I held on tighter. “Then don’t answer.”
A second voice split the air—different, but just as terrible.
“You have three days. Deliver her unto us, or succumb to your prophecy.”
I was theherhe was supposed to deliver; I was sure of it.Silas had three days to turn me over. But I didn’t understand the other half of the message.
The answer came in the next sentence, in the next horrible, echoing decree:
“Should you choose to defy us, you will be lost.”
The shadows outside reared up like living things, gold against black, light against dark. The whole world vibrated, the very laws of existence bending to this command.
Silas inhaled sharply. His shoulders hunched, his head bowed.
The light blazed brighter, brighter, brighter…
And then, just as suddenly—
Darkness.
The fire vanished. The light was gone. The sound of wings faded into nothing.
The house was still.
It was as though our heads had been yanked out from under water as we gasped and panted on the floor.
I realized I was gripping Silas’s wrist so hard my nails had left indentations. His breath was shallow. I let go. Slowly.
Nia was still gripping Kirby’s hand. Azrames hadn’t moved.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
Silas exhaled. He lifted his arm and stared at the moving ink. “They know I’m rebelling.”
“Welcome to the club,” I said.
***
Five times in my life, I’d been rendered truly speechless.
Two of them were a direct result of the conservative propaganda my mother had spouted without listening to herself speak. The third was as an escort when I’d entered a Los Angeles client’s home to see it smothered in toys, merchandise, art, and memorabilia from a rather famous animated musical he’d produced. He could only reachcompletion while looping the climactic, inspirational song belted by the heroine. As a professional, I’d kept a neutral face while effectively deprived of the ability to speak. The final two were the faults of the supernatural, namely Azrames and Fauna. Az, as he’d demonstrated his influence in Bellfield and quickly destroyed the life of a terrible hotel clerk who hadn’t deserved to live, and Fauna, when she’d brought me to meet my long-dead great-grandmother without any forewarning.
I wondered what it would take to steal the words from Nia and Kirby.
“Are we all on the same page?” Silas asked. “We have to get out of here.”
“And go where?” I demanded. “Where is safer than somewhere Caliban himself warded?”
I was genuinely surprised that my question had an answer.
Azrames released a defeated exhale. “Some places are even more demon-friendly than warded homes.”
“Night clubs and federal buildings?” I scoffed.
Silas rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “Nia, does your neighborhood have any old buildings? Churches, specifically?”
