Page 153 of Finders Reapers

Fletcher used Cyclian for the doorways, but he didn’t speak it.

Even then, it didn’t take a genius to know that he and the rest of his Grim had been soulbonded. It was the demonic equivalent of both protection and possession.

He’d suspected that Valentina was part demon since Charon had told his Grim that she was to be protected and kept away from Mr. Bub. He had never suspected that she was a Drude—a demon of death and nightmares.

One of the last of her kind.

Oriax was gone. A burnt skid mark in the sand and a handful of broken feathers.

Fletcher’s ears popped, and his hearing returned—something he only realized when he heard the groans of pain from his comrades. Otherwise, the desert was deathly silent. Nothing made a sound. Not the wind or the insects.

“She’s over there!” Rome, in an uncharacteristically loud shout, as he hopped to his feet, pointing to the center of the desert.

The landscape was pockmarked with holes so large they could swallow a car, but the worms were nowhere to be found.

In the center of it all was Vallie. A fragile figure amongst the wreckage.

The Camaro had been revived, and Fletcher didn’t question it or care. All he needed was to get Vallie back to HQ. Back to the people that might actually know how to help her.

Somehow, Valentina had marked all of them, protecting them from the effects of her magic as she decimated Oriax and every living creature in the valley, including his monsters.

But she hadn’t been able to protect herself.

“Can you go faster?” Rome barked at Maddox as they skidded through the desert roads back to HQ.

“I’m trying!” Maddox snarled back.

In the backseat, Valentina rested across Jamal’s and Fletcher’s lap. Jamal stroked her hair, even though she didn’t move. Not her chest, not an eyelid flicker.

But Fletcher refused to think about that.

“What about a doctor?” Fletcher asked desperately.

Rome scoffed. “Oh yes. We just watched our girlfriend burst into an echelon of darkness, but what she really needs is a blood test?” He bit back sarcastically.

“I don’t see you coming up with any bright ideas,” Fletcher mumbled.

The car rolled over a bump in the road, and Jamal lurched forward to grip Vallie’s head to stop it from moving.

“Our girlfriend,” Jamal sat back once Valentina was secure and rested his head against the headrest. “Bloody hell.”

“Now isn’t the time to get mushy,” Maddox said numbly, facing forward. “She needs demon blood.”

“A mother fucking drude.” Rome clicked his tongue in awe. “They’re extinct. What are the odds?”

“Her father all but confirmed it when we went to his house. Not about the Drude part, but that he had knowledge of demons.” Maddox explained. “I thought that he was trying to make himself seem tougher. More of a threat. Now I realize that he knew that Valentina was half-demon. He sold her soul, but he knew that the devil couldn’t collect because she was Cyclian. At least in part.”

“How would that even work?” Fletcher shook his head, staring at the desert as the sun began to set. “Drudes are incorporeal. They don’t have bodies.”

“They can possess people,” Maddox replied. “Her mother was likely possessed before she became pregnant.”

“Isn’t it ironic, though?” Jamal chuckled lightly, but there was no humor in the sound. “The original devouring beasts killed the goddess Mara and shattered her into a million shadows. The Drudes. When those beasts came back a second time, they ate the Drudes, leaving a few scraps of shadows. When they came back this time? They were schooled by the thing they kept trying to destroy.” Jamal brushed a lock of hair away from Valentina’s face. “She has no idea how special she is.”

Maddox snorted. “She does. She had millions of followers telling her every day how special she was.”

“Those disappeared when she died. Or, when her original body died.” Rome pointed out. “Valentina knows how we feel. That we love her for her, and not some persona on a screen.”

“Fanboy.” Jamal coughed into his hand.