Asher—my amazing guardian angel—looks me over. His golden light dims as he takes in my post-battle state. As he relaxes, his eyes fade back to hazel. But there's something different. Something ancient and powerful lurks beneath his usual goofball gaze.
"You okay, Pops?"
“I’ve been better, but I’ll survive.”
Around us, the Brigade regroups. Orion shifts back to human form, naked and bleeding from a dozen wounds, but grinning fiercely. Eliza and the other shifters prowl the perimeter, making sure nothing's left.
Clara and Izzy are outside with Declan, working on the hostages and wiping all memory of this exposure fiasco from their minds.
We didn’t save them all, but we saved most.
And Tharuzel escaped.
He’s entered the physical plane.
The good news… if he can bleed, he can be stopped. His reaction to Asher’s pure light gives me hope. And if Mica can forge the weapons we need to send him back to hell, we’ll be in good shape.
The bad news… we don’t know where he went, and he will no doubt wreak havoc over the human population until we find him.
The war is far from over.
Good thing we’re just getting started.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The silence in Hallowind House is eerie. After the chaos of what happened at the mill, the quiet makes me jumpy. We're all running on fumes and adrenaline, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Is Tharuzel gone? Will he circle back? If he is gone, where did he go and what damage is he causing?
I pace a circuit of the family room for the millionth time, watching twilight paint the standing stones purple through the window.
It’s been three days since Tharuzel vanished through that portal. Three days of scouring news stories and trying to find the major demon we let loose on the world. Three days of imagining what horrible, unspeakable acts he and his minions are unleashing on the nocana world.
“I’m thinking a nice beige Berber carpet.” Asher yawns where he’s stretched out on the couch, Somebuddy and Nobuddy curled on his lap.
I blink. “Berber? What?”
“Yeah, I’m brainstorming what we should do once you wear a hole in the floor.” He’s been absently petting the chihuahuasfor the past hour, his hands occasionally flickering with golden light.
I stop and stare out the window. "I can't just sit back and relax while he's out there. He’s getting stronger… planning something horrible…"
"And we'll find him.” Wylder is looking better than he did at the mill, but shadows still linger under his eyes. The black rot really hit his affinity magic hard. “Sooner or later there will be something in the news that leads us to him. My guess is that Asher’s light proved he’s not as invincible as he thought he was. He’s likely regrouping.”
The doorbell rings, and the pups explode off the couch, barking like the world is ending.
I'm already moving, hope and dread twisting in my chest.
Maybe it's Mica back with news about weapons.
Maybe—
Vale stands on my porch, his emerald suit as dazzling as always, his gold tie fizzing and firing like holiday sparklers.
“Hey, Vale. What brings you by?” His expression makes my stomach drop. “What’s wrong?”
He shifts to the side, and Garrison Stonehoof steps into view. The queasy twist in my stomach takes on a new level. “Okay, this is bad, isn’t it?”
Vale gives me a sympathetic look. “Perhaps we should discuss this inside with your mother.”
