“Joe, what are you—”

Joe fires again, his hand moving with supernatural speed as he empties his gun and around me, more humans drop.

“Move!” Jacob yells as Joe reloads and starts firing at us. We dive for cover behind a statue, panting. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” I gasp, looking around. Noah, Tyler, and Cole are all ducking too, taking cover behind whatever they can find. “What is he?”

“Demon,” Jacob whispers.

“Your fuck toy is right,” Joe says casually. “You think I didn’t smell the faerie cum on you? You practically bathed in it, from the smell.”

I ignore him, popping around the corner and unleashing my power. It just splatters off Joe, though, as he morphs into something out of a nightmare. I’d call it a dragon, but it’s not quite. Green, scaly wings sprout out of his back, and with a flick of his wings, he’s in the air, laughing.

“Is that all you have?” Joe says, launching himself forward, and before anyone realizes what he intends, I feel his sharp claw grasp my shoulder. The pull as he snatches me closer makes my stomach roil, and a second later, my guts drop as Joe takes off into the air, quickly dangling me ten feet in the air over the scattering crowd. Jacob reaches for me, but Joe swipes with a paw that’s roughly the size of a basketball and sends him flying, flipping head over heels before landing on the grass, the wind knocked out of him. “Silly faerie. Your puny knives couldn’t even scratch my back.”

“Then perhaps I should try,” Cole says, but before he can, Joe grabs me with both claws, one under my armpits and the other around my ankles.

“Unless you want to take her back to Lunaria in halves, I suggest you sit the fuck down,” Joe says, hovering about fifteen feet off the ground. He looks at Cole for a moment, watching Cole slowly lower his sword. “That’s a good boy. Now as for you, Eve, I’ve got special plans for you.”

His tongue flicks out, forked and tracing over my stomach as I grimace. “You’re sick and evil,” I chastise him.

“Evil, sure, but sick? I’m far from sick. My plan started long ago . . . so long ago. Let me show you.”

Joe looks in my eyes, and though I try to look away, I'm stuck, immobile as he does some mind trick that wills me to meet his gaze. Then, something I can only describe as a dark flash happens somewhere behind my eyes, and I see.

Joe, standing behind the counter and murmuring something before he hands Daddy the box of doughnuts that he and Mommy shared before that car ride, making sure the pink frosted sprinkles were untouched for me and ‘Lyssa.

Joe, the cap pulled down tight over his eyes as he mops the floor in the orphanage as the gang of older kids heads up the hallway to try and beat me up again.

Joe, encouraging Blood Boy to attack from the shadows. Later, murmuring quietly in the shadows as the captain fumed about my being in the unit.

Talking, chanting in a language that’s both dark and seductive as he traces a pattern on the floor of the old mansion, opening the portal and binding the demon inside while Marcus looks on.

His fingers trace patterns in the air silently before I go into a rage, and Cody Reigns starts screaming at me in his head, aided by him, before I blow his head apart.

Setting it all up, casting deception spells that told us our weapons were ready to handle tonight’s action . . . a thousand other scenes that show over and over how he’s been the puppet master of everything.

My eyes snap open, and Joe chuckles. “See? All for tonight, my little Halfling. Oh, if you only truly knew the power inside you.”

“You . . . you’ve been behind it all,” I gasp, rage filling me.

“And it was all too easy. But now, I have you where I want you, and after I have your fucktoys’ blood, I shall have the power for the final step of my plan.”

“And what is that, demon?” Noah cries out, stepping forward. “You won’t find us to go down easily.”

“Hell wants her,” Joe says with a laugh. "Of course, I had to awaken her powers first so we could see if she was what we suspected. I will say you surprised me, Eve. So weak, so damaged, yet you housed such a power without even knowing it. But now that you've tapped into the well of light inside you, demons even greater than me will teach you to create a gate between realms. You shall be the doorway that allows our armies to invade and rule everything."

He's gleeful as he talks about my being a portal, like it's an honor, not an absolutely terrifying idea.

Then he laughs, a rusty barking sound, before saying, "Although the chaos we have already created allowed many to pass through to this realm already. Happy surprise." He shrugs, and I cringe, scared at the possible number of evil beings in the human realm and the devastation they could wreak on this world. "Soon, there will be even more."

Apparently, I only thought we'd reached rock-bottom scary, but no. The idea that I'd be some ever-charged battery for a portal gate that allows untold numbers of demons access to humans is truly the most terrifying idea I've ever heard.

“That will not happen,” Tyler says, whipping an arrow up, pulling it out of a vampire lying beside him. He lets it fly, and Joe’s caught off guard. I can feel the arrow whisper in front of my face before it strikes Joe in the nose, the pain making him roar as he drops me. I fall, thankfully landing on the grass, but still knocking the wind out of me as I stare up into the night sky.

My four guardians attack, bravely hurling themselves at Joe, or whatever he is, in an attempt to defend me. I roll to my feet, painfully running-slash-limping my way to the statue again, trying to gain distance.

Kneeling, I focus on creating the biggest blast of energy I can. “Cole, I need you to—”

Suddenly, Cole turns, his sword whistling in a wide arc as he turns on Jacob, of all people, Jacob barely blocking the swing with one of his blades before striking back with his other hand.

“What the hell are you doing?” I shout as Noah and Tyler also turn on each other, all four trying their damndest to kill each other while Joe laughs.

“Deception, illusion . . . powerful tools in the hands of the skilled,” he says, perching on the stage as the four Fae go at each other's throats. “Their mental defenses are child’s play to me.”

Noah hits Tyler in the gut with his broken staff, and Tyler doubles over, barely avoiding a blow that would have crushed his skull. “Stop it!” I yell.

“Eve!”

I turn, my jaw dropping as Alyssa steps out of the shadows, her face pleading. “‘Lyssa? What are you—”

My heart swells as Alyssa approaches, tears sparkling in her eyes. “Eve, you have to give this up. Don’t you see? What you’re doing, it’s tearing apart everything. The Lightbringer King is coming, and he only wants what’s best for you. Choose green, Eve. You need—”

“Alyssa, if I give up, it’s hell on earth,” I plead, taking her hands. “You, Zack—”

“Don’t you see?” Alyssa says, shaking her head. “The Fae, their light, it’s just a ruse. You know what they said. They’re a monarchy, no freedom, just serving their bitch-queen. If hell on earth means freedom, I’ll choose freedom. But to have that, you have to choose to give yourself to Joe.”

I swallow, almost nodding before I see something out of the corner of my eye. Cole’s gotten Jacob on the ground, his sword ready to plunge into his chest. I wheel, Alyssa disappearing in a puff of smoke as I realize it was an illusion.

COLE! NO!

I can feel his mind, and Cole’s blade hesitates for an instant before plunging toward Jacob, who swings his knife while rolling, deflecting the deadly thrust into splitting the concrete just an inch from Jacob’s head.

Cole!

I am here, Princess. I hear in my mind. Your words . . . you broke me free.

I try to help the others, but just focusing on Cole takes all my concentration. Cole . . . I can’t. It’s too much.

Just keep me clear . . . and be ready.

Cole pretends to keep fighting, kicking Jacob under the chin and knocking him out before turning his attention to Noah and Tyler. Tyler’s been doing his best, using his speed and agility to try and keep his stronger opponent at bay, but Noah finally sweeps his legs out from under him, catching him and slamming Tyler to the concrete and knocking him out.

“Tyler!” I scream.

“Yell all you want . You get to watch them die unless you submit to me,” he says as Cole strikes, blocking Noah’s killing blow and engaging him. The two eldest and strongest of the Fae battle, Cole drawing Noah toward the stage. Joe laughs, loving the chaos he’s sowing, thinking I’m helpless. “That’s right. Murder each other.”

Cole strikes out, kicking Noah in the shoulder before spinning, leaping into the air as he somersaults off Noah’s shoulder. Eve . . . NOW!

I let it all go. I thought I’d tapped into my emotional reserves before, but I find something even deeper, thinking of Alyssa and my four guardians as a beam of pure white light shoots from my hand, flung toward Cole, who has his sword high over his head. Joe, caught off guard, watches in shock as Cole screams something in his own language, the blade catching my magic as he whips it down with all his might.

In his last instant, Joe tries to avoid the blow, but it’s too much. Cole’s sword catches him just behind his scaly skull, the white light flowing into him as Cole’s body weight keeps the sword going, cleaving all the way through Joe’s neck to send his head clattering to the stage. Joe blinks once, stunned, and opens his mouth to try and say something before the white light consumes him fully, his head becoming a pile of white ash while his body falls to the stage.

Sudden silence falls over the square, and it takes me moments before the sound of burning fires and the moans of the wounded come back to me. I look at my guardians. Cole checks on Noah, and they help Jacob and Tyler up before coming to me. “Are you okay?”

I look out over the carnage, shaking my head. There’s too much blood, too many bodies, too much death. I’m sick of it all, and I just want it to end. “No . . . but maybe I will be. It’s over.”