who acts now is acting alone without their strongest support.”
“Oh.” I shrugged. “Guess that makes sense.”
Of course, as expected, no one stood.
Azar spun around to face us. “No more will betray you.”
“Don’t be so sure about that,” I whispered under my breath.
Azar quickly left the center, walked toward me with purposeful strides. He cocked his head when he stopped in front of me. “Trouble?”
“Oh yeah—heaps of it.”
Quinney approached and whispered in Azar’s ear. His face slowly lost all of its color. He staggered back a step and stared at Quinney.
“You should say something,” Kyden told me.
“What the hell am I going to say?”
“Your mouth has never been a problem before.” Kyden said aloud, his grin devilish.
I smacked his arm, the jerk. “That is so not funny, Kyden.” I stood and approached Azar.
I grabbed his shoulders and gave him a little shake. “Let’s get this over first.” I looked around the room, my gaze settled on all the faces that looked all too intrigued by what was going on. No need to send everyone into a frenzy. “This is not the place to discuss this.”
The cloud of horror slowly began to fade from his eyes. “Yes, you’re right.” He quickly gestured toward Quinney. “Bring them in.”
She immediately responded to the order and fled the room, only to return with three demons. I didn’t recognize any of them. But why would I?
Kyden stood from his chair the second they entered the room and stood protectively beside me. Also expected.
When the demons stopped in front of me, I looked them over. It was really hard to believe how much evil lurked in these beings. They look so ordinary. Young, mid-twenties, perfectly cut hair, pleasant faces—so deceptive.
I finally looked at Azar. “So, what have they done?”
“Each one has taken an innocent soul,” he answered.
Naughty demons. I started to approach them, but Kyden pulled me back. “Come with me then, geesh!” Kyden inclined his head, and let me step forward.
“Why have you done this?”
The young girl was the one who answered. She looked like your original teeny-bopper—long hair, too much make-up and clothes that were entirely way too tight. “The rules you have set about are ridiculous. We are demons. It’s what we do.”
I sighed and tiredly ran my hands over my face. I was beginning to feel old—too damn old. I lowered my hands and looked from demon to demon. “You all feel the same way I presume?” They nodded in unison. “Well then, first thing first.” I grabbed onto teeny-bopper’s hand, and just as I did, she jumped back.
Instantly, Kyden latched onto her, held her still. Since I knew she could do her spooky shit and vanish, I sent a little air out to force her still. Her eyes went wide as my mini tornado wrapped around her body. “You did this to yourself.”
Kyden released her, gave me a little wink as he took his position beside me.
I kept teeny-bopper’s hand tight in mine and let the adrenaline of Spirit come to the forefront, foregoing every other element that lingered within me. I focused on that one sensation. When Spirit held strong, I opened myself up to the demon’s mind and let her memories flood my own.
There were quick flashes of everything that was wrong with our world. The longer it went on, the more I wished I could pull away. What I saw wasn’t good. Oh, we were in serious shit—that was undisputable. Demons in the Underworld would never stand to see Kyden and I run their world or live under these new rules. The worst part—and it was fucking bad—they knew a way to stop it.
Here is where the Demon Lords came in. My abilities were unmatched. The demons believed that, but my strength against the Demon Lords did not compare. They were Satan’s sidekicks, for Christ sakes. The power they held within them was something similar, to well, me.
And the extremely shitty part…these Demons didn’t plan on just summoning one. They were going to summon all seven.
Holy fuck!
The visions stopped. My eyes snapped open. I dropped her hand and took a step back. “Fucking, fuck.”
Kyden lunged forward protectively, latched onto my hand and dragged me toward him. “What is it?”
“It’s so bad, Kyden. So very, very bad,” I used our bond, didn’t want to alert them to the fact that I knew their plan just yet.
He glanced around the auditorium, then his eyes settled back on mine. “We shouldn’t talk of this here.”
“Got that right,” I said aloud. Quinney raised