rolled his eyes back. He was strong. Even as fire flooded him, he fought, but not enough. Still, he held back. Why was he letting me kill him? Why was he not fighting?
Something inside me shifted, like a brick dislodged in my very foundation. I faltered and twitched, distracted by a wicked slither of emotional pain. I looked down. I saw with human eyes. Stefan. Limp beneath me. With a cry, I pulled my hands back, but it was too late.
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
He couldn’t be dead. I refused to believe it. With a furious snarl, I swiped at the air and extinguished the flames while shaking off my demon. I grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the smoldering building. Demons lunged in. I didn’t even give them a second thought. With a mental snap of my fingers, they burst into ashes. After the sixth or seventh, the others fled. I hefted Stefan’s dead weight beside the burned-out shell of a car and shook off my demon. “Stefan…” He was still demon, his skin pearly smooth, lips soft against hard features. Eyes closed, he could’ve been sleeping if he wasn’t so still. “Stefan…” I pressed my fingers to his neck, searching for a pulse. “Please, please… You can’t be dead. No… no…” I couldn’t find a beat. “God, no.” Pressing my ear to his chest, I listened for his heart, but over my own thundering heartbeat and sawing breaths, I couldn’t make out any sound. “Goddammit, you’re not dead, you’re not—” I tried his wrist. Snowflake fractals swirled beneath my touch. That was good, right? “Stefan?” There, I felt his pulse, a fluttering beneath my fingertips, weak, but alive.
Aware of an audience, I looked up and saw the lesser demons crowded rounded. Dozens. Tails twitching, eyes aglow. Beyond them, the street bore the scars of battle. Some buildings had crumbled to rubble. The sky twitched, rippling with the colors of the veil. Boston’s high-rises were dark, like tombstones marking a dead city. Val and the princes were out there. I had to stop this now. I had control. I was back for good. I was stable. I could do this. But at what cost? Stefan didn’t move.
“Please wake up. You could have killed me. Is that what you meant? You came back to kill me. To stop me…” He’d beaten his demon. He could have killed me. But he hadn’t. He hadn’t really fought. In the end, he’d controlled it. He’d won.
Somewhere deep inside the city, an explosion rumbled. It wasn’t over, at least not for the rest of us. But for Stefan? I clasped his head in my hands and peered down at his peaceful face. “I have to go. I’m sorry. I know I promised, but I can’t stay with you.” I kissed him on the lips, wishing—not for the first time—that the world and its troubles would just leave us in peace.
Standing, I sent a snarl out to the lessers. “I know you understand me. Guard him. Don’t let anyone or any beast close. Don’t touch him. You stay, and you protect him.” Their demon eyes regarded me without an ounce of emotion. I had no idea if they’d obey me or tear him to shreds as soon as my back was turned. “Do this, or I track you down and burn you all.” I singled out the biggest, ugliest, six-legged, slick-skinned thing. Beside him, I surged my element into a lesser and turned the demon inside out with flame. The horde whimpered. “Understand?” The ugly beast snuffled the ground and rippled its lips in a snarl. I took that as a yes. They scurried from me as I strode away. I glanced back once and saw them all watching me with piercing eyes.
* * *
FOLLOWING the sounds of distant gunfire and spikes in heat, I jogged along empty sidewalks and barren streets. In some places, the netherworld had spilled over, tainting Boston with its bruised touch. Streetlights dripped thrashing black vines. Manholes hosted misshapen trees that corkscrewed skyward, creaking and groaning under the weight of their awkward twitching branches. Shadows layered over shadows. Halfway to Joe Moakley Park, a helicopter swooped low, followed by the sleek, arrow-shaped body of an Accipiter—hawk demon. Hunters gathered on building rooftops, squawking and bickering like oversized gulls. Some clutched what I assumed to be bodies in their talons, tearing at their prey with needle sharp teeth. I tore my gaze away and focused ahead. The world was going to