Her sister was a demon. Fully and wholly demon.
No! She refused to believe it. She wouldn’t let Izzy go that easily.
“Isabelle, please. I know you’re still in there, that there’s warmth and humanity inside you. Come back with me.”
The black diamond at Isabelle’s feet hummed, as if growling a warning at Angelique.
“I belong here, Angie. The Sons of Darkness are my people, my family.”
As soon as she said it, men materialized. Ten of them, dressed all in black, appeared behind Isabelle. They towered over her, their faces devoid of emotion, their eyes black and lacking any soul or humanity.
The Sons of Darkness.
All around them, demons came forward, out of the darkness, out of nowhere, surrounding them. Purebreds, and those Angelique and Ryder had battled back at the cottage-the ones with the glowing blue eyes and mist surrounding them. Angelique held her breath against the force of such evil in one place. It was palpable, suffocating her.
One of the Sons of Darkness moved forward, and Angelique took a quick step back. He radiated such tremendous heat the hairs on her arms felt singed.
Isabelle didn’t even flinch when he wrapped his arm around her waist. Her smile widened.
“Angelique. How nice of you to come back to us.”
In an instant, Ryder was at her side, his weapon pointed at the demon Lord. “Back off,” he said. He started to pull her away, but Angelique refused to budge.
“No, it’s okay. I’m fine here.”
The demon Lord’s lips curled upward. “She doesn’t want to go with you, hunter. She wishes to remain with her sister.”
“She doesn’t want anything to do with you fuckers.”
Ryder tugged at Angelique again, but she didn’t move. Didn’t he understand how important it was that she remove her sister first?
“Ryder, please. I have to get Isabelle.”
“Tase. Take her,” Isabelle said.
The one Isabelle called Tase laughed. “She’ll come to us, my queen.”
His queen? Oh, no. Angelique couldn’t allow this.
Dalton moved past Angelique and Ryder, even closer than Angelique had been to Tase. That heat must be unbearable, yet Dalton didn’t even flinch. He ignored Tase, focusing only on Izzy.
“Isabelle.”
Recognition seemed to flicker in Isabelle’s eyes for a fraction of a second, but she resumed staring straight ahead again.
“You can’t keep her, Tase. She’s not one of you,” Dalton said, reaching his hand out to Isabelle. “Come on, Isabelle. Come with me.”
Isabelle tilted her head and frowned at Dalton.
“No!” Tase said, his voice thundering in the darkness. “She is ours.”
Whatever influence Tase had on Izzy was too strong. She straightened and her eyes went vacant again. But for a moment, Dalton had reached her. That gave Angelique hope.
Izzy was still in there.
Angelique tugged on Dalton’s shirt to get his attention, then on Ryder’s, drawing them away. “I need to push her. I have to do something to make her see me. . really see me.”
“You might have a fight on your hands,” Ryder countered.
She nodded, realizing what he meant. “I know.”
“Can you handle it?”
“I can pull back when I need to. Trust me?”
He didn’t even hesitate. “Yes. Do it.”
“I’ll back you up,” Dalton said. “She’s not lost.”
Bless him, she so needed to hear that. She grabbed Dalton’s hand and squeezed it.
“I’ll let the others know,” Dalton said. “We’ll take on the Sons of Darkness and their demons. You deal with your sister.”
She nodded as Dalton inched away, then turned to Ryder. “Don’t let them kill her. Not until I’ve tried everything I can.”
“I’ll do what I can, darlin’.”
That was all she could ask for.
Angelique kept her focus on Tase, Isabelle, and the demons. They seemed to be waiting, as if they knew the
