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That was another thing stumping Darien: how a demon had managed to get into the school. The last time something like this had happened, it was because the spells recognized the students even after the Well replica had transformed them into demons. But this time…

Darien paced faster, his back to the academy as he stared at the road that sloped down into the sprawling city. Buildings and freeways glimmered with lights; he could see Blackbird 88 Above from here.

“Darien.” Max shoved him in the shoulder to get his attention.

Darien turned…

His blood ran cold at the sight of the school.

The spell system was malfunctioning. A dome of colorful ripples and ancient runes had become visible to the naked eye, flickering and buzzing against the thick blanket of night. And inside the school, people were screaming, alarm system blaring.

Jack was gaping at the building. “Tell Tanner to hurry up!”

“Atlas,” Darien bit out, gripping the phone so hard he nearly crushed it. “You have to get us in there right now.”

“I’m almost finished.” Keys clacked louder.

Max murmured, “Come on. Come on.”

Tanner said, “Ten seconds left, and you’ll have five to get over the fence. Got it? The spells are freaking out—”

“Yeah, I can see, we have front-row seats.” The colorful runes rippled like a kaleidoscope; he felt dizzy just looking at them.

Seven, six, five…

“Call me if you need anything,” Tanner added quickly.

Four, three…

Darien hung up. Put his phone in his pocket. He watched the dome, feet braced apart.

Two, one…

They bolted, launching themselves up the fence as the rainbow dome faded into a smattering of sparks. Chain-link rattled as they scaled it, landing on the grass on the other side. Magic seared the air, but by the time the dome had buzzed back into place, they were already halfway across the property, booking it to the front doors of the school. The colorful runes and waves danced on the dark grass, lighting them up and playing on their clothes like they were at a festival.

The scream that came next didn’t belong to a victim but a predator—a roar that trembled the ground and exploded the glass on the windows, shards showering the grass. Darien’s heart was beating so hard, it was going to jump out of his chest.

They blew through the locked doors, wood splintering, and ran down the hallways, boots slapping the floors, Familiars bounding at their sides. Together they ran, following the sound of screaming and fleeing footsteps and furniture breaking. The tinge of candle smoke in the air told Darien that Dallas and Sabrine were using what little magic they possessed to keep the creature away. Even with his Sight, Darien could see nothing, just like that night under the Strangler Fig. But he knew where they would find the demon; even without the noise, the stench alone was enough of a clue.

“Do you smell that?” Max spoke Darien’s thought aloud.

It was the smell of death. A thick odor of rotting meat and sweat that didn’t belong to anything of this world.

The thing was in the library; he could hear it. Darien didn’t allow himself to think about the girls and where they were as he ran faster.

They swung around the corner and through the open doorways, leaping over heaps of crumbled stone and splintered wood, and came face to face with—

He screeched to a halt, Max and Jack doing the same. Near the far wall of the room were Loren, Dallas, and Sabrine. Banged up and filthy but alive, thank the gods. And standing before them, blocking their path to the doors, was the most terrifying creature Darien had ever seen.

“Fuck me,” Maximus gritted out just as Jack shouted, “What the hell is that?” Well, there was a plus side to every situation, and this time it was the fact that Max and Jack could see this monster too. Maybe he wasn’t so crazy after all.

Darien’s eyes turned black as he called upon his magic, diving into the stores of Stygian salts in his system. “Kill it,” was his only instruction.

The thing was bigger than his truck. It was white as bone and walked on all fours, its head hairless, its back ridged with lethal spikes. Its eyes were two black pits sunken into a skull-like face, and its teeth were jagged—two rows of them. It was exactly like the thing Darien swore he’d seen in the Devil’s Advocate.

But he didn’t have a chance to think about it any longer, because it was lunging for them.

Darien’s magic snapped into place, a wall like smoke parrying the creature’s attack.