Alex leaned against the nurse’s station and looked down at the small vial, rolling the glass bottle between her fingers. She tried to wrap her mind around the events of the past week. She’d fallen down the rabbit hole, except she wasn’t in another world. She was at Harborview but didn’t recognize it anymore. The white walls and tile floors of the hospital were familiar but she felt out of place.

When she left Bhric’s house, she drove home fast as possible. She wanted to escape him and everything he represented. The paranormal. Unfortunately, as soon as she walked into her home, all she could see was her Ice-Man.

Their pile of dirty dishes lay in the sink. She was usually such a neat freak, but they had spent more time between the sheets than tidying up their mess. In fact, the bed was still unmade, and memories of her and Bhric made her heart ache.

Their lovemaking was earth-shattering.

She walked to the bed and picked up a pillow. Inhaling deeply, his masculine musk filled her nostrils. She recalled the feel of his hands on her body and the bite of his fangs.

An outfit she’d purchased for him was in a heap at the foot of her bed. She smiled at the image of him slowly undressing before prowling up the bed to her naked body. Heat flushed her cheeks when she remembered how it felt as he ravished her sex greedily. God, what that vampire did with his icy tongue.

She quickly shoved those thoughts aside. She needed to put them, and Bhric, out of her mind. The coup de grâce was she questioned everything. For all she knew, the overweight patient with chest pains in Trauma One was a dragon shifter.

A week ago, she would’ve called for a psych consult to assess her sanity. She couldn’t believe that Dr. Miakoda was a sorcerer, that she’d taken a vampire lover, or that she met tiny gnomes and an actual freaking dragon.

“That’s cool,” Peter said looking over her shoulder. “What is it?”

She quickly shoved the vial in her pocket and gave him a smile, hoping it masked the panic she felt.

“Nothing important. Have we gotten the lab work back for Forbes? There wasn’t anything concerning in his EKG, but I need those results before I can release him,” she quipped, changing the subject.

“Not yet. The lab said another five minutes. Also, we have a pregnant teen with premature labor at 25 weeks in Room Five. She’s preeclamptic and her parents are in the room with her.”

Shelving the supernatural drama, she went into doctor mode. “Get L&D down here. I need an ultrasound and terbutaline,” she instructed.

“I’m on it,” Peter replied and Alex turned and walked away before he could ask her anymore questions about the vial.

Entering the room, she noted the blood-stained sheet beneath the teen. The situation was far worse than she’d expected and they needed to act immediately. Grabbing her stethoscope, Alex introduced herself as Peter walked in the room. Alex began her assessment while Peter administered the drug.

“Where is radiology with that ultrasound machine?” she snapped.

“On their way,” the nurse responded.

The sound of glass shattering in the hallway caught her attention. It didn’t sound good. She hoped it wasn’t another patient high on drugs. They always wreaked havoc before staff managed to get control of them.

“I’ll be right back,” she told Peter and the family, grabbing a scalpel from the trauma kit on her way out of the room.

Weapons were never her first instinct before meeting Bhric. Now, she was paranoid, but the past week taught her that the unimaginable was possible, and protection was necessary.

“What’s going on? Why did you grab a scalpel?” Peter whispered in her ear.

“I have no idea. Stay here,” she hissed at the nurse.

The moment Alex stepped into the hall, she wished she’d called in sick and stayed home. It was a scene from a horror movie.

Were those angels? She’d met Illianna but these creatures looked nothing like the beautiful angel with golden wings.

These women were the walking dead. Or, what Alex thought of as the dead, given their grey skin and mummy-like wrappings. If vampires and dragons existed, why not zombies, as well. The color of their flesh made her think of death and decay, and their negative energy made her skin crawl.

Alex recalled what Tristan told her regarding demons, and her heart pounded against her chest as she considered if these were actual demons from Hell.

When she envisioned a demon, she thought of a man with red skin, horns, and a pitched fork. These women had massive blue wings and long, black hair. But, when she saw their empty black eyes, she knew they were pure evil.

Alex had seen unusual eyes on Rhett and Nate, so it wasn’t the color that caused a chill to run up her spine. There was nothing there when she looked at these women. They were soulless.

And, the women were practically naked. At first, Alex thought they were but realized there were strips of gray cloth wrapped around their limbs and across their torsos. It was difficult to determine their skin from the fabric because there was only a slight color differentiation.

“What the fuck?” Peter blurted from beside her.

“Go back inside the room,” she ordered.

The nurse ignored her as he gaped at the two women. Their wings spanned the width of the hallway. Suddenly, an orderly rushed towards one of them and the demon swept out a wing, and the claws on the end of the wing shredded the man’s face and throat. Blood sprayed the walls, creating a gruesome painting.

Patients and staff snapped out of their shocked stupor and screamed. Chaos erupted and Peter rushed to help the downed orderly.

“Peter, no!” she shouted and reached for the hem of his shirt, trying to stop him, but it slipped out of her grasp.

Her scream caused the demons to turn her way, and Alex realized she had made a mistake. It was scary enough to watch the destruction, but now she was terrified to be their sole focus.

Suddenly, one of them flapped her wings and tried to take flight, only to do an awkward hop toward Alex while the other creature grabbed hold of Peter. It was then that Alex saw the disproportioned wings of the one headed for her. One of the demon’s wings was half the size of the other. If she wasn’t mistaken, it looked like the appendage had been cut off and was growing back.

Flight or fight kicked in and Alex took off in the opposite direction. She was a healer, not a fighter, and didn’t stand a chance against these demons. Why stick around and try to fight them off when she could run and get help? She wished she knew Bhric’s phone number. Surely, he could defeat these beasts. Jace came to mind, but she didn’t have his number, either, and there wasn’t time to head to HR and find it.

A hard shove from behind sent Alex sailing down the hall. She lifted her arms over her head and tucked as she hit the hard floor. Her body ached, but she didn’t move as one of the demons towered over her, consuming all the space in the corridor. The enormous size of the wings worked to Alex’s benefit as it hampered the creature’s mobility.

Alex managed to crawl to her feet and realized her hand still gripped the scalpel. She brandished the metal instrument towards the demon as she took a fighting stance. A brittle cackle sent shivers down her spine.

“You humans amuse me, fighting the inevitable. By all means, fight me. I like the challenge. It’s arousing,” the demon taunted as she stalked Alex down the hall.

When the demon’s wing shifted, Alex chanced a glance down the hall. Peter was struggling in the grasp of the other demon. Alex’s stomach turned as Peter clawed furrows down the demon’s arms, and black blood oozed from the wound. The smile the demon gave him was bone-chilling. The creature’s jaw widened and expanded, and Alex saw multiple rows of teeth gleam in the overhead lights.

“No!” Alex screamed as the demon sank its teeth into Peter’s throat. Her friend gurgled and blood spilled from the corner of his mouth as he twitched in the demon’s hold. When the creature lifted her head, the crimson fluid was bright on her grey skin and her long black hair flew around her head as she cried out in triumph.

“Stop playing, Crocell,” the demon in front of Alex chided. “We need to find the mate and get out of here before the Dark Warriors arrive.”

Alex’s gaze went back to the demon in front of her as ice inched down her spine. She said mate. Were they looking for her? Bhric insisted she was his mate. Instinct told Alex she needed to get the hell away from them or this wasn’t going to end well for her. She turned to run, but didn’t make it two steps.

Strong hands clamped around her shoulders and lifted her into the air. It was her turn to kick and scrape against the steel grip holding her hostage.

“What do we have here?” the demon hissed, and the fetid breath made Alex choke. Up close she saw tiny black veins running beneath the creature’s smooth skin.

Long, sharp talons tipped the demon’s fingers. They glowed bright orange and Alex felt the heat emanating from them. Her flesh sizzled when the claws pierced Alex’s cheek as the demon grabbed hold of Alex’s face, forcing her head to the left. Alex’s heartbeat roared in her ears, and she feared her chest would explode.

The demon muttered words in a foreign language, and the air thickened around them. A shroud settled over Alex and then she couldn’t breathe. She gasped and reached for her throat. An invisible barrier was cutting off her air supply. Right as Alex thought she was going to pass out, the pressure on her lungs opened and she sucked in air. The shield remained around her, but she could breathe again.

Alex lifted a shaking arm, relieved she could still move, and, without thinking, jabbed the scalpel into the demon’s neck. The demon screeched and reached for the weapon. Alex panicked and jerked her hand, praying to get hold of the blade first.

An unfamiliar pulse left Alex’s hand, and a second later, the metal softened and curved to the demon’s neck. Alex had no idea how she’d done it, but she felt a connection to the metal the second before it morphed.

Alex’s distraction was costly. The demon quickly ripped the bent metal from its neck. Black blood spurted from the injury and landed on Alex’s arm. The drops burned like acid, but she didn’t have time to react because silver flashed in her vision. The demon was going to stab her.

Alex flinched and closed her eyes, waiting for the blow. Instead, she felt the metal soften when it hit her skin. That was the second time she altered the scalpel. The ability made her wonder if her transformation had begun. Cailyn mentioned her DNA would undergo changes. Perhaps, that was what caused this power to develop.

The demon’s eyes widened when she saw the metal bend against Alex’s flesh.

“Oh, you’re even better than we’d hoped,” the demon sneered. “I have the mate, Crocell.”

A glowing talon sliced through the skin behind Alex’s left ear, and she clenched her teeth. She was no stranger to pain, but this was excruciating, and she gritted against the agony. It felt as if her soul had been sliced in half.

Alex gasped when one set of claws retracted from her shoulder only to be replaced by another. She was jostled between the two demons, and tried to break free as Crocell wrapped her arms around Alex’s torso, pinning her arms at her side.

“She smells sweet, Cresil. And, powerful,” Crocell purred as she ran her tongue over Alex’s cheek.

Crocell swiveled and headed down the hall, with Alex in tow, and that was when she saw the destruction. Furniture was tossed and broken. Bits and pieces from trauma kits littered the ground. Alex’s stethoscope was in pieces a few feet away and the sight brought tears to her eyes. Her brother had given it to her when she graduated from medical school, and now it was destroyed.

When Alex caught sight of Peter, the tears fell in waves. He lay in a pool of blood and most of his throat was missing. Lifeless eyes stared at the ceiling. Her friend was dead and there was nothing she could do.

Doors to hospital rooms were open, but patients were nowhere to be seen. The only other body in sight was that of the murdered orderly. The sound of beeping medical equipment was all Alex could hear as the demon carried her down the hall.

The exit doors slid open then closed when they left the building. The place she’d worked at for the past ten years looked like a war zone. Crocell and Cresil had destroyed the entire wing of the hospital in a matter of minutes.

The fresh air made breathing easier and the wind took away some of the stench that surrounded her. When Alex caught sight of a couple hurrying toward the ER, she screamed as loud as she could, warning them. The woman struggled to assist the limping man, but that didn’t stop them from running as fast as they could in the opposite direction when they saw the demons.

Sirens sounded in the distance but Alex knew they wouldn’t reach her in time. She didn’t see a way out of her predicament, and feared she would die.

There was no room to deny her destiny any longer, nor the fact that she was Bhric’s Fated Mate. As much as she wanted to escape his world, that wasn’t a choice for her. It would’ve been nice to know about the danger sooner.

That wasn’t entirely true, a small voice chastised. Elsie warned her not to leave their house. In fact, she insisted Alex was in grave danger. Hindsight was bitch, she surmised.

“Let’s go,” Crocell instructed and Alex watched as the other demon lifted into the air. It was difficult for the demon to fly with a smaller wing on one side.

Crocell’s grip tightened around Alex’s waist and she quickly launched them into the air. The demon quickly flew to Cresil’s side and grabbed her hand, helping her along.

The ground rapidly receded, and Alex struggled in the demon’s grip, hoping to loosen the demon’s hold on her. She’d rather fall to her death than go wherever these women were taking her.

Crocell cursed and dug her talons deeper into Alex’s side. Throwing her head back, Alex was satisfied when she heard a crunch. The back of her neck burned and she knew she injured the demon.

“Don’t stop,” Crocell murmured into her ear. “This is foreplay for me.”

Disgusting, Alex thought, but she continued to thrash. She lifted her arms and bucked with all her might. She managed to free one of her arms and reached for Crocell’s eyes.

The demon let go of her sister to yank Alex’s arm. There was a loud pop followed by severe pain, telling Alex her shoulder was dislocated. She screamed in pain as Crocell flew low to grab her sister’s arm.

Alex prayed the vile bitch plummeted into the lake below them. When they leveled out, Cresil flew closer and placed her arm around Crocell’s shoulder. Crocell laughed as she wrapped her arms tighter around her waist and arms.

Alex abhorred the glee she heard in their laughter. Her hope of escaping evaporated the higher they flew. Up ahead, she saw a glowing orb in the sky.

Cresil spoke in the same foreign language again, and the orb pulsed and expanded as they neared it. Alex fought harder. She knew there was nothing good on the other side of that light. She felt the malevolence reach out and wash over her as they neared the object.

“Time to go night-night,” Cresil said in a sing-song voice before her fist smacked into the side of Alex’s head, and the world went black.