It was one thing to be on edge, perfectly aware of your surroundings while infiltrating a daemon city. But it was something else entirely to have one of the higher daemons standing in front of you, with a smug grin that basically screamed “I’ve got you now!”, and guards behind him.

We were suddenly stuck in a meranium box, faced by the very creatures that wanted us locked up. Velnias’s cover was blown, at this point. He had no way of backing himself out of this, mainly because Cayn had probably eavesdropped on the conversation from the outside—I certainly would’ve done that, if I were him.

My gaze briefly met Hansa’s as I went over options in my head. I needed her safe and out of here. Most importantly, I could not let Cayn close that door on us.

“You’re all probably wondering how I knew you were all gathered here,” Cayn sneered, with one hand resting on the hilt of his still-sheathed, bejeweled broadsword. He didn’t seem threatened by all our blades.

“Personally, I’m wondering how long it will take for you to die, from the moment I slit your throat,” Harper replied dryly.

“Little vampire, I’ll enjoy eating your soul the most. You’ve got spunk. It’s refreshing. And downright hot.” Cayn chuckled, then let out a playful growl. “But, still, do let me tell you about how I, the First Prince on King Shaytan’s Council, outsmarted you all.”

“Ugh, desperate to blow his own horn here, obviously,” Fiona retorted, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, I don’t need to do that. My actions are already testimony to my sheer genius. You see, I’ve had you tracked since you escaped from Infernis,” Cayn said. “Two daemons with red lenses have been tailing you this whole time, with specific orders to not intervene until you were in a location where I could easily grab you and bring you back to my father. However, don’t beat yourselves up for not spotting them. They’ve kept a reasonable distance this whole time.”

It didn’t come as much of a shock, but it was still a sore disappointment. It wasn’t as if Harper could use her True Sight at all times, and, if the trackers were good enough, they could quite easily escape a sentry’s detection—which, unfortunately, they had.

We couldn’t have predicted this, either. After the mess we’d left the daemons with, back in Infernis, I didn’t think either of them would have the skill to track us from the moment we escaped from the gorges. The odds had seemed in our favor at the time. Chalk it up to experience, and pray you get out of this, now.

“I didn’t know about Velnias, though,” Cayn added, narrowing his red eyes at the High Warden, whose expression gave nothing away. “My trackers spotted you going into my brother’s cell, but I didn’t think Velnias was involved until you scoundrels walked out of there with him. Velnias, my friend, you are in so much trouble. You have no idea.”

“Oh, I might have a clue,” Velnias scoffed, his sword screeching as he pulled it out from the scabbard.

“I knew you’d come to Draconis sooner or later,” Cayn said, sneering at me. “It was only a matter of time before you self-righteous meat-bags made your way here. So I made sure to deliver Zane myself. Imagine my delight when I ran into one of my trackers on my way out. Oh, the joy! Anyway, settle in, my little ones. I added extra charms on the outside while you were catching up with your Druid. Your magic and dragon fire are useless in here. My guards will come fetch you once your transport cages are ready. My father will be very pleased.”

Cayn then took a couple of steps back, ready to lock the door. In that instant, I realized how lucky we were that he was such an arrogant bastard—he couldn’t resist coming in to gloat, instead of simply locking us in here.

I only had two seconds, tops, to do something, before we were really stuck in here.

“It’s fine, we don’t need any magic,” I muttered, then shot forward, my blades thirsty for daemon blood. I went straight for the kill, and my determination caught Cayn by surprise, judging by the speed with which the color drained from his face.

He had no choice but to put his sword up to block my attack. I came at him hard, each blow pushing him farther back, until we were outside.

The rest of my team followed, spilling out into the narrow street. Cayn’s plan had already backfired, prompting me to question his intelligence. I had a feeling that Shaytan was going to be king for a long time, still, given the intellectual quality of his offspring—especially since the only son I’d seen capable of great things, Zane, had turned against him by helping us.

There were two dozen daemon guards outside. One of them blew an alarm horn, and it gave us merely a handful of minutes to work with before more of them came in. Pheng-Pheng, Harper, and Caspian went first on the offensive, slashing and hacking left and right, while Fiona came from behind to deliver the fatal blows.

One by one, the daemons fell.

Hansa, Blaze, and Caia held their own, slightly over to the left, while Vesta helped Laughlan out. Velnias was nowhere to be found, and that pissed me off—a feeling which I welcomed, since I was still squaring off with Cayn at this point.

The daemon prince came back with heavy blows, but a sudden gust of wind knocked him right in the solar plexus and threw him backward. I glanced over my shoulder and saw the Druid smirking with his hands out. “Hey, I may be half dead, but I can still help,” Laughlan said.

“And that is much appreciated,” I replied, then frowned at Vesta. “Where’s Velnias?”

“I have no idea, but we need to get out of here, fast!” she shot back, then blocked a sword hit from an incoming daemon, while Laughlan found another ounce of energy to use for a second gust of wind—enough to knock over six of the guards.

“I can’t turn here!” Blaze grunted, then rammed his sword through a daemon’s throat. “The meranium boxes are too close together. There’s not enough room!”

I glanced around and saw that we weren’t too far from one of the pillars leading back up to Kerentrith. The brain-scratching shriek of death claws drawing near sent shivers down my spine. Not long after that, the growls of pit wolves followed, along with the thundering of more daemon boots on the ground.

Just as Hansa cut off the head of the last of Cayn’s daemon guards, I pointed at the pillar. “Over there!” I shouted, then threw Cayn a brief glance. He’d been knocked out, but he was starting to move again. Soon enough, he’d come to.

Harper led the way back to the main street, but came to a screeching halt when three dozen more daemons came in from both sides, assisted by several pit wolves. This was far from over.