M

alphas wanted the truth and Amaya had none to give him.

“No one touches me without my permission. And I haven’t given it.” A weight settled in her free palm, along with a surge of power. Her fingers closed around the cool hilt. Not her knives. Something larger. Deadlier to a Demoni. Heartrate and breathing steady. Muscles loose, yet ready. “Last chance, Malphas. Then you lose more than just your hand.”

He glanced down. She followed his gaze to the empyreal sword in her hand, the glowing tip aimed to strike between his ribs and bury deep inside his body. How it got there, she had no idea, but damn, it was right on time.

“You are extraordinary. Completely wasted on the UnHallowed,” he murmured, and stroked her cheek with a single finger.

“But I wouldn’t be wasted on you. You and I would be a perfect match.” She started off with a nod and ended on a single shake of her head. “Don’t be delusional. Accept the partnership with the UnHallowed. You’re not gonna get anything else. Not from them. Not from me.”

His hand dropped from her face and a sad sort of resignation settled on him. “As I said, extraordinary.” He stepped away, putting some much needed space between them, and waved to an indistinct clump of trees. “The entrance to the tunnel is over here.”

No way had a Demoni Lord given up that easily. The wind blew in from the east, carrying a strange scent. Amaya veered away from Malphas and weaved through the last stand of trees to a burned out stretch of land. “What happened here?”

He scowled, his brow lowered over his pitted eyes. “Can’t you smell it?”

She smelled something, best described as heady bouquet burned flowers, scraping her insides raw. “W-what is that?” she asked, fighting the tears welling in her eyes.

“An angel who doesn’t know the scent of her own kind?” He scoffed.

She looked across the field again, searching for angels. “Where?” she sobbed.

Malphas ignored her and turned back to the tree line. He walked into a large trunk and vanished.

“Well isn’t that nifty.” Sword still in her hand, she followed and passed into a dark world. Instantly, her eyes adjusted and focused on the earthen staircase leading down. Tree roots brushed her body, tangling in her hair, creeping her out. “I’m gonna need another bath after this,” she grumbled.

A wave of dizziness hit her. She had to lean on the sword and regain her balance. Malphas continued on. Good, the last thing she needed was Malphas seeing her in a moment of weakness.

“Where’s Bane?” She shook off the dizziness and caught up to him.

“Here.” A pair of combat boots waited at the edge of the dark.

Relief washed over her. She darted around Malphas and ran down the stairs, stopping short of throwing herself into his arms.

He raked her with a quick glance and then turned to Malphas. “What took so long?”

“There’s a burned field topside. We stopped to investigate.” She deflected. No need to tell him about the unwanted encounter.

“What about it?” He narrowed his gaze on Malphas.

“Angels died there. Many angels. Recently,” Malphas said.

“How recent?” Bane asked.

“Less than a week. You can see for yourself when the sun sets.”

“Quantify a lot?” She asked Malphas, wiping her cheeks. Startled, she glanced at her wet fingers. I’m crying! Over dead angels!

Her heart twisted and she fought not to groan out at the pain.

“Amaya. Breathe.” Bane pulled her into his body as she lost the battle and a scream tore out of her throat.

The scent was the remains of their grace spilled onto the ground. Angel’s grace! Hundreds of them by her reaction. All of them in one fell swoop. The grace in her system wailed at the injustice. Pain ripped into her, tearing her heart apart, crumbling her.

How long she drowned in her sorrow, she couldn’t say, but in the midst of it all, she heard Bane’s voice, registered his palm on her back, fingers in her hair, his lips on her temple, and his musky, leathery scent replacing that of the angels. All of him grounded her, yanked her back from the abyss.

“There you are.” Bane eased her away from his chest. Only then did she realize they were sitting on the dirt floor with her cradled in his lap.

“W-what happened to me? What was that?” Never, in her entire life, had she ever cried like that.

Bane wiped the tears from her face. “Lamentation. It’s how angels grieve when one of their own has passed.”

“Okay.” What else could she say except, “Why didn’t you go through the same thing—oh.” Dumb question.

“I’m UnHallowed.”

“I forgot.” She had. How could she possibly forget that all important fact? He kissed her forehead and she automatically raised her chin for a taste of him.

“I believe I need a shot of insulin before I go into a diabetic coma,” Malphas drawled.

Damn it. She’d forgotten about Malphas, even though he waited yards away deeper in the tunnel.

Bane ignored their third wheel and helped her to her feet. “The deaths could be why Michael didn’t come when I called.”

“You called Michael. When and why?” She dragged an arm across her wet face.

“When this bastard had you.” He pointed at the Demoni Lord. “I would’ve done anything to get you back.” He flashed a quick grin. “Michael was probably here, though not here.” Bane headed deeper into the dark.

Amaya moved around Malphas. She lost sight of Bane, and then spotted him across from her, standing at the rim of a pit. He pointed and she followed his finger to carnage below. She counted ten skulls, maybe more, which was easier than counting all the bone fragments.

Bane skied down the slope. She held her breath. Silly, when he was more than capable of taking care of himself. Hell, he’d been doing so for ages. Beside her, Malphas snorted. “Worried?”

“Nope.” But she didn’t take her gaze off Bane as he waded through the bones. He picked up an intact skull and leaped back onto the ridge next to her. He angled the skull around until she stared into empty sockets. “It’s not human.”

The sockets were irregular and too small. No opening for the sinus cavity. No teeth and a flat maxilla.

“Spaun,” Bane supplied.

“The ones who didn’t defect, would be my guess.” Malphas took the skull and stared into the empty eyes.

Amaya wondered if he knew this Spaun. Was he its master? Maybe its friend. She was about to offer condolences when, with a flick of his wrist, he tossed the skull back into the pit. She watched it bounce against the rim, once, twice, each contact sickening, until it rested in the pile of bones once again.

“Next stop, Israel.” Malphas pivoted and made for the stairs.

Unexpected exhaustion nipping at her, Amaya gathered her strength and muttered, “Demons in the Holy Land. I’m not surprised.” She followed Malphas, but halted when she didn’t hear Bane behind her. She spun to find half of him inside a shadow. Stiff as a pole, head cocked to the side, as if listening to something she couldn’t hear.

He blinked once and his pale aqua eyes focused on her. “Gideon. He needs help.”

“What’s wrong?” She retraced her steps to stand near him.

“Don’t know, but he sent a distress call through the shadows.”

“Where is he?” she asked.

“I don’t know. The shadows will take me to him.” His voice strained with urgency.

“Then go,” she urged. Bane’s gaze shifted to Malphas. She turned to the Demoni Lord. “Where is Gideon?”

“Mexico. La Paz.”

She turned back to Bane. “Go. We’ll be right behind you.”

Bane lingered a second, then the shadows took him. Amaya rushed topside and had to wait for slow ass Malphas, who wasn’t in a rush at all. “Will you hurry up!”

“If Bane heard a distress call, so did the others. Your boyfriend will be fine.”

Bane wasn’t her only concern. She worried about everyone, including Gideon and his wife. She’d blame it on Braile, but this concern didn’t stem from his grace or his memory. She liked her motley bunch of UnHallowed. “I know he’ll be fine. If there’s fighting, I don’t want to miss the action. Do you?”

He grinned at her, all predatory with plenty of teeth. “No. I don’t want to miss a single blow.”

Together, they stepped into the dimensional pocket. Flashing lights, colliding colors, her stomach rolled, and she swayed. Malphas didn’t seem to notice, his focus remained forward. Amaya leaned on the sword. Using it as a crutch wasn’t its intended purpose, though it worked. By the time she inhaled and exhaled, the light show had ceased. The portal dissolved around them, leaving them at the edge of a cafeteria filled with Darklings.