, their mouths pulled wide in rictus-like snarls. They lunged at the giants and the other humans.

We… we need to help… the broken one’s voice was muted like he was fighting to speak through suffocating cotton.

I fought to beat my wings harder, but I could barely move. Below me, horses went down, knocked over by assailants who were ruthlessly determined to grab their riders. Dex tumbled away, rolling as he hit the dirt and barely managing to draw his sword when he rose. Nearby, Casimir and the shadow mutt shifted to smoke and tried to rush through the group, fighting desperately to drive the feral humans back.

But not everyone could stop them. Humans fell and their movements were too slow, too unskilled to beat the rush of their attackers.

They aren’t warriors, the broken one gasped. They’re farmers and villagers. We have to help ? —

From the topmost branches of the diseased tree, Jakob lunged upward and grabbed my ankle. Hauling on me with impossible strength, he began to drag me down.

Fury surged through me, hot enough to start burning back the thick numbness coating my limbs. Kicking hard, I dislodged his grip and beat my wings faster, lifting beyond his reach.

“Mine,” I snarled down at him.

“Dead,” he snarled back, inky darkness swirling in his eyes.

And then his body spasmed like something was trying to crawl up his throat. Strange words choked out of him. Horrible, twisted sounds that slithered around like invisible oil on the air.

“No…” Gwyneira’s whispered plea startled me. My shocked gaze darted from the possessed man to my beloved.

She never opened her eyes. The pallor of her skin was becoming deathly white.

But her body began to jerk like she was being prodded by knives.

“Stop him!” Byron shouted below. “That’s the language of the witches! He’s?—”

I didn’t need more. Spinning tightly, I swung as fast as I could through the sludge-like air.

My claws took the man’s throat—and his head besides. Blood splattered the trees as his corpse toppled through the branches on its way to the ground.

Gwyneira whimpered. Her shaking ceased.

But still she did not wake.

Below, the other possessed humans didn’t pause. Shrieking like savage beasts, they shoved fistfuls of the apples into the mouths of their pinned prey. The humans forced to consume the corrupt fruits began to lurch and shake. Their eyes rolled back in their heads.

They lunged to their feet and charged at the giants.

I wrapped my arms tighter around my treluria, torn. I couldn’t help the ones below. Not with my flames, anyway. The attackers were too close to my beloved’s allies. I would only burn everyone.

And to go down there would only risk her.

“Demon!” Lars shouted. “Use your fire!”

I balked. Was he insane?

The blond madman shoved a human attacker away and fumbled desperately to hold back another with his sword. “Do it now!”

He… he can control flames, the broken one stammered. But surely he doesn’t think he could actually ? —

Ozias roared as three humans flung themselves at him in an attempt to pin him to the ground. Across the small clearing, Clay toppled from Valeria’s horse as the beast reared wildly, surrounded by attacking humans.

Indecision ripped me apart. Not to try would break my treluria’s heart.

To be responsible for their deaths would too.

“Now, dammit!” Lars yelled. He flung a hand upward, his magic heating the air.

The flame within me answered. Fire rushed through my veins, surging to life like a trapped blaze that had suddenly found air.

Put her down, put her down, put her down! the broken one cried in my mind. You’ll burn her, you crazy son of a ? —

No, I wouldn’t.

Tucking my beloved safely to my chest, I let my blaze roar out, breathing fire down upon the forest as if it was the dragon I’d defeated days ago. That scaly beast was still out there, wounded but not dead, and different now that the Voidborn had abandoned its body. If the dragon returned to threaten us, I would burn it again. But it wasn’t my concern now.

This corrupt forest hurt my mate.

Time for it to die.

My fire slammed down upon the trees like a hammer. Tearing through the branches, it consumed everything in its path. But before the blaze could reach the people below, the flames split like they were the waters of a river and they’d collided with a boulder.

Because Lars’s magic was there to control them.

At his motion, they raced off to either side, splitting again and again, turning into dozens of burning streams. Twisting in the air with his magic, the blaze arced around the humans, the giants, even the vampire and his dog, only to lash the trees again.

I grinned.

Because in the face of that onslaught, the forest screamed.

Branches thrashed. Trees split. Apples whipped through the air as if shot from a sling, splattering the earth and horses and humans alike.

“Get down!” Dex shouted.

Valeria and the few remaining non-possessed humans hit the dirt. The giants did the same, even Lars ducking as low as he could while sending my fire at the trees. Shifting back to his human-like shape, the vampire pressed himself to the earth while his annoying dog covered him like a protective cloud of smoke.

But all the while, the dog’s glowing green eyes stayed trained on me, an intense sort of knowing in his gaze.

Why is he watching us like that? the broken one asked, watching the mongrel.

Like I cared.

Ignoring them both, I kept my flames going as the irritating-but-useful blond giant sent fire across every fissure and tree root. Nothing would remain after this. Nothing would threaten my mate again.

Except suddenly, the possessed humans stood up.

And charged.

Dex was on his feet immediately, his sword cutting a man down when he flung himself at Lars. Ozias’s axe took another, sending the attacker flying backward into the burning trees.

An inarticulate cry of anguish and fury left Lars. But before I could order him to get on with it, he did what was required anyway.

Fire struck the possessed humans. One by one, the humans fell, howling, never to threaten my treluria or those she cared about again.

Good.

I smiled as the forest burned. Its disgusting branches became ash and charcoal, crumbling into the flame-blasted dirt. Its twisted trunks cracked and fell into the fissures, where nothing tried to emerge again. At the center of my blaze, Lars remained standing, his arms outstretched, diverting threads of fire after any leaf, twig, or glob of decaying apple that dared to fling itself his way.

And soon, charred landscape and the blackened bones of the dead were all that remained.

Carefully holding my treluria close, I descended, the beating of my wings sending swirls of smoke and ash spiraling in the air. Around me, the giants and remaining humans climbed to their feet, staring in shock.

And horror.

“They killed them!” a young man among the humans cried. “They killed all of them! They didn’t even try to?—”

Valeria caught him across the chest as he tried to lunge at Lars.

I growled. That twin may irritate me, but he had still been useful. Yet this pathetic boy complained when we just saved his life?

“They didn’t have a choice, Nerak.” Valeria held him fast when he fought to push past her again. “There was nothing to be done.”

The boy’s face screwed up, and he made a choked sound that was on the verge of becoming a sob. “They didn’t even try …”

At Valeria’s nod, a gray-haired man among the human survivors took the boy. The older man’s dark eyes tracked us while he led the boy away, his intent gaze not leaving us even as sobs began to escape the younger one’s lips.

I did not care for the way that gray-haired man was watching us. Reproach lived in that gaze, and only the fact the old fool was not worth my energy kept me from growling.

But would he have preferred we let him die?

Lars took the judgment more to heart, however. Closing his eyes with an expression of regret, the blond man turned away. He said nothing as Clay put a hand to his shoulder.

He’s never liked killing, the broken one murmured, sympathy radiating from him.

The emotion was strange and foreign to me, as was the entire concept that upset them. What did it matter if he liked killing or not? Protecting Gwyneira was the point, and killing our enemies had accomplished that.

If they hadn’t wanted to die, they shouldn’t have threatened my mate.

Dismissing the blond man’s bizarre reaction, I turned my attention to my princess. In my arms, she was motionless, her chest still, her heart not beating.

A shudder crept through me. Death had not taken her. I would not allow it.

“Demon.” Dex’s voice was carefully controlled. “Is she…”

“Tell me she’s not dead,” Clay demanded tightly.

Shivers crept through my muscles. “No, she is not dead.”

Clay nodded, though worried looks still passed among the others.

I did not care. My words would be true—because if they were otherwise, I would hunt her down in the afterlife, bring her back, and make them be true anyway.

“Here.” Ozias strode closer, extending his arm. A quick swipe of his blade across his wrist left blood welling in its wake.

She did not stir when it dripped onto her lips, nor when I carefully opened her mouth and let it fall onto her tongue.

Fear gripped Lars’s voice when he spoke. “A-are you sure she’s not?—”

“No.” Ozias glared at him briefly before turning his attention back to Gwyneira. “I would know if she was gone.”

His fist clenched, urging more blood to flow from his wound. “Drink, little mate. Wake up.”

I bit back a snarl. She was my mate.

His too, the broken one pointed out.

Shut up, I snapped back, not caring how ridiculous it was to respond.

Dex, the twins, and Byron came closer, their eyes trained on her. Nearby, Casimir stood with Ruhl at his side. The vampire’s eyes were closed, his brow furrowed as if he strained after something. A moment later, he cursed under his breath, opening his eyes once more.

“Nothing.” A desperate note clung to his voice. “I cannot hear even the faintest breath or heartbeat from her.”

Fear grew on the faces of the giants.

“What do we do?” Clay asked.

I racked my mind for an answer. I was the demon, after all. I would know.

I could not think of any solution.

“Lower her down,” Byron said. “Gently.”

I tensed. Yes, I traveled all this way for him to use his magic to help her. But releasing her from my arms was asking for something else entirely.

You need to listen to him, the broken one urged.

“Please,” Byron continued, almost as if answering the broken one’s pleading. “If there’s any way to bring her back from wherever her spirit has gone, it will mean unraveling what just happened here. That may take time, and it will be substantially harder if your power overshadows hers. You need to put her down so I can try.”

A wary noise left the vampire. “Are you planning to delve into the power that threatened this place? My friend, that could kill you.”

The scholar didn’t even blink. “It’s killing her . I’ll die before I let it do that.”

Rage snarled through me. I would not allow that either.

Except… there was nothing here to attack. Nothing to kill now that the forest was gone.

Fuck, I didn’t know what to do.

Grim resolve came from the broken one. Confidence too. If anyone besides us could save her from this horrible magic, it would be Byron. And while the broken one did not want this man to lose his life, he understood the willingness to sacrifice for her. He would do the same.

As would I.

“Very well.” I lowered my beloved, laying her carefully on the ground. “Do it.”