of the City Hall station. Has there been any new activity there?”
Lucas laughed and tossed his knife in the air then caught it. “That might have happened a century ago, but archdemons have long memories. No one dares go near that place. It helps that it’s haunted. Apparently, demons don’t care for souls they can’t torture.”
A brisk wind kicked up, blowing Dante’s dark blond hair into his eyes. It was getting far too long lately. He added a haircut to his ever-growing list. “Here’s a clue for you. Demons are nothing but bullies. They’re cruel and vicious yet easily frightened. Their actions hide their vulnerabilities. Reveal those and take advantage and you’ll have them at your mercy.”
“You say that like it’s easy to overcome an archdemon. I don’t see how exposing them will give me an edge.”
“It’s all about getting them off guard. The more you reveal, the more distracted they become. And if you have a real juicy tidbit, you’ll have them wondering what else you know. All of that equals to a demon with his focus split. That fact alone is a weakness. If your attention is on my words, you won’t see me do this.” Dante jumped into action and swept his feet out, making Lucas fall to his ass.
Lucas landed on the sidewalk and the air whooshed out of him. Dante went to his knees, pressing one to his chest. One hand flew beneath the light jacket he wore and grabbed a blade.
Lucas’s eyes flared wide when the cold titanium pressed into his jugular. “You’re a better fighter than I am, yet I was able to knock you on your ass without much effort.”
“I should have known better.” Lucas lifted one corner of his mouth in a snarl as he accepted the hand Dante offered.
Pulling him to his feet, Dante resumed their trek. “I considered shifting warriors around and assigning more to each of the bigger cities. Now I’m not so sure. You mentioned there hasn’t been an increase here.”
Lucas took a deep breath and let it out then cocked his head to the side. “Aside from encountering more skirm, we haven’t faced more demons. But…there’s this sense of foreboding in the air. It started not long after Zander and Elsie returned from Khoth with Izzy.”
That was news to Dante. “What do you mean?” He’d felt something similar from the second he set foot in New Orleans months ago. It hadn’t lessened despite his travels across the country.
Lucas shook his head. “It’s hard to explain. For me, my inner demon is agitated and unsettled. There’s a heavy pressure in my chest. And I always feel as if there’s something I’m missing. It makes relaxing impossible.”
That’s precisely how he’d been feeling. Only far worse. Dante had a theory about it. “If I’m not mistaken demons all across the globe are performing dark rituals, flooding the planet with demonic energy. It suffocates anything that poses a threat to its expanding and infecting the populations.”
“Makes sense. So, what do we do about it?”
Dante pinched the bridge of his nose. “All we can do is remove as many from our realm as possible. We discovered that locations steeped in dark energy are prime locations for rituals to bring Lucifer through a portal.”
“We have our work cut out for us. And, you look like you need a female or ten. Shall we go to the Fiery Phoenix?” Lucas practically bounced on his toes as he mentioned the realm bar near Times Square.
Dante needed to say yes. He’d been living on snippets of sexual energy that did little to actually feed his beast. When he was in Seattle, he got a constant stream from the mated couples that surrounded him. Zeum was filled with passion, so walking in the door fed a cambion.
Normally, absorbing the cast-offs of others happened constantly, but Dante had resorted to prowling the halls to soak up as much as he could. Not much leaked through the doors, but it was enough for him to keep a handle on his inner demon.
If his friends knew they’d conduct an intervention. Dante knew he was playing with fire, but he hadn’t been able to do anything different yet. As the Cambion Lord, he held a position of power over the others of his kind in the Tehrex Realm. They looked to him for advice and control.
He prayed to the Goddess that he didn’t suddenly get a call to intervene with one of his that had lost all reason. When that