With a hard tip of her wings, Amaya banked to the left then circled the rooftop for the third time. Strong winds slammed into her, tossing her around. She managed to keep flying and spotted four cameras covering every access point and a fifth facing the helipad. The tiny blinking red lights on top of the devices made it easy. If she was right, they were all pointed in the same direction, at the center.

The winds died down for a moment and she glided to an awkward landing behind a pair of gigantic air conditioning units on the south side of the roof. She ducked low behind the structure. It would be her luck to have the cameras sweep the entire roof the moment she landed.

A vacay in Vegas had always been on her bucket list. Hit the casinos, win some money, catch a show, people watch, celebrity hunt. Hiding on a rooftop with a pair of wings attached to her back never entered the fantasy.

What a way to spend her first day in Vegas. Cool air washed over her, totally unexpected. In her mind, Vegas equaled the desert which equaled hot. She thought the average temperature never went below eighty, yet here she was shivering.

Where were the UnHallowed? With a four-hour advantage, they had to be here, somewhere. She assessed the large vent next to her. Fitting in it wouldn’t be a problem, until it narrowed and she got stuck. The unpleasant, but hilarious image of the fire department freeing her from the duct made her snort and quickly sober.

Malphas demon, Demoni—whatever—had to know the UnHallowed wouldn’t let him keep the portal to Hell. The entire rooftop scenario was the most bullshit trap she’d ever seen. A toddler could’ve staged this better, but what choice did she or the UnHallowed have?

None.

She yanked the grating off, surprised she didn’t even grunt from the effort. The first rays of sunlight touched her wings. She spun and watched the sky redden, then pink bled into the red, followed by a deep orange glow as the sun crowned the horizon. I have to find Bane.

The temperature seemed to jump ten degrees and the wind kicked up, got under her wings, even though she had them tucked or else she’d be flung off the roof. She gripped the vent to hoist herself inside when the air in the center of the helipad warped. Light struck the area and rippled, then seemed to curve around an invisible object. Sunlight danced along the edges refracting into a rainbow. An orb took shape, approximately four by four in height and width. As suddenly as it appeared, it dissipated, and a silver disc remained.

She had no idea what the Cruor looked like, but it was a good bet she’d found it. Rather, it had found her. Cautiously, she approached. It wasn’t what she expected. First, it was small, four by four in size. Second, the damn thing was pretty. The rim was silver, while the interior appeared to be crimson lightning trapped inside the glass middle.

Arresting was how she’d describe her initial impression. Standing in its presence, it captivated her senses as nothing ever had in the same way a stunning piece of jewelry she could never afford had mocked her with its brilliance.

She reached for it, the urge to run her finger over the surface was too much to resist. Touch it, feel it, merge with it, let it sink beneath her skin, become one with it, keep it, own it, the last thought blossomed to a burning need.

“I cannot be any luckier.”

Amaya spun, her brain sloshed around her cranium as if she was drugged, and her vision winked. When it cleared, the Spaun who’d attacked her stood five yards away. And he had a friend, a thin, wiry dude who didn’t seem to care about hygiene.

“No. You cannot. Your luck has run out.” Came a graveled voice to her right.

The Spaun shed their human façades. Pasty parchment skin replaced their clothing, claws replaced hands as their bodies contoured into new, monstrous shapes. They faced the newest rooftop guest. “Malphas,” the one who’d attacked her at the farm spat.

Amaya spun and swallowed her gasp behind a stoic mask. The Demoni Lord was huge, at least six eight with a body built like a linebacker. Four hundred pounds of muscle, she guessed, all of it packed into a three piece expertly tailored suit. He had wavy brown hair with blond highlights glinting in the sunlight, a prominent square jaw, generous mouth, and eyes the color of cognac with a visible red rim. She saw all of this, even though he was backlit by the sun.

He focused on the Spaun, not her, which is exactly what she wanted. Damn! His gaze shifted to her and she imagined that’s what a freight train felt like when it T-boned a car. She expected nothing less. Though she’d only learned of his exalted existence days ago, he lived up to her conjured imaginings. He was the big bad boogeyman in the new world she inhabited, and he embodied every inch of that moniker.

His gaze slid her way and he smiled at her, not like a predator sizing up his next meal, but a genuine smile, with a wink thrown in for good measure. The Spaun closed in on him, his gaze never strayed from Amaya.

She broke the connection first, to glance over his shoulder. The sun was gone, swallowed by a cloud that came from the ground instead of the sky. It wasn’t shaped like any cloud she’d ever seen. It was a massive gray wall stretching across the entire horizon. It barreled toward them, gaining speed and debris, bringing the night. Dust storm, she thought. One had struck a small Texas town last year. The video of it rolling across the businesses and homes had gone viral.

The Spaun attacked Malphas. He flung one to the side in the same manner as tossing trash in the garbage. The Spaun caught the safety rail and hoisted himself back onto the roof. He jumped on Malphas’s back as the other one rushed for Amaya while she darted for the Cruor. She’d almost made it when dust pelted every inch of her body. It got into her mouth, her lungs, her eyes, weighed her wings down.

Her objective hadn’t changed. She needed to touch the Cruor, now more than ever. She stretched out her hands, streamlined her body, was so close to touching its exquisite surface, when she was tackled from behind at the same time the roof crumbled under her feet.