Page 103 of Tear Me Down (Descent to Darkness Trilogy #2)

I sigh, knowing he’s not talking about fucking. Which is really disappointing.

“I was mostly kidding, Damien. What happened to ‘no more worrying’?”

“I’m always going to worry about my girls,” he says softly, but teasingly, and I can’t help but roll my eyes at him. “I can call Zeke and tell him to go with you.”

I shake my head dramatically, absolutely refusing.

“No, Damien. He’ll kill us both if you put him back on babysitting duty.

” I gesture a finger between the two of us, and he chuckles in response, but I see the worry flooding his eyes again.

“It’s going to be fine. I'm not working a full shift today, and Emmett will be there all day with me.

He even put up a sign saying that my wait times are going to be longer than usual. I'm taking it easy. I promise.”

He nods lightly, reluctantly accepting my independence like he always has, and kisses my forehead again.

“D! Look at this shit!” Carter flies down the stairs, practically jumping over them. His face is red, and yet, he somehow looks clammy and pale, like something spooked him .

“Not now, Carter.” Damien seethes, obviously upset that he ruined the moment, but he hasn’t turned to look at him yet.

“Yes. Now.”

Damien then snaps in his direction, sensing his worry, and the look on his face says exactly what I’m thinking. Shit, this is serious. Damien pulls me along with him, meeting Carter in the living area, and he doesn’t waste a second turning it to the news.

“Breaking News, emergency rooms are overflowing this morning with a mysterious attack. Thousands of people, and climbing, have presented life threatening symptoms such as projectile vomiting, cardiac arrest, and difficulty breathing. Sources say the victims woke up and soon after starting their morning routines, displayed minor symptoms such as headache, dizziness, mild nausea, and shortness of breath—only for these symptoms to quickly escalate. Sixty-two reported dead, with more reports coming in...”

While those symptoms may be questionable to anyone else, they ring loud and clear to us, instantly shooting fear down our spines.

“Ashia, do not drink that God damn smoothie…” Damien warns, thinking what I am.

To affect thousands of people at once, a mass attack is the only logical explanation, and with it being so early in the morning, it’s not likely that it’s airborne.

When I was poisoned, it was in the alcohol, and while people aren’t drinking this early, there’s one other liquid that everyone touches throughout the day…

“We’re on well water, right?” I ask shakily, needing to make sure.

“Yeah, but I’m not taking any fucking chances, and you're definitely not going back to work.” Damien yanks his phone out of his pocket and immediately starts texting. “Carter, call Adrien and get a message out now .”

“Already on it,” Carter says as he puts his phone to his ear.

“I just told everyone to check in, grab their families, and head into the Attic. I’m going to start coordinating with disaster relief to see where I can buy water,” he relays back to Carter, and that’s when my phone buzzes in my pocket, making me jump.

I pull it out and look down at my phone to see a message from Serena.

Ser:

I'm okay, don’t touch anything that doesn’t come prepackaged!

My heart pounds with relief, and I look back up to Damien.

“Ser just texted, she’s okay, but said not to touch anything that isn’t prepackaged.”

He nods harshly .

“You have more of your prenatals, right?”

I nod back, but fear shoots through my spine again as a knock sounds from our front door, drawing all of our attention.

The fear explodes behind my eyes as a sense of dread kicks in, knowing what this means.

We were all just looking at our phones, and there was no notification that someone was at the gate, or any alerts from the security system saying someone is here.

Damien immediately pulls a pistol out from his back, aims it at the door, and steps in front of me.

His free arm reaches back to feel my presence, but before he can step away, I grip his arm tightly.

“Damien?” I call out to him with trembling words.

I’m not sure what I’m expecting him to say in this moment, or why I’m secretly begging him to turn back time to just a few moments ago, but I can’t help but already dread what’s about to come.

The last month of peace is about to go down the drain, and I’m not sure we’re ready for that yet.

“Stay there, baby. Please,” he begs and steps cautiously towards the door. Carter immediately moves to take his place in front of me, already looking at the security system. “Carter? Camera?”

“Lone male, no visible weapons,” he quickly replies.

“Damien Hartley.” A deep voice comes from behind the door, sounding like a eulogy and proclamation all at once.

It’s deep and rough, like the weight of a thousand lives sits on his shoulders.

Damien tenses, and I can see the subtle way his trigger finger twitches, ready to pull the small lever at any moment.

“We haven’t met, but my name is Satori Macher. Though, you know me as Sahara.”

Damien immediately halts, and I can feel the shock radiate off him.

He hesitates, not knowing what to do, but after a brief look in my direction, he nods and reaches for the door.

The knob seems to take ages to turn, undoing the deadbolt and disengaging the new metal vault locks before he slowly opens it.

He keeps his pistol aimed as he steps in front of the newly opened archway, unveiling a man that I can only describe as a modern-day devil.

Dressed head to toe in black, he stands about as tall as Damien, looking coordinated with his dark skin, hair, and eyes.

His head is cocked to the side like our worries are humorous, and that he either isn’t a threat, or our attempts at safety are nothing but a nuisance.

His voice rings out again, this time creeping into our safe space with sharp claws and a hunger for our souls.

“I’ve come to ask for your help.”