Heart racing, I take a step back.
Adrial tsks, and I halt.
I close my eyes and curse.
Adrial chuckles.
God, I’m so stupid.
When I face him again, he’s studying me with John’s brown eyes—maybe they’re rimmed with yellow, maybe it’s my imagination. The longer I stare, the hotter my brands burn. I take stock of where I am, what’s nearby, and what time it is—Zuriel will soon rise.
Darkness is only minutes away.
The museum’s backdoor is a few feet from me, on the opposite side of the alley. It’s locked, chained, and closed. I would have to dig my keys out of my purse.
When I take another step back, Adrial launches forward.
Pain smacks across my cheek, and my glasses tumble from my face. The taste of iron floods my mouth as I hit the pavement, my glasses skittering out of reach.
“Now, now, Summer, there’s no retreating into your damn wards.”
Heart racing, I fan out my hands, searching desperately—
There’s a crunch. The sound of broken glass.
“Oh, these? Is this what you were looking for?”
I think he bends down and picks up the broken frames. Without my lenses, he’s just a dark blur. In the dusky light, there are only shadows and darker shadows. Shapes that scatter and morph, one shifting into another.
Ginny yowls, and eager to free her, I scramble for the carrier, crouching over it, my fingers spidering along its seams, feeling for the zippers, searching…there.Her fur brushes against my hands as she flees.
In her wake, it’s quiet—except for the throbbing in my head. Blinking, I search for Adrial, except his dark form is gone.
My brands have cooled slightly.
“Summer? Are you okay? I sense Adrial.”
Twisting at the voice, I hear the rush of wings as Zuriel’s large form draws near.
I sag, relieved. “I-I don’t know. I think so, but I can’t see. He broke my glasses.”
He wraps me in his wings and growls. “I will find him, end him once and for all.” He touches my cheek, caressing it with his finger. “He has hurt you.”
When he grabs my arms and helps me to my feet, I wince. “Let’s get inside the museum. He’s near.”
“First, invoke me. Help me fight him. Give me the strength of my name.”
Invoke him? Wincing harder, my head spins, my brands warming. “Give me a moment.” I clutch my forehead.
“Good girl. This will all be over soon.”
Running a hand across my face, I check my smarting cheek, finding nothing broken. There’s a little blood, but it’s the piercing headache, intensifying with each second, that bothers me. Zuriel’s hand tightens on my arm as I lean down, fumbling with the empty cat carrier, and picking it up. Hoping I’m mistaken, I brush my hands over my burning brands.
“Sweet Summer,” he murmurs, continuing to caress me, his wings shrouding me. “Invoke me, command me to destroy him, and I will not be able to stop until the deed is done. This is how it should have been from the beginning. I have left that cretin alone for too long. I will not wait for him to hurt you again!”
I shake my head. “Not out here. We had a plan, remember?”
“Fuck the plan! Invoke me!”
