Page 95 of Galen

“I won’t leave you,” I said, my chest tight and my eyes stinging with unshed tears. I was scared. For me. For him. For all the people I cared about.

“You must,” he growled. “Promise me.”

I gripped the keys tighter in my fist. “I promise.”

Galen crushed me to his chest and pressed his face into my hair. Unease went through me, twisting my sternum and making it hard to breathe.

This felt too much like a goodbye.

“I love you,” I said, closing my eyes and breathing him in.

He leaned down and kissed me. I tried not to put too much thought into how his mouth quivered a bit. Like maybe he thought it felt like a goodbye too. When he pulled back, he cupped my cheek. His gray eyes softened as he stared at me. “I—”

But before he could say more, he hunched over and gasped, hand going to his temple. A sharp wind crashed against the patio door, forcing it open. And then I heard a sound that made every hair on my body stand up—a distant screech.

“Shades,” Galen said, the blood draining from his face. His gaze moved to me. “They got through.”

More distant screeching followed his words, and my skin crawled as the sounds grew louder. Closer. Galen threw me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing and fled the room, taking the stairs down to the main floor. He moved so fast that I had to close my eyes to keep from getting too disoriented.

“The barrier is down,” Alastair said, meeting us in the hall outside the entertainment room. The other warriors were to their feet, weapons drawn. He looked at Galen, then at me. “We need to lock him in a room and place warding on the door. It won’t last forever, but it will give us more time.”

“I’m afraid we’re out of time,” Bellamy said, gaze on the window. Dark shapes moved on the other side of the glass. “They’re here.”

The window shattered as a figure made of black swirling smoke burst through it. As the stench of rot and burning flesh hit my nose, my stomach turned. Bellamy sliced the thing’s neck, and its body lit up bright orange before dissolving to ash. But more were close behind. I heard them moving through the grass. Screeching. Growling.

“Galen!” I turned to him. “The box! Is it still in Alastair’s study?”

As if understanding my intention, Galen darted down the hall. Commotion sounded behind us as the brothers fought off the shades, hoarse breathing sounds mixed with pained yelps and more screeching. Once in the study, Galen slammed the door and set me down.

I wavered in place a moment. Fear had me shaking like a leaf, but I couldn’t surrender to it. I met his gaze and took a deep breath.I need to be brave.

“If I lock the ring inside the box, they won’t be able to open it, right?”

“They could open it eventually, but it would delay them at least.” Galen tore through the study until he found the box. “Here.”

I grabbed it from him and reached into my pocket for the ring. I hated the way it felt against my skin. The green stone glowed, faintly at first, then brighter. It was as if it sensed the demons outside the door and called out to them.

Galen studied the ring before lifting his gaze back to mine. Pounding sounded on the door. I knew what he was about to say, and I braced myself for it.

“Take the box and leave,” he said. “Go through the garden and turn right. My car is in the driveway. Drive straight to Clara. Stop nowhere else.” He looked toward the door and pulled two blades from his belt, one in each hand. “I’ll hold them off.”

“Galen—”

“You made a promise to me, Simon Parks. Don’t break it.” The door smashed open, splinters flying everywhere. “Go. Now!”

I rushed toward the glass door that led from the study and into the garden, opening the lid on the box as I did. I needed to lock the ring inside. So even if the demons managed to take it from me, they wouldn’t be able to do anything with it for a while.

But something happened.

Right as I tried to put the ring inside, I was knocked backward by a powerful blast. I crashed into the desk, the breath leaving my lungs.

“Simon?”

“No,”a deep voice whispered, filling my head. It sounded like the same one that spoke to me earlier.

The ring grew hotter in my hand, as if the flames of hell were searing into my flesh. I gritted my teeth against it and tried to shove it inside the box again, but the box flew from my grip and smashed against the wall, shattering into pieces.

“Simon! What’s wrong?”