Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The power was even stronger now. It pulled on me like an urgent child wanting to lead me someplace.

Damon climbed off Brody, then rushed to the entrance. “Sawyer, wait, damn it!”

I called out from the darkness. “No, Damon. You need to stay there. The barrier won’t let you in.”

Lisa put her hand on his arm. “You can’t help her, Damon. She’s the chosen one and has to do this alone.”

“What if she can’t?”

She smiled at him. “She will. You have to have faith.”

“Faith is hard to come by these days.” He squinted, peering into the darkness.

Brody stepped up beside him, his stance steady and determined. “She’ll make it. Your sister’s the strongest person I know, Damon. Sometimes, the hardest thing is standing back and letting someone fight their own battle.”

There was no sense arguing with my brother. He never wanted me to be in danger and had always been protective. I turned away and allowed the strange pull to lead me forward.

The darkness was like a living thing, heavy and thick. Each step forward felt both wrong and right. Wrong to leave my team behind, but right in a way I couldn’t explain. The pull tugged at something deep in my chest as if invisible threads were woven through my being.

Damon’s voice grew fainter until I could barely hear him. The blue glow of the barrier seemed like a distant star, dimming with each step. My heart hammered, and I clenched my fists to stop my hands from shaking. The air grew colder, older somehow, carrying the weight of centuries.

I heard soft singing, and my heart stuttered. Every instinct screamed that following a voice in the dark was exactly the kind of thing that got hunters killed. But this didn’t feel malevolent. The song wrapped around me like a familiar embrace, sweet and sad at the same time.

“Who are you?” My voice sounded small in the vast darkness.

The answer came in a melody that made my soul ache. “You already know.”

Somehow, I did. The same way I’d known how to play those magical strands, the same way I’d always known music was more than notes on a page. The harp wasn’t merely calling to me. It was singing to something inside me that had been waiting my whole life to answer.

Justice’s face flashed through my mind. If music could soothe the savage beast, maybe it could save him from Rage. Maybe that was why the harp called to me so urgently.

The deeper I ventured into the chamber, the thicker the darkness became until a soft golden light suddenly bloomed before me. My breath caught in my throat as it illuminated Queen Charlotte’s harp, tucked away in the farthest corner. It was massive, nearly as tall as me, its golden frame ornately carved with symbols that danced and shifted in the glow. Ancient power hummed through its strings, vibrating in the air, but my heart sank.

I didn’t have the spell to shrink it. It was on Damon’s phone. Even if I could play it, how could I possibly move it out of here?

The voice changed, becoming deeper, older. “The harp’s power can banish Rage back to hell. But first, you must play the song that will break his hold on your Justice.”

My hand trembled near the strings. In the harp’s golden glow, I saw Justice as he used to be. Laughing, human, mine. Then, the image twisted, showing him now, corrupted by Rage’s darkness, hunting me. He would follow us when we left the castle’s protection, and when he did…

“If I play this, it can save him?” Behind me, I heard Damon calling my name, his voice muffled by the barrier.

The harp’s strings vibrated with power, a chord that seemed to shake the air. “The song must be played at the right moment, when he is closest to you. When his rage is strongest.” The voice paused meaningfully. “When he attempts to end your life.”

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” the musical voice whispered, closer now. “You understand why I chose you.”

I reached out, my fingers trembling inches from the frame. Though I was hidden in the depths of the chamber, I could sense Justice outside the castle, could almost feel the battle between him and Rage burning inside him.

The moment my fingers touched the cool metal, the harp pulsed with brilliant light. Under my hand, the massive instrument began to shrink, the golden frame folding in on itself like liquid metal until it was no larger than a lap harp. Yet the power felt stronger, more concentrated.

“Size matters not,” the voice sang softly, almost amused. “Its magic lies in the music, in the player’s heart.”

I gazed at the harp. “So, the final battle is here?”

“No,” the voice sang, its melody urgent. “You must get to Rosslyn Chapel. There are carvings that will send the demons back to hell.” The notes grew deeper, more resonant. “The carvings of the Seven Deadly Sins. Use the artifacts you have and the phoenix.”

The voice softened to a whisper. “Find the Apprentice’s Pillar. You can imprison Maci.”

Rosslyn Chapel. The name tugged at something in my memory, scenes from that Da Vinci Code movie Dad made us watch during one of our rare nights off from hunting. I remembered ornate carvings and mysterious symbols, but that was about it. Now we had to find this Apprentice’s Pillar there? Part of me wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all, following clues from a movie to stop a shadow dragon and her demons.

I had a destination now, but at what cost?

The harp hummed against my palms, its power thrumming through my blood like a second heartbeat. Even shrunk down, it felt ancient, dangerous. A weapon disguised as an instrument of beauty. Queen Charlotte must have known what she was doing, creating something that could destroy a demon but save the one possessed.

I turned back toward the barrier where my team waited. Damon’s silhouette paced like a caged animal, and I could almost hear his voice in my head warning me this was crazy. Maybe it was. Then again, when had anything in our lives been sane?

Movement caught my eye. Justice at the window, watching. Even from here, I made out the war in his eyes, the way Rage’s darkness twisted through him like smoke. Yet beneath the demon’s corruption, I saw him. The way his jaw clenched, fighting Rage’s control. The slight tremor in his hands that betrayed his struggle.

My fingers tightened around the harp. Everyone said I was the chosen one, but they were wrong. I hadn’t been chosen because I was special or powerful. I’d been chosen because I loved him enough to face what was coming. Even if saving him meant letting him get close enough to kill me.

I stepped back toward my team, toward the inevitable confrontation waiting outside. The voice’s final words followed me like a whisper.

“Remember, child. Love may give you the strength to play the song, but it’s also what makes Rage’s hold so strong. Your greatest weapon is also his.”

As I approached the barrier, the strands spread apart like a curtain in a theater.

“Sawyer.” Damon moved to take a step, but Brody grabbed him.

“Don’t,” Brody warned. “The barrier may crash down and trap her in there forever.”

I passed through without incident and exhaled in relief. Damon grabbed me and hugged me. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” I smiled and held up the harp. “I got it.”

He released me. “Yes, I can see that.”

“I know where we need to go next.”

The others fixed their gaze on me.

I drew a breath. “Rosslyn Chapel. That’s where the final battle will be. According to the harp, there is a sculpture of the Seven Deadly Sins and a pillar where we can send the demons back to hell and trap Maci.” I moistened my lips. “I can also heal Justice.”

“Let me guess. This comes with a catch that involves you getting way too close to a homicidal demon-vampire?” Damon’s attempt at sarcasm couldn’t hide the fear in his voice.

I held his angry gaze. “Yes. He has to be consumed with rage before the harp will heal him. I have to play it.”

“Are you telling me this is going to be like the Beauty and Beast fairytale?”

“I know it sounds crazy,” I replied as I lifted the harp. “But I think it’s true.”

“We’ll figure out a way to protect you,” Brody’s jaw firmed with determination. “There has to be a way to save Justice without sacrificing yourself.”

I looked at Justice, who paced back and forth at the window like a caged animal. My throat tightened as I placed my hand against the cold glass, wishing I could reach through and touch him, somehow calm the rage burning inside him. If I could only make him remember…

“The moment we step out of the castle, they will attack us,” I whispered, my voice breaking slightly.

Justice stopped pacing. His eyes met mine, and for a split second, I saw a flicker of recognition. Then, they blazed dark red, his face twisting into something inhuman as he snarled at me with pure hatred. The sound carried through the thick glass, making my blood run cold. I stumbled back, my heart shattering all over again. This wasn’t my Justice anymore.

Not yet.

Lisa came up beside me, her voice firm and practical. “Zara and I can create a protection shield around all of us. If we combine our magic with the hourglass, we might be able to transport the whole team to Rosslyn Chapel before they can stop us.”

Damon strode over, tension radiating off him as he glanced out the window. “Yeah, because a demon block party is exactly what we needed right now. How long’s this spell going to take? Because, in case you haven’t noticed, Hell’s finest are having a reunion out there, and something tells me they’re not waiting for an invitation to crash this party.”

My heart sank, the harp growing heavy in my hands. The courtyard was filled with demons. To humans, they looked like men in suits, but I saw past their disguises now, the writhing darkness beneath their pristine facades. Dozens of pride demons stood tall and imperious, while the greed demons’ fingers twitched with constant want.

Lust demons wore smiles that promised pleasure and pain, Gluttony’s followers gaped with endless hunger. The sloth demons moved with deceptive slowness, and the eyes of Envy’s servants burned green with hatred.

There, closest to Justice, stood Rage, alone but more terrifying than all the others combined. He didn’t need a legion. His power rolled off him in waves of crimson fury, and through his connection to Justice, I felt the sheer force of his strength. One demon of Rage was worth an army of the others.

And now all seven were here, waiting for us like wolves circling their prey.