Naomi repeated the demon’s final words. “The demons are inside two of you. All you have to do is figure out who was closest to the Spirit Warrior when they got loose.”

“Two of us are playing host to a demon.” Sera didn’t lower her sword.

Alex didn’t lower hers either. “But which of us?” Her gaze flickered from Sera, to Logan, who held a throwing knife in each hand. “I know it’s not me.”

“And I know it’s not me,” Sera added.

Magic flames burned on Kai’s hands, casting dark shadows across his face. “Not necessarily, sweetheart.”

Sera gave him a perplexed look.

“The demons could be hiding deep inside, so deep that the hosts don’t even know they are there,” Kai explained.

“Biding their time until they are ready to strike.” Ice crackled and snapped across the blades of Makani’s twin daggers.

“All you have to do is figure out who was closest to the Spirit Warrior when they got loose,” Sera quoted. “We were all there at Monster Lake when the demons burst out of Naomi’s father. It could be any one of us.”

“Naomi and Makani were closest to Solaris Garland,” said Logan.

“Because we were helping Dad walk,” Naomi replied. She kept her bow drawn back, ready to unleash an arrow if the assassin made a move against her.

But would she be fast enough? Logan’s reflexes were superhuman.

“Your good intentions before the demons emerged from hell do not make your bodies immune to a demon possession,” Kai said with unsettling calmness. Was he preparing to move against her too?

“No, but Naomi’s magic does make her immune,” countered Makani. “Spirit Warriors cannot be possessed by a demon.”

“Her father was possessed,” Alex pointed out.

“Dad was weakened from his years in hell,” Naomi said. “And the demons did not possess him. They used his body as a carrier, as a demon dirty bomb. They did not control his mind or his actions. He was only carrying their essence inside of his body. Even then, his magic expelled the demons within minutes of returning to earth. It has been two months since the demons escaped hell. They could not have hidden inside of me for that long.”

Logan’s gaze flickered briefly to Alex. “Can you not sense demonic magic?”

“Not when the demon is hiding,” she said. “They can mask their magic inside a host, if they wish. They are crafty little things.”

“Can’t you tell when someone is lying?” Sera asked Logan.

“Yes, but as Drachenburg pointed out, the hosts might not even be aware of the demons inside of them. There’s no lie to detect.”

“Wait a minute. Are we really sure there are demons inside two of us?” A contemplative crinkle formed between Alex’s eyes. “A host’s body would have decayed after several months of hosting a demon, right?”

“Not necessarily. A powerful supernatural’s body could host a demon indefinitely,” Makani said.

And each of them was a magical powerhouse in their own right.

“There is another possibility,” said Logan.

“None of us has a demon inside,” Kai finished for him.

Logan nodded. “The many demons who escaped a few months ago are unique in that they seem to be united in a single purpose. What their plan is we do not yet know, but all evidence suggests that they are working together. I don’t believe that happens often.” He looked at Naomi and Makani for confirmation.

“No, not often. Demons are loners,” Naomi agreed.

“A demon is typically looking out for only his own best interests,” Makani added. “United, their schemes are more complex. Defeating them as a collective is not as straightforward.”

Not that defeating a demon was easy. The process went like this: expel the demon from its host, then send it back to hell before it could take another. Easy, no. Straightforward, yes.

“These demons are working toward the same end, an end where they all benefit.” Logan’s face was completely blank.

“One where they are free to walk the earth and rule over all of us ‘lesser’ mortal beings,” Naomi said.

“Yes,” replied Logan. “So we cannot trust anything they say. They are very likely misleading us.”

“What are you saying? That this is a trick?” Sera frowned. “That Gluttony lied to us about the remaining demons being inside two of us?”

“It could be a ploy concocted by the remaining two demons. They could be trying to pit us against one another,” Logan said.

“Dividing us, so we don’t trust one another.” Sera’s eyes lit up. “And if we don’t trust one another…”

“Then we are weaker targets,” said Kai. “Divided, we are less able to fight the demons and their armies when they make their move.”

“God, I hate demons,” Alex sighed. “So, what do we do? How do we figure out which of us has a demon inside? Or whether any of us has a demon inside?”

“The last time we went looking for a demon, we tested the people we thought the demon had killed,” Sera said. “If they’d been killed by a demon, a mark appeared on their skin. There is a similar test for a demon’s host.”

“Yes, there is,” Naomi confirmed. “A Spirit Warrior can bombard the suspected host with a sustained spell of spirit magic. Essentially, it’s like exorcising a demon, but you’re doing it blind, since you don’t know if there’s even a demon inside the person. You need to use much more energy. You need to flood the suspected demon host. Eventually, the demon is forced out of the host’s body.”

“And if the person has no demon inside?” Alex asked.

“The spirit magic will unravel your earth-based magic,” Makani told her. “It will feel like your flesh is being peeled off your bones.”

Sera grimaced. “Sounds pleasant.”

“It will hurt me more than it hurts you.”

Naomi wasn’t even joking. Five people. She had to perform the spell five times. Assuming she had the strength to do that now, after the long night she’d had, she would be completely drained of magic by the end of it. If she was lucky, she would only pass out. If she wasn’t, she might not wake up again.

Makani was obviously thinking along the same lines. “The strain on you would be too much,” he told her.

Lowering her bow, she set her hand gently on his shoulder. “I’m the only one who can do it, the only Spirit Warrior we’ve got. Dad hasn’t woken up since the demons came out of him.”

“Makani’s right,” Sera told Naomi. “If this is going to wipe you out completely, then we should find another way to reveal the demons.”

Alex nodded. “The demons know you are our best weapon against them. They could just be forcing you to waste all your magic, so you don’t have the strength to fight them when the time comes. It’s what I’d do in their place.”

“I always knew you were as devious as a demon,” Logan told her.

Alex smirked at him. “If you’re really a demon inside my Logan, flirting with me, I’m going to be majorly miffed. And I will totally kick your ass.”

“I’d like to see you try, Vigilante,” Logan said, his savage smile widening.

“Don’t tempt me, Slayer.”

The way they were glaring at each other, they looked ready to tear each other to bits. Or just tear the clothes off each other.

Sera cleared her throat.

Alex snickered. “Sorry, I forgot you were so delicate, Sera.”

Sera rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s me. A damsel in distress with a delicate disposition. Show me a sword and I’ll faint.” Her eyes twinkled with magic as she turned her sword on her sister.

Alex snorted.

“I’m doing this, end of story,” Naomi decided. “We have to know if the demons are inside any of you. And trying to talk me out of revealing the demons just makes you look guilty.”

“I’m always guilty, but I’m no demon’s stunt double,” Alex declared.

“I’ll be the judge of that.” Naomi put away her bow. “Keep your weapons pointed at one another.”

They didn’t need to be told twice. Each of them was a battle-hardened fighter. If a demon revealed itself, they would be ready.

“Who wants to go first?” Naomi asked.

“I will go first,” Makani declared, sheathing his knives.

A knot formed in Naomi’s stomach, but she just nodded and put on her game face. There was no reason to worry. Sure, if there was a demon inside of Makani, it would fight back as soon as she tried to expel it. It would not go willingly or easily.

Best to do this quickly, like ripping off a bandage. She spun around to face him, shooting him with a continuous stream of spirit magic. Pain twisted his face and rippled across his entire body. His muscles twitched erratically, uncontrollably. When the tremors finally forced him to his knees, Naomi staggered to the side, weak and dizzy, nearly falling over herself.

“You’re clean,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief.

“I’ll go next,” Sera said.

Naomi nodded, preparing herself to cast the spell again. She pushed through the pain, checking Sera, then Alex. Each spell came harder than the previous one. Each time, she grew weaker. Her stamina was going downhill fast.

Makani, Sera, and Alex were clean. That just left Kai and Logan. Both would make an attractive host for a demon. Their bodies were strong enough to host the demons indefinitely, and their abilities were powerful. But this wasn’t just about their abilities. It was their positions that made them truly desirable to a demon. Kai sat on the Magic Council. His company oversaw supernatural law enforcement. Logan had connections to the circles of elite assassins and thieves. A demon inside of Logan could quickly amass an army.

Naomi had a hard time believing the demons could have wrestled away control from either Logan or Kai. They were both swimming in willpower. Then again, a few months ago, she’d never have thought a bunch of demons could be hiding inside her father, using his body to escape to earth. And yet that had happened. She was clearly dealing with a whole other league of demons, the likes of which she’d never faced before.

“Ok,” Naomi said, taking a deep breath. She could send her mind spiraling in circles for hours, but it wouldn’t change reality—and it wouldn’t make the spells she was about to cast any less painful.

Naomi faced Logan and unleashed her first spell. When her spirit magic tore out of her, it felt like bathing in acid. And when she cast the spell on Kai, that acid leveled up to boiling acid with a side order of inferno.

“They’re clean too,” Naomi declared, doubling over as she heaved in air like she’d never breathed before.

“We’re all clean?” Alex said, her voice uneven. Like everyone else, she was still reeling from the aftereffects of Naomi’s spell. “So the demons were lying. There are no demons hiding under our noses.”

Exhaustion slammed into Naomi like a truck. Her magic was sapped. Darkness tugged at her, drawing her under. As she blacked out, a single thought sparked in her head. They weren’t the only people who’d been present at Monster Lake when the demons escaped. There had been two more there: Riley and Lara, very powerful mages in their own right.

Naomi tried to open her mouth to warn her friends, but she couldn’t feel her mouth. She couldn’t feel anything anymore. Black nothingness carried her away like hell’s ferryman, and then she knew nothing more.