the Humvee’s flatbed and directed sharp, mental jabs at anything lesser, combusting them on sight. I was back in my demon skin and feeling better for it. As we drew closer to what had once been a shoreline and was now a battlefront, the number of demons surged, but they weren’t attacking us. They swarmed around the three blazing demon-figures ahead: Akil in his true form as Mammon, Jerry as the devastating demon king, and Stefan, the Winter King. Holy hell. If the fact Stefan wasn’t trying to kill Akil was miracle enough, they appeared to be fighting as a united effort, seeing off the wave of demons spilling through the gaping maw of the netherworld. Fire and ice flashed blue and red, while Jerry’s chaos tendrils plucked demons from the sea of creatures and flung them back into the netherworld. As Ryder drove the Humvee closer, I could just about make out Wrath’s hideous bulk among the lessers. Stefan launched a barrage of ice at the ex-prince, freezing him mid-motion.
I thumped the roof, and Ryder pulled the Humvee to a halt. I jumped down as Ryder unloaded a collection of guns from inside the cab. He seemed comfortable packing enough heat to start—or stop—a war. He handed Stefan’s gun to me.
I arched the equivalent of a demon eyebrow and wiggled clawed fingers. “Trust me. Hellfire trumps fifty caliber bullets.”
He snorted and tucked the gun into his belt. “Your loss.”
There was no sign of Adam or Dawn, but they had to be here. The lessers weren’t capable of stopping Dawn. I wasn’t convinced anything was capable of stopping her. Chaos lapped against my skin, surging from the netherworld. Even if we did manage to battle back the demons, how would we keep them out? With the veil down, they could cross over as easily as crossing the street.
A silent wave of energy rolled over me, knocking me back against the truck. My demon surged forward, straining against my control. Ryder asked me if I was okay, but all of my attention drilled down on the looming presence emerging from the netherworld. The remaining princes were here. A haze rippled, obscuring my vision, but I saw enough. Two came out of the netherworld as though their battle was already won. They bristled with blades, huge, demon, winged, and terrifying. I’d expected my father to be with them. I’d only seen him once, years ago, before I’d found Boston. I might not recognize him, but I’d recognize his power because it felt like my own. But he wasn’t there. What was he waiting for? A sea of black rose up behind the two princes. Demons. Fear chilled my superheated flesh. We were all going to die. Their numbers were too vast, and they just kept on coming.
Jerry roared with enough force to liquefy the earth beneath my feet. I fought not to drop to my knees and cringe. His voice had held power when he’d been constrained in human form. Now it was a reckoning all of its own. Ryder slumped back against the Humvee, his legs buckling. He clung onto the hood, eyes scrunched closed, head bowed against the pain. I had to get to the front. If I could stand, I could fight. I needed to be with Stefan and Akil. I could help stop the wave. I had to do this. I could do this. Destruction. Theirs.
Dawn’s unique, acidic darkness flooded across my back, over my wing, wove around my shoulders, and plunged down my front. I had a moment to think, oh shit, before she yanked me back, clean off my feet, and held me suspended in a crushing darkness.
“You left me.”
Despite the noise of battle, I heard her small, wretched voice as clearly as if she’d stood right next to me and whispered in my ear. Dawn. I couldn’t stop her. It would be wrong to stop her. She was doing the right thing. She could stop the demons. I twisted, trying to find purchase, but couldn’t see, couldn’t think. Fire rushed to my aid, spilling from my body, but all it did was tangle with the liquid black eels of power knotting around me. The moment her power began to unmake me, screams poured free. Needles plucked at my flesh. They hooked in, twisted, and pulled out parts of me. She would rip me to shreds in seconds, and all I could think was, why? My element surged, a blinding visceral heat, but with no focus,