Chapter 35

Chapter

Thirty-Five

After the shrill scream rang out, Fane and I bolted through the house and out the back door to find the others out of their seats and facing the line of pine trees and oaks. Creatures emerged from the forest, their eyes—some scarlet while others were unnatural shades of neon—burned with hunger and blood lust.

Oh, shit.

Adrenaline shot through my veins as more than a dozen sub-demons and dux demons approached, snarling and snapping their jaws. Giant worms slithered across the ground, leaving behind a slimy trail, and monsters nearly as tall as me hobbled on spindly legs.

"Why the hell are a bunch of demons here?" I hissed. "This wasn't Barric's doing." Even if the head alpha knew our location, he couldn't order a horde of demons to attack us.

"I have no fucking clue." Fane assessed the scene, his muscles coiling tightly and tattoos twitching.

As Nora pushed Dylan toward the house, Ephraim and Preston shed their shirts, poised to shift.

"Go upstairs to your room and lock the door, Dylan. "

He scoffed. "No way! I want to fight. I can shift, and I'm old enough."

"Now, Dylan!" A growl curled around Nora's words, but the panic and fear for her youngest were evident. "This is not up for negotiation."

"Listen to your mother, Dylan." Ephraim faced his son, fur sprouting from his neck. "You aren't ready for this. Trust me."

Dylan had no idea how dangerous this was. As the dux demons approached, the crazed look in their eyes registered. They weren't in their right mind and wouldn't care if Dylan was just a kid. We were all the same to them. Food or entertainment.

The youngest Anders spun and marched toward the house, his fists clenching and sneakers pounding the grass. I'd never seen Dylan look so hurt and upset.

"He'll get over it," Fane said into my mind. "I'd rather him be pissed than hurt."

"I know." I turned back to the advancing enemies as Wrath and Kesa inched our way.

Wrath shook his head. "They can't be reasoned with. The sub-demons are drawn by the promise of bloodshed while the dux demons are in some kind of psychosis." His brows dipped, and he swallowed hard as if this actually pained him. "It's not their fault, but we can't take any chances. We have to put them down."

Kessa used a thin scrunchie on her wrist to tie her long raven locks into a ponytail. "What's affecting them? We need to prevent it from getting worse."

"I'll find a way to stop this. I promise." Wrath cracked his neck. "But for now, it's kill or be killed."

"Fane," Ephraim called. "What are you thinking?"

The demon shifter rolled his huge, powerful shoulders as he studied the approaching enemies. "We'll take the dux. You guys focus on the sub-demons. Stay focused and move fast."

Ephraim gave a curt nod, and he and Preston shed the rest of their clothes as they began to shift. To my surprise, Nora was already in wolf form, her honey coat gleaming in the moonlight.

"I'm going to shift," Fane said.

"Go ahead." I snatched a transformative hilt out of my boot and activated the blade. Old habits die hard . "I'll stay on two feet for this one. I can always drop the sword and use my teeth and claws if necessary." Fully shifting wasn't the best idea since I had almost no experience fighting in that form.

The fierce look Fane gave me sent ripples of heat down my back. Without words, he told me to be careful.

And then he yanked his shirt and jeans off as he transformed into his beast in seconds, jumped through the air, and headed straight into a group of dux demons. They didn't stand a chance as the demon shifter ripped through them, his claws, teeth, and the sharp spikes on his body tearing them to shreds.

"Show-off," Wrath muttered as he and Kesa darted into battle.

I lifted my sword and swung it through the air as I attacked on the left. The first dux demon to reach me fell quickly when I chopped her head off. Her companions snarled, their eyes burning crimson and neon green. Slick horns in varying shades glinted under the moonlight, and a few sported scales on all or a portion of their bodies. No one bothered with a glamour.

"A shifter fighting with a sword?" One standing over seven feet tall laughed. "What a waste. You must not have claws or teeth."

Talons protruded from my fingertips, my teeth sharpened, and my pupils thinned into slits. "Nah, I just like using a sword, but I can kill without it." My talons swiped across his throat, and he stumbled, black blood pouring down his yellow flesh. I used the sword to finish cutting his head off and then charged after the others.

Battle sounds echoed through the night as we worked to dispatch as many demons as quickly as possible. I checked on the others every few minutes, and they all held their own, even sweet Kesa.

Fane's lethal demon wolf had taken down more than anyone, and I felt the rush of adrenaline pumping through him. It fueled my own system, giving me more strength and determination. I lifted my sword and severed another head, but before I could pivot to my next fight, a body slammed into mine and tackled me to the ground.

The female dux demon's purple hair tickled my face as she leaned forward. "Everyone's out here having a party while the little baby wolf is all alone." Her high-pitched giggle made me wince. "Or is he? Maybe he's having his own party."

Frost crawled down my back as her words sank in. Dylan was in danger.

Getting to him consumed my thoughts as I sliced her throat open with my talons, her ebony blood drenching me. I shoved her off, scrambled up, and sprinted toward the house.

"Dylan!" I called out, panic drowning me with every passing second he didn't answer. "Dylan!"

If something happened to him, I'd never forgive myself. Part of my soul would shrivel up and die, maybe all of it. It would be like losing Jayla all over again.

"Dylan!" My boots screeched on the marble tiles as I raced for the stairs, but cold air rushed over my sweaty, bloody skin, and I jerked toward the open front door.

Oh no.

I bolted onto the porch just as a shrill cry rang out. "Dylan! "

Sharp knives dug into my heart as a dux demon pinned him to the ground in the front yard, his sharp claws ripping down the kid's side. The briny scent of blood spilled into the air, and Dylan's anguished scream broke me apart.

Let's make that demon pay, torment him, make him scream until his throat shreds apart and bleeds.

This was the first time the Infernal Sol had emerged since I'd shifted at Barric's. My wolf side had pushed the amulet's influence farther down, but now all the violence had that dark power rushing forward, ready to take part in the battle.

Let's make this asshole suffer.

Talking to myself was a bad sign. And connecting with the amulet so easily wasn't good either, but I couldn't control the urges flooding me at the sight of my little friend, my family, being harmed.

"Tate!" Dylan yelled, his hazel eyes full of agony. "Help me!"

I jumped off the porch and sprinted forward, my focus locked on Dylan, but figures suddenly charged around my peripheral. Moments later, demons surrounded me, grabbing my arms and sides to halt my pursuit.

"Get off me!" I demanded as four giant dux demons prevented me from getting to Dylan. "Or I will make you beg for death while I torture you."

As my captors traded worried glances, I noticed they weren't in any trance or crazy haze. They were focused and levelheaded.

They'd planned this.

Alarms screamed in my head as I tried to fight them off, frantic puffs of air blowing in front of my mouth. One of the demons snatched the sword out of my hand and tossed it aside while another came around my back to hold my waist. Movement ahead caught my attention as another demon slinked through the shadows toward Dylan .

My stomach tore apart as a giant boulder sank to the bottom. The demon's ice-blond hair looked liquid in the moonlight as his skin shone porcelain white.

Why the hell was a royal demon involved in this?

Those blue eyes lifted to mine, a sinister grin pulling at his lips.

That smile told me everything I needed to know. This was about me. He was here for me .

And Dylan was the sacrificial lamb to lure me in.

The royal didn't say a word as he kneeled over the young shifter, pressing a knee to his chest. Dylan kicked and struggled, but the dux demon held him down, preventing him from shifting—as if that would help. The kid was no match for either of them, especially the royal.

Long, pale fingers gripped Dylan's jaw and forced his mouth open.

Oh God no.

Dylan's gasp sent an invisible sledgehammer to my rib cage, and he stilled as a white mist drifted out of his mouth and into the demon's.

His soul.

"Fane!" I screamed in my head. "It's Dylan! Hurry!"

When Fane heard my call, a wall of panic slammed into me, and I knew he'd come tearing into the front yard any second.

Like I thought, Fane, in human form and a pair of bloodied jeans, darted out of the front door and down the porch. It only took a moment for him to survey the scene and understand.

But he took two steps off the porch and slammed into an invisible wall so hard he fell on his ass.

The demons holding me laughed.

"What the fuck!" Fane scrambled up and beat his fist against the barrier, purple sparks flying.

My heart dropped to my boots. "There's a witch!" A damn mage was casting a spell to keep Dylan and me separate from the rest of them.

A heart-wrenching cry erupted through the night as Nora raced out of the door. "Dylan!"

Fane grabbed her before she could slam into the wall.

"Let me go! I have to get to my baby." She struggled in Fane's grip and looked ready to claw his face off.

He pressed his hand against the barrier, showing Nora. "We can't get through."

Panic eclipsed her gaze as she helplessly stared at Dylan and then me. "Do something, Tate! Please ."

I fought against the four demons holding me. "I'm trying!"

The rest of the Anders arrived in human form, horrified and fighting against the barrier with no luck of breaking through. Wrath appeared with Kesa on his heels. Black demon blood covered everyone.

"There has to be an end to it." Wrath felt along the wall. "Kesa, go left. I'll go right."

The demons took off in opposite directions, but I feared they wouldn't find the end in time to get to Dylan before that bastard sucked his soul dry.

Ephraim and Preston continued to strike the shield while Fane pressed his hand into it as power pulsated out of him, trying to weaken the witch's magic.

It wasn't enough. They wouldn't get through. The electric tang of her magic intensified with every passing second.

The tingle in my gut, the whisper in my ear, the temptation of power, told me what I had to do to save Dylan. I knew what it would cost me. This wasn't me giving a bit of control over to the amulet. It was done with that.

It wanted total surrender .

As I peered back at Fane and our eyes locked, he realized what I intended to do. He shook his head, but I only gave a sad smile.

"He's family."

Fane knew this was the only way. That was why he didn't beg me to stop.

I couldn't save Jayla. But I could save Dylan.

And I'd pay any price, even my own soul.

My soul might be the very thing the amulet had always wanted.