Their blissfully cold arms.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Demons surrounded them. Between the mist and the number of demons coming at them out of nowhere, Ryder was firing so fast he could only hope he didn’t hit his own people.
He saw Dalton’s face, though, and pivoted, just as demons rose up in a thick cloud and surrounded Angelique.
Shit! He raised his gun, but they enveloped her and disappeared before he could get a shot off, before he could take a step to get to her. In an instant, they were gone, taking the swirling mist along with them.
As well as Angelique.
“Sonofabitch!” He turned again, hitting the lightningquick pure demons with round after round of laser fire, fury fueling him as he stepped over their melted forms to pump more rounds of sonic bullets into a few hulking hybrids who’d popped up as backup to the purebreds.
Smoke filled the air, taking over where the mist had been. Ryder and the other hunters hit the demons with a barrage of laser and sonic blasts, until the remainder of them disappeared.
Not that it mattered. There was no victory here.
The Sons of Darkness had gotten what they came for.
Angelique, and the black diamond, were gone, swallowed in the mist of those new breed of demons. They hadn’t had a chance to save her.
Ryder holstered his gun and shouldered his rifle, ignoring the bodies around him.
He did a quick head count, relieved that at least the rest of the hunters were accounted for and seemed to be unharmed.
“That was a smokescreen. Literally and figuratively,” Michael said.
“No shit. Angie’s gone.” Ryder’s gut twisted. He should have held tight to her, even when the demons attacked. He should have taken the bag with the black diamond so the demons would come after him. But he hadn’t. He’d been more concerned with being on the lookout, with acting as a shield just in case. .
They hadn’t expected the demons to hit them here. Goddamit. This was a church. Hallowed ground. It wasn’t supposed to happen here.
Stupid mistake. Costly fuckup. Where the hell were his brains?
“How are we going to get her back?” Ryder asked, already knowing the answer.
“I don’t know.”
“Caught with our goddamn dicks in our hands,” Dalton said, grimacing. “They made it look easy.”
“I didn’t expect this. Not here, not so close to hallowed ground.” Michael brushed his fingers through his hair, blew out a breath. “It hurt those demons to be on this church property. They wouldn’t have survived it anyway.”
“They survived it long enough to grab Angelique and the black diamond,” Mandy said. “Maybe your notion of them being unable to step foot on sanctified ground is wrong. Maybe they’re able to overcome it somehow.”
There was a silence as the reality of that sunk in.
“Isabelle,” Dalton said.
Ryder saw the look on Dalton’s face, knew what he meant. They jumped in the SUV and Michael tore out of the church grounds, speeding back toward the castle.
From Dalton’s grim expression, Ryder knew what they’d find when they got there.
An hour later, his suspicion was confirmed. The guard was unconscious, the chapel doors were wide open, and Isabelle was gone.
Michael crouched in front of the guard, and roused him. He rubbed his head, started to stand up, but Michael held him by the shoulders.
“Looks like a concussion,” he said.
“She was like a crazed animal,” the guard said, sitting up and leaning against the wall. “Came barreling through the doors, drenched in sweat, her face flushed. Her eyes were wide and she looked at me like I was the Devil himself. She threw me against the wall like I was nothing.” He shook his head. “I cracked my head on the stone and went down. Sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. None of us expected this,” Michael said, helping the guard to his feet. A couple medical personnel rushed down the hallway. “Take him to the infirmary. He needs X-rays, maybe a CT scan.”
After the guard left, Michael turned to them. “I’m not sure what happened to Isabelle, but if I had to guess, it sounds like she was lured outside by the Sons of Darkness.”
“So we fucked this one up but good,” Trace said. “We couldn’t protect either of them. Or the black diamond.”
“Yes. They’ve made us look inept. Obviously they knew exactly where and when to hit us. Which isn’t a good sign. They’ve grown stronger.” Michael shook his head. “I’m going to have to report this to the other Keepers. And the first thing we’re going to have to do is figure out where the Sons of Darkness are holding Isabelle and Angelique.”
“If we can even find them,” Dalton said.
