Finally, a week after we found Ronen, I found Lua. Her symbol had stayed in the same spot for over an hour. Ceris wanted to wait and see if she stayed there, while Sol, eager to find his soulmate, wanted to go right away in case she decided to move again.

In the end, we waited another hour, then geared up and went to get Lua.

Ceris, Victor, Micah, Maho, Ronen, Sol, Alice, Keisha, and I popped into a dark desert. There were sand and sand dunes everywhere we looked.

“What an odd place to be,” I said under my breath.

Micah glanced at me. “Before the darkness took over, this place was ideal to look up at the sky and admire the moon and the stars.”

I stared at him. I hadn’t expected anyone to answer, much less him. Why did he keep surprising me? And the things he said? It was as if he had tailored his words to gut me.

“Anyone sensing her?” Victor’s voice was loud and clear.

I averted my eyes from Micah’s and watched the other gods.

“No,” Maho said. He turned to me. “Are you sure she’s here?”

Hating when they doubted me, I frowned. “I am.”

Ceris produced the map and handed it to me. “Check again.”

I took the map from her and unrolled it. I gasped as Lua’s symbol faded before my eyes. “It’s disappearing.”

“What do you mean?” Sol came to stand behind me and looked at the map over my shoulder, but like the others, he couldn’t see anything.

“It’s …” I counted four seconds before it disappeared completely. “It’s gone.”

As if I had hit him with my bare hands, Sol took a wide step to the side. “She’s not here anymore?”

“No …” I looked at the map again. Her symbol was nowhere to be seen. “I’m sorry.”

Ceris exhaled loudly. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault. We knew Lua hasn’t stopped for long in the same place, but we had to risk it.”

“All right,” Victor said. “There’s nothing here. Let’s go back.”

“Wait,” Keisha said. She stood atop of a sand dune about a hundred yards from us. “I see something.”

We all walked closer to her. From the top of the dune, we could see the end of the desert in the distance and the flickering lights of a small town. To the east, what looked like a dark shadow grew closer and closer to the town.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Demons,” Micah said from beside me, his voice filled with rage.

“They are going to attack that town,” Alice said. “Just like they did to my town.”

I shifted my gaze to Ceris. “Unless we stop them.”

She cut me a look that said all I needed to know. Since it wasn’t our priority, she didn’t want to go, but she wouldn’t say that out loud.

Victor nodded, his gaze on the long, dark shadow moving across the desert. “Let’s do it.”

The gods teleported us closer to the demons. We crouched behind the top of a dune and watched as the hundreds of demons marched toward the town.

“It’s now or never,” Maho said.

Hundreds against nine. It was a good thing some of us were powerful.

We stayed low and hidden by the darkness, approaching the demons from behind. When we were within reach, we attacked. By the time they recovered from our surprise attack, we had already advanced through their formation, but they still came at us from all sides. Our group spread out and met the demons with fierce determination.

I didn’t know how much time passed or how many demons I had already taken down—a dozen? Maybe even two dozen?—when I noticed I was a little farther away and surrounded. Slowly, I turned and counted eleven demons in the first line. There were more behind them, and even more coming to watch—or make sure they didn’t miss me.

I gulped. Even though I was a good fighter, I couldn’t take on half an army of demons by myself. I knew that.

No time to panic. With a growl, I raised my sword and readied myself. I spread my legs open and gripped the hilt of my sword tighter. Two demons broke from the circle and ran at me. Moving faster than I had ever moved, I slashed the throat of the first and pierced the chest of the second. I pulled my sword free and parried the claw of a third demon. Then a fourth was behind me and a fifth was advancing. Again, I didn’t overthink, I just moved. Slash, parry, dodge, duck, pierce. I got rid of two of them, but then two more came at me. One swiped its claws and I stepped back right into the claws of another one. It slashed, cutting diagonally across my shoulder blade. I clamped my mouth, swallowing a scream, and swung my sword, cutting off the demon’s arm. It roared and lunged at me like a lion, its pointy teeth bared and its remaining claws ready in a hook. I parried its attack, but then three other demons were on me. One closed its claws around my hurt shoulder, while the other grabbed my ponytail and pulled my head back. Another one slapped my arm down hard, making me lose the grip on my sword.

Panic rose in me.

The demons forced me to my knees and the armless demon let out a sound like a sick chuckle as it lifted its remaining claws to strike.

No, no, no, no.

I couldn’t die yet. I wasn’t ready. I had to help Micah and Victor and Ceris win the war. I needed to make sure the Soul Oath was finished the right way.

I jerked against the demons’ hold and tried reaching into my boots, where I had stashed daggers.

With a loud roar, the demon let his arm fall. I closed my eyes.

But the claw never came. Instead, the demon grunted and was knocked to the side. I snapped my eyes open. A black bolt flew over my head, hitting the demon holding my shoulders. The bolt exploded in its face and it stumbled back before falling over other demons. Three more quick black bolts followed, getting rid of most of the demons around me.

Micah.

I wanted to look at him, to tell him thanks, but instead, I crawled to my sword. A demon stepped on it as my hand closed around the hilt. With a wicked, sharp-toothed grin, the demon kicked high, hitting my chin and sending me flying backward. My vision blackened and my head spun. I hit the sandy ground, right in the middle of more demons.

The demons stood over me, ready to finish me again. Their sharp claws and pointed teeth bared, closing in on me.

“Hang on,” Keisha yelled somewhere to my side.

I lifted my head enough to see her dashing through a throng of demons, coming at me. From the other side, the black bolts resumed, knocking the demons down.

In the chaos of the battle, Micah and Keisha didn’t see each other.

“Stop,” I tried yelling, but my throat hurt, and my voice was barely above a whisper. “Keisha, stop!”

It was like watching in slow motion. Keisha stood beside me, a huge demon in front of her. One of Micah’s bolts sailed through the air and hit the same demon square in the back. The demon fell to the side, and the next bolt hit Keisha.

Her eyes widened as she looked down at the hole in her chest.

“Oh, gods,” I heard Micah’s voice from afar.

Keisha’s limp body fell beside me.

“Keisha!” I screamed, trying to get to her, but there were still demons everywhere.

Not thinking, only feeling immense rage and despair, I threw my hands out and the white light flashed from them, spreading around me in a wide circle, taking out every demon nearby.

I had to roll out from under a gross, heavy body to reach her. But by then, she was already gone.

A lump rose in my throat. I touched her shoulder. “Keisha?”

She had fallen over a dead demon. Her head lolled back and her eyes were open, staring at nothing. Her arms and legs were unnaturally bent.

“Oh my God,” I whispered. A sob rippled through me.

“By the Everlast,” Victor said.

I blinked and, through the unshed tears, saw that they were all standing to my right, staring at Keisha and me. Victor, Ceris, Maho, Sol, Ronen, Alice, and Micah.

Micah. Who had killed her.

His jaw ticked and the muscles in his neck tense. He shifted his gaze to me, his dark eyes shining with grief. “I’m … I’m so sorry.”