A new wave of minions began to flood the lower section of the castle. The weapon reacted, beaming light onto every one of them and freezing them in place. I screamed, tears almost blinding me as I used both hands to keep the rope spinning. Adrian, Adrian, I repeated feverishly, forcing my feet to keep moving even though shudders racked me so fiercely, I staggered. He was trapped in the tunnel, but if I could get close enough, the weapon would incapacitate his attackers. No minion or demon could stop me, as long as I kept walking. The weapon took them out as soon as its light touched them.

Problem was, the weapon might also take me out.

Somehow, I made it past the gates and into the outer courtyards of the castle. By that time, I couldn’t stop my screams at the merciless blasts of pain. Each new minion the light landed on sent agony shooting through me, until everything else faded beneath the constant, brutal onslaught. After a few minutes, I couldn’t be sure if I was still holding the weapon anymore. A few minutes after that, I couldn’t remember where I was or why I’d come here. Only the pain was real, and it was excruciating. I couldn’t take it, and the pressure building inside me warned me that I wouldn’t have to for much longer. Something was about to happen. Something big.

I fell to my knees from the next surge of power, which felt like a thousand knives ripping into me at once. This is it, I thought dazedly. I’m dying. Instead of being afraid, the thought filled me with profound relief. Anything to escape the pain.

Release the stone.

The whisper somehow made it past the torturous insanity strafing my mind. That’s right, the stone. Until it was free, this wasn’t over. With my last reserves of strength, I stood up and snapped the slingshot, releasing the ice rock into the nothingness that was coming for me.

My whole body convulsed as the light marking every minion suddenly exploded with sunlike brightness, until I couldn’t see anything except burning, dazzling white. Just as swiftly, my agony disappeared, leaving me almost paralyzed with weakness. Unable to move or see, I fell onto the ground, feeling countless brushes of something light across me.

Slowly, that blinding whiteness faded, though at first, I thought the swirls around me were snowflakes. Then, as my vision returned even more, they changed color, turning from white to gray to charcoal. Ashes, I realized, shock giving me enough strength to sit up. Ashes were blowing everywhere, yet I didn’t see a single minion or demon. I did see several humans venturing into the courtyard, their expressions mirroring the same sort of hopeful disbelief I felt, now that I could think again.

The slingshot seemed to have done the impossible, killing all the demons and minions without harming any of the humans. I’d kiss the weapon, if I knew where it was. My hand only had smudges from ashes in it at the moment.

Then a horrible thought crept into my mind, demolishing my happiness with one brutal question.

What if the slingshot had killed Adrian, too?

Fear got me to my feet, though I swayed so much, I expected to fall when I took my first step. Adrian was human, but his lineage had so much dark power, he could cross into demon realms. Did that same power cause the weapon to mark him for death as it had the minions and demons? Had he survived the attack Demetrius ordered against him, only to have me kill him?

God, please, no! I half ran, half staggered toward the Hound tunnel where I’d last seen him. The low, enclosed space kept the wind out, so the thick layer of ashes lining the floor weren’t swirling around. They were ominously, deathly still.

“Adrian!” I cried out, sloshing through the grayish-black mess. “Adrian, please, answer me!”

I heard nothing but my own voice echoing hollowly back at me. I’d almost made it to the end of the tunnel when my legs gave out. Then I sank into the ashes, despair filling me as the pile I knelt in came nearly to my waist. From all the minion remains, the fighting must’ve been thickest here, so this was probably where Adrian had died. I plunged my hands into the embers, tears making everything blur as the particles either fell from my fingers or curled into wisps and floated away.

Gone, just like Adrian was now gone. More tears fell, making pale trails through the stains on my hands. I wanted to scream the way I had before, but though this pain was just as intense, it tore at my soul instead of my body, so there was no outlet for it. I hadn’t been able to tell Adrian how sorry I was for what I’d done. Or tell him that I’d come back for him, or tell him the most important thing of all.

“I love you, too,” I whispered to the ashes.

I’d never said that to a man before. Now, with Adrian gone, I’d never say it again. I didn’t need the gift of prophecy to know that I wouldn’t feel this way about anyone else. Ever.

“Are you okay?” a hesitant voice asked.

My head jerked up, and through the tears, I saw the outline of a woman at the entrance to the tunnel.

“I saw you go down here,” she went on. “You won’t find anyone in here, though. This was where they kept the Hounds.”

“I know.” My voice was thick from anguish.

She took a few steps toward me. “Are you...her?”

“Her who?” I asked wearily.

“The one who killed them,” she replied in an awed whisper.

Her words were a fresh blow to my heart. Yes, I’d killed them. All of them.

I didn’t say that. As I heaved myself to my feet, I said the only thing I could think of to make her go away. I needed a few minutes to pull myself together. Or a few lifetimes.

“Go to the B and B. The dark-haired boy knows how to get through the gateway, if he hasn’t left already.”

She turned around and left. Moments later, I heard her excitedly telling someone that she knew a way out. I dragged a hand through my hair, feeling physically and emotionally beaten beyond my ability to cope. I didn’t want to move from this spot, but the single bottle of blood at the B and B wouldn’t be enough. More minion blood would be needed to bring everyone through the gateway. Fast, too, before other demons showed up to commandeer this realm. The slingshot only worked once, so even if I knew where it was, it was useless to prevent other demons from re-enslaving the people here.

That meant I’d have to leave this realm to find a minion, capture it and bleed the hell out of it. Tonight. The realization had me shuffling toward the exit to the tunnel. My body ached like I’d been pummeled from the inside out, but I forced myself to keep moving. If I didn’t, I’d stay here and cry my eyes out, which wouldn’t help the people trapped in this realm. Besides, my tears were already starting to mess with my vision. For a second, I’d thought the ash pile next to me had shifted.