Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

A shadow fell over us, too large and sudden to be natural, snuffing out the sun like a candle being blown out. I squeezed Justice’s hand, feeling his fingers tighten around mine in response.

Maci’s appearance turned our courtyard reunion into something from a nightmare. The ancient headstones cast longer shadows, as if reaching up to greet our enemy. The mist that had seemed so peaceful moments ago turned ominous, curling around our feet like ghostly chains.

I glanced at Justice, seeing my own fear reflected in his eyes, but something else was there, too. Determination, defiance, and fierce protectiveness that made my heart ache.

“They’re here.” My whisper seemed to echo through the suddenly silent courtyard.

“Everyone, defensive positions,” Brody commanded. He moved with purposeful grace, placing himself slightly ahead of our group like a shield. “Lisa, Zara, guard the flanks. Damon, cover our six. Keep the line tight and protect each other.”

Even in the growing darkness of Maci’s shadow, his presence radiated steadiness and hope. An unshakeable belief that if we stood together, we could face anything. He scanned the sky with tactical precision while his hand rested on his weapon, but his even voice grounded us all.

“Justice, Sawyer, stay central. He’ll be coming for you first,” he added. “Remember your training. Remember who we are. We don’t run from fights. We face them together.”

“Oh, really?”

I gasped, the sound catching in my throat like broken glass. Rage stood in front of the entrance of Rosslyn Chapel, his presence a perversion of the sacred space behind him. The light seemed to bend around him, creating a darkness that had nothing to do with shadows. My skin crawled with the bone-deep wrongness that only came from being near something that shouldn’t exist in our world.

The other demons stormed the chapel walls like a wave of living darkness, their forms twisted and wrong. They moved like smoke but rang against the stone like iron, their claws scraping centuries of weathered rock. The sound was like nails on a chalkboard amplified a thousand times, making my teeth ache and my grip on Justice’s hand tighten.

They descended onto the courtyard in a spiral of chaos, turning our small sanctuary into a trap. We were surrounded. The headstones felt like barriers, boxing us in with creatures that had crawled straight from hell.

Justice stiffened beside me. The way he shifted in front of me as if to shield me from Rage’s view told me everything about his fear. Not for himself, but for what the demon might make him do to me this time.

Brody moved with soldier-like precision and grabbed my backpack. “Sawyer, use the mirror,” he commanded.

“It won’t work against him,” Justice prompted, tension threading through his words. His posture shifted, and I knew he was calculating how many demons he could take down before they reached me. The memory of his recent possession made his warning carry extra weight.

“No, but it will against the other demons.” Brody scanned the courtyard, assessing angles and positions like the tactical genius he was. “It might give us a fighting chance. Remember, we don’t need to win. We only need to hold the line long enough to get clear.”

I followed his gaze, seeing what he saw. The demons had surrounded us, but the ancient headstones created natural choke points. If we could control those paths with the mirror, funnel them where we wanted… The sunlight could work to our advantage, too, amplifying the mirror’s power. We’d be fighting with our backs to the chapel, but that meant no demons could come from behind.

Every hunter instinct I had screamed we were trapped, but Brody was right. We didn’t need an exit, only enough space to make one. The mirror might not stop Rage, but if we could thin out his army, give my team enough room to maneuver, we had a chance.

I wouldn’t let him seize Justice. The memory of his possession was too fresh. My heart pounded against my ribs, each beat a silent promise: not again, not again, not again .

I handed the mirror to Justice, feeling his fingers brush mine in the exchange. He seemed locked in a silent battle of wills with Rage, his newly restored brown eyes meeting the demon’s hellfire gaze across the courtyard. The tension between them was almost visible, like heat waves distorting the air.

“Use this,” I told him. “I have another plan.” The harp’s smooth wood felt warm under my fingers, almost alive, as if it remembered the power it had wielded to free Justice. The golden inlay caught the light, sending tiny sparkles dancing across the ancient headstones.

I picked up the harp and started playing. The notes rang out clear and pure in the demon-tainted air in defiance of the darkness pressing in around us. Rage stopped in his arrogance, his confident stance faltering. He shook his head like Justice had, the movement so similar that a rash of gooseflesh broke out all over me. But where Justice’s freedom had been beautiful, this was terrible. Watching something so powerful reveal a weakness, knowing it would only make him more dangerous.

A horrible shriek froze my blood, the sound like metal being torn apart. Maci landed on the courtyard, her massive form casting us into shadow. The impact of her landing made the headstones tremble and sent centuries of dust flying from the chapel walls. My heart stuttered at the sight of her, all scales and fury, her eyes burning with hatred that felt personal.

The air turned scorching as she reared back, her chest glowing like a forge coming to life. Time seemed to slow, and I saw every detail with terrifying clarity. The way her scales rippled with dark power, how her throat lit from within like magma about to erupt.

Then, she loosed a ray of fire so intense that it turned the morning mist to steam. The inferno roared directly at me, and I felt my skin blistering from yards away. My fingers clutched the harp tighter, but there was no time to play, to move, to do anything but face my death.

“No!” Justice’s cry tore through the chaos, and my heart leaped into my throat. He moved with vampire speed, materializing in front of me like a shield, his body coiled with protective fury. The golden healing marks under his skin flashed like stars refusing to be extinguished. Terror and love warred in me. He’d just gotten free, and now he was risking everything to save me.

Justice raised the mirror, his stance unwavering in the face of dragon fire. His shoulders were set with a determination that broke my heart. He’d rather burn than let anything happen to me. I wanted to pull him back, to tell him I couldn’t lose him again, but I had no time.

The phoenix descended upon the mirror, its sacred power meeting Maci’s corruption head-on. The fire slammed into the mirror’s surface with a sound like thunder, but instead of shattering, the glass seemed to drink in the flames.

For a split second, blinding light bathed the courtyard as the mirror did its work, transforming attack into defense. The heat was overwhelming, and I pressed against Justice’s back, unwilling to let him face this alone. He trembled with the effort of holding the mirror steady, but he didn’t yield an inch.

The fire reversed course, a perfect reflection of Maci’s own power turned against her. Her dragon fire, tinged with the mirror’s holy light, struck her full force. She shrieked with anger, the sound sharp enough to crack stone, her wings flaring wide as her own flames engulfed her. The sight was terrifying and beautiful, a dragon burning with fire made holy by the mirror’s power.

Maci flew into the air and spun, extinguishing the flames like a hellish pinwheel. The chapel’s entrance waited behind our battle line as we edged backward. Brody’s voice cut through the chaos. “Form up! Keep the line tight!”

Each scale that had been touched by the sanctified fire smoked, but Maci was far from defeated. Her massive form swooped low, herding us exactly where Rage wanted us. To my left, Lisa and Zara’s voices rose in unison, their spellwork creating bursts of white light that pushed the demons farther into the courtyard. Damon’s blade flashed as he forced another group back, buying us precious feet of ground.

My hands gripped Justice’s shoulders, weak with relief. He was still here, still protecting me, still himself. Every mark the demon had left on him glowed golden in the reflected firelight, a reminder that we’d already won one impossible battle today. The courtyard had become a battlefield. Brody’s shield cleared space for our gradual retreat, Zara and Lisa’s magic kept the demons from flanking us, and Damon’s constant motion ensured none slipped past our line.

The mirror in Justice’s hands still hummed with power as he directed it at the other demons. They burst into smoke and sank into the ground, but there were too many of them.

Rage kept fighting the harp, shaking his head. I was able to keep him back but not destroy him.

My team and I backed up onto the chapel steps. My shoulder blades touched the ancient stone. Victory was inches away. The harp’s notes trembled in the air between us and the demons, our only barrier against chaos.

I called over my shoulder, trying to keep my voice steady. “Zara, get the hourglass out.”

If I stopped playing the harp, Rage would charge us. My fingers ached from maintaining the melody, each note a thread in the fragile web holding back our enemies.

Lisa grabbed the door handle, and metal scraped against metal. “Sawyer, it won’t turn. What do we do?”

My heart stopped. The weight of everyone’s lives pressed against my chest, heavier than the harp in my hands.

Rage laughed. “Trapped like rats. You can’t hold us back forever.”

Above us, Maci’s wings cast shadows like prison bars across our faces. Her scales gleamed with unholy fire as she landed on the chapel roof, cutting off our last escape route. The stone beneath our feet trembled with her weight.

We were cornered, and I had one choice left.

Zara pulled out the hourglass. “Here.”

I had to stop playing the harp to use it. As soon as I did, Rage would charge. Every muscle in my body tensed with the impossible choice. Keep playing and stay trapped, or risk everything on one desperate gamble.

If we couldn’t get into the chapel, we were all dead.