Page 3

Rowen help me.

2

Rowen

Igazed up from the two women pleasuring each other in front of me as a strange sensation built in my chest, like an invisible hand reaching inside and squeezing. The show that had moments ago captured my attention now seemed meaningless, distant.

The fire burned within me—not desire, but something primal and urgent—as the three words I hope never to hear rang in my ears, clear as crystal despite not being spoken aloud.

Rowen help me

I sprang to my feet, my fists clenching so tightly at my sides that my knuckles turned white. The two women tumbled across the floor with startled cries, but I paid them no heed. Their bodies, which had been meant to distract me from my thoughts, meant nothing. I didn't even give a shit about them to begin with—just pawns in my endless game of self-deception.

My demon rose to the surface without my permission, horns flickering to life on my head like dark flames materializing from nothing. Wings sprouted from my back with a painful snap, unfurling in a display of power I couldn't control. Black claw-tipped nails dug into my flesh as I curled my fists, drawing pinpricks of blood that I couldn't feel through the panic.

"Archer," I screamed, the name tearing from my throat. The hall rang with my one-word demand, the sound bouncing off the stone walls like a physical force.

Murmured whispers echoed around me as confusion swarmed the room. The revelers—demons and their playthings—stared with wide eyes and slack jaws. My party goers had no idea why I had made this outburst. Some cowered, thinking they'd somehow earned my wrath.

And I wouldn't tell them because they didn't need to know. They were nothing but distractions, temporary amusements in my eternal existence. They didn't need to know my weakness. No one could know.

Sierra.MySierra. My omega witch. Just thinking her name made something inside me ache with a longing I'd tried to bury beneath flesh and indulgence.

The room started to clear as my second in command made his way inside, his presence commanding even among demons. "Everybody out!" The rest of the demons scattered like roaches exposed to light. Most in various stages of undress, grabbing at discarded clothing and dignity alike.

But again I didn't care. Let them run naked through my domain. It meant nothing.

Archer approached me with measured steps, wary but unafraid. His black cloak swirled around him like living shadow as he twirled the sharp silver daggers between his fingers—an elegant, deadly dance. A nervous habit. One he did frequently when he was annoyed with me. Not that he would ever tell me he was annoyed with me. Our relationship didn't allow for such simple honesty.

Dark hair the color of a Raven's wing fell in soft waves to brush his collar, framing a face that had witnessed centuries of my worst behavior. Ice blue eyes stared at me, piercing and knowing, as an expression of practiced boredom crossed overhis features. Until he saw the frantic look in my eyes, the barely contained panic I couldn't mask.

"Rowen, what is it?" His brow furrowed and the daggers in his hands stilled, all pretense dropped in an instant.

"She called me."

It was all I had to say—three words that carried the weight of a thousand unspoken fears. Archer knew exactly who I was talking about and what it meant to me to say those words. The only one who knew my secret obsession, my greatest vulnerability in a world where vulnerabilities get you killed.

"I'll see if I can find her." Archer's eyes fluttered shut as he called forth his powers. The demon was the most powerful tracker in all of the realms. He was able to find someone with a simple thought—a gift I'd both relied on and envied countless times throughout our centuries together.

I only hoped Sierra wasn't able to block his powers. It would be the one time where I didn't want Sierra's powers to overcome ours. The very thought made my jaw clench, my fangs pressing against the inside of my lip until I tasted copper.

Emotions flickered over Archer's face—frustration, concentration, then something like amusement. Even with his eyes closed, I could tell he was struggling to find her. The muscles in his forehead tensed, a vein pulsing at his temple.

"Gods damn it." I slammed my fist into the nearest wall, cracking the ancient stone. I'd taught my girl too well. All those lessons in concealment magic—meant to protect her—now being used against me.

"Hold your horses, Rowen," Archer snapped, not breaking his concentration. "It just takes me a little bit of time to find her. She's... slippery. Like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands."

"Well then where the fuck is she?" I bit out through clenched teeth. My patience—never my strong suit—was a frayed threadabout to snap. Every second we wasted was another second Sierra was in danger. Another second where I couldn't see her, couldn't protect her, couldn't breathe in that intoxicating scent that haunted my dreams.

Those icy blue eyes snapped open and he pinned me with his gaze. Archer was the only one that would ever challenge my authority. There were many reasons for that, but that would take entirely too long to go into right now. Ancient history and blood debts that bound us closer than brothers.

"She's in the one place where we always thought she would go." Archer smiled wickedly, the daggers twirling through his fingers once again, silver blurring into streams of light. "Our little witch is nothing if not predictable in her unpredictability."

Archer was the one person who shared my obsession with the tiny Omega. He'd been with me the first time I saw her—that rainy night in Boston when she'd stood over a fresh grave, communing with spirits only she could see, silver hair plastered to her skin like liquid moonlight.

And he was with me thelasttime I saw her as well. When I'd walked away, pretending her tears meant nothing to me.

"She wouldn't," I growled, running my fingers through my thick black hair, tugging at the roots until pain bloomed across my scalp. I paced along the length of the dais, agitation making my form continue to flicker between human and demon. My wings threatened to burst forth again with every step.