“See you ’round, tough guy.” I hung up and mustered a smile for Stefan. “Ready to go kill some demons?”
“More than you know.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The people of Boston tried to flee, but they made easy demon pickings as they sat in their cars. Helicopters hovered above, announcing by loudspeaker for people to stay indoors. Emergency services were the next targets. Stefan and I made short work of a pack of demons crowding around the fire trucks responding to the earlier massive explosion. With Stefan close and his element even closer, I could temper my urges, but it wasn’t easy, and Stefan suffered too. With every twitch of the dark inside me, he flinched. With every surge of power flooding my veins, he staggered. It was clear we couldn’t continue that way for long.
We commandeered an abandoned car and left Boston in the rear view mirrors. It felt wrong, driving away from the city I called home at a time it needed me the most, but skirmishes weren’t going to solve the bigger problem. The princes were coming.
“Do you hear them now? The princes?”
The pale glow from the car’s instruments illuminated Stefan’s face as he drove, exaggerating the harsh lines of his expression. “Yes,” he replied sharply.
In the quiet comfort of the car, his tone cut me down before I’d even drawn breath to ask the next question. I swallowed and faced ahead.
“They’re waiting.” He slid me a glance, his lips flirting with an apologetic smile. “They need chaos to come here en masse. If Val creates enough chaos, the veil will fall, and the netherworld will bleed through, overlapping this world with theirs. They’re waiting for the veil to collapse. If that happens, they’ll just walk right on over.”
“If the veil is gone, can we ever get it back?”
His throat worked as he swallowed. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore.”
I eyed Stefan out of the corner of my eye. He denied he’d beaten the beast inside him. So if he was demon, what did he want? Why was he here and not a member of the princely club? He’d said they despised him, wanted him dead. Was it because he wasn’t one of them? No, there had to be more to it. Even as an exiled demon, he should be…colder. I smiled. I’d felt the old Stefan in his kiss. He might believe he was gone. Maybe he told himself that to get by, but I had my doubts. And hopes.
“I can’t contain your power for long, Muse. It’s already wearing me down. If you start throwing fire around, I won’t be able to hold you back.”
I’d figured as much, but it was okay. I had a plan. “I just need to get close to Val.”
Stefan switched hands on the wheel and frowned. “What are you going to do?”
“He wants demon.” I grinned. “I’ll show him demon.”
“You won’t come back from that, Muse. Embrace it, and you’ll never be you again. I know.”
“But you’re here, and you’re you. Sure, you’re a bit testy. It’s a little like walking on cracked ice around you, but you’re still Stefan.”
“Yeah, right up to the point I don’t get my way. I don’t care about any of this. I couldn’t care less if we get to the Institute, and they’re all dead. Actually, I’d like that. They’re part of my problem.” He arched an eyebrow at my frown. “I told you. Don’t look at me and get your hopes up. I’m only here because it suits me.”
“You helped me. You’re helping me right now by feeding your element into mine. You wouldn’t do that unless you cared.” I said it quietly, my own uncertainties weakening my conviction.
He leaned an arm on the door and massaged his temple with his fingers, gaze fixed on the road ahead. “It isn’t because I care.”
I blinked at him, but he wouldn’t meet my gaze. He stared ahead and clenched his jaw, biting back what he wanted to say. He was right. I did know demons. “You want something from me.”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Figure it out.” His lips twisted around unspoken words.
“But you are the Prince of Wrath, and netherworld titles don’t get thrown around. I should know. I see anger in you when you fight the demons. When you faced the enforcers, I saw wrath in you.” Wrath wasn’t just anger though. It was anger with a purpose: retaliation for crimes committed. His glare cut me, his scowl sharp, but before I could challenge him, he snapped his head around