Shaytan was a freaking beast, and I was about to fight him.

He’d sent some of his daemons down to look for Lumi, but there were still plenty left surrounding us, along with the Correction Officers. However, the drums of war had already reached the mountain base. We could all hear the battle thundering below.

Fiona left Zane to heal on the ground and got up. She brought her sword up, pointing it at the Correction Officers nearest to her. Avril joined her, wearing a confident smirk. They were both itching for a fight, even though they were outnumbered.

A massive shadow passed over our heads. We all looked up and saw Blaze in dragon form as he flew down to greet Shaytan’s daemon armies. That only further aggravated the daemon king. He glanced at his soldiers, baring his fangs.

“Go down there and bring me the blasted dragon!” He barked his order.

“But, Your Grace, these—” One of his guards tried to speak, but Shaytan cut him off with a chilling snarl.

“Get me the dragon!”

They didn’t wait for him to say it again. Within seconds, we were only left with Shaytan and the Correction Officers, who were starting to get restless. I could see the concern on their faces. They were most likely wondering what good it did for them to stick around, when Shaytan had already sent some of his daemons down the mountain to look for the witch.

“We have no use for these outsiders,” one of them muttered. Judging by the insignia on his lapel, I pegged him for a lieutenant, like Cadmus. “We need to find the witch before the daemons!” he added, raising his voice.

They pulled back and followed the lieutenant down the stairs.

Shaytan looked at me, wearing his murderous grin. “Ah, now I have more room to spread your entrails around.”

“I would normally say that I’d love to see you try, but you’re a psychopath with too much power, so I’d rather not tempt fate,” I shot back dryly. “However, that doesn’t mean you’re walking out of here alive.”

I didn’t give him a chance to reply. I couldn’t prolong this anymore, either.

He brought his sword up and effortlessly blocked my first double hit. He then stepped back, smirked, and muttered something—a spell. I froze, unsure of what was going to happen next. He kissed his index and middle fingers, then pressed them against his blade. A nanosecond later, he attacked me.

I brought my swords out in an X to block his hit. His weapon came down so hard, my blades screeched. He grunted and released a pulse from his core. That was the spell. It slapped me hard and threw me backward.

My entire body hurt. I landed on my back.

Fiona and Avril came at him next, as I tried to pick myself off the ground. It was as if every bone in my body had been cracked. Shaytan had certainly learned to make the most of the swamp witch magic he’d collected from Lumi. I’d never seen anything like this, and it worried me.

I heard both girls whimper as they were thrown backward. They fell and rolled on the ground like broken ragdolls. My heart bled as I watched them, half-conscious and struggling to get back up.

Shaytan’s booming laughter made my blood boil.

“What did I tell you, Miss Hellswan?” he said. “You have no chance of winning this. I’ll get my witch back, and I’ll run these streets red with your blood, before I redecorate Azure Heights as my new summer home.”

I managed to get up on my knees, looking for my blades.

He guffawed, then dashed across the cobblestone, ready to take me out. Caspian cut him off with his sword.

I held my breath, watching him and Shaytan. The daemon king rolled his eyes as he blocked his blade, then punched him hard enough to break his jaw again and throw his head to the side. He pushed Caspian away, keeping his focus on me.

“I’ll deal with you in a second, Kifo,” he muttered. “I’m not done with this little bloodsucker yet.”

“Too bad, because I’m not done with you yet, either,” Caspian managed, despite his facial injury, then came back around and tried to slash him again.

To his credit, Caspian was fast and beautifully agile. But Shaytan was a freaking monster with a dangerously sharp instinct. He didn’t even look at Caspian when he blocked his side hit with his wrist cuff.

He quickly followed his defense up with his massive sword, but Caspian ducked. The broad blade missed him by inches, but it managed to snip off a bit of his hair at the top. Good grief.

I had to get up. My body was healing already, just not fast enough. I reached for one sword, then the other, as I caught a glimpse of Caspian delivering yet another sword attack. Shaytan scoffed and swiped his arm out, knocking the blade out of Caspian’s hands.

Half a second later, Shaytan grabbed Caspian by the throat, gripping him with enough strength to crush his windpipe. Caspian struggled against his hold but could do nothing as Shaytan lifted him a couple of inches in the air.

“Caspian,” I whispered, finally finding the strength I needed to get up. “Let him go!” I shouted. “It’s me you want!”

Shaytan gave me a sideways glance. The shadow of a smile passed over his face.

“It’s true. It’s you I want. But I can hurt you in more than one way,” he muttered, then uttered another spell.

His whole arm lit up red, and flames burst through his skin, then spread up to his hand, and… swallowed Caspian whole.

Caspian was on fire.

“Caspian!” I screamed, as loud as my lungs could manage.

I heard him grunt and roar from the pain as the fire burned through him, consuming his skin.

My heart gave out. Desperation broke my brain.

I ran toward them as Caspian’s arms and legs flailed. Shaytan held him firmly above the ground, laughing as he watched the love of my life burn.

Something snapped inside me.

I mustered every ounce of energy I could gather and pushed out a barrier. I didn’t even realize I had any spark left, but the adrenaline managed to give me the push I urgently needed.

The pulse was concentrated and targeted.

It hit Shaytan in the solar plexus with such unexpected strength that it hurled him backward, throwing him up like he’d done with Fiona and Avril.

Caspian dropped to the ground, still burning.

Shaytan landed flat on his face fifty feet away. I came to a screeching halt in front of Caspian, shaking like a leaf. What could I do? He was literally burning up.

The only thing I could do was cover him with my body and roll us both until we put the flames out. I moved to do just that when Rayna’s voice stopped me.

“Stay back, Harper!” she shouted as she rushed toward me.

I looked up and watched as she pulled out a water bladder she’d kept tied to her belt. She pulled the water out and sprayed it all over Caspian with her fae abilities. The flames died out, leaving Caspian severely burnt, his clothes charred, and his skin a painful combination of black and raw red that turned my stomach inside out.

I dropped to my knees and burst into tears, crying from both sorrow and relief.

Hansa, Jax, Patrik, Scarlett, and the rest of our crew came running down the alley just behind Rayna. Avril and Fiona were still struggling to get back on their feet. And I couldn’t even touch Caspian. I didn’t even know if he was still alive.

Worst of all, I didn’t get the chance to check.

Shaytan came up behind Rayna in a flash.

I heard Hansa scream. “Rayna, watch out!”

Too late. Shaytan smacked her away as if she were a little nuisance. An insect.

He towered above me, panting and furious. His red eyes glowed with rage—and only then did I notice the tattoos gradually lighting up on his body. There were thousands of swamp symbols etched into his skin, and he’d just activated them.

How could he even do that?

There was still so much we didn’t know about swamp witch magic. But I had no time to worry about it. All I could do was fight him and keep Caspian alive.

The others tried to come at Shaytan, but he let out a long, unsettling roar as a powerful golden light exploded from inside his body and spread outward like a glowing shockwave.

It knocked everybody back with the same effect that had temporarily disabled Fiona and Avril, only on a much larger scale. He then scowled at me, a grin stretching his lips.

“Now, where were we?” he asked.

I was paralyzed by fear.

For the first time in my life, I had no idea what I could do next that could help me even stand a chance in a fight. He’d clearly kept the best for last, and he was ready to dish it all out on me.

I’m screwed.