Eve took a deep breath, her gaze not wavering. “My feet don’t even need to touch the ground. You can carry me, fly above them.”
Kryos eyed Lazarus’s mate. “You think you can get into their heads, even through whatever’s blocking them?”
“No,” Laz said with more force this time.
“You’ve seen me work, Kryos. You’ve seen me interrogate them. My powers are so much stronger now,” Eve said, ignoring Lazarus completely. “I want to at least give it a try. If I can help this female, I need to do it.”
“I could come as well,” Mia said. “If for some reason you have to get closer, I could hold them back…”
Zenon’s snarl tore through the room. The male didn’t even bother with words.
Mia closed the space between her and her mate and took his face in her hands. “You think those creeps could get through my fire?”
Zenon shook his head. “Not happening.”
Chaos moved deeper into the fray. “Look, I get where you’re coming from, Laz, you know I do. But I think we need to at least consider this. You can keep Eve away from any danger. Fly her over, let her feel it out. That’s all she’s asking.”
Lazarus scowled as he stared Chaos down. “Thanks for the clarification, brother, but I think I know what my mate is asking…”
“Please, Laz,” Grace said. “I know you're scared for her, but Eve can do this. She’s strong and fearless and more than capable. There’s a female who needs our help, who could be in serious trouble. She’s the reason we were able to save so many demi a few months ago. She’s the reason I’m standing here now. If we can help her, we need to do it.”
Laz made a rough sound and his hand shot out, hooking Eve around the back of the neck and tugging her close, pulling her into his side. “I know how fucking amazing my female is, more than anyone.” He took her chin in his other hand and tilted her head back, looking into her eyes. “You’re really set on doing this?”
“Yes,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. “You’ll keep me safe.”
Lazarus stared down at her for several long seconds, and his nostrils flared. “Fine. We’ll do it. But you aren’t going anywhere near the fucking ground, not even for a second.”
“Okay.”
“I don’t like this,” he added.
“Noted,” Eve said, a small grin playing at her lips. Then she turned to Chaos. “When can we leave?”
Pins and needles danced over Gunner’s skin as they flew over the vacant lot they’d been to the night before. With so much adrenaline pumping hotly through his veins, he was struggling to hold himself back. He was being torn in two, his body in full battle mode when there was nothing to attack.
Lazarus was beside him, bright green eyes razor-sharp, scanning the area. His charcoal wings moved slow and steady, keeping him hovering high above the lot, Eve cradled protectively in his arms. He pressed his lips to the top of her head. “Do your thing, sweetheart.”
She closed her eyes, her body relaxing in her mate’s embrace. Lazarus looked down at her, watching Eve closely, trusting his brothers to have their backs as she used her telepathic power to search for any active minds below them, for any demons hiding in plain sight. Her power had seriously grown in the last few months—
Eve spasmed in Lazarus’s arms.
“Eve?”
She gasped, her eyes snapping open before rolling back. Blood trickled from her eyes, nose, and ears, something that happened often when she worked. But opening her mouth wide and screaming—a scream that wasn’t her own—was not.
Gunner jolted as if someone had grabbed his shoulders and planted their knee in his gut. It was the scream that had tormented him every night for the last four months.
“Eve, look at me.” Laz shook his mate gently, fear lining his harsh features. “Goddamn it, baby, fucking look at me right now.”
Lazarus leaned in, his massive hand cradling her head, and said something rough against her ear.
She gasped, and her eyes rolled forward, locking on Lazarus. “She’s there,” Eve said, as tears slid down her face, mixing with the blood. “Oh god, she’s…she’s in so much pain. We have to help her. You have to save her…”
“How many can you feel?” Chaos asked gently, moving closer.
“I’m not sure…ten? No more than fifteen,” she said, visibly trying to rein in her emotions. “You need to let me go back,” she said to Lazarus. “There’s someone