I stood in the middle of the street as the flames blazed on, blanketing what remained of the building that housed everything I’d ever worked for. The only thing I could hope was that at the time it hadn’t held people I cared for too.

If I’d only been able to break open the doors to the council chambers, I’d have known for sure. Now I was forced to wait as smoke billowed out from all sides of the building, sending large black plumes skyward.

“There was no one inside.” Wyatt wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. “We would have known if they were.”

“How?” I leaned into him despite not wanting to. I didn’t want to seem weak, but I needed his comfort and his arms. It was the only reason I was standing up now as the adrenaline was fading away.

Sirens wailed and a thick crowd formed around the building as firemen tried to put out the mountain-sized flames.

“Because we would have known.” Glendale rubbed against my legs. “I told you I’ve eaten some souls lately.”

“You might just be saying that.” I closed my eyes. I needed a break from watching the flames. An image of the man in the fedora came to my mind. I remembered the strange words he chanted at me. He’d been trying to summon a dark magic, but thankfully Wyatt had showed up in time. Surely he had burned up in the fire, but there was no way of knowing for sure. I needed to find out who the man was and why he was down in the secret room anyway.

“I’m not.” Glendale jumped up, and I opened my arms just in time to catch him. “There was no one there.”

“I hope you’re telling the truth.” I gazed deep into his yellow eyes looking for confirmation. My consciousness was already weighed down with guilt, I didn’t need more.

“Not that I don’t believe you.” Cade came to stand beside us. “But where are they then? I find it hard to believe that Levi and his people left the headquarters completely unprotected.”

I thought of the jewelry box on Levi’s desk. The unlocked office doors. Allie’s sweater left on her chair. “They didn’t plan to abandon the building.”

“And we can’t forget the hotel was empty too.” Eloise brushed soot off her burned shirt. “I find it hard to believe there wasn’t a single guest or employee on site. There’s no scaffolding or other signs of construction. It should have been full of people.”

“My guess is if we’d entered the guest rooms before the fire they’d look a whole lot like the headquarters’ offices. That’s how the lobby looked. There would be clothes on the beds. Toothbrushes by the sink. No one planned to leave. But then again no one had planned to stay either. If the guests had left in a hurry there should have been luggage strewn about, unfinished drinks at the bar.” Wyatt’s words came from right beside my ear.

“Odd isn’t it?” Glendale adjusted himself in my arms. “Very odd.”

It was more than odd. Someone or something had moved them. All I could do was hope it was to a safe place, but in a place deep inside of me I didn’t believe that for a moment.

“So now what?” Cade asked. “Where do we go next? Please tell me your plan isn’t to go back for Hunter and Anastasia again.”

I shook my head. “No. This is bigger than them now. This is bigger than everything.” Just like the people from the hotel, my only hope for finding them was to face the demon behind all this.

The truth was there was so much beyond The Society. Beyond the Pterons. Beyond the little bit of the paranormal world I knew. “I have to get at the root of this. That means finding and facing Randolph. I have to do this, but the rest of you don’t. No one owes me anything.” I wouldn’t drag anyone else down with me.

“You better not be lumping me in with everyone else.” Wyatt turned me in his arms, which resulted in Glendale leaping from my arms onto the street. “Especially not because you blame me.”

“Blame you?” I sputtered out. “How could I blame you? You saved me. You saved my life.”

“But it was my fire that did that.” He nodded over my head where I was sure the flames burned on.

“Which was the plan all along I’m sure.” Troy put an arm around Wyatt and I. “Jesalyn always had plans. Don’t you remember, Wyatt?”

“Jesalyn?” My chest clenched. “But she is good. She’s your mom.” I silently begged for confirmation. I didn’t need the floor to fall out from under me again.

“Of course she’s good.” Troy looked pained by my words. “But what happened here? The fire? Maybe it needed to happen. Maybe it was part of some bigger plan.”

And then I remembered the vision Sol gave me. Jesalyn had warned the end of The Society had to come. And the fire. The fire she’d shown me herself in the message she shared. My head spun. This was all too much. “You think she made the portal or tunnel or whatever it was that got me here?” I spoke what I’d been silently ruminating on. “She was the reason I ended up back here?”

Troy shrugged. “Either that or you devised it without thinking. But it doesn’t really matter. We need to figure out why it had to happen. And then we take on Randolph.”

“You’re in too?” I am sure the surprise showed on my face.

“Of course I’m in.” He pulled back from us. “Why are you acting so surprised?”

“Because you’ve fought with me since I first found you in the dungeon.”

“Sorry about that.” He smiled sheepishly.

“Um, apology accepted.” I caught Wyatt’s eye. Was Troy for real?

Eloise put a hand on my arm. “And before you ask, you know I’m in. I am your Guardian Pixie after all.”

I smiled. “I’m not going to argue. You know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“And I’m in.” Cade grinned. “You know I don’t miss out on adventures.”

“You guys need me. Besides, I want to get rid of my ex once and for all.” Sol slipped his shades down enough to wink.

“So that’s it then.” Glendale lay on my feet. “The gang is all in.”

“In for whatever this is we all signed up for.” Cade laughed.

Everyone else joined in. It felt good to laugh even though it also felt wrong with everything else going on.

I glanced into the crowd and noticed a flit of something grey out of the corner of my eye. I knew I was likely imagining it, but I couldn’t ignore it once I had my glimpse. “Can you excuse me?” I rushed off without waiting for an answer.

I hurried in the direction I’d seen the grey. I couldn’t be sure, but it had looked an awful lot like that grey fedora hat the creepy guy from the secret basement was wearing.

I caught a glimpse again and followed him around the corner. I stopped short facing the back of what had to be the same man. He tossed off his suit jacket and the white shirt he’d been wearing underneath. Large black wings extended from his back and he took off into the night sky.

I released my own wings and took off after him, but I lost him and found nothing but the smoke-filled night sky. I flew around franticly, searching for any sign of the man. I was out of luck. He’d disappeared. I landed back in the shadows, trying to understand what I’d witnessed. He was a Pteron. By his black wings he’d been aligned with Levi’s family at some point in time, yet I had no idea who he was. I’d never met a Pteron who controlled Shadows and could use dark magic before. I searched through my memories trying to place him, but I kept hitting a wall.

“Hailey, what happened?” Wyatt waited for me to retract my wings.

“Didn’t you see him?”

“Who?” Wyatt’s brow furrowed.

I noticed something grey lying on the floor. I picked up the discarded suit jacket. “The guy in the Fedora. He has wings. He’s a Pteron.” That realization still hadn’t fully sunk in.

“Are you sure?” Wyatt took the coat from my hands.

“You really didn’t see him?” I searched Wyatt’s face for confirmation.

“No, but that doesn’t mean anything. I was some ways behind you.”

“He’s a Pteron, and I have no idea what that means.”

Wyatt wrapped his hand around mine. “It means we can’t trust anyone but ourselves.”