2
Surcy was so angry, angry and scared. Where the hell was Tristan? He’d told them they needed to hurry to save the Immortals. He’d told them that they couldn’t help Mark.
And then? He’d disappeared.
“Surcy!”
She spun at the sound of Daniel’s voice. He was kneeling over Mark’s body, which still lay there wrapped in a blanket. A black smoke rose from Mark, and slowly, his body faded until it was gone.
Her throat tightened.
“We knew it would happen,” he reminded her, his tone strangely robotic.
She nodded, unable to force the words past her lips. The bodies of demons and angels never remained in this world. They guessed it was Mark's druid powers that had allowed his body to stay for so long. She’d prayed she would have more time.
Somehow, losing his body felt like losing him yet again.
She walked on legs that trembled and knelt beside Daniel, taking his hand.
“That fucking druid,” Daniel whispered, his words holding tears. “I loved that idiot. I loved his stupid plants and that smile of his. He had a damned good fucking attitude about everything. I—I didn’t deserve him.”
She wanted to hug him, but he rose and tore from the room, slamming the door behind him.
Reaching out, she stroked the blanket that had held Mark and counted to thirty. Wiping away tears, she walked across the room. Daniel had locked his door, but she twisted the handle, snapping it off. Pushing open the door she saw him by the window, lighter in hand.
“Give it to me,” she ordered.
His face twisted. “It doesn’t even matter anymore.”
“It matters to me.”
His eyes held unshed tears. “My fire… issue… is nothing compared to all this bullshit. Mark and Tristan are the ones that helped me get clean. You should have seen them in the demon-realms. Do you have any idea how much using fire would’ve helped us escape? But no, the little shits pinned me down and wouldn’t let me touch it. They wouldn’t let me use it. They knew it’d killed me once, and they wouldn’t allow it to happen again.
“You have no idea how much I hated them for that.” Then, the flame went out and his hand dropped. “And no idea how much I loved them. No one ever cared before.” Tears slid down his cheeks. “No one gave a fuck if I killed myself, until them.”
His shoulders shook and his face fell into his hands.
Surcy raced across the room, grabbed the lighter, and tossed it out the window. Her arms wrapped around him, and she held the big demon, the fire mage, as he fought harder than she’d ever seen a person fight, to keep his control.
“Let it out,” she told him.
But he didn’t. His shoulders continued to shake. He didn’t seem to breathe. He just held himself stiffly, fighting back his need to cry.
“The reason you want your fire so badly is because it’s easier than feeling, but nothing will truly help until you mourn losing him.”
A shudder came over his body as he took a deep breath.
Raising his head from her shoulder, she saw the two tears that had tracked down his cheeks. “That’s just it, isn’t it? We all know that Caine’s going to kill him the second his soul is reborn. We’re all acting like there’s still a chance, but he’s never going to send him to the demon-realm. He’s going to destroy him, isn’t he?”
She didn’t know what to say.
He was right.
“We have three days.”
Her head jerked up and she saw Tristan in the doorway. He looked pale.
“What?” Daniel asked, wiping at his face.
“I bought us three days. Caine can’t destroy his soul in that time.”
“How?”
Tristan shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. It’s done.”
Daniel walked across the room, and she imagined a million possibilities. She didn’t expect it when he wrapped Tristan in a hug. It wasn’t their awkward pat on the back either. It was a strong hug. Tristan held him fiercely, like a father. She could see the anger in his eyes, his need to protect the man who was fragile in ways most people couldn’t see.
She swallowed around the lump in her throat and wiped at the stray tears tracking down her cheeks. Since she’d arrived, memory gone and lost in the confusion, her demons had done nothing but focus on her. There was something amazing about this moment, because she felt she was seeing into who they were before, a team who watched out for each other.
Daniel pulled back. “Okay then,” he cleared his throat. “Time to find some Immortals.”
She rose. Three days wasn’t a lot of time. But for Mark, they’d do anything.
3
Caine was angry as hell. His angels had been unable to deal with Surcy and her demons. He wished, yet again, that the stupid Fate hadn’t thrown herself into the Soul Destroyer to protect some useless human. Right now, he could use her guidance.
He had the remaining Immortals under his power in places the angel and her demons could never find. He had a choice. Destroy the Immortals’ souls to ensure he would remain in power and never be overthrown, or kill the Immortals still under his control, have them reborn, and start all over again, breaking them down to take their magic.
He froze in his pace. Or, he could take the druid's necklace, find the Immortals stolen from him, and finish breaking them. Because even though I’ve invaded Surcy’s mind, magic has blocked out enough of the sanctuary’s location that I’m unable to find it. Those bastard druids and their powers…
Once he got them, he could make them pay… and finally take their powers. The Fate had told him the best way to crack the Immortals, and he knew they were so close.
Could he really throw all his hard work away now?
Only if I truly fear Surcy and her demons.
His
