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“What—what was that? Why was my…” Evan rubbed a hand across his face in an attempt to erase the horrifying images of his own face drenched in blood, sitting dismembered from the rest of his body, then being engulfed in fire and reduced to ash.

“Clones,” Xen’s chilling voice sent another wave of dread washing over Evan.

Someone had been attempting to make clones of Evan.

By the looks of it, the creator didn’t really find any creations up to the mark and had simply abandoned them in the cave to rot away. While the bodies were thrown aside haphazardly, theheads were carefully stacked in a corner, as if the creator didn’t have the heart to be cruel with them.

“Who did this?” Evan finally asked, fists clenched to keep his fingers from trembling. “Was it the same person who made Rhea’s clone?”

Perhaps the creator had abandoned these clone bodies because he had eventually created one that he liked and sent it off to lure Rumi, Wren, and Nick away from the group. And the clone of Rhea had pretended to not notice while it happened, successfully splitting the group in two.

But why had Rhea’s clone tried to urge Evan and the girls back home after that? It would’ve made sense if she’d asked them to band together to find the others, then lured them back to the Nightshades clutches.

It was almost as if the creator of the clones didn’t want Evan to get involved in this case any more than he already had.

Evan swallowed the pins in his throat as he stared at the ash and bones scattered before him.

“Don’t, Evan,” Xen’s fingers grazed the back of Evan’s trembling fist before engulfing it in a firm grip. “Eyes on me.”

Evan blinked, then met Xen’s gaze. His expression was as dark as it could get, red sparks flying past his irises, yet his hold on Evan’s hand remained gentle. Soothing.

As Evan opened his mouth to respond, a rumble shook the ceiling of the cave, rocks and dirt raining down on them. Slightly stumbling, Evan managed to steady himself with the help of Xen’s iron grip on his hand.

“We have guests,” Xen quietly moved to stand in front of Evan, staring down at him from his mighty height, hands clasped behind his back. The only audible noises were distantthumpsand Evan’s unsteady breaths.

For a moment, everything went dead silent. Evan only had a split second to blink—before the wall behind Xen exploded with an ear-splitting boom.

“Shit!”Evan covered his head.

Huge chunks of rocks and debris flew in their direction with a terrifying speed, as if backed by an external force meant to pulverize everything in its way.

Evan ducked reflexively, but the hulk of a body standing before him didn’t budge, silently staring at him. The rocks collided into Xen’s back like little pebbles crashing against a boulder.

Nothing made it past Xen.

When he caught Evan gaping up at him, face frozen in shock, Xen’s lips curled into that cocky smirk. He tucked a finger under Evan’s chin and closed his mouth before he could swallow a mouthful of dust.

Zeev raised a palm, as if commanding the debris to halt. And surprisingly, it did. The shards of rock hurtling towards him froze mid-air, hovering just inches from his palm...then dropped soundlessly to the ground.

When Evan saw this, his mouth hung open once again before he remembered Zeev was a Hellguard, a rock demon. If he could sense rocks and similar elements, maybe he could manipulate them too.

But before he could confirm the theory, a familiar sound echoed from the now collapsed end of the cave that opened into a clearing in the forest.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Evan’s eyes widened further, spiritual energy reflexively crackling between his fingers for defense.

Five huge rock structures stomped towards the cave, crushing trees and tiny creatures under their enormous feet, growling and beating their chests as they advanced.

Hellguards. Five freaking rock demons were charging at them, bigger and bulkier than the demon that had fought the three-eyed hound earlier.

Evan’s body shifted into fight-or-flight mode. Since there was no way in hell he was fighting those things, he switched toflight.

In the light still illuminating from the flame in Zeev’s palm, he noticed another opening a few steps away from the shattered wall. Tugging on Xen’s arm, he cried, “RUN!”

But he didn’t make it very far. In fact, he didn’t make it even a single step.

Evan whipped back and came face-to-face with an utterly amused Xen. Lips, smiling. Eyes, crinkled.