For one brief second, the younger brother wore the expression of someone who had been personally attacked.
Then he froze completely. His eyes shifted toward Nina again. This time differently. Nina noticed his change. “…Why are you looking at me like that?”
He was petrified. Then quietly, like somebody realizing their life had just become significantly more complicated, the younger brother whispered:
“Oh no.”
My demon closed his eyes briefly like he already knew exactly what was happening. “Absolutely not.”
Nina flickered between both demons nervously. “What is happening?”
The younger brother was still staring at her in complete disbelief. “This is unfortunate.”
“That is an alarming sentence.”
My demon sounded exhausted already. “You are not involving her in this.”
“I’m not TRYING to.”
“You absolutely are.”
Before the argument could continue, the portal crackled violently behind them. The entire apartment shook hard enough to rattle the windows.
Everybody stopped moving. My demon turned toward the portal sharply. “That’s too fast.” The younger brother’s expression lost all amusement instantly. “They found the crossing.”
Cold fear crawled down my spine. “Who found the crossing?”
An answer didn’t come fast enough. A second later, shadows burst violently across the portal opening while dark energy cracked through the apartment ceiling hard enough to shatter the lights above us.
Nina screamed in horror. And I ducked instinctively while my demon moved in front of me so fast I barely saw it happen.
Then another familiar voice cut sharply through the chaos.
“For the love of Hell,” Anderson snapped while stepping through the unstable portal, “why are there MORE humans now?”
The entire apartment shook again hard enough to knock one of the candles sideways across the floor. Anderson looked seconds away from a stress-induced murder.
The younger brother pointed toward Nina like he was filing a formal complaint. “That one happened accidentally.”
“I am standing RIGHT HERE,” Nina yelled.
Anderson glanced at her once. Then towards the younger brother. Then closed his eyes briefly like his entire existence had become exhausting. “Absolutely not.”
“I didn’t DO anything.”
“You looked at her.”
“That is not technically illegal.”
“In your case it usually becomes illegal afterward.”
Nina placed a hand over her chest. “Okay wow. I feel insulted on a spiritual level.”
Meanwhile the portal behind them crackled violently again, the red light inside it flickering hard enough to cast shadows across the apartment walls. Whatever was happening on the other side sounded bad. Distant shouting echoed faintly through the smoke while black cracks spread outward from the center of the portal.
My demon turned to Anderson. “It’s collapsing.”
“Yes,” Anderson snapped. “Because someone opened an unauthorized demonic crossing in the middle of a human apartment complex.”
