ONE BARRELED TOWARD me, her eyes the shade of glossy onyx.  I side-stepped her and yanked my knife out.  Before she could even land a hit on me, my knife was arcing through the air, right into her chest.

My blade scraped bones until it pierced her heart.  Her garbled scream lit the air.

I shook off the kill, trying not to think about the darkness awakening in my veins.  It loved killing.  Anything would do.

Her dark burgundy blood coated my knife.  I ignored it.

My heart pumped a ragged beat as another demon dove for me, his lips curled into a snarl.  He clipped my shoulder, a dull throb coating my left side.  I pushed the pain away and delivered a snap kick to his ribs.

Cracks echoed.

I hadn’t always been able to break demon bones.  The ferrum in me liked it.  So did the darkness.

“Koralein!”

Kye’s voice yanked me around moments before a demon’s claws came at me.  They missed my face, and I sliced my knife toward her chest.  The dark haired female demon moved back, her eyes seeking out something.

They landed on a tall, beast of a demon fighting Kye.  There was no doubt in my mind the guy was old and had once been a pureblooded ferrum.  He moved like a trained, seasoned warrior, precise and certain. 

“You tell my brother he isn’t getting her,” Kye snarled.  “He won’t win this.”

The behemoth’s face remained impassive.  “It’s only a matter of time.  You know this, Cassius.”

Kye’s nostrils flared.  “Don’t call me that fucking name.”  He shoved the other demon so hard, he crashed into the wooden playground equipment, shattering it into a million pieces.  And he hadn’t even broken a sweat.

Clawed hands yanked my head back, pain shooting through my neck.  Son of a bitch!

My elbow swung through the air, crashing into a steel body.  The demon released my hair with a snarl.  I spun around and kicked out, hitting him between the legs. 

He could have easily bitten me when he had my neck bent toward him.  These demons were here on a mission, and death wasn’t it.  They were with Lorne, and he didn’t want me dead.  Not yet. 

“Are you too scared of your boss to really attack me?” I asked between gritted teeth.

He scoffed and brushed back long strands of blonde hair from his face.  “I do what I want, little girl.”

I laughed.  “Oh yeah?  Prove it.”

The demon blurred by and I felt him behind me, his teeth close to my neck.

Adrenaline poured through my body, and I whipped around.  Fast.  Probably too fast even for a ferrum.  I didn’t waste any time.  The darkness in me wanted to play some more, but if I did, I’d be feeding it.  And I sure as hell didn’t want to do that.

My knife jammed into his chest so quick it stunned him.  He stood there, mouth opened and eyes wide as his skin slowly turned gray.  It wasn’t until his veins began pulling toward the surface did he let out a garbled growl.

He hit the ground.

Without warning, an arm went around my neck, squeezing and stealing my air.

Damn it.

Stars popped in my vision, but moments later, the pressure was gone.  I greedily sucked in air.  My fingers tightened around my knife, and I spun around, ready to take this demon trash out.

Too late.

An iron knife was already sticking out of his chest.  The hilt of it was in a massive hand.  That hand belonged to Rex.

Oh hell.  I was toast.

His eyes met mine, gold embers burning violently in his chocolate orbs.  He was pissed.  More than pissed.

Rex jerked his chin behind me.

Right.  Kill demons first.  Argue later.

A she-demon with metallic silver leggings jumped on me, knocking me to the ground.  Her fist found my rib, delivering a hard jab.  Pain exploded in my torso, stealing my breath. 

She wasn’t playing. 

“I’d rather kill you than knock you out, little ferrum.”  The venom in her oily black eyes matched her words.

Ugh.  What was it with demons calling me little ferrum all the time.  Yeah, I was short.  No need to tell me.  The mirror did on a daily basis.

“I’m pretty sure Lorne would kill you slowly if you did.”  My legs wrapped around her, trying to force her off.

She let out a barking laugh.  “Please, like I care about one demon.”

“Do you even know who he is?”

She snarled and snapped her teeth at my neck.  “I don’t care.”

She should.

Finally I managed to flip her over, securing the top position.  My eyes quickly surveyed the area.  Rex was fighting two other demons.

Man, he looked hot.

A sharp pain cracked across my cheek. 

I winced.  That freaking hurt.

I turned back, dodging the demon’s fists again.  Unfortunately, she rolled me over and took the top position.  This chick needed to be dealt with.

“Let me save you the trouble of some serious torture.”  I punched her jaw, her head snapping around.  “Because if you kill me, Lorne—A.K.A. Lucius—is going to tear you apart.”

Her head tilted back as she laughed.  “Lucius?  You expect me to believe—”  Her words were cut off as my blade struck her heart.  Shock quickly morphed her expression.

“You’re welcome,” I yanked the blade out and shoved her off.

Sticky burgundy blood coated my fingers.

I took a deep breath, pushing away the images of the things I did as an almost demon.  That wasn’t me anymore.  I wasn’t turning.

“Koralein.”  A hand appeared above me, and I instantly reached for it.  Rex hauled me up, his eyes doing a quick once-over to check for injuries.

Every demon was either dead or had split except for Kye.  He was standing a few feet away, his eyes dark and icy.

“This won’t be the last time he tries to get her, Rex.”  His voice was calm and yet filled with danger.  “If you really cared about her, you’d let me take her.”

“Woah.”  I held my hands up.  “No one is letting me do anything.  I make my own decision.”

Both of them ignored me, cold blue eyes staring into burning golden brown.

“From the looks of it, they were here to stop you from taking her,” Rex hissed, his body so tight tremors were shaking it.

“You’re right.  They wanted to keep her here—for my brother.  You have no idea what he’s going to do to her.”  Kye shook his head and began backing away.  “I won’t risk it much longer, Rex.  I’ll turn her into a demon against her will if I have to.  If it means saving her from him, I’ll do it.”

Rex moved for Kye, but I gripped his arm, stopping him.  “Rex, I…”

What the hell was I supposed to say?

“Uh, what is going on?”

Daniel and Trey were standing at the edge of the park, their eyes wide and faces pale. 

“How did we get here?” Daniel asked, scratching his dirty blonde stubble.

Rex blinked as he looked between them and me.  “This is why you saw him tonight?”

I nodded.  “I asked if he’d let them go.”

He scoffed.  “And you just figured he’d do it for you.”

I shot him an incredulous look and pointed to the two ferrums.

Rex pinched the bridge of his nose.  “Yeah maybe, but he was also going to use this opportunity to take you.”

“How did you find me?”

“I had a little dream.”  His lips thinned.  “Well, it was more of a nightmare.”

My face paled.  This damn caetera link.  He saw what happened with Kye.  From the hard look on his face, he’d seen the kiss.

Oh crap.

Someone cleared their throat.  “Can one of you tell me how we got here?” Trey asked, crossing his thick arms against his wide chest. 

Rex turned to the two confused teens.  “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Trey shrugged.  “The blonde demon talking to us.”

“Where were you?”  I stepped forward.  “In a cell or tied up?”

Daniel shook his head.  “It was more like a living room.  A nice one.”

My head snapped back.  “What?”

“The demon was telling us we were special because we were pureblooded.”  Trey ran a hand through his copper locks, blowing out a deep breath.  “He said turning into a demon was the best choice.  We could live how we wanted without the goddess telling us what we should do.”  He shoved his hands in his pockets.  “We said yes.”

Rex cursed under his breath.

Daniel looked a little green around the gills.  “It sounded like a good idea at the time.”

Kye was giving them a choice?  Of course he was filling their heads with his anti-goddess propaganda first and probably a little compulsion.

Why though?  Why not just turn them against their will and be done with it?

Rex slipped his phone out.

“What are you doing?” I asked, my hackles raised.

He motioned toward the demon corpses.  “Calling a team for cleanup.  We can’t leave a bunch of demon bodies around for humans to find.”

“Oh right.”  There wasn’t a touch of anger in his words at all.  Sarcasm anyone?

“How did we get free?” Trey asked.

Rex jerked his chin toward me.  “You can thank her.  She could have died or worse tonight, but she decided it was worth it to save you.”