Sirens go off just before an explosion hits from somewhere across from us. The guys move fast, forming a shield around me and blocking most of the impact from hitting me.
I quickly make sure none of them are injured. Apart from dirt and dust, covering most of their clothes, they’re good.
Once I know none of them are seriously hurt, I narrow my eyes on them and their overprotective asses. They know damn well I can protect myself, but the rest of the destruction and chaos around me draws my attention, stopping me from calling them out on it.
Wasn’t the portal supposed to bring us to our building? I glance around and get a better look at what we’re working with. The air is thick with a gray fog, blanketing the skies and masking the extent of the full damage. The ground is leveled with no buildings left standing. Flames crawl along the ground with thick black smoke following them.
And the demons… they’re everywhere.
They cover every inch of the open expanse, stretching further than the eye can see with those with wings hoarding over the skies.
Old ones larger than a twenty-foot building, small ones like the hordes we met in the Underworld and beasts like those that showed up last time. With many more I’ve never come across all joining the masses.
My eyes lock on a group of creatures that look like messed up versions of the old werewolves in horror movies, their sharp fangs curve out of their mouths and over their chins. Their size nearly double that of my men with a black muddy fur covering them from head to toe. They attack without reason, ripping through the supes around them, reminding me of when I first met them in the facility with Malik.
Jax comes up beside me, looking in the same direction. “Aren’t they…”
“From that facility King had me in… yes.” King must have had more hidden facilities we didn’t know about.
My eyes move from creature to demon, from supe to the destruction and chaos. My heart breaking at how much is already lost and further destroyed.
“It’s just like Zillah showed me, but so much worse.” How can we ever come back from something like this?
“I can’t even tell where in Manhattan we are.” There’s nothing left to landmark it and with everything leveled, it all looks the same. We could be anywhere.
“It’s the penthouse… We’re standing on it.”
Everyone freezes as we turn to Luka.
“Are you sure?” I glance around trying to see what he sees but there’s nothing but destruction everywhere.
Luka nods before pointing at a broken picture on the ground, half visible through the burns and cracks. A picture of the six of us.
Rion kneels down and closes his eyes. After a minute, he sighs, standing back up. “He’s right, the energy is still there. It’s our home… or was.”
And now it’s gone. Just like that.
Kai moves to my side. “We’ll get through this and fix it… it’ll be better than before.”
I want to believe him, but the flicker of doubt in his eyes tells me he might not even believe it himself.
But homes can be rebuilt. And my real home is with them, not some building. I turn and focus on the demons around me, there are so many of them that I don’t know where to start. Then it hits me.
“Maybe I can control them?” Like last time and send them back to the Underworld.
I turn around and reach down inside me. I focus on the demons closest to us, and search for the flicker of a connection like last time.
But there’s nothing there.
I push my senses further, trying to search for anything and stop when I sense something brush up against my mind. It’s so slight that I barely feel it.
I try to grasp onto it or pull it to me, but as soon as I do, it moves further away, becoming shrouded in the darkness once more.
“I can’t. There’s something blocking me from reaching out to them.” My shoulders drop as I scan the area again, the mass of demons gaining more and more ground on us.
Darkness crosses Kai’s face as he looks out at them. “It must be King.”
I glance at a group of demons as they move across from us, not thirty yards away. They don’t look our way, nor do they come within a twenty-foot radius. “Why aren’t they attacking us? It’s as if—”
“They can’t see us?” Soren walks past me, coming to a stop a few feet out.
He reaches a hand out, tilting his head. “It’s spelled. There’s a barrier of some kind. I don’t think they can see us. It looks like it acts as a deterrent too, making the demons avoid this space.”
Why would someone create a random protected space in the middle of nowhere? I glance around, looking for an answer, when I hear a familiar voice that makes me smile.
“We thought you might need some form of protection once you got back. We also set up sensors that let us know when you arrived.” I turn to Jazmyn just as she comes up behind me.
She wraps her arms around me, her body shaking with exhaustion, and her clothes streaked with blood and dirt.
“It’s about damn time you showed up.” She leans on me, out of breath as if it’s the first time she’s let herself relax. I hold her tighter and reach down inside me, pulling the energy up and pushing it toward her. Within seconds, her body stops shaking and grows stronger. I heal any cuts or bruises before she pulls back and looks at me.
“Did you…” Her shocked expression turns to a knowing smile.
I glance behind her to see Kane, Malik, and Draven close behind, all bloodied and exhausted but with fight still in their eyes.
Malik is in his demon form with Kane and Draven holding steel weapons with glowing runes of some kind. Kane has a large gash on his side. Instinctively, I push my energy toward him and heal it.
His eyes widen as he glances down at the spot before whipping up to meet mine. I stay focused and heal any other injuries before doing the same to Malik and Draven.
Before they get a chance to ask what the hell just happened, I look back at Jazmyn. She has more color in her cheeks and looks energized, like she’s ready to head back into the fight.
“You set up a barrier for us?” Even with them trying to hold the fort, they still thought of our safety.
“I knew you’d be back soon but thought you’d prefer us as your welcome party rather than a shitload of pissed-off demons.” She looks around the small clearing, free of demons, with those further down, ignoring it like it doesn’t exist. It’s as if we’re invisible.
“It wasn’t going to last much longer. Most of the witches that created it are dead, with many more injured. I’m hoping you have one hell of a plan.” Her eyes, normally so bright, now hold a deep sadness.
“We do. Have you seen King?”
She nods, releasing a harsh breath. “He showed up just before everything turned to hell. But since then, we haven’t been able to find him.”
He can’t have gone too far. I doubt he’d miss out on seeing all this.
Rion frowns, looking at Kai. “He could be cloaking himself.”
“Like a fucking coward while those around him do his dirty work.” Axel glares at the demons further down from us.
“We haven’t had a chance to look for him either, with everything going on. Once we get our foot in, more demons show up, hammering us.” Kane glances around us, a pissed-off look on his face.
“Your shadow beast has been helping us but at this stage, we’re not going to last much longer without a miracle.”
I reach down and quickly pull on the connection between Zillah and me. I find him on the other side of the city and quickly thank him for looking out for them. A warmth filters through the link, making me smile. I pull back just as he starts ripping through a group of demons.
Jax moves closer to me while narrowing his eyes on Malik. “Is he…”
Malik growls at Jax, taking a step forward but before either can make a move toward the other, Jazmyn steps back and into Malik’s front. He wraps his arms around her while glaring at Jax.
“Once he’s near me, he’s fine. He’s very… protective.” She gives me a smirk, letting me know she’s more than happy with it, too.
Good. That’s one less thing to worry about.
I hear a shriek above and look up to find a group of dragons fighting the winged demons. It’s taking a group of them to take down one of the two demons.
“Is that… Rhory?” Axel narrows his eyes on a large dragon with dark green scales.
“Your brother?” Jazmyn looks up where the green dragon is flying.
Axel glares at Jazmyn. “Half-brother.”
She rolls her eyes. “Whatever. Yes, it’s him. I called in a favor.”
Axel’s eyes widen in shock. “And he actually came for you?”
She smirks, a wicked glint in her eyes. “Of course. He fucking salivated at the idea of his brother owing him a favor.”
Axel clenches his fists, taking a step toward her. I walk over to him and take his hand. He looks down at me. “We’ll sort it out, whatever it is. The main thing is that they’re here to help.”
Axel’s eye starts twitching as he glances from the demons to Jazmyn. I know from the pissed-off look in his eyes that he’s probably considering throwing her to them.
Jazmyn shrugs, unfazed by his temper. “I didn’t think you’d mind. It’s for the greater good, after all.”
“It’s fine. We’ll sort it out. For now, we need to make a dent in the demons and find King,” I tell her.
Jazmyn looks to her men. “Looks like it’s time to get back to fighting these fuckers.”
Draven frowns at her. “Maybe you should stay—”
She cuts him a glare, and he sighs. “We’re not starting this again.” She twists in Malik’s arms before smiling up at him and taking his hand. They walk over to Kane.
Kane gives me a wave, telling me to be careful before turning and heading back into the fray.
Before Jazmyn follows him, she looks back at me, narrowing her eyes in warning, but there’s a glint of worry there, too. “Don’t do anything stupid like sacrifice yourself.”
I can feel my guys shift around me as they wait on my reply. “I won’t.”
I cut each of them a look before glancing back at her. “I’ll see you soon. Be careful.”
She nods, disappearing with Draven following them.
Jax walks over to me and Axel. The others follow until we’re in a little circle. “So what? We just jump right in?”
Axel rubs his hands, eyeing up the sky. “Sounds fucking good to me. My dragon is itching to get up there.”
Soren steps up beside me. “I’ll stay and help your little mate look for King.”
Axel and Jax narrow their eyes on me while the others smile, shaking their heads.
Jax glares at Soren as he steps closer to me, dipping his head to place a soft kiss on my lips.
“If he annoys you, don’t be afraid to chuck him in with the demons.”
Luka shoves Jax out of the way. “We’ll chuck you in there if you keep it up.” Luka takes my hand, looking at me with nothing but love. “Be careful. Please.”
I nod as he turns and shifts. We all freeze as we watch Luka’s wolf take over.
Instead of a mix of dark and gray, full bright orange flames wrap around his body. The shift takes half the time with his wolf emerging and heading straight for the nearest horde of demons, his bright flames leaving a trail behind him.
“Brother…” Jax stares after him in awe. He whips his head to me, a wide watery smile on his face before turning and running into a shift, following his brother close behind.
The others are still staring in shock after Luka’s transformation when another loud shriek sounds out around us. I look up and find the group of dragons struggling, as more and more winged demons appear.
“Go, I’ll watch your backs while I search for King.” Without finding King, this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.
Axel nods, placing a kiss on the side of my head before heading out through the barrier. Flames ignite down both arms, expanding to his chest before his whole body is alight. The flames grow larger and larger until his dragon emerges and heads for the skies.
Rion comes over, placing his hands on the sides of my face. “I love that you’re strong, but please don’t try anything that might put yourself in danger.”
“Same to you.” Rion smiles, nodding before turning and heading in Jax’s and Luka’s direction.
Kai is the last to leave, as he places a soft kiss on my forehead. “Once you find King, let us know in whatever way you can, and we’ll be right there.” He steps back, taking one last glance before turning and running into the chaos.
A few feet in, he transforms into his Cerberus, stomping through them, taking out as many as he can as he heads for the larger demons.
Soren steps closer to me as I pull my powers up and focus on the energy from each of my mates. There are too many smaller demons around Kai, slowing him down from reaching the larger demons.
I push my power out around me and watch as my dark tendrils head straight for the horde around him. Once they touch them, the horde lights up, burning from the inside out before turning to ash.
Kai moves straight for the larger demon closest to him. His three mouths instantly lock onto it, tearing it to pieces before moving on to the next one.
With Kai safe and holding his own, I pull back and follow Rion’s light. I catch it just as it grows, and he transforms into his basilisk. He slithers quickly through the demons, striking and attacking everything he passes.
As I pull back, I pause, noticing a few supes lights are starting to dim. I push my energy toward them. It seeps out of me and moves straight for them. Once it touches them, their lights grow brighter, and they attack the demons with more vigor than before.
Dark flames fall from the sky, catching my eye. I pull back my power and glance up, watching as winged demons burn and fall.
Axel easily takes out a dozen more before plummeting down and raining flames into the masses of smaller demons. He soars back up, taking out a few more winged demons before descending on the ones below once more. He keeps rotating, until he has cut their numbers in half.
With Rion, Kai and Axel all holding their own and making a dent in the hordes of demons, I check in on my twins.
Reaching out for them, I sense Luka and Jax both working together to take down a group of werewolf beasts. The kind King experimented on and mutated.
But neither has an issue with them as they rip through them easily, both working in tandem with one another.
With all my mates safe, I turn my focus to King. I reach out with my senses, trying to find any energy that’s off.
More supes light up in my mind, their light as dim as the others, with some fading completely.
I push my energy toward them. It takes longer this time with them being so far out, but eventually I see their lights brighten.
Pulling back, I sway on my feet, the healing taking a toll on my energy.
Soren grabs my arm, holding me still. “Don’t overdo it. You’ll need your energy to fight King.”
A couple of supes cry out to the left of us. I go to move toward them when Soren stops me.
“Focus on King. I’ve got this.” Soren heads into the fray before disappearing completely.
I push away my worries about him and turn to focus on my task.
Expanding my senses further out, I move past hundreds of more demons before reaching the middle of the expanse. I’m about to move past it when I come across a large area devoid of energy. I sense no demons, no supes, just… nothing.
Maybe Rion is right, and King is shielding himself.
I pull back, ready to move toward it. I make a few feet past the barrier when something large moves to the left of me. Turning, I find a dozen hellhounds strolling through the demons, their focus on the handful of supes holding their own against them.
I pull my energy up, ready to push it toward them when the hellhounds freeze, all glancing up at once, as Kai in his Cerberus form appears. He splits the demon crowd in half, destroying most of them as he makes his way toward them.
They take a step back when Kai’s eyes pulse red, making them pause. His hounds tilt their heads, their entire focus on the hellhounds.
As one, the hellhounds bow, lowering their heads to the ground in submission. Kai’s hellhounds glance over at me before looking back at them.
Within seconds they’re moving as one under Kai’s command as they rip through every demon in the vicinity. Kai joins in until there’s nothing but pieces of them left.
Pulling my power to the surface, I let it sit under my skin, ready for anything before I make a move toward the middle of the expanse.
The group of hellhounds turn back to me and span out around me before moving forward with me. A shadow casts over me from behind. I turn to find Kai behind me, guarding my back.
I shake my head to myself, smiling.
The closer we move into the fray; the more demons turn to attack us. My power seeps out around me when Kai jumps over me, ripping through them while his new guard dogs protect our sides.
As if by instinct, my power lashes out and attacks a group of demons trying to overwhelm one of the hellhounds. Once it touches them, they burn up and turn to dust.
The hellhound dips its head in a thank you before moving on to the next demon. We make it halfway to the middle when I spot Axel as he swoops back up into the sky.
He stays there while the other dragons gather around him in a type of circular formation, with him in the middle.
A loud rumble echoes throughout the sky before the air shifts and gathers around Axel. Reaching out with my senses, I watch on as they all gather the energy and push it toward Axel.
The rumble grows louder and louder as Axel’s dragon stays in the circular formation. Just as the sound begins to turn deafening, Axel pushes the energy toward a group of large demons below.
It hits them instantly, destroying them on impact.
Axel does it again and again, keeping the formation and decimating a huge chunk of the large demons.
I look back at the path in front of me, seeing it clearly. Kai is behind me once more and the hellhounds keep still on lookout, as if waiting for me.
I quicken my pace, getting a few feet away from the strange empty energy, when a huge horde of demons appears from nowhere.
A streak of blue and orange flames shoots past me as Jax and Luka rush through the nearest demons, both shadowing through them, and turning them instantly to ash.
I narrow my eyes on them as they move on to the rest of them. With their backs to me, I watch as their flames swirl together, mixing as one, growing and expanding until there’s a huge mass in front of them.
Once they’re ready, it bursts forward, destroying every demon within a half-a-mile radius.
Damn. I guess Luka and his wolf finally coming together also came with an upgrade for him and Jax too. Or maybe it was something they were always supposed to have as twin shadow wolves, but because of what happened with Luka, it never got that far.
Either way, it’s one hell of a power. Something I’m sure Jax is enjoying.
As if agreeing with me Jax’s wolf rushes over circling me with Luka soon joining. They both nuzzle into me before heading back in to attack more demons.
I glance around the expanse. Most of the demons near me are gone, destroyed by my mates. I start to relax, thinking we’ve finally got the upper hand.
And then I see them.
Horde upon horde of demons all making their way over to us.
Vibrations shake the ground, distracting me as Rion’s basilisk appears a few feet in front of me.
A glint of something shiny on his long body catches my eye. I look closer and watch as his black scales morph into sharp, black razors.
There’s no warning before they shoot out at the nearest demons, not missing a single one. They all begin to foam at the mouth, a disgusting thick black froth that burns through their faces before they drop to the ground, seizing up and dying.
Another vibration hits as Rion’s scales start to morph again, this time turning translucent, making him disappear completely.
I glance around, but I can’t see him anywhere. I start to panic when suddenly an invisible force starts striking through the rest of the horde, decimating them in seconds.
I guess Luka and Jax weren’t the only ones with an upgrade as Rion’s basilisk continues to destroy the hordes of demons.
I release a harsh breath and focus on the empty spot of energy once more. I search and search, but I can’t find anything out of the ordinary. I’m about to pull back, feeling foolish for wasting my time, chasing an empty lead, when another vibration hits. It shakes the empty spot, slightly moving it to reveal a sliver of energy.
It tries to slither away, but I grasp onto it as hard as I can and move closer. Just before it escapes completely, another vibration shakes the ground, revealing a familiar dark energy.
There you are…
