“Notademon.Thedemon. It was Lilith,” Harvester said. “I suspectshe was behind several attacks on your cousins, as well.”
Of course! “Thetempestusdemon that attacked Logan when he was little.”
“And, I believe, the attack at the theme park that killed Chaos.”
Scotty blinked. “Blade’s little brother? What would Lilith have against Blade’s family?”
“I don’t believe they were the target. Logan was at the park with them.”
Holy shit. Chaos’s death had wrecked the entire Seminus clan and caused a huge rift between Stryke and his family that lasted for decades. It wasn’t until just a few months ago that the healing had begun…for everyone except Blade. There was still a lot of tension strung between the two brothers.
“All this time, we believed it was a random demon incursion.” They happened all the time. Hence, the existence of The Aegis and DART. “Why are you telling me all this now?”
“Because one of the demons that attacked you that day was amordaemon.”
“Amordaemon? Why have I never heard of those?”
“They’re very rare, and like thetempestusdemon that attacked Logan, they’re usually restricted to the demon realm. They feed off only one thing. Immortality.”
“Meaning…?”
“They steal immortality from immortals.”
Scotty shuddered in horror. “Nasty critters. But I’m still immortal, so obviously it starved that day, right?”
“I wish. Oh, how I wish.” Harvester’s voice, normally forceful and confident, often a bit vicious, caught on little jags of emotion, and a tremor of foreboding shot up Scotty’s spine. G-ma wasn’t one to get emotional. She hoarded her feelings the way orcs hoarded enemy skulls. “I didn’t get to you in time, darling. It took your immortality.”
No. That wasn’t possible. Scotty would have been dead a million times over if that was the case. Harvester was confused. She’d just been reassembled from a drop of blood and a few miracles, so of course, she wasn’t all there.
“You almost died,” Harvester continued, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “We nearly lost you.”
“Well, obviously I didn’t die, so my immortality is just fine—”
“No.” Harvester reached out and gripped Scotty’s arm. “I gave you a tiny bit of my Grace. Enough to restore your immortality.”
Whoa. Okay, so the demonhadgotten a meal that day. Scotty sagged into her chair. This was a lot to deal with. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because what I did is forbidden. But it doesn’t matter now.” The emotional warble was back in Harvester’s voice, and once again, fear gripped Scotty in its icy fingers. “When Raika’s incantation drew my Grace out of Eva…it drew it out of you as well.”
Oh, gods.
Without Harvester’s Grace, Scotty was no longer immortal. Her supernatural healing abilities would be affected, too, maybe even nullified. How could she do her job now? How could she fight demons and protect her team?
“Can’t you give me the Grace back?”
“No,” Harvester rasped. “I’m cut off from Heaven. I might as well be an Unfallen. I have no powers, no ability to transfer Grace to you.”
Panic frayed the edges of Scotty’s control. “Heaven could be closed off for decades! Centuries, even!” This was a disaster, and not just for her. “What about you? How are you going to get Reaver out of his prison if you can’t get into Heaven?”
“We’ll worry about your grandfather and me later. Right now, we need to buy you some time,” Harvester said, sounding more like her usual self, now that she was in planning mode. “You can bond with something that will lend you its life force or lifespan. One of your mother’s hellhounds, perhaps.”
Scotty recoiled. “Those disgusting things? No way.” There wasn’t even a guarantee that it would work. Not everyone had the genetic makeup required to communicate properly with the beasts. Scotty’s mind spun as she contemplated her new reality. “I’ll just be extra careful until you get your powers back—”
“You said it yourself. It could be decades.”
Okay, sure, that would put a dent in her career plans, but she could manage. Maybe she could take more of a supportive role on the team. She wasn’t sure how that would work, but the idea of giving up everything wasn’t acceptable.
“But we don’tknowit’ll be decades,” Scotty said. “Heaven could open its gates in a couple of weeks. I say we play it by ear.”
