One heartbeat passes.
But before his lips can meet mine, someone snaps from behind, “Get your dirty hands off her!”
Not someone—Noah.
43
Iris
Iturn. Before Noah can grab me, Kaiden’s fist meets his jaw in a vicious uppercut that sends him skidding back. Gasps resound around us. Who the hell would have thought this was the same charity gala Noah had invited me to? I mean, what were the chances? He never mentioned a date or the cause they were raising money for.
“You’re lucky there are so many people here. Mark my words, demon, this is not over,” Noah spews, wiping off the blood trickling down his chin from his split lip. “Iris, come here. That’s Kaiden Black you’re so cozy with—the head of the fucking Obsidian Conclave.” Vitriol laces his words as he cuts a death stare toward Kaiden. His hate is more than the usual lightborn repugnance toward demons. It goes further than loathing orabhorrence.
I scoff. Who the fuck does he think he is to order me like that? I’m not his lapdog. “I’m not coming anywhere near you.”
“You heard her. Fuck off before you make an even bigger fool of yourself,” Kaiden clips out in a glacier tone.
There’s newfound scrutiny in Noah’s mercurial gaze as it jumps from me to Kaiden. His mouth opens. Closes. Undisguised rage contorts the planes of his face when realization dawns. He shakes his head in disbelief. “You—you know each other. Are you fucking kidding me?” A manic laugh belts out of him. “This is him, right, the Kaiden from that voice message? He’s also the one who was watching you in that video. I was sick with worry because you disappeared for a month. A. Month. I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I’m so stupid. How did I not see this? You whored yourself to a fucking Elite demon? You ruined everything, you dumb bitch.” The words are venomous.
And just like that, the mask he’s been wearing since he came back is off. This is therealNoah.
His true colors remind me that I don’t have to be worried about being seen in public, by the Order, on Kaiden’s arm. Because I’m not one of them, and they can’t control me anymore.
Kaiden’s fury flows through me with the scorching power of a thousand suns. “Watch your fucking mouth,” he growls. The lights flicker for a fraction of a second.
Considering we’ve become the center of attention, I place a hand on his chest to stop him from charging at Noah. Suddenly, it’s hard to breathe—as if something is sucking out all the oxygen around us. The onyx stone is a hot poker against my skin. “Something is wro—”
Noah cuts me off. “Or what? What are you going to do, demon? Kill me like you killed—”
“What is that?” a woman screams.
We jerk our heads collectively to look behind Noah. There’s ajagged, onyx line cutting through the air, right in the middle of the dance floor. It expands at the speed of light, transforming into an abysmal hole.
Kaiden swears sharply under his breath. “A Hell portal.”
“Sam and Malik. We need to warn them,” I say, then shout, “Everybody, RUN!”
Kaiden clasps my hand in his big one. We dash toward the French doors, Noah hot on our heels, then fly down the marble steps and take one of the pebbled paths that lead into the sprawling garden.
A blood-curdling shriek slices through the air.
“What is happening?” Sam asks, out of breath, while sprinting toward us. Malik is close behind.
Glass explodes.
Over fifty draconic ravengers crash through the windows to reach us.
They pound over the gravel, their horned heads and leathery reptilian skin on bodies that look like a cross between a hellhound and a panther, muscular limbs and deadly claws. The ground shakes under their stomping, as if we’re in the middle of an earthquake. I unsheathe the three daggers strapped to my thigh, darting to take a defensive stance in front of Sam. But Malik has already beaten me to it.
Power detonates from Kaiden.
Hellfire engulfs the demons. They crumble to ashes before I can blink. The disgusting smell of charred sulfurous meat spreads like a deadly mist that burns holes in my nose and brain. Shrieking men and women spill from the open doors and bolt toward the parking lot. Some even leap through the shattered windows to escape what I presume are more demons. I can’t be sure because an inky haze has taken over the ballroom. However, in the next second, we catch glimpses of draconic ravengers and voidstalkers feasting on human flesh while ghoulssuck their souls out of their twitching bodies, which are lying in pools of blood.
“Holy Hecate!” Sam mutters under her breath, then gags.
“C’mon, we have to go!” Kaiden tells me as he grabs my hand and pulls.
I dig my heels in. “What?!? No! We can’t let those demons get into the city. Who knows how many more will come through the portal? And we need to save these people. Give them a chance to flee.”
