reaching a passage with an arched roof that led to a stairwell. At the base of the stairs, Eve stopped and stiffened. “The Maker just arrived.”
“You feel him?” I asked.
She nodded. “I didn’t before, but I do now.”
“Is he above us?” Garreth asked. “The control room is three stories up.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t think he’s inside yet. He feels far away.” She frowned, her face pale. “Why do I feel him?”
“Add it to the list of questions,” I said.
She gave a low laugh. “That’s the truth. There’s far more that I don’t know.” She looked up the stairwell. “Shall we?”
Garreth nodded, and we took off, climbing the stairs swiftly and silently. We were halfway up when three guards appeared from a doorway on the landing. Demons. Their short, sawed-off horns marked them as a common species of mercenary. Surprise flashed on their faces, and one of them raised his wrist, where I could see a comms charm glinting.
There was no time—we had to stop him from contacting reinforcements.
The beast inside me growled, and I gave it free rein, shifting as I lunged toward the men. Magic swept through my veins, and I hit the ground on four feet and charged toward them. Garreth joined me, his wolf racing up the stairs.
A potion bomb arced overhead and landed on the chest of the demon in the middle. It exploded in a burst of blue liquid, and he collapsed backward, unconscious.
I reached my target and leapt on him, tearing at his throat before he could speak into his comms charm. At my side, Garreth did the same, blood spraying. Within seconds, it was over.
“I’d stay that way, if I were you,” Eve murmured. “I think we’re going to face more.”
She had a point. Neither Garreth nor I bothered to shift back as we climbed the stairs. The world was different from this perspective, but part of me preferred it. Everything was narrowed down to exactly what mattered—the hunt.
We reached the third floor, and Eve opened the door. Garreth slipped through and approached a heavy metal door at the far end.
He shifted back to human just long enough to press his hand to the door. Magic sparked, and it unlocked.
“Let us go first,” he told Eve.
She nodded, and he shifted back, joining me. Eve stepped to the side and pushed open the door, allowing us to enter.
We charged through, side by side. Delight shot through me, my beast enjoying his freedom. It wasn’t often he was allowed to rampage like this.
Upon entering, it took half a second to catalogue the scene. A large, rectangular room, two of the walls covered by hundreds of dials and gages that hadn’t worked for years. Several bulky desks marched down the room, facing the control panels.
Half a dozen guards lounged in the room. Demons again, the same species as before. For the briefest second, no one moved. Then they leapt up, drawing their weapons.
I charged toward the closest one, a growl reverberating in my throat. He slashed out with his blade, but I dodged it before sinking my teeth into his arm and shaking him until he dropped it. He howled, thrashing, and I dragged him to the ground before tearing out his throat.
On the other side of the room, Garreth did the same. Eve had her potion bombs ready, and she took out two guards in quick succession. Her aim was perfect, her speed deadly.
I left the guard where he lay and charged toward another. He, too, held a knife, and he got lucky, delivering a shallow cut to my shoulder. It should have burned, but my wolf was too consumed by the fight to notice. I leapt on his chest and tore out his throat, then left him in a heap.
When the guards were all down, Eve raced to the door. She dug through her potion bag and drew out a pot of liquid along with a brush. Quickly, she painted the substance on the edges of the door. As she worked, the metal glowed briefly before fusing with the wall.
There was no longer any door at all—just a solid wall that our enemies would have to break through.
Garreth and I shifted back to human form, and he went to the massive safe that had been built into the wall behind the control panels. “I don’t have access to this, of course,” he said. “Did Eve come prepared?”
“I did.” She hurried over, digging through her bag. “Brought a few things I hope