I unleashed my black magic, and bid it to rip the back of her shirt. It did just as I said, and the moment her gold-veined wings were free, the girl leapt into the air, swung back behind me, and grabbed me under my armpits.
We were airborne a second later, and I gasped.
I was so wrong about being up against ‘dozens’ of demons. Behind the front line, the forest was filled withhundredsof glowing eyes.
My friends . . .
I twisted to look back. Had I just made a huge mistake?
“Don’t do that,” Alice grunted. “My wings are bound most of the time, so, while Icanfly, I’m not great at it. Don’t squirm and make it harder.”
“Why are you helping me?”
She glanced down, and I noticed just how blue her eyes were. They were practically teal and glowing—mesmerizing.
“When I met my squad, my boss, an asshole of a vampire, said something shitty. But your mom overheard and was kind to me.” Her eyes blazed at the memory.
“You’re trying to save your parents. I don’t have mine anymore, and my job leaves me with a lot to make up for. If I can help you find your family and save them, that’ll make a dent.”
“A dent in what?”
“I just need to make reparations—big ones. Plus, once I get out of my contract, I sure as shit don’t want demons running the world.”
Her job? Contract? She’s so young, too young to be a spy. She—
My train of thought derailed, and my eyes widened as we soared above a clearing, and I found my parents.
Right next to Ishtar.
CHAPTERFORTY-TWO
“There!” I pointed down at the small clearing, where the queen of darkness, wearing a long, glittering, black gown, was sitting on a stump like it was her throne, and looking like she was waiting for someone to show up.
Judging by the fact that she had a ring of fire around my parents, who, at that particular moment, she seemed to be mocking, that someone could only be one person.
“She’s waiting for me.”
“Obviously,” Alice muttered. “Do you see all those Shadows, though?” She pointed at a ring of fae on the edge of the clearing. Dark Court Shadows that I hadn’t noticed before. I’d been too focused on Ishtar. “Are you sure you want to go down there? I’m the first to admit that I’m a badass, but we’re pretty outnumbered.”
“I’mgoing down there. Notyou,” I shot back.
“Says who? You’re not my boss.”
Universe help me. I needed to take a different tack with this girl.
“Clearly. What I meant was, I need you to go back to the school grounds. I left my friends, and they’ll want to know what’s happening. Particularly the black-haired guy with glasses, and the redhead girl.” My voice cracked at the thought of my love and my best friend. “They have . . . specific powers. Magic that can help us win.”
“You want me to guide them here?”
“No!”
My stomach twisted. Oh my god, what was I thinking? That was the last thing I wanted. I couldn’t bear to see Ishtar hurt them.
“Tell them to go after Lucifer and . . .the item,” I said in an inspired lie. “They’ll know what it is.”
The girl studied me, her bright blue eyes narrowed skeptically.
“Please,” I begged. “It’s very important that you help them find what we need. Make sure they’re safe.”
