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Choking back the blood still crowding her throat, Loren turned her head in the dirt to see the Veil.

It was still standing. Her power had not fully taken it down.

It was luck, that’s what it was. The Shucca had made it through, the Veil weakened during that brief moment when her power had flowed through the pillar.

She did not want to know what else roamed the area the imperator called the Void.

55

Darien and the three Reapers were nearing the block where they’d left their vehicles when the clap of footfall cut through the fog.

He turned toward the sound, the others doing the same, hands inching toward guns.

“Darien!” Christa called, her silhouette appearing in the gloom, Familiar bounding at her side. “Darien, wait! Please!”

No one relaxed their hands or their stances as Christa slowed before them, panting. The eyes of all three Reapers turned black. They scanned the area, looking for anyone who might be watching.

“My car won’t start,” Christa said, every word punctuated by gasps.

“How convenient,” Malakai scoffed.

Darien studied her. “Your car won’t start in a city powered by the anima mundi?”

“I don’t know what’s happening, but it won’t start, I swear. And all the lights in the parkade are out. The place is crawling with demons.”

Valen drawled, “We’re supposed to believe that?”

She gave him an icy stare. “If you’d like to pop the hood and tinker around, Valen, feel free. I am telling the truth.” She looked back at Darien. “Just give me a ride to the House on the Pier. Please. Or take me to the closest bus stop, I don’t care. But I can’t stay here.”

Christa had barely finished speaking before the hungry baying of demons rippled through the night. Glowing eyes watched them from the fog, the creatures roving in packs. With his Sight, Darien could see the multistory parking garage, every light in the building out.

Darien turned and made for the car that was parked just ahead, the LED lights on the street reflecting in the gunmetal-gray paint. “Get in.”

Malakai said, “We’ll follow behind you.”

Darien stepped off the sidewalk and made his way to the driver’s-side door of Travis’s sportscar. He’d asked Travis if he could borrow it for tonight, not wanting to run the risk of taking a vehicle that would be easily recognized, should Christa decide to double-cross him. He unlocked it with the remote and got in, the protective spells succumbing to his arrival.

High-heeled boots clicked on pavement as Christa went to her own door, her breath showing in the air. Another abnormally cold night in a city that was growing weirder by the second.

Christa eyed the vehicle. “New car?” She swung open the door, her Familiar disappearing into her shadow as she got in.

“I borrowed it.” Darien shut his door and started the engine. He turned on the heat, a feature seldom used in a city like Angelthene, and cranked the dial to high. Warmth blasted through the vents, chasing away the fog of moisture at the base of the windshield. He pushed back his hood and threw his hat on the back seat.

Christa scanned the interior as she smoothed her long jacket under her thighs and buckled her seatbelt. “Travis, right?”

Darien nodded and pulled out onto the road, Reapers following behind him in Sylvan’s car, headlights barely managing to perforate the thick fog.

“Seems like his style,” Christa said.

They’d barely made it down the street when a cloud of black caught Darien’s eye.

Leaning forward, wrist resting on the steering wheel, he peered up through the windshield to see a flock of winged creatures with whip-like tails soaring through the sky.

“What the hell…,” Darien murmured, leaning forward to get a better look, seatbelt tightening.

One of the demons hit the windshield so hard the glass buckled. Darien swerved, and Christa screamed.

The vehicle lurched and slowed, engine protesting under restraint, as at least a dozen of the creatures attacked. Christa was shouting, gripping the handle above her door with one hand, the other holding onto her seat. Four of the windows exploded, and claws ripped right through the roof, metal shards and spears of hard plastic flying.