Page 23

Nika

T he bone-masked mercenary froze, and silence hung between us for nearly a minute. My two didn’t appear bothered by it, though. They stayed silent with their arms crossed and eyes set on Bones, waiting for him to say something.

“He’s dead,” Bones argued, a bit breathless. “What do you mean find him?”

“He’s back,” Silas rebuked.

Bones visibly stiffened. “Back? That…then…”

“He’s a demon,” Salvator confirmed. “Reaper and the others brought him back despite knowing what he’d do. And now they’re all dead.”

I wasn’t sure how much we should be telling this stranger, but it didn’t appear to worry Silas or Salvator that he was getting more details than most.

I’d heard about blood contracts before and how potent they were, but I wasn’t sure what all they could do, or what it meant to have one. It was an unwritten rule never to enter a blood contract, and if you did, breaking it was a death sentence. But that was all I knew about them.

“You want me to track a fucking demon, and one with Rilas’s knowledge and power? Are you crazy?” Bones growled behind the concealment of his mask. “That’s a death sentence.”

“It’s death whichever direction you go, Bones. All you have to do is find us a general location, and we’ll do the rest. Call in a few favors. Ask around. No one’s telling you to put yourself directly in his path,” Salvator reasoned with the cloaked stranger, but his tone left no room for argument.

Silas spoke up next, taking a few steps around Bones. “Come now, Bones. A demon is bad for business. They only know how to destroy, and this one comes from our side of the world, yeah? He’ll come after all his contacts eventually.”

Silas edged closer, behind Bones now, and it appeared our new friend wasn’t as confident with the assassin at his back. Even without seeing his expression, I picked up on his fear.

“If I remember correctly, you worked with him for a short time. What happens if he comes calling? Think you can fight a demon as powerful as my brother? You think your blood magic will hold a candle to what he can do now with the power of the After behind him?” He tutted the rigid man with a finger.

“Believe me, Bones, you should be chuffed it was us and not him who found you first. Get his location, and we’ll take care of that pesky demon before he has any reason to find you.

Or I might just tip him off and use you to lay the trap, yeah? ”

Silas’s voice dropped to a dangerous whisper, silver eyes glowing from behind his mask. The man had adopted a whole new level of ominous around this bone-masked stranger. It was hard to imagine my goofy brute when he threatened and killed without mercy.

“They say he can steal souls. Wonder what awaits the ones he steals…” Silas hummed low in his throat. “Nothing good, I bet.”

A breath escaped Bones before he cleared his throat, eyes jerking from Silas to Salvator. “You’re crazy if you think just the two of you can win against a demon with the power to steal souls.” His chuckle was humorless. “It took armies and a Soul Collector the last time. You have neither.”

The last time?

I was tempted to ask, but I kept my mouth shut.

I’d pick Silas’s brain about it later. I’d been aware there were other demons, other Soul Collectors, but Grandmother never went into detail.

Every demon was different, and she’d argued that Rilas was exceptionally different from the rest. That his earthly ties hadn’t been severed like the others.

It made him both powerful and vulnerable, though she never explained why despite the numerous times I asked.

“You’ll know when the time comes, darling. You’ll understand what it is you have to do, I promise,” was all she had said.

Laughing like Bones had told the funniest joke he’d ever heard—probably because we did have a Soul Collector—Silas clapped the red-eyed man on the shoulder. “You let us worry about that, yeah? Just run along and get us what we asked for.”

Without waiting, Bones disappeared.

The carnage was everywhere I looked—the ground, the walls, and the two men who’d been covered in it in some way or another. We’d need to leave before anyone could stumble on the massacre.

“What about the bodies?” I asked, peering around at the devastation still bleeding into the asphalt. “We’re not leaving it like this, right?”

I practically heard the smirk on his face as Silas navigated the carnage.

“Leave it, love. It’ll send a nice message for the ones who took note of us in the city.

This will remind them why they’d better forget they ever saw us.

Mercenaries are a self-preserving lot. I don’t doubt they’ll understand what it means to cross us. ”

Salvator turned around, the blood failing to hide every part of him. Specifically one part I wished I hadn’t glanced at first. “I hate to agree with Sparkles, but it’ll do our job for us. Word will get around, and they’ll keep their mouths shut to avoid being our next targets.”

Lev made a little noise in his throat, eyebrows waggling. “If that doesn’t send the message, then I vote for sending you around town just as you are to make the point big and clear.” He emphasized the word big with a snicker my direction.

I was surrounded by children.

I glared at Lev with the violence of a thousand papercuts, but it only made his smile grow. I’d make him pay later. As much as I loved Lev, I hated him right now.

“I don’t see how that’ll help, boy,” the shifter grumbled.

My friend didn’t appear bothered by the tone Salvator had used or the patronizing title he’d given him. I took issue with it, though, and cast angry eyes at the shifter. But I wasn’t given time to chastise Salvator.

Ryker cackled behind me. “Sally’s pulling a Tometi. Night officially made. I love this kid. I’m keeping him.”

The grinning phantom tried to throw an arm around Lev, but it went straight through, and for some reason, that only made him laugh louder. Salvator couldn’t see him, but that didn’t stop him from scowling the wolf’s direction.

Catching an eyeful when he glanced at Salvator, Silas tossed his cloak at him before the shifter could make his way over. “Oi, you wolf bastard. I remember telling you to bring clothes tonight.”

“They’re in the car,” Salvator replied and begrudgingly wrapped the cloak around his naked body.

Silas sighed like he hadn’t been just as frustrating as Salvator at every turn tonight. “What good will they do you all the way out there?”

“You looking for a fight, Sparkles? Because I’m plenty ready. I was just thinking tonight hadn’t been much of a challenge.” Salvator’s wolf gleamed in his vicious stare, changing the color of his irises.

“With your knob swinging about? I’ll be the bigger bloke and save you the loss of a precious part, Sally. My bird has had a long enough night, yeah? She doesn’t want to watch us having it out because you can’t bring a bloody pair of trousers.”

Looks like I have two big pouty babies now.

Lev and I shared a little look before heading back the way we came, leaving the two to figure their shit out.

We’d have to avoid the main streets, but we’d planned on it from the start.

All things considered, it was another successful part of the plan carried out.

It was time to return to the safe house and figure out how we were going to send the demon hunting us back to the After.

I needed to learn how to summon the old magic, and I wasn’t sure how long I had to figure it out.

Voices whispered in my ear, and I woke with a start, covered in a thin sheen of sweat. My pulse pounded, a loud thump that echoed a fear I couldn’t place. My night had been dreamless, but the whispers beckoned me awake as if I’d come out of a fantasy world.

I’d fallen asleep after spending hours reviewing the book we stole from the Dark Fae Society.

Based on its content, this book was meant to be read by only the most trusted in our society.

It contained secrets dating back millennia.

Secrets I wasn’t even aware existed, that I was confident even my father hadn’t known.

It was a hulking, several-thousand-paged monstrosity guarded by magic I’d never seen before.

Old, dark magic that both did and didn’t smell like blood.

“She must’ve sealed it after I last saw it. It’s been a couple decades,” Lev mumbled to himself, inspecting the book closely. “This is a bit…extreme. I knew it was important, but I hadn’t realized how important. This is lineage magic she used.”

Which explained the hint of blood without it being blood magic.

Lineage magic was stored in objects. Generations of magic aided in its strength.

Its reserves weren’t endless, so using it was left to things of great importance.

The power of the lineage and how many contributed determined its potency, and only someone with magic from that lineage could break it.

Meaning, any new Council members wouldn’t be able to open it.

Lev was the last, and he didn’t hesitate to break the magical seal keeping the book locked. She’d always intended to make him her predecessor. She never imagined that he’d one day betray her, so it was only him who could.

With his eidetic memory, it didn’t take long to find the passage he’d mentioned.

After he translated the old text written in a language most Dark Fae couldn’t read or speak, Lev confirmed it called for “the old magic” to summon or banish a demon, and that only those whose power touched the After could use it. More specifically, Soul Collectors.

A little further into the passage it mentioned the price that must be paid after true balance was achieved, and the message Grandmother circled several times immediately came to mind after reading it. ‘Even one soul for a soul is a heavy price to pay, but a price we must.’