It would be pretty. Would be, if the sky wasn’t stained with a blood-red haze. If the town wasn’t on fire, fillin’ the air with smoke and screams. And if three bodies weren’t cut to shreds outside the groundskeeper buildin’, broken and bleedin’ all over the short grass.
We’re too late.
Delta’s demons shift in a millisecond after we do, and I hear the growls of frustration and pain as they take in what I just did. Devastation wafts through the group, and we all pause, not sure what to do first. It looks as though the town has been attacked, and the graveyard is quiet—eerily so.
“The Guardians?” Delta asks with a hard gulp, her gray eyes locked on the dead bodies of the three male demons below.
“Yeah,” Echo says thickly, his voice hollow as he stares down at them. I wonder if they were friends or if he just sees himself and his Guardians when he looks at them.
I have to divert my eyes from the broken figures outside the brick buildin’. Their bodies...it wasn’t a nice death. They’re torn and bloody, with horrible expressions on their faces that prove how violent and painful their end was.
“Where are the new Guardians?” Delta asks, her voice filled with shock and sorrow. “Shouldn’t the Hellgate have called the next in their bloodline to come and protect it right after these three were killed?”
Alder clears his throat. “It doesn’t always work like that...if there is a next in the bloodline to call, it would have, but the Guardians here didn’t have any next of kin left. They were the last of their bloodline. They never took mates to carry on their line. They’ve been hiring Outer Ringers to help them for decades now to help sustain the increasing power suck. This portal is completely unprotected now.”
Delta and I share an oh, shit look.
“So what do we do?” I ask, panic in my tone at his words.
How can we have a gate with no Guardians to protect it? How will we keep everyone safe if we can’t keep the demons with no respect for balance inside Hell?
Rafferty takes charge, his hand comin’ up to form a wicked lookin’ blade made entirely of ice. “We need to split up,” he says, his gaze hooked on the town in the distance where screams and loud booms are still fillin’ the air. He hands the ice sword off to Delta, and then quickly makes more for Crux, Echo, and then Flint, passin’ them off without a word as they take them.
“What’s the plan?” Flint says, all business, his skin rock hard and matchin’ the dark glint in his eyes as he clutches the weapon.
“Some of us need to go into the town to protect the humans. We have no idea what kind of demons broke through, how many, or what kind of havoc they’re spreading,” the blue demon says, his lips flattenin’ into a thin line.
“I’ll go,” Jerif immediately volunteers, and Delta shoots a worried look at him.
“Me too,” Flint offers, and I give his hand a nervous squeeze. This all just got very, very real, and it scares the piss out of me.
Rafferty nods and looks to Crux and Echo. “Your powers can be useful in the fight as well. You okay with going?”
“We’ll handle it,” Echo assures him, just as his shadow tattoos start to drip off his skin and collect around his body in an ominous vapor.
“I’ll turn all those fuckers inside out,” Crux growls.
“Good,” Rafferty says before his eyes go to Alder. “While they’re doing that, we need to get this portal closed and try to stabilize the Hellgate so that no more demons can break through. We have to assume there aren’t any Guardians coming forward, so it’s up to us.”
My lavender demon rolls his shoulders back like he’s readyin’ himself for a fight, and then his eyes fall on my sister and me. “Delta, if we can get you down there safely, can you show Medley whatever Annulus power you used to help the Hellgate? Our only hope is that you two can stabilize it right from the source.”
Delta forces herself to stand up straighter. “Yeah, we can do it,” she says without hesitation.
“Fuck,” Jerif curses, the fiery color of his hair simmerin’ as intensely as his eyes.
“Jerif—” Delta begins, but he cuts off whatever argument she was about to launch by slammin’ his mouth to hers.
The kiss is hard and intense and possessive, but it’s over in a flash, and then he’s grippin’ her chin and starin’ at her hard. “I know,” he tells her. “I don’t fucking like it, but I know I need to let you do shit like this. So just fucking be careful,” he all but growls.
Delta nods and places one last peck on his lips. “I will. I can do this. I’ll be okay.”
He steps back and nods. “I’ll see you soon, Warrior Princess,” he promises her, and then he looks at the others. “Let’s go.”
Echo and Crux both embrace Delta too, while I turn at the feel of Flint’s hand on my waist. “Be careful,” I whisper as he digs hard fingers into my skin, grippin’ me like he doesn’t wanna let go.
“Watch your back,” he tells me, stormy eyes flickin’ over my face like he’s memorizin’ me. “And if there’s danger, you scythe the fuck out of them, or you fly away as fast as you can. Got it, Peaches?”
I swallow hard, tryin’ not to let my gallopin’ heart beat right out of my chest or let the fear show on my features. I need to be strong. “I got it.”
Flint nods and shares a look with Alder. “Take care of our mate, brother.”
In the next blink,
