power rippled over his lower legs, and he launched forward—unbelievably fast, his movements powered by magic.
As Tahēsh’s infuriated roar sounded behind us, Zylas leaped again. We soared across a wide road and hit another rooftop. Below were dark streets and brown train tracks. A rattling transit train snaked along the tracks like a silver serpent.
Zylas dashed across the roof and sprang one more time. We plunged downward as the Skytrain sped beneath us, streaking away. We hit the last car. Zylas slid wildly across the slick metal roof—we pitched off the back—
Metal screeched and we jarred to a halt. Zylas hung from the back car, his claws embedded in a steel edge, his other arm locked around my waist.
The train sped along the tracks, carrying us away from the Eastside and the demon king.
Chapter Twenty-Two
We hung off the back of the train for a few minutes. When a grassy bank replaced the buildings and streets, Zylas swung sideways and let go.
We dropped off the elevated track and fell fifteen feet. He landed on the grass and crumpled, his arms constricting around me as we rolled down the slope. We came to a halt beside a paved bike path, and the moment we’d stopped moving, he went limp.
I shoved onto my knees and touched his arm. His skin was cold. “Zylas?”
Sprawled on his back, he squinted at me. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth and his eyes had gone dark as night. The rest of him was a gory mess that my brain denied was real. A horror movie prop, not a hideously wounded living being.
“Are you safe here?” he rasped.
I dragged my horrified stare off him and looked around. Cars zipped along the street at the top of the knoll and distant pedestrians ambled along the wet sidewalks with umbrellas.
“Yes, I think so.”
He let out a pained breath. Red light sparked over his limbs—and his arm disappeared from beneath my hand. His body dissolved into crimson radiance that swept into the infernus. Suddenly alone, I crouched beside a patch of dark blood on the grass, my hands hovering over a demon that was no longer there. All my limbs went weak and I slumped forward, trembling violently.
So stupid. I’d been so stupid.
I wanted to close my eyes, but I couldn’t stop staring at the blood-drenched grass. Zylas was badly wounded. Fatally wounded, if he’d been human. I wasn’t sure what a demon could survive. He had amazing healing magic … if he could use it. Could he heal himself? Or was it too late? The last time I’d seen his eyes dark like that, he’d been near death.
Fresh panic swept through me. I sprang to my feet and sprinted up the slope.
Zylas was dying. He needed help and I was the only one who could keep him alive—if I was fast enough.
I bounced impatiently on the balls of my feet as the cab driver held out my credit card and receipt. I snatched them from his hand and ran into the motel parking lot, not caring what he thought. With dirt and splattered stains—Zylas’s dark blood—all over me, I already looked like a freak.
It had taken me fifteen minutes to hail a cab, get a ride back to the motel, and pay. Had too much time passed? Was it already too late? I hadn’t seen any other options.
I fumbled in my coat pocket for the key card to my and Amalia’s room, jammed it through the lock, and shoved the door open. The drab room was dark and empty, the two beds unmade, our bags open against the wall, and the TV Zylas had dismantled shoved in a corner.
Kicking the door shut behind me, I ran into the bathroom and turned the shower on full blast. Icy water sprayed into the tub. The infernus chain tangled under my jacket when I tried to pull it out, so I unzipped my coat and threw it aside. Clutching the metal disc, I stuck my arm under the water. Warm. Getting hotter.
“Zylas.” I spoke and thought the words as intensely as possible. “Come out. I have something to help you.”
Nothing happened. No. I couldn’t be too late.
I kicked my shoes off, set my phone on the counter, and stepped into the tub. Scalding water soaked my socks. Flinching, I held the infernus under the spray. “Zylas, come out, please!”
Hot water flowed across the metal—and a red glow suffused it. Instead of leaping energetically toward the floor, the magic spilled straight down.