Like the raging sea, demons and more demons came out from the doorway, flanking Omi.

“What? No welcome? And I thought you would be glad to see me.” He turned his big smile to me. “Especially you, Nadine.”

Rage burned in my veins, and I lunged at him. Micah jumped off the altar, grabbed my arm, and held me back.

“I’m gonna kill you!” I shouted.

Omi laughed. “Ah, how I love when humans speak nonsense.” His smile slipped away from his face as his eyes shifted to Micah. “So it’s true. Mitrus. Long time no see, brother.”

“Do not call me brother,” Micah said through gritted teeth. “You and that bitch plotted against me, you played me against Levi. And Imha and you are the reason the world is in this mess.”

Omi arched one eyebrow. “Mess? Imha and I don’t think so. The world is the way we want it to be.”

“You two are hopeless.”

“No, brother, we are not. We are strong together. Imha and I make a good team. A good couple.” The corners of his mouth twitched up. “Oh, wait. Is that why you are so wound up? Because she prefers me? But, brother, everyone knew that.”

I couldn’t help but glance at Micah. He shook his head, disgust on his face. “If I could go back in time, I would erase any association I had with her.”

“The lies people tell themselves,” Omi said, smiling at me. “He’s a master liar, Nadine. Don’t buy anything he tells you. He’ll woo you with his confident smile and his sweet words, but he’ll betray you. He’ll betray everyone. He always does.”

Micah turned his eyes to me. “That’s not true,” he whispered.

“Another lie,” Omi said.

“Shut up!” Micah yelled, advancing a step.

“See? He doesn’t want you to hear the truth.”

“You …” Micah leapt at him, and this time I held him back.

Omi laughed. “Aren’t you two cute together?” His face hardened. “It’s a shame you both will be dead soon.” He raised his arm to the ceiling and yelled, as a wave of demons rushed to us.

Izaera cast a green shield in front of us, buying us time. Micah clasped my arm and pulled me around the altar, picking up his scepter on the way, where we would have an advantage.

The shield broke, and Izaera brought vines from the cracks between the rocks. The vines ensnared the demons, slowing and bothering them, buying us more time. If only Victor and Ceris would hurry …

A couple of demons got free, and they charged us. Back-to-back, Micah and I fought them. Parry, dodge, duck, slash, stab. It was almost automatic and easy now, if it weren’t for the fact that I was exhausted from coming up the stairs and the previous two fights.

We had killed a dozen or more when Omi must have decided it was taking too long and advanced. Izaera was ready and engaged him. I sighed in relief—it was only fair, since she was the only one with magical powers that matched his.

Meanwhile, we were busy with demons. I lost count after I killed my sixteenth. How many were there? And more kept entering the room. Each time a new wave surged I tensed, thinking Imha would be among them. Why wasn’t she here?

And where was Morgan?

A claw came at me and I ducked, feeling the whoosh of air above my head. Once I straightened my back, I kicked the demon in its stomach, sending it back. Another pair of arms appeared by my side, talons ready to cut. I lifted my sword and parried its attack. The first one lunged at me, but I stepped back and used that opening to pierce my sword through the middle of its back. Buzzing with adrenaline, I stepped over the body and jumped, flying to the second monster. It readied its claws, but I struck them with my blade, sending them to the side while cutting him, then spun to the other side. While it recovered its balance, I slashed its throat.

They fell back revealing Morgan behind them.

I half-smiled. “You had me worried.”

With hooded eyes, Morgan pulled the Crimson Dagger from behind his back. “You don’t have to worry about me,” he said, his tone cold. “My Lord is here now.”

I glanced at the dagger in his hand. “Oh, Morgan, no.”

Snarling, he pounced at me. I jumped back, trying to avoid him and bumped into Micah.

“Hey,” he said between grunts and groans. He was still fighting two demons.

I remained close to him. “Morgan, I don’t want to hurt you. Please, stay away.”

Morgan swiped the dagger at me, and I blocked it with my sword, pushing him back.

“You’re a good girl, Nadine,” Morgan said, devoid of any emotion. “I’m sorry it has come to this.”

“I’m sorry too,” I whispered, tears building behind my eyes. No, this couldn’t be true. Morgan couldn’t have turned to Omi. He couldn’t have betrayed us. “It was you who told Omi where we would be?”

He came at me again. I ducked under his arm, and careful not to hurt him too much, kicked him in the hip, causing him to stagger back.

“Yes. The forest and here.”

“And NYC?”

“No. I wasn’t committed to Lord Omi then. I only joined them after you survived Lord Omi and Lady Imha’s tortures.” He flashed me an evil smile and I cringed. This wasn’t the Morgan I knew, and it broke my heart. “New York was the demons. They sensed a stronger aura in the city. That’s why the population of bats grew within the city and why they attacked people outside the hospital, because they could sense you there. When Lord Levi showed up to see you, the demons sensed his stronger aura with yours and that’s all Lord Omi needed to know the girl Brock had imprisoned was in the city.”

Morgan took a step forward and thrust the Crimson Dagger at me. I waited until the last second to duck under it, then pushed him aside with my shoulder.

I retreated a few steps and turned back to face him. “But … how did Omi know about me? About me being a girl? I thought Brock was dead.”

“He is dead, but Lord Omi had already been summoned and he appeared there right after we left. Brock had a few of your things in the school, mainly a bag with clothes and girly accessories you bought during our trip. Unmistakably feminine,” he said, swirling the dagger in his hand. “Anyway, I didn’t tell Lord Omi about the meeting with the Death Lords because I was hurt and stayed out of that, though I was able to disenchant Keisha’s armor before you left.”

I gasped. “You did that? How?”

He had an evil grin on. “I would have disenchanted all of your armor if Lord Levi hadn’t interrupted me. Good thing I was quick to tell him a lie, and he believed me. I almost made him take me to the Death Lords’ meeting, even hurt. But that went well with Deven, Eklan, and Chael there.”

I gasped. “Holy shit, you helped them when they were in the shelter.”

“Yes. But we had to maintain appearances in case Lord Mitrus and Lord Levi weren’t killed that night. I continued to pretend to be on your side and left with you.”

“I can’t believe this,” I whispered, feeling his betrayal weighing on my chest.

Micah stabbed a demon, pulled his sword out of its body, and whirled around to us, a mask of rage over his face. “Me neither.”

He raised his sword, ready to strike Morgan, but I got in his way. “No!” I held his arm. “No. He’s still in there. He has to be.”

Watching Morgan and the dagger, Micah shook his head. “Once a human is touched by the power of our allegiance objects, there is no coming back. The Morgan you knew is gone.”

I refused to believe that. However, I remembered Morgan saying something similar about Brock. Still, this was Morgan, not Brock. Morgan was a better man. He could get out of this, couldn’t he?

Morgan charged us again. I spun around and deflected his blow.

Micah was about to strike him again—and this time I wasn’t sure if I could stop him—when a demon showed up behind him and clawed his back. Groaning, he whirled and engaged his attacker, leaving Morgan to me.

Oh, God.

“Surrender, Nadine,” Morgan said. “Surrender and they might let you live.”

I almost laughed. Almost. If only he knew about the Soul Oath, he wouldn’t be offering me such a deal.

But I didn’t laugh. Instead new tears surged up. “Please, Morgan. Focus. You’re not like this. You dedicated your entire life to The Everlasting Circle.”

“Exactly!” He smiled. “Lady Imha and Lord Omi are the essence of the new Everlasting Circle. And I’m helping them.”

He thrust that dagger at me, and I jumped to the side. “Stop!”

“Only when you surrender. Or when you’re dead.” He jumped forward, raising his weapon. I parried it, calculating in my head how I could disarm him without actually hurting him, and that meant hard kicks or punches.

He, on the other hand, didn’t have such qualms.

When I ducked from the dagger, Morgan kneed my chest. My torso flew up, the air rushing out of me, and I staggered back, dizzy. I blinked in time to see his fist coming at me. My head whipped to the side, and pain exploded on my chin, spreading through my jaw and down my neck. I tripped on a stone and fell on my side, my vision darkening.

“Nadine!” Micah yelled.

Dear God, that hurt!

I blinked several times. Morgan stood above me, his feet straddling my legs. “One last chance. Surrender!”

I would have spat in his face if I wouldn’t have made a fool of myself and drooled. Instead I held his gaze. “Never.” I drew my knees toward my chest, and then kicked his shins. Cursing, he clambered back.

Taking advantage of the moment, I propped myself up on my elbows and reached for my sword.

“Bitch!” Morgan cried. He jumped at me and raised his dagger as the mountain roared and shook.

The dagger pierced my side, just above the hip bone. I yelled. Micah yelled. Everyone was yelling. And shaking. And fading.

My vision blackened, and my cheek grazed the stone under me.

“I’ll kill you,” Micah spat.

“No, Lord Mitrus, I’ll have the honor of killing you and delivering your scepter to Lord Omi.”

No, no, no. I pushed against the darkness in my mind, concentrated on the spots of light dancing in my vision, and willed them to grow and spread. A long breath in, a long breath out. Again.

My mind and vision clearing, I sat up and blinked at the scene.

With three demons holding his arms and neck, Micah thrashed like a caged lion while Morgan advanced to him, an evil smile on his lips and the Crimson Dagger in his hand.

Oh, God. Ignoring the sharp pain in my side, I closed my hand around the hilt of my sword and pushed to my feet as Morgan pulled his arm back, ready to pierce Micah’s heart. Without really thinking about it, I flew to Morgan.

He saw me coming, though, and sidestepped. I was prepared. I whirled past his opening, ducking when he swatted his arm at me, and hit the back of his head with the hilt of my sword.

Unconscious, he fell face-first.

Not wasting time, I picked up Micah’s sword from the ground, and turned to him and the demons holding him. One of them let go of Micah to come at me. Seeing his arm free, I didn’t think twice. I threw his sword at him. He caught it as I dodged a claw swipe. Then I focused on my fight. The demon advanced, swatting his heavy arm at me. I slashed its arm, then jumped to the side and kicked him. Another demon came from behind and swiped its claws on my shoulder. I cried, whirling to it and cutting its arm off. It roared and jumped at me. Knowing they weren’t bright creatures, I stepped back and out of the way, letting the two monsters bump headfirst. I almost laughed, but instead I slashed one's throat and stabbed the other’s heart.

When I turned to Micah, he was pulling his sword from a fourth demon. God, they were multiplying!

He spun on his feet and stared at me.

“Thank the Everlast, you’re all right,” he whispered, running to me. He threw his arms around me, holding me tight. Surprised, it took me a brief moment to return the gesture. I buried my face in his chest, relieved he was all right too. He splayed his hands on my back, and I winced as he hit the spot where Morgan had stabbed me. “You’re hurt,” he said, sounding as if he had forgotten.

“I barely feel it now.”

“It’s because of the adrenaline.” He twisted my shoulder to get a better look at it. “It’s not too bad. It doesn’t seem deep.” He ripped the end of his shirt and tied it around my waist, making sure it secured the wound. “There. That should do the trick for now.”

He smiled at me. I smiled back.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw movement behind him. I pushed him to the side and raised my sword. With his dagger trained to where Micah’s heart had been a second ago, Morgan ran into my blade.

As if it had burned me, I dropped my sword and my hands flew to my mouth.

Morgan fell back, my sword buried in his chest. “You will burn in the fires of the underworld,” Morgan wheezed.

A sob lodged in my throat, and I fell to my knees. Micah’s heavy hand squeezed my shoulder.

Morgan gasped, blinked, and then went still.

Oh, God, I killed Morgan. I had killed Morgan. Me. Killing a person. And not just any person. Morgan.

Killing demons in self-defense was one thing. Killing humans—and a friend—was another.

A wave of nausea rolled in my stomach, and I pressed a hand to my mouth.

Footsteps and voices echoed inside my head, sounding distant.

With bruises and some ripped clothing, Ceris, Victor, Keisha, and Zelen stepped out of the back doorway and froze.

On the other side of the room, Omi seemed to have a renewed energy as he was finally able to hit a bolt to Izaera’s chest and send her flying to the farthest wall.

Immediately, Ceris cast a shield in front of them. Omi sent a red bolt toward them at the same time.

The bolt exploded on contact, breaking the shield.

“Go!” Ceris pushed Victor and the others to the side and stepped toward Omi.

“Ah, the brave, loving Ceris,” Omi said. “Good to see you again, sister.”

Without acknowledging him, Ceris threw a pink bolt at him. Their fight commenced.

Victor, Keisha, and Zelen stopped short between Morgan’s body and Micah and me.

Holding his shiny scepter, Victor knelt before me. “What happened?”

I shook my head, unsure I could think of what happened, much less speak about it.

Micah’s hand left my shoulder. “Keisha, stay with her. Levi, come with me.”

Keisha appeared before me. “Are you okay?”

I shook my head and tears sprung to my eyes. Oh, God, I killed Morgan. I would never get over it. Nausea swirled in my belly again, and I clamped my mouth, breathing deeply through my nose.

Morgan didn’t think the dagger had any more power, but it did. The dagger had intoxicated him, robbed him of his thoughts and life. Omi had robbed him of his thoughts and life. Because of Omi and his object of allegiance, Morgan had turned into a crazed man. I had killed him, yes, but he was too far gone to be saved. At least, that was what I wanted to believe, since now there was no choice. Besides if the real, old Morgan could have seen what the new Morgan had been up to, he would have wanted to die. That was how dedicated he was to the creed.

All right. Where was determined warrior Nadine? I needed her right now. Not the weak, stand back, hide wherever she can Nadine. I needed the one who could store all the bad stuff into an airtight container and lose that container in the back of her mind, while focusing on revenge, on retribution.

I could do this.

I shoved the container with my sentiments to the back of my mind where it would get lost, at least until we got past this situation. I took a deep breath and stood.

“What do I have to do?” Victor asked.

I pointed to the hole on the opposite side of the altar from Micah. “Place your scepter here.”

He narrowed his eyes. “And?”

I opened my mouth to answer, but a different word came out. “Demons!” I yelled.

More demons emerged in the cave from the entrance. They rushed past the spot where Ceris and Izaera both fought against Omi—who seemed to be holding well on his own against two goddesses—and came toward us.

With their scepters in hand, Micah and Victor stepped down from the altar and came to stand beside Zelen, Keisha, and me.

We fought. I barely saw a thing. My mind was numb; all I knew was that I had to dodge, parry, duck, stab, slash, and repeat.

Keisha saved my neck more than once when I seemed too focused on one demon and didn’t notice another approaching. I should have said thank you, but I was too caught up, too wound up, too not myself.

However, I did notice when the numbers of coming demons reduced.

“Victor, Micah,” I yelled through the clanks of metal and the growls and grunts. “Go do your thing. We’ll cover for you.”

After they killed their current opponents, they jumped onto the altar. I nudged Keisha to help watch the sides, while Zelen took the back.

“Just place the scepters in the holes, right?” Victor asked.

I dodged a claw. “Yes, but I don’t know which one, other than they should be opposites.”

“But there are ten holes,” Victor said.

I kicked the demon back as Micah answered for me. “Then we try all of them.”

I ran my sword through the demon’s chest and turned to the altar. Victor and Micah grabbed their scepters from two holes and placed them in the next ones. Nothing happened. They took their scepters from those holes and—

Across the room, Omi threw Ceris to the side and deflected Izaera’s bolt with a shield, all the while, watching the guys at the altar.

A red bolt formed in his palm.

“Watch out!” I pointed to Omi.

Micah and Victor whirled around and jumped to the side, avoiding the bolt by inches. I stepped on the altar intent on crossing it and helping Ceris and Izaera against Omi, but energy surged up around my legs and stopped me in the center.

“What is this?” I asked, incapable of moving. The energy surrounded every inch of me.

Omi was ready to send another bolt, his eyes on me this time, but Ceris knocked him back with one of her bolts, and then Izaera was on him too.

Victor turned to me. “I don’t know.”

“Can’t you move?” Micah asked.

“No!”

“I don’t understand,” Victor muttered.

Since I couldn’t move my head, I scanned the area with my eyes and I understood. “There.” I tried pointing my fingers or jabbing my chin to my right, but nothing happened.

Thank goodness, Victor and Micah understood and looked the way I was looking. The hole on my right was shining.

“Is the one opposite to it shining too?”

“Yes,” Micah answered.

“Then place the scepters there,” I said.

“But what about you?” Victor asked.

I swallowed. “I-I think I’m supposed to be here.”

Micah was in front of me in a flash. “What? What does this mean? Did you know this? Why didn’t you tell me? Why—?”

“I don’t know!” I cut him off. “I don’t know any of it. Just … just do it, okay? Please.” He put a hand on my cheek, looking unhappy about it. “Micah, Ceris and Izaera won’t be able to hold Omi much longer, more demons are bursting in, and only the Fates know when Imha is arriving. Please, do this so we can leave.”

His eyes shone with indecision. Finally, he nodded, pulling his hand away, and went to my left, where he placed his scepter. Then Victor placed his scepter in the hole to the right. Energy burst through me and I gasped.

A bright white shine came from the altar, forcing me to close my eyes.

A ruckus sounded around me. The clanking of swords, the whoosh and oomphs of blows being dealt and received, the growls and the groans, the yells, and the rapid shuffle of feet on the rocks. I was aware of it all until the energy began pounding inside me, like a thousand jackhammers. The energy dragged me down to my knees, and then it slipped out from me.

I blinked my eyes open. My hands pressed against the stones on the altar, and lines of white energy ran down my arms and zigzagged to the scepters.

Eyes bugged, Micah reached for me. A shock coursed through us when his fingers brushed my shoulder. I yelped and he jerked away.

He cursed. “What is it doing? Is it hurting?”

“I-I don’t know,” I croaked.

Filling with the energy that had been in me, the scepters shone brighter and brighter.

My head felt heavy, my vision dimmed, and my muscles felt like jelly. The energy was leaving me completely. For a moment, I wondered if it had taken everything, even my own energy. I wondered if this was my purpose, if my aura was powerful to make Micah and Victor full gods again.

The last two lines left my arms and zoomed to the scepters, and I fell to my side gasping for air.

Once more bright light shone, blinding me for a moment, but this time they came from the scepters.

Micah knelt beside me, but I shook my head. “Go. Get your scepter. Now.”

With a pained expression, he stepped back and stood before his scepter. Victor and Micah shared a nod, and at the same time, they closed their hands around their scepters.

“No!” Omi yelled.

The lines of energy appeared on Micah’s and Victor’s hands, running up their arms and shoulders and chest, taking every inch of them until they were encased in white light and shone brighter than anything I had seen or encountered before. I closed my eyes again until the shine receded.

When I opened my eyes, the glow was gone and they were there, one on my left, one on my right, standing tall and proud, with their scepters. No bruises, no signs of weariness, and looking amazing in their own skins.

“Did it work?” I asked, pushing up on my elbows.

Micah beamed at me. “It did.”

For some reason, I expected them to become the older men I had seen in my visions, but they still wore the same handsome bodies and faces from when I had first met them.

“My, oh my,” Imha’s voice echoed through the room. “It seems I’m late to the party.”