We weren’t sure who was behind this freaky battle, but there were demons everywhere.

Nadine and Keisha, and now that blond girl, were doing a good job of escorting the people out of town, and Ceris, Levi, Maho, and I were doing a great job dispatching the demons.

“Can you sense anyone else?” I asked Maho as I threw a bolt at a demon. The bolt exploded on its chest and the demon exploded with it.

“No.” Maho played tricks with his magic. He created images of himself and taunted the demons, then took them out effortlessly. It was kind of fun to watch.

“But there has to be someone,” I muttered. “They wouldn’t just attack a town by themselves.”

“Perhaps they were sent here,” Ceris said as she rushed past Maho and me. “Imha is decimating every city and place she can reach. Maybe she’s dispatching the demons without a commander.”

It could be, but that still didn’t make much sense.

The horde of demons was diminishing. We would be done with this hiccup in our mission soon.

Like lightning, Rok appeared from nowhere and flew to me, squawking like a mad bird. That could mean only one thing …

Fancy meeting you here, Amiel’s voice rang in my head.

Shock froze me.

You’re behind this attack, I asked, scanning the area. He had to be close.

Actually, no. We’ve just followed you here. It’s easy to find you when we’re all so deeply connected.

This damned connection—that now was one-sided. When I became a full god again, I noticed I couldn’t sense them anymore. But apparently, they could still sense me.

I groaned as I withdrew my sword and engaged a demon. I needed to burn the pent-up rage swelling in me right now.

What do you want? I asked. Rok flew in circles over my head, making me even more enraged.

The same thing as before, Amiel stated. We have the Cup of Life and you have a beautiful opportunity to have Levi killed. I bet you can even make it look like the demons got him.

I snorted. As if demons could simply kill a god. Well, they could, but it was difficult to accomplish.

“Go,” I muttered to Rok. “Go find them.”

The bird stopped with his nonsense flying and dove away, going for the hills behind the houses.

I see your new pet, Amiel said. She’s beautiful. I pierced my sword into a demon’s chest and let out a furious roar. I see now why you want to save her. I would want that too and—

Don’t you dare come near her.

I wouldn’t dare, my lord. His words dripped with sarcasm. Not while you’re alive anyway.

With a voracious cry, I swung my sword wide and cut off the head of a demon.

“Whoa,” Maho said, staring at me with wide eyes. “Everything okay over there?”

“Everything is perfect,” I snapped.

If you ever touch her—

If you kill Levi and take the Cup of Life, you won’t ever have to worry about that.

The Cup of Life.

I faltered in my step and a demon swiped his claws at my shoulder. With renewed rage, I drew a bolt in my palm and buried it deep inside its chest. The demon was gone in less than a second.

Can you imagine eternity with her by your side?

Of course I could. I dreamed about it every day.

But killing Levi … I couldn’t do that.

I looked over my shoulder at where Levi fought with several demons. He was a good fighter. He would never go down easy. It would be hard to make it look like an accident.

I shook my head. What the hell was I thinking? I couldn’t kill Levi.

Your window is ending. Soon the demons will be gone. And so will we … with the Cup of Life.

Several yards behind Levi, Nadine was fighting alongside Keisha and the blond girl. Even now, seeing her all badass and kicking the demons’ butts, I wanted to protect her, to help her, to keep her safe. If she received one little scratch, I would lose my shit.

What would happen when she lost her life?

A pain I didn’t want to acknowledge spread through my chest. I couldn’t lose her. I just … couldn’t.

I took out the two demons rushing toward me, then turned to Levi and moved closer. I shut down the logical part of my brain as I used magic to trip Levi at the same time a demon made a swipe at him. Levi fell on his knees and the demon’s claws almost ripped through his enchanted armor. Bewildered, Levi tried to get to his feet, but I used magic again to force him down on all fours. Six demons had surrounded him and grabbed hold of him.

Levi jerked against them, trying to push them away. He would have made it, if I hadn’t used magic once more to increase the pressure the demons were exerting over him.

Levi’s eyes widened as he looked at the face of a demon that was raising his claws, ready to swipe deep and nice. His eyes looked past the demon, right at me.

“Mitrus,” he rasped. “Help!”

But I didn’t move. I couldn’t move.

The swipe wouldn’t kill him. I would have to do it.

“Levi!” Ceris voice boomed behind me. She ran past me. “What are you doing? Help!”

She lunged at the demons.

And I snapped out of it.

Shame filled me as I released the magical hold I had on Levi and charged the demons. Levi, Ceris, and I killed them all.

Then both of them turned to me, the expression on their faces livid.

“What the hell was that?” Ceris yelled, her voice shaking the ground underneath us.

I ran a hand through my hair, sighing. Wishing I had an answer for her.

Inside my head, Amiel tsked. So close.

Go fuck yourself.

He laughed, the sound echoing in my skull, making me sick.

* * *

Micah

After saving that little town, we proceeded with our mission to find Sol.

We were on high alert, expecting to find more demons or lesser gods or some other deity. And I had been tense, expecting Amiel and the other Death Lords to keep following me. Nothing had been simple so far, why would this be?

But it seemed they were gone since Rok, who was in charge of finding and following the Death Lords—unsuccessfully—came back to me not long after.

The only thing we found was a few weak wards and a half-assed hidden Sol. Once he saw us, he dropped the wards and came with us, no questions asked, except to query about Lua.

“We thought maybe you would know,” Levi said.

“I haven’t seen her in years,” Sol said, his voice dejected. “We had a fight many years ago and still haven’t made peace.”

Which didn’t make sense. They were soulmates. They were supposed to be together, to help each other, to support each other, to never leave each other’s side.

Ceris and Levi, on the other hand, bombarded me with questions once we were back in the apartment.

“What the hell was that?” Ceris turned to me, right in the middle of the living room with everyone watching. “You saw demons pinning Levi down and you just stood there. You didn’t help him!”

“I did help,” I said. Not a total lie, but my help had only come after she had come to his aid.

Guilt and shame mingled in my chest. The pull to glance at Nadine, to see the expression on her face as she witnessed this accusation against me, was too alluring, too enticing. But I resisted it.

“You stared at me, Mitrus,” Levi said, his voice laced with disappointment and fury. “They had me and you did nothing.”

I opened my mouth to yell some lame excuse, but Maho talked before I could. “I don’t understand. How were they able to pin you down, brother?”

“I … I don’t know,” Levi said.

“Perhaps Mitrus’s theory that there were more than demons hiding out there was right,” Maho said. He had no idea how right he was.

“Perhaps.” Levi’s blue-green eyes bore into mine and I could see, I could feel, how troubled he was.

I sighed. I felt troubled too.

How could I have done that? How could I have held him down and let the demons have at him? I wasn’t the same Mitrus as before. I wasn’t evil, not like Imha or Omi. I … I wished we could go back in time. Instead of actually listening to Amiel, I would have alerted the others to his presence, and we would have hunted them down. We would have wiped them from this Earth.

That was the right thing to do.

I swallowed my pride and said, “I don’t know what happened. If you say I should have acted sooner, then I should have. I’m sorry.”

Ceris’s eyes widened, and Levi actually looked taken aback.

After several tense seconds, Levi cleared his throat. “Okay.”

He faced Nadine, Keisha, and the blond girl. Then, I dared a glance at Nadine. She was watching me, a pretty knot between her pretty green eyes. She held my stare for five seconds—I counted—and then looked at the new girl too.

“What’s your name?” Ceris asked the newcomer.

“Alice,” the girl said, her voice clear and firm.

“Alice,” Ceris repeated. “I should tell you that, like our Keisha here, you are a hero. Welcome to the Everlasting Circle.”