VERITY

Each time the woman’s voice screams, Kailey shuffles closer to me and looks up with her large eyes filled with fear. I keep the light conversation going, but how can I calm her in this situation?

Urgent voices sound outside the basement window, above us, and I raise my voice in an attempt to prevent Kailey hearing. My chest tightens as my imagination runs wild. What if they break through the window? Someone comes down here? How can I protect us both with one knife? No, something happening publicly is a good thing because someone will alert the authorities.

I startle as the door flies open again, turning my body to shield the little girl. Kailey grips the back of my jacket and lets out another cry as a man steps into the room.

He's tall, solidly built—and brandishing a knife. Anger rolls from him; face darkened and coiled to attack. Holy shit, there's no way I can defend myself against him. I stand, willing one of the other guys to run downstairs and help.

Then I notice the colour of his eyes, and the recognition crossing this guy’s face. His hair’s lighter and shorter than his brother’s, but the full and sensual mouth matches. He tucks the knife back into his green combat jacket pocket, eyes flicking across my face, searching for confirmation.

"Verity." Not a question, but a gruff statement. His voice is low, the same English accent as the others.

Xander? Stupefied, I nod.

"Xander!" Joss steps into the room and shoves him in the chest. "Where the fuck have you been?"

Xander straightens and holds his face close to Joss's. "Does that matter right now? Get the hell up there and kill those bastards."

"We're trying. He's warded the fucking room!"

"I'm here now. Stop wasting time. Stay with her." He jabs a finger at Kailey. "Verity. Come with me."

This is one man who, in his current state, I don't want to argue with. When I hesitate, he grabs my hand and a painful jolt shoots up my arm. The other guys cause a tingling sensation when we touch, but the reaction to Xander bloody hurts.

Xander's brow furrows as I wince and cry out. He releases my hand. "What's wrong?"

"That."

"Good."

I balk. "What?"

"Can we not hang around for a Q&A session!” He snaps his head round to Joss again. “I've taken out their friends guarding the house, but they're not kidding about killing her."

"Xander!" hisses Joss and inclines his head to the girl. Thankfully Kailey has her hands over her ears, but my heart wrenches as tears spill onto her cheeks.

"Kill?" I breathe.

"Yeah and frame us as responsible. That's one lie that's gonna cost us and threaten everything. Time to shine, sweetheart." Xander grabs my hand again and yanks me towards him. I stumble and steady myself on his chest, as more painful energy courses into me.

"What can I do?" I ask.

"Are you pussyfooting around her?" he snaps at Joss.

"Give us a chance. She’s only been with us twenty-four hours."

"For fuck's sake!" I shake as Xander grabs my other arm and holds me close; I’m overwhelmed by the anger filling my body, and my fear switches to a desire to run up the stairs and confront whoever’s there. Lying pisses me off and in the past has led to mild ranting at shocked recipients, but the desire to end whoever is up there grows with the realisation what’s happening. Frame the Horsemen? Telling the fae race they killed their queen? That’s one hell of a lie.

Something unknown flickers across Xander's face, and he switches to holding my cheeks in both hands. "Trust me. We can do this. Just channel what you feel from me."

Images assault my mind, the way they did with Heath yesterday, and I attempt to move, but Xander holds my cheeks harder. A woman lying on the floor, a girl held against the wall, snapshots that flash by as if a camera moved past the room. This house. Mother and daughter. Demons. I gasp and stare back at Xander whose eyes blaze with an intensity I share, aware his lips are close to mine, and freaking out over what happened when I was this close to Heath.

"Shit!" He drops his hold and backs up.

But I understand. Reaching out to him, I curl my fingers around his. "Go!"

Xander runs up the stairs, and I take two steps at a time behind as I follow. The uncomfortable charge inside my body grows, and as we burst into the room.

I barely have time to register the scene before a demon, twice the size of her, lashes Portia with a huge chain, adding to the welts already across her slim figure.

The anger explodes as the young guy in the room's centre laughs, and the energy held inside floods to the surface.

This. Ends. Now.

HEATH

A blinding light fills the room, and I cover my eyes, scared the intensity will fuck up my sight completely. Instantaneously, a thunderous noise fills the house, an assault on my other senses.

I hear glass splintering as pictures crash from the shaking walls, the floor moving beneath our feet, and I snap my eyes open as I steady myself on the doorframe.

Verity stands the other side of where the invisible barrier existed, and Xander stands besides, gripping her hand.

Where the fuck did he come from?

I've heard Xander's magic explode before, sometimes destroying buildings or ripping through the air and tearing apart nearby enemies, but never accompanied by light too.

"You guys are so fucking dumb!" he shouts. At us or the demons? "Kill the bastards!"

This time the death shooting from my hands lands squarely in each demon's chest, and they sink to the ground with electrical tendrils covering their bodies. The chain drops from the first demon's hands as he writhes against the crackling electricity, and Ewan strides over to grab hold before the shocked guy can move.

The queen and her daughter crawl to the wall and cower as the room fills with noise and light again.

I don't need asking twice, as I stride over to the younger demon and slam a foot into his chest. He stares back at me, eyes widened by shock, but not fear. Yeah, I can kill instantly if I want, but some deserve something more painful than that.

"Ewan?"

"Gladly."

I can never see Ewan's created viruses cross the space between him and victims, but always the result. The demon who masqueraded as the guy who cared for Elyssia draws in a shaky breath and clutches his chest. His eyes widen and blood builds in his mouth, bubbling from between his lips as he struggles to speak. I withdraw my boot from his chest, and he crawls onto his hands and knees. A hacking cough erupts from his mouth and blood continues to spill from his mouth and spreads towards his hands on the spotless tile floor.

I stare down impassively. The bastard deserves this. I've no doubt he'd fulfill his mission and murder the two women in the room.

Xander and Vee still face away, hands connected; I wait for more exploding energy to come from the pair. Whatever surrounds them, the prone demons can't move as I stand over them.

"Go ahead," sneers one in a gravelly voice, eyes flashing red. "There's more where we came from."

I don't need asking twice. Lightning bolts from my hands as I hold both palms towards his chest. He jolts for an instant before his heart stops, and I turn to the second. The fear in his eyes doesn't faze me as I kill him. He'll never possess a scrap of humanity.

I need to get the girls out of here.

I help Portia to her feet, and she struggles to walk as Ewan guides her from the room. The red welts across her body, beneath her ripped clothes twist anger in my stomach. I've never seen a fae queen weakened like this, or believed anybody had a remote chance of reaching Portia. Where are her guards? What happened to the barrier against dark magic surrounding her home?

This shit is worse than we thought.

Elyssia wraps her arms around her knees, tears streaking dark eye make-up down her cheeks, as she stares at the dead body nearby.

"Are you okay?" I ask and crouch next to her.

Elyssia glares at the demon, face set hard. "They won't win. Never."

"No." Her bravery fills me with hope; the fact she won't yield even when her life's threatened in this way. But that's the fae. Proud. Fighters. Determined. They've survived in this world as long as they have because of their tenacity, and the demons know how strong they are too. "Come on."

In the corner of my eye, Verity sinks to the floor, and Xander catches her also crouching down to say something. She can't take her eyes from his, almost as if she's unaware of us around her. Xander breaks her gaze and blinks in my direction, the nod informing me exactly what I expected.

Xander experiences the same effect around her, and we witnessed the reason why.

"What happened?" I ask him.

"This is the whole bloody point she was created, Heath. The may've strengthened their forces against us, and I have no fucking idea how they found something this strong, but we have more now."

Verity looks up, eyes wide. "What the hell?"

"Your power fuelled mine." He looks to me in triumph. "This is gonna work!"

"Wow." I slump to the floor, and rest my head against the wall. "This is fucked up. Do you think the Order really intended to kill them?"

"Yeah. I've been tracking the bastards for two weeks."

"Why didn't you tell us? Jesus, man."

"And alert the Order I knew they were planning something? Ewan's ability to mess up their communications only goes so far." He gestures at the house. "They didn't just ward against us, they have the whole property glamoured. They couldn't manage this alone. They have fae help. We need to talk to Portia about what's really happening in her kingdom."

"She doesn't know," mumbles Elyssia. "Others on our council have been summoned here recently and sent to investigate. Nothing happens."

I run both hands down my cheeks. "And the portal threat you drove to, Xander? Are the deaths connected to vamps?"

"Red herring," mutters Xander. "Someone wanted us apart."

"I am so fucking confused. Who shifted the goal posts?"

"She did." Xander points a finger at Vee whose mouth parts in surprise. "I told you. Now she's with us, they need to step up their game, and so do we."

VERITY

I don't know whether to throw up or run screaming from the house; either way I'll never escape.

My debut as a human floodlight freaked the hell out of me, but Xander's hand in mine offered a reassurance I needed.

Exhausted and unharmed, I back away from the brothers and out of the room. I don't want to be around the scene in front of me.

Ewan tends to Portia in the kitchen where she rests against the kitchen island counter clutching her chest in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. Witnessing this in an ordinary suburban environment suddenly pushes bile into my throat. She might be fae, but here and now, she's a mother with two daughters in the house who's had her life threatened. Portia's struggle to remain impassive and pretend she's coping remains clear. Ewan looks over and nods at me.

Joss steps through the door leading to the basement, answering my question over where he's been. He holds Portia's daughter in his strong arms, Kailey’s figure small against his large frame. The girl has hers wrapped around his neck, head on Joss's chest. He smiles his reassuring smile when he sees me, and warmth blooms inside at the care he's showing Kailey.

The little girl struggles from his arms and calls out when she sees her mum in the kitchen. Joss sets her gently on the floor.

"Good job on calming her down," I say. "She was screaming and terrified when Xander took me from the basement."

He chews on his lip. "I took her fear, Vee. I don't just starve people of positive emotions, but I take away negative too. You must've noticed me doing the same to you since you arrived at our house."

I blink at him. "What do you mean?"

"It strengthens me."

"By causing you to feel scared?"

He smiles wryly. "No. I don't feel the emotions, I just take them." My heart softens further as he looks to mum and daughter in the kitchen. "I hope she's okay."

I reach out and touch his cheek. "That was a beautiful thing to do."

"I did it because I could." He grips my fingers and a moment passes demonstrating what he described; my anxiety lowers, and I breathe slowly to help calm myself further. I want to stand here with him, stay calm, fuel the happiness I feel from being with him.

I want him to hold me and tell me none of this nightmare happened.

"Joss," says a voice.

He drops my hand as he looks over his shoulder at Heath. "Xander called for Portia's bodyguards, they're close by but oblivious to what happened."

"Shit." He elongates the word and my ebbing anxiety flows again.

"We need to go. I don't want to hang around to answer questions because her guys are pissed off. I don't think any encounter with them would end well."

"This is insane, Heath."

I don't miss them glance at me before looking back to each other. "Yeah, but when was life ever easy for us?"