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“Camus Shadowwalker has two homes. One in this realm, one in the Other Realm. Camus is a cruel man, and he will want an audience. Aziel didn’t just mate with a human. He rescued the ones Camus wanted. Time is short,” Athena answered, her eyes hazy. “He wouldn’t wait to begin his punishment.” She blinked, focusing on me. “I promised him you and your family would be unharmed. If you go with them, I can’t guarantee that. But he needs you. He won’t last the night without hope. You’re the only one who has ever given him that.”

Releasing Dante, I pushed to my feet. “Then I’ll go. Just make sure my little brother is safe.”

“Declan!” Ollie protested. He pushed through the crowd, grabbing my shirt tightly in his fist. I didn't have the time to explain this to him, so I pushed Dante towards him, leveling him with a look. “Watch over Dante for me. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Dante’s head jerked up. “N-No! I have to go too! I have to–”

“You both need to stay here. A demon battle is no place for little kids. If you want to help, talk to the council when they arrive. They’ll need to know everything to go after Camus properly,” Vivi argued. She already had her phone to her ear. Whoever the council was, she was calling them now. I brushed that away, kneeling in front of both boys.

“Look out for each other. And stay here. I can’t get to Aziel if I’m too busy worrying about you. I’ll be back.”

Rising to my feet, I followed Aziel’s friends out of the apartment and down to the parking lot. Callum handed me his keys, pointing at a truck parked nearby.

“If he’s hurt and we’re busy, you’ll need to move him yourself. Let us handle the demons. You focus on getting him out. Don’t bring him back here. My father will be waiting for you at the transportation tunnel. Bring him there.”

I didn’t argue, and I didn't ask why. I didn't care. My one goal was to get Aziel out. If Callum said the transportation tunnel was safest, then that’s where we’d go.

“Okay. Let’s do this.”

Hold on Aziel. I’m coming for you.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

DECLAN

The driveto the Shadowwalker home was tense and quiet. Callum and Malakai flew overhead, guiding the way. Felix and Hendrix rode in the truck bed, their heads on a swivel as they searched for enemies. No one came for me. We got all the way there without running into anyone. We decided to check the human realm first, since it was closer. There was a massive wrought-iron gate in the way, but no one guarding it. Malakai pushed it open, and I drove up to the front door, looking around warily. Nothing. There was no one here. Either they weren’t here, or they were hiding. I honestly didn’t know which was worse. Athena said we had to hurry. We didn’t have time to waste searching for him.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up when I stepped out of the truck. It was late, clouds covered the moon, and trees surrounded the house to block out any light pollution from the city. It was pitch black, and only the fire on the demons around me and the lights from the truck gave me any visibility. It was eerie.

“Anyone else feel like we’re being watched?” Felix murmured.

“We probably are,” Callum grumbled. “It changes nothing. We’re here to find Aziel. I don’t think they’ll give him up without a fight.”

Malakai landed next to me, pulling something out of the small of his back. “Declan. My mate has this for protection. You will need it more than I will.”

The pistol was small, barely the size of my palm, but fully loaded. I huffed out a laugh, checking the safety before looking up at him.

“Remind me to thank your mate later.”

He nodded once before turning toward the house. There were no distinct features, like they painted the whole thing black. No lights shone through the windows, nothing to indicate life inside. It felt like a long shot that anyone was here, but we had to check anyway.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

We moved en masse through the double door entrance, which was unlocked and unguarded on the inside. Red flags went up in the back of my head. Either no one was here or they wanted us to go in this direction. I pushed forward, using the light from the demon fire to guide my steps. I took the safety off the pistol, keeping it pointed down so I didn’t do anything stupid like shoot someone if I got startled. Felix and Hendrix checked doors to the left and right as we walked down the hallway, but they all turned up empty.

When the hallway split, we took a second to consider our options. It was hard to tell just how big this place was in the dark, but we didn't want to end up lost in here. This was already taking too long. I was about to suggest going forward when Felix tipped his head with a frown.

“What’s that sound?”

Without the sound of our footsteps, the quiet was overwhelming. Everyone else tipped their heads, listening, but I couldn’t hear anything. Callum pointed down the main hallway.

“That way.”

As we continued forward, the noise they’d heard finally got loud enough for me to hear it. A steady flutter, like dozens of wings coming from the double door at the end of the hall. We hesitated outside the door. Whatever was waiting on the other side wasn’t just one or two guys. I wasn’t sure how we’d hold up and I sent a silent prayer that Ollie would forgive me for this in the future.

A gut wrenching scream propelled me forward. It sounded like Aziel,and it was like I could feel the pain in my chest as he screamed. I launched myself at the door, throwing it open and darting inside.

Time slowed and stuttered, only bits and pieces filtering through my brain. Pools of blood. Aziel on his knees, blood gushing down his face. I couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing at first, until time sped back up again and I watched along with a goddamn audience as they literally ripped one of Aziel’s horns off his head with a loud crack. Aziel screamed again, agony etched into his face. The pistol came up automatically, and I fired at the female demon standing over him triumphantly. I never shot a pistol in my life, but I was so pissed, I pulled the trigger over and over until I got her in between the eyes. Her head jerked back, and she stumbled, collapsing on the floor behind Aziel.