Chapter 31 #2
For a split second, I wanted to follow—to throw myself over the railing after him.
But Rocco's arm locked around my waist, holding me back.
We didn't have wings. The courtyard was three stories down, and the Keep's magic was already dragging at us, weakening us with every passing minute.
A fall from this height could shatter bones that might not heal fast enough.
We'd have to find another way down.
A bitter wind slammed into him mid-flight—unnatural, vicious, shoving him sideways like a hand swatting a bird from the sky. Cruel laughter echoed from the walls. From the wind itself.
"No!" The word ripped from my throat. Lucien tumbled through the air, barely catching himself before he hit the ground. Vex was picking us off, one by one, turning the Keep itself into a weapon.
But the wind had hit Lucien—a powerful Golden Demon with a massive wingspan. Bats were smaller. Faster. Harder to hit. It was a gamble, but every second we spent finding stairs was a second Raven didn't have.
I looked at Rocco. He was already thinking the same thing.
We shifted into bats and followed, but it was like flying into a hurricane. The air fought us with every wingbeat, the courtyard spinning below us, the ground refusing to get closer.
I flapped harder and harder, determined to get to the door, but it was futile.
Lucien hurled himself against the chapel's barrier again and again — fists, shoulders, his whole body slamming into the invisible wall with a force that sent shockwaves rippling through the courtyard.
Then he screamed. Not rage — anguish. Raw and guttural, ripped from somewhere deep inside him.
The sound tore through the Keep, through the stone walls, through the barrier itself.
But then eerily, nothing.
Then a flash of golden wings outside the barrier — Darius, launching himself upward, slamming against the invisible wall. The barrier rippled where he hit it but held.
Seconds later, the wind died.
Not gradually — all at once, like someone had flipped a switch. The crushing resistance that had been dragging at us since we’d entered the Keep just stopped. The air went still. The laughter cut off mid-echo.
Three seconds. Maybe four.
We dove for the courtyard door.
I didn’t see what happened outside. But I felt it — a shudder through the barrier, a flicker in the air, and then the resistance slammed back into place twice as hard as before.
It had to be Rose and Alice. They were the only ones with any chance of weakening the barrier from the outside. But whatever they’d attempted, it hadn’t been enough.
Lucien, Rocco, and I dove toward the courtyard door. A gust of wind caught me mid-flight and hurled me sideways. I crashed into the stone wall beside the door, the impact jarring through my bones. I shifted back into human form and staggered, my shoulder screaming where it had taken the hit.
Rocco was beside me instantly, his hand clasping my arm. “Are you okay?”
I wasn’t. My shoulder throbbed and my vision blurred at the edges.
But the last thing I wanted was for Rocco to lose his mind over me when Vex might be behind this door.
His magic was suffocating. If Rocco charged in reckless, trying to protect me instead of thinking straight, Vex would destroy him.
So I lied. “Yes.”
Rocco's eyes narrowed. He didn't believe me — I could see it in the way his gaze dropped to my shoulder, the way his hand hovered near my arm without touching it. But he didn't push. There wasn't time. He filed it away the way he always did — another thing he'd blame himself for later.
Lucien pressed his palms flat against the door. “It’s cold. And it’s vibrating.” His voice dropped. “This is where he took her.”
My heart slammed against my ribs. Behind that door, Raven was either alive or she wasn't. And if she was, every second we stood out here debating was a second closer to midnight.
I couldn't beat Vex — I knew that. But I didn't need to beat him.
I just needed to get between him and Raven long enough for someone who could.
I'd done it once with the baby. I'd do it again.
Lucien and Rocco dug their fingers into the edge of the door and pulled.
The muscles in their arms corded. Sweat rolled down their faces.
The stone groaned, resisting them like something alive, then inched open — just enough for a slim body to slip through.
Not enough for either of them. Their shoulders were too broad, their frames too large.
But I could fit.
The realization hit all three of us at the same time.
“Selena, wait—“ Rocco’s voice was sharp, desperate.
But I was already through.
The door slammed shut behind me like a jaw snapping closed.
Total darkness. The air was thick, hot, reeking of sulfur. I spun around and pressed my hands against the door. Solid. Unmovable. On the other side, Rocco was screaming my name, his fists pounding against the stone.
Terror seized me — not of Vex, not of the dark, but of being cut off from Rocco.
The bond between us pulled taut like a wire about to snap.
Every cell in my body screamed to claw through the stone, to get back to him.
I was alone in a demon's lair with no magic, no backup, and a shoulder that barely worked.
But Raven was in here. And I was the only one who'd gotten through.
I turned slowly and looked down the stairwell.
Two golden eyes stared up at me from the darkness.
“Welcome, Selena.”