Wrapped in shadow magic, Adonis still managed to look unfazed. “If there was ever a good time to reach between your thighs, succubus, it’s now.”

I was already one step ahead of him, grabbing for my knife. Adrenaline blazed through my nerve endings. Just as I pulled it from its holster, a wave of icy shadow magic slammed into me, knocking me to the ground. Shadowy tendrils coiled around me, the texture like slick vines, coiling around my calves, my thighs, my waist…

But Nyxobian silver could cut through anything.

I sliced through the magic, the blade sliding easily through the shadow coils, taking care not to cut my skin. When I reached my calves, the horned demon lunged for me. His enormous body pressed on top of me, fangs glinting in the candlelight, and he pinned my wrists to the ground.

There was something deeply unholy about his skin, the color of sour milk.

When he leaned in closer to me, the scent of rot wafted around us. “Whore,” he growled. “Traitor. You’re supposed to be one of us. I can’t wait to hear your screams when I pull your body apart, piece by piece.”

I gritted my teeth. “I don’t take kindly to my meals being interrupted.”

He nudged his leg between my knees, making it clear that he wanted to dominate me completely, and revulsion rose in my throat. Still, I gripped hard onto the knife in my hand, refusing to let go even though it seemed as if he was about to crush my bones into dust.

I couldn’t lift my wrist high enough to stab him. What weapons did I have at my disposal?

Glamour—that was it.

Fucking glamour.

And yet… as long as Adonis couldn’t see me from this angle, I could use it. I searched for Adonis. Where we lay below the table, he didn’t have a view of me.

As the shadow demon leaned in closer, I tried to focus, tried to block out the fact that he was extending a long, thick tongue to lick my neck.

I closed my eyes, summoning my glamour—I only needed it for a second—just a quick flash to get him to release his grip on me. While he pressed his knee further between my thighs, I magic tingled over my body as the glamour took hold.

“Oh shadow demon…” I cooed.

He looked into my face, shock registering on his features. He was staring at a mirror image of his own face, but one haggard and worn by age, his cheekbones gaunt. His milky skin paled even further.

The shock of it forced him to relax his grip on my wrists, just enough for me to yank my knife hand free. I let the disguise drop, then slammed my knife into the demon’s back, plunging it straight through to his heart. His hot blood spurted onto me, and I pushed his enormous body off of me with a grunt.

Dripping in demon blood, I rose, ready for the next attack. But when I stood, the room had gone completely silent. A dark, electrical magic crackled in the air, sparking over my skin. Adonis stood on his dais, where shadows seemed to spill around him like ink through water.

For a moment, I wondered if he could have seen my little glamour trick, but his arctic gaze was on the other side of the room. I followed his line of sight. There, I found the rest of the humans and demons—or at least what was left of them. Each had been torn in two at the chest, each exsanguinating in glistening pools of gore.

I swallowed down my revulsion. When I glanced at Adonis again, his eyes were on me. Unlike me, the man had not a single drop of blood on him. “There may be more coming.”

“You didn’t have any idea that demons had infiltrated your servants?”

“No. A fae must have glamoured them.” The way he said the word “fae” sent icy fingers of dread up my spine. “And the humans clearly helped them. Our response will be swift and brutal. We’re not done killing tonight.”

I swallowed hard, trying to stay in character. “When this is all over, I’d like a warm—”

Frantic shouting in the hallway stopped me short.

Johnny burst into the room, his gray wings trailing behind him. He practically stumbled over the corpses at his feet.

“Adonis!” he bellowed, unnecessarily loudly, considering we were the only ones in here. “The servants are attacking all over the place. There’s a stream of them climbing up from the lower levels now. Filthy fucking shadow demons.” His lip curled and he stalked toward me. “Funny that this happened after we let a shadow demon into our midst, isn’t it? Not ha-ha funny, but weird funny—”

“Where are they?” Adonis interrupted him.

“Headed for the Great Hall, but they’ll be up here next. They’re searching for us.”

Adonis shot me a sharp look. “You’ll want to lock yourself in your room. Don’t let anyone in.”

“No thanks.”

First of all, demons could get through locks, and I’d be a sitting duck in my room. Second, I wanted to find out what the hell was going on in here.

I crossed to the wall of weapons, heading straight for a bow and a quiver of arrows. The bow looked heavier than fae craftsmanship, but I’d be able to use it all the same. And when I looked into the quiver, I found the arrowheads coated with the unmistakable pale gleam of Nyxobian silver.

“I’m not sitting there waiting for them to find me,” I declared. “And I’m not relying on you two to keep me safe. I may not be great with a bow and arrow—” Lie. “But it’s better than waiting to be clawed to death by misogynistic shadow demons.”

I slung the quiver over my back, then pulled the bow off the wall.

Johnny’s gaze bored into me, his bony fingers twitching. “You’re going to trust her with that?”

Adonis was pulling a broadsword off the wall. “Trust her? No. Fear her? Also no. I doubt she can even use it. Let’s go.”

Jerk.

I slid the knife back into its holster on my thigh, wishing it were just a tad more accessible.

Johnny snatched a sword for himself, and I followed the two of them into the hall. They moved so fluidly and swiftly, I struggled to keep up.

Blood roared in my ears as I walked behind them down a winding stairwell, clutching my bow. I knew what a horde of shadow demons would do to a woman they saw as a traitor. They’d sniff me out in my room and corner me. Even if I turned into my fae form or glamoured myself as an ogre, I’d be seen as a collaborator. A traitor. They’d torture me to death, and I’d never find Hazel.

Thing was, I couldn’t let these angels know what I was really capable of. I’d have to kill quietly and protect myself in the shadows—and if it got really bad, I could always run. Harder to kill a moving target, anyway, than one cornered in her bedroom.

Our footsteps echoed off the stone walls in the stairwell. Fear thrummed through my body. Yasmin had conveniently failed to warn me I might be under threat from both sides, from demons as well as angels.

Adonis stormed through a doorway into a narrow hall. Here, half a dozen demons seemed to slither from the shadows, horns and fangs gleaming. Among the demons, some humans brandished swords and knives, weapons they must have raided from an armory. Shadow magic coiled through the air around us, its slithery texture different from the dark, electric crackle of Adonis’s magic.

A demon with a leathery body roared, and I nocked my first arrow. He lifted his hand to shoot a stream of shadow magic at me, and I loosed my shot.

Then I ducked. I watched as the arrow slammed into his shoulder, and the stream of shadow magic spooled above me, missing me narrowly.

I couldn’t shoot to kill, because that would give away my skill. I could only shoot to injure, and I’d have to count on the angels to finish the job. Plus, I’d have to let a bunch of these arrows go wide.

I watched Adonis, his sword almost an extension of his body. He didn’t need it, but I understood why he used it. He moved with a thrilling grace, a brutal and elegant waltz of blows and parries. Blood streaked his blade.

Watching him, I knew he felt about fighting the way I’d once felt about dancing.

I nocked a few more arrows, unleashing them all over the place. “How do you use this thing?” A few of them struck the shadow demons in limbs and hands; others simply clattered to the floor.

Johnny and Adonis were already leaping into action, swords raised. By injuring the shadow demons, I was making their fight significantly easier.

Not that Johnny seemed to care. “She’s bloody useless!” he bellowed.

I let an arrow hit him in the leg. “Whoops! Sorry!”

Johnny hardly seemed to notice the arrow, which was… unnerving.

From the shadows, a silver-haired vampire ran for me, his fangs shining in the dim light. I pulled another arrow from my quiver, then unloaded it into his neck, taking care to let a few more arrows go wide.

Only hawthorn wood killed vampires, but the arrow would slow him down. He fell to the ground, clutching at his throat.

All around me, the demons roared, shadow magic spilling into the air. I held back in the doorway, letting my arrows fly willy-nilly into demon limbs and clatter over the floor.

After a minute, we’d nearly cleared the hallway, apart from the vampire, who was struggling to his feet again. Adonis leaned down, punching his fist into the vampire’s chest in a small explosion of blood. He ripped out the vamp’s heart, tossing it to the side. As he did, the vampire’s body crumpled to ash.

I choked down the urge to puke right there.

Already, Adonis and Johnny were marching on, swords ready. I pulled another arrow from the quiver while the two angels in front of me turned into a tall, arched doorway. They stopped abruptly.

I peered between their wings. Here, in the Great Hall, shadow magic cloaked the air, so cold and powerful it had snuffed out the lights.

Things were about to get really bad.