His face broke into a beaming smile. “Well, there you are, old friend.”

Chapter Thirty-One

We flew back to the ledge where Keon promptly passed out. His body was a mess of wounds that would take time to heal. The furs we wore were wet and matted with his blood but mostly intact.

“What just happened?” Mal asked me.

I could make out his face clearly with my super night vision—stunned, concerned, kind of wary.

“You were on…fire.”

“I don’t know.” I flexed my hand. The scythe-turned-sword was gone. “I’ve never felt anything like it before.”

“They call it the righteous blaze,” Samael said with a wry smile. “And it used to be mine. But when I fell, I lost touch with that part of me. It seems that when Eve and I created you, the ability passed to you.”

“But why now? I mean I’ve been in pretty dicey situations before where this power could have come in useful.”

“The power of the Lightbringer can burn a celestial to ash. Maybe you weren’t strong enough then.” His expression was concerned. “You must be careful. The power is celestial, and although you’re my daughter, you were born of a mortal womb and this power… It could burn you up.”

“Don’t use it,” Mal said. “If it can hurt you, please.”

“I don’t even know how I accessed it this time.”

“Your righteous rage,” Samael said. “At an injustice.”

I’d been pissed at them for leaving Keon to die but coming after me. I’d been angry at the double standard and the fact they thought of him as lesser.

“You were angry at us.” Azazel looked devastated.

I shook my head and dropped my gaze. “You would have let him die.”

“We came here for Lilith,” Azazel said. “Going after him could have cost us all our lives.”

“And yet you came after me.” I met his gaze now, defiant and challenging. “You would have lost your life for me and doomed Lilith in the process.”

His jaw worked as if he was looking for words, an explanation, an excuse, and then his shoulders drooped. “I’d walk through fire for you, Fee.”

Mal made a sound of exasperation and threw up his hands. “What do you expect us to do? We fucking love you. Coming after you was instinct.”

They both stopped talking and exchanged glances as if a thought had occurred to them.

“What?”

“Just like it was instinct for you to go after Keon,” Azazel said tightly.

Fuck this. “Going after Keon was the right thing to do. He doesn’t deserve to die. We’re a fucking team, and he matters, and yes, I care about him, okay?”

There was silence in which we all stared at each other, suddenly deflated and empty.

I covered my face. “I couldn’t let him die.”

Azazel sighed and pulled me into his arms. “I know, Fee. That isn’t who you are.”

I hugged him back, revelling in the steady thud of his heartbeat.

“You’re also forgetting something important,” Samael said. “You’re the only one who can open the fortress doors.”

Mal nudged Azazel. “We should have gone with that excuse.”

“We need to get moving,” Samael said. “We can take turns carrying the daemon.”

Azazel pulled Keon into a fireman’s lift. “Are there more of those things?”

“This was the epicenter of their habitat,” Samael said. “The nest. I think we’ll be safe.”

“Then let’s get the fuck out of here,” Mal said.

Azazel and Mal took turns carrying Keon. The tunnels were gray now and a cutting breeze filled them telling me that we were almost out of the network. About time, because it felt like we’d been walking forever.

We took a right, and the tunnel widened significantly, allowing me to walk abreast of Samael.

He looked down at me with a smile. “Are you ready for what we might face in the fortress?”

“Four against goodness knows how many?” I shrugged. “Sure.”

He chuckled. “Keon will be healed soon. We will employ stealth.”

Red light bathed the floor of the tunnel, and we settled into an incline. The exit was visible a few meters ahead, and my heart lifted. I don’t know why, because we were probably headed straight out of the frying pan and into the fire, but tunnels were now on my to avoid list, along with alleyways.

Keon groaned. “I can walk.”

I looked over my shoulder to see Azazel set him down. Keon swayed and clutched his head and then his cat’s eyes widened, and his gaze zeroed in on me.

“Are you insane?” he snapped. “You should have let me die.”

He brushed past me and clambered up the incline and out of the aperture.

So much for gratitude.

Keon didn’t say more than two words to me as we made our way across the pit on the final stretch our journey, past an area riddled with geysers that expelled lethally cold air that could freeze a demon in place. Samael navigated it all in expert fashion, leading us through the danger.

“How can you remember all this?” Azazel asked.

“I’ve always had an exceptional memory,” Samael said. His mouth turned down.

“Which is why the past few centuries have been so very difficult.” The terrain either side of us was rockier than before, rising up in icy mounds dotted with stalagmites, and Samael slowed his pace, digging in his heels. “The fortress comes into view beyond the rise,” he said. “There may be lookouts on the parapets. Stay here while I run an ariel sweep.”

“Wait.” I grabbed his hand. “You’re going to fly up there?” I pointed at the tumultuous sky saturated with toxins. “You said it was too dangerous. You said even the tincture wouldn’t provide enough protection.”

He cupped my face and peered down at me with warmth in his mercury eyes. “I will be fine child. I’ll hold my breath and be swift. Wait here.”

I wanted to protest, to make another grab for him but Azazel drew me away as Samael took two steps back and then rocketed up into the lethal atmosphere.

“He’ll be fine,” Keon said.

The first words he’d spoken to me since berating me for saving his ass.

I glared at him. “Don’t speak to me, you ungrateful sod.”

Mal snort-laughed, but Azazel’s expression was stern.

“You have issues, Keon,” he said. “I get that. But Fee saved your life.”

Keon snarled and bared his fangs. “And could have died in the process.”

He was angry that I’d put my life at risk. Angry because he cared. And just like that my ire melted.

I sighed. “You would have done the same for any of us.”

He shook his head. “No. Not for just any of you.” His cat’s eyes locked on mine intensely for a moment before he dropped his gaze. “Samael will be fine.”

He was brushing his comment aside, the fact that he would save me above all others if given the choice.

Choice.

Something that would soon be taken from him.

Saving Lilith would put him back in a box. Still, here he was. Willing to save the woman who birthed him then turned him into a puppet. Willing to be her saviour and become her slave once again.

I couldn’t let that slide. I wouldn’t. I’d free Keon. I’d find a way.

Wings beat the air, and Samael landed in the same spot he’d rocketed away from.

He stood, hand on his chest, taking deep breaths. “The air is poison,” he said. “I could feel it sipping at my skin.” He took a couple more breaths then straightened. “The parapets are empty. There are no lookouts. In fact, the fortress looks deserted.”

Why did he sound worried “But that’s good, right?”

“Looks can be deceiving,” Samael said. “Stay on your guard. We can use the rocky ridge as cover. It’ll get us close enough to the fortress to make a run for the entrance. There are no sentries visible, the courtyards are empty too, but we can’t take anything for granted.”

It took less than ten minutes to get to the fortress, an obsidian monolith planted smack bang in the middle of an icy wasteland. With the red sky above, the scene looked like something out of a horror fantasy and we were about to go inside.

Samael led the charge across the open land toward the fortress. I expected arrows to fly at us, for guards to charge out of hidden doors, but nothing happened. We hit the steps to the entrance, huge, wide slabs of stone that led to a door that was fit for a giant. A smaller door was cut into it and this was where Samael led us.

He pulled a dagger from a holster at his waist. “Are you ready, blossom?”

I held out my hand. The dagger was so sharp I barely felt its bite and them my palm burned as blood welled along the cut.

“Press it to the door,” Samael instructed.

I did as he bade me. For a moment nothing happened, and my stomach flipped with apprehension, but then there was a soft crackling sound. My palm tingled, and with an ominous click the door swung inward.

Keon slipped forward. “Wait here,” he said.

And then he was gone.

“What now?” Mal asked.

“Now, we wait,” Samael said.

I stared into the darkness beyond the door. Please be safe Keon. Please be safe.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Cora

We land in the foyer of the Keep, smack bang in the middle of a troop of demon guards. For a moment nobody moves, and then it’s weapons central as every blade in the vicinity is trained on us.

Grayson and Hunter break into menacing growls.

“Not helping guys!” I hold up my hands. “We come in peace. We’re not the enemy. We’re friends of the Dominus.”

“You smell wrong,” one of the guards wearing a blue jacket says. “You’re no demon.”

They close in on us.

“Never said I was.” I keep my voice even because I’m not entirely sure I can jump out of this situation in time to avoid getting stabbed. My power is super glitchy here, and attacking the guards goes against the whole we come in peace speech. “I’m Seraphina Dawn’s best friend, and these are her Loup mates.”