Roman stalked before the incubus. He had to prevent it from reaching Larissa or Janie. This type of demon wouldn’t just destroy them, but do so in the vilest of ways.

He turned to Arto. “Stay here and protect them. Lock the door, and seal it with magic.”

“Aye.” Arto pulled out his sword. “You’ll need this.”

“You can’t stay here without a weapon. It might break the window.”

“I have others,” Arto replied.

Roman nodded at his resourceful deputy and took the sword. “Get backup. And more weapons!” He addressed Larissa. “You must keep trying.”

Her eyes widened. “Where are you going?”

“To fight the demon.”

He ran out of the room and slipped up to the roof. He peered over the top of the building. Two more demons had joined the first.

Fuck! The situation had already escalated.

Diego and Manny had flown over from their nearby vantage points and were engaged with the demons—and were outnumbered three to two. At least, they were armed with their swords.

Roman shifted to gargoyle form and leapt off the building to join them. He didn’t bother cloaking himself. It was difficult to use that magic during combat; he had to use all his resources for the fight.

As he soared down, he considered bringing Arto in to increase their odds.

No. He had already called other sentries for backup. Arto had to remain where he was to guard Larissa and Janie. Nothing was more important than keeping them safe. Roman wouldn’t let any of the demons reach the women.

One of the demons spotted him. It pulled away from Manny and narrowed its gaze, its crimson eyes promising destruction.

Roman’s nostrils flared as he eyed his opponent. Flight had advantages and disadvantages in battle. It was easier to avoid a blow in the air, but it lacked the steady footing of the ground. It wasn’t as if he had a choice in this situation with the demon hovering before him.

“Come on, you bastard,” Roman taunted while raising the sword. “I’m ready for you.”

The demon hissed as it advanced. Roman swung, but the demon dropped. He soared down to chase it and attempted to strike again, but the demon was too quick. It managed to slip back out of the strike zone and grab his ankle. It punched Roman in the side, like concrete pounding on stone. The impact shook his ribs, and he cried out.

He kicked, freeing his leg. “Why have you come to this realm? To feed your insatiable lust for human souls?”

“That’s all we need humans for.” The demon sneered.

Movement in the distance caught his attention. The two other demons soared away.

“Follow them!” he commanded.

Manny and Diego pursued the demons across the night sky.

The remaining one circled closer to Roman.

Fuck. He hated his sentries separating. With the demons flying in different directions, it made it impossible to contain them in one location. The threat would spread.

Two more here and they flew off, he notified Arto, although he could already see the spectacle through the window. Manny and Diego followed them. Get more sentries here now!

They’re en route, Arto said.

Until then, it was Roman against the demon. The only chance he knew of defeating it was by decapitation, yet this bastard was fast and slippery. He had to factor that into his attack. He could increase the odds of victory if he stalled the demon until backup arrived.

“Why have you come here?” he demanded, hovering before the monstrous creature.

The demon cocked his head and let out a mirthless laugh. “To finish what we started.”

Malevolence in its tone sent a cold shiver over Roman’s hide. “And what’s that?”

The demon sneered. “Her soul is ours. She’s been marked and is only dangling on to her fragile human life by a thread.”

It was as if every dark thought about the situation was pulled from the recesses of Roman’s mind and unveiled before him in a grotesque tapestry of carnage and mayhem. If the demon accomplished its goal and took what was left of Janie’s soul, her death would tear Larissa apart. She was already vulnerable after losing her grandmother.

Roman stole a glance at Larissa inside the hospital room. She was bent over Janie. Would Larissa be able to break through that dark spell put in place by the demons?

Or would they take her soul, as well?

He had to believe in his mate. And he had to help her.

As if reading Roman’s fear, the demon threatened, “Your little witch is next.”

Roman growled as he stared at his enemy. “Why?”

The demon rolled its crimson eyes. “Gargoyles and their thick stone skulls.”

Its intention rolled through Roman with the force of a fatal avalanche—the demon wanted her magic.

“You won’t get anything from her,” Roman promised.

It grinned with pure malevolence. “After what she did to the others, vengeance is due.”

Shit, shit, shit. The situation was even more personal with this creature targeting Roman’s mate.

The demon revealed it hadn’t been at the dome on Saturday night, so it hadn’t regenerated. The more Roman knew about the demons, the better prepared he’d be to fight them.

“How did you escape?” he seethed.

“I was out of range, but I saw what you and she did. She’s powerful.” The demon sneered. “She’d already led me to someone else with great magic—yet was frail and easy to subdue.”

“You killed the old woman.” Fuck, they’d already guessed a demon had killed her grandmother. To hear a demon brag about what it had done stirred Roman’s lust for vengeance.

The demon put his hand on its chest and gave a mock bow. “That’s what I do. The old witch released her magic before I could take it.” It nodded toward the hospital. “With the power I sense in that room, I know where it ended up. And I will enjoy taking it from your filthy little witch as I take her life force into me—in front of your eyes.”

Bloodlust rose in Roman in a fiery cauldron that threatened to incinerate him from the inside out. He soared for the demon raising the sword to strike. “You’ll never touch her!”