Page 112 of Daman

“I see both failure and victory. The decisions you make will affect the balance between the two, but not even I know the outcome. One thing Idoknow?” His grave expression caused a weight to settle over my chest. “Not all of us will live to see tomorrow.”

Chapter Eighteen

Warrin

The silence before battle was one I knew well. Cold air filled my lungs and clouded in front of my face, like smoke, with the release of my breath. A slow inhale followed by an even slower exhale.

“Will the children be safe behind the barrier?” Ivan asked as we stood in formation, dark woods around us, the branches so thick they blocked most of the moonlight.

“Asa has no reason to go after them if we’re out here to greet him,” Gusion responded. “I’m the one he wants.”

He wants me too.Well, my army.

We needed to strike him down tonight. More than my people’s lives relied on it. If he got the key and set fire to the heavens, the entire world would be at stake.

Lycus stood on the other side of Daman, his white fur the same shade as the snow below him and his honey eyes fluorescent in the dark. On all fours, the top of his head was just shy of six feet. Other wolves gathered in the trees around us, their steps barely audible.

Remembering what Daman told us about fighting demons, I turned to Gusion. “Can the wolves kill demons? I thought silver had to be used.”

“Silver helps, yes, but a shifter can kill without it. Their very existence is not of the mundane world, thus their powerful bites can take down even an upper-level demon.” The fallen angel nodded to my clawed hands. “Same goes for you dragon shifters. You can tear right through their flesh.”

Lev, Ivan, and Efrem stood at my back, all in their hybrid forms as well. Alexander and Rurik positioned themselves to the sides of us. Gray sat on the branch of the tree above us, his wings pulled in around his body. Bellamy, Castor, and Kyo were to the right of Daman, weapons in hand and ready for battle.

Inhale. Exhale.

And then, a gentle touch.

Daman grabbed my hand, his gloved fingers sliding through my clawed ones. “You’re not allowed to die tonight. That’s an order, Commander.”

“Nothing can take me from you,kotya.”

He held his chin higher. “I’ll hold you to that.”

Yes. I knew the silence before a battle. I knew the rushing of blood through my veins as my adrenaline spiked. And as I held Daman’s hand, staring into his eyes, I knew fear. It churned inside my chest like barbed wire, cutting into my sternum and scraping against my rib cage.

“Hey, Lust?” Efrem said to Bellamy. “When this is over, we should definitely fuck again.”

Bellamy laughed. “Sure thing. But only if your brother joins us too.”

Ivan smirked. “Like I’d let you two have fun without me.”

The very air shifted, thinned, as if I were high in the sky instead of firmly on the ground. The trees stirred, the long branches creaking as they moved. Voices carried on the breeze. Whispers. But I couldn’t make out what they said.

Gusion looked upward and nodded. “The son of Lucifer has reached the edge of the forest.”

“Did the ghosts tell you that?” Castor asked.

“Yes. And the trees.”

Orbs of light floated beside the low-hanging branches, and blurs of dull white flickered between the trees. The blurs then took shape. A woman with long blonde hair crouched near the underbrush to the left, her skin pale and slightly transparent. Two children, a boy and a girl, stared down from the tree behind her, their forms flickering a moment before solidifying. More spirits appeared alongside the wolves.

Lev’s gaze darted around us. My childhood friend was fearless in many aspects. Except when it came to ghosts.

“Worry not, dragon,” Gusion told him. “The forest doesn’t harm its own. They’re here to help.”

The ghost woman from earlier appeared in front of us, touching Daman’s cheek. “Be careful, young one.”

His expression softened. “Always.”