Chapter 24
CHAPTER
The air was too still when I woke.
For a second, I thought it was the silence that pulled me from sleep, but then I realised it wasn’t silence. It was absence. The usual sound of Ashley’s restless shifting, her low humming, and the occasional muttered curse in her sleep were all gone.
The coldness of dread crawled down my spine.
I pushed up from the ground, my jacket falling away.
Light filtered through cracks in the boards above, thin and grey, painting dust motes in the air like ash.
The others were scattered around the room, Lionel dozing off with his rifle across his lap, Nate propped against the wall, trying to look awake but failing miserably, Jaden snoring into his jacket.
Malakai’s red eyes flicked open instantly from across the room. He was always on guard, I wondered if he had actually slept or simply pretended as I had. He watched me with that unnerving calm of his, like he’d been waiting for this.
“You feel it too,” he said with a low voice.
The others stirred; Lionel rubbing sleep from his eyes, Eve already reaching for her rifle, Nate groaning as he pushed himself up on his ass, one hand pressed against his healing shoulder.
“Where’s Ash?” he mumbled.
“I was about to ask you that,” I snapped, my eyes locking with his, I could almost see the sleep still lingering in them.
“She wanted to take the last watch herself,” Nate said, frowning. “Maybe she just—”
“She wouldn’t just go,” I cut him off. The words came sharper than I meant them to. “Not here.”
“Yeah… You’re right,” Nate stilled, fear kicking in.
Outside, the village was deathly still. The fog had barely lifted from the night before, a layer of grey remaining, clinging to the bones of ruined houses.
The wind carried the scent of sulfur and something fouler, something that made the back of my throat burn.
Malakai rose to his feet, stretching with a predator’s ease. “We’ll find her,” he said, voice smooth but low. “Before something else does.”
I nodded, forcing my heartbeat to steady. “Pair up. Stay within sight of each other. If you sense anything, make yourselves heard.”
We spread out across the village, quiet but tense, weapons at the ready. Every crunch of sand beneath our boots sounded too loud. Every shadow looked too deep.
The longer we searched, the heavier the air grew. Even the fog felt alive now, curling around us in tendrils that whispered against the ground.
Where in the hells could she have gone? And without telling anyone?
Ashley wasn’t one to plan or think ahead of time, but she wouldn’t have run off by herself either. She knew better than to face danger alone.
Malakai climbed the roofs, they were barely holding, but he managed somehow. I stuck to the ground level of the same structures. Nate, Jaden and Faelin checked the other side of the street and Lionel and Eve kept watch in the open.
Luckily for us, the little village wasn’t large, there were many houses, but the space was cramped. After what felt like forever, I heard Nate’s voice, loud and urgent.
“Here! I found her!”
I didn’t wait for the others. My boots hit the sand hard as I ran, Malakai following close behind me.
Ashley stood near the broken remains of a fountain, hair tangled, dagger glinting faintly in her hand. She turned towards us, wild-eyed, shoulders heaving.
“Ashley?” I breathed, relief breaking through the tension, until I saw her face.
She wasn’t relieved to see me. She looked terrified.
“Stay back!” she shouted, spinning around with the blade raised.
Lionel froze mid-step. “Ashley, it’s us—”
“No, no it’s not!” Her voice broke. “You’re not them! You’re not!”
There were cuts through her leathers and dried blood on her cheek. What had happened to her!?
What had she fought?
Her gaze darted between us, panicked and unfocused. She stumbled backwards, clutching the knife like it was the only thing keeping her sane.
“You’re lucky I forgot my bomb satchel; I would’ve blasted those ugly grins off of your faces by now otherwise!”
What?
None of us were smiling.
Thank the Gods that she did indeed forget her explosives, or we would’ve already been pieces in the sand.
Malakai’s hand shot out in front of me as I started forward. “Something’s got her,” he said under his breath, eyes narrowing, the faint glow of his demonic eyes flickering. “Illusion. A strong one.”
My stomach turned cold. “Demon.”
She was muttering now, voice hoarse. “Weird… shouldn’t shapeshifters talk sweetly about undying friendship and stuff? Shit… You’re just trying to confuse me aren’t you? Demon bastards.”
“Ashley!” I stepped closer, ignoring Malakai’s warning growl. “Listen to me. It’s me, it’s Ethalyn, look at me.”
She hesitated, eyes sliding to me, but her grip of the dagger remained firm. For a heartbeat, I thought she saw me, then her eyes went blank again, and she lunged. “Stop playing with my head.”
The blade only grazed my arm before Malakai was there, catching her wrist and twisting it enough to make her drop the knife. He didn’t hurt her, only stopped her from cutting deeper, but his voice was low and cold. “Careful, firecracker. I won’t hold back if you hurt my kitten.”
“Oh, now that’s fucking rich, you even memorized how he’d protect her? Our nicknames?”
I could hear the pain in her voice now.
“Let her go,” I said, grabbing his wrist. “She doesn’t know what she’s doing!” Malakai released her and she quickly hunched and grabbed the blade, before backing away a few steps.
Eve stepped forward then, snapping, “For God’s sake, she’s lost it!”
Her tone was sharp, cruel from fear, and it made Ashley flinch like she’d been struck.
“Eve, enough!” Lionel barked, but the damage was done. Ashley’s confusion deepened, she looked from one of us to the next, now trembling, eyes filled with horror.
“Shit, they’re getting better at this,” she whispered. “Fucking shapeshifters, you’re all liars. Get your head straight, Ashley… They’re not your friends, they’re liars.”
Nate moved.
He walked towards her slowly, his usual grin gone. His voice was steady, quiet in the thick air.
“So stab me,” he said firmly.
Ashley blinked, stunned. “What?”
“You think I’m not real?” His tone didn’t waver. “Then prove it. Do it again, like last time, you didn’t hesitate then.”
Something flickered across her face, pain, shame. “Don’t… Don’t make me—”
“I’d rather bleed than see you like this,” he said softly, taking another step towards her. “So go on.”
She lifted the blade, her hand trembling violently, her breaths quickening. The tip pressed against his chest and then stopped.
Her breath hitched. “You sound like him,” she whispered. “Why do you sound just as stupid as him?”
“Because it is me,” Nate snapped. Then he leaned forward and kissed her.
It wasn’t gentle. It was desperate, raw, full of all the things he never said aloud.
For a moment, the world held its breath as the air around them shifted. The fog recoiled, hissing like steam. The pressure snapped, and Ashley gasped as though waking from a nightmare.
The dagger fell, landing with a soft thud.
Nate caught her as her knees gave out, pulling close with one arm despite the pain that must have coursed through his wounded shoulder.
“It’s okay,” he murmured, voice rough. “You’re back, you’re okay.”
She buried her face against his neck, hiding her fear from us. “They were everywhere, and I couldn’t find you guys… You were all gone and I was all alone.”
Malakai exhaled beside me, tension bleeding from his stance. “Clever man,” he muttered.
I pressed a hand against my arm where Ashley had nicked me, the blood warm and bright as my flames cleaned it. But I didn’t feel the sting. I just watched the two of them, my chest tight.
“Let’s get her out of here before the demon tries again,” I whispered.
Air rippled as if the world itself exhaled.
The fog, once a dull grey, pulsed crimson for a heartbeat before splintering apart. Malakai’s head snapped towards the movement at the far end of the square.
“It’s not gone,” he hissed. “It’s angry.”
The sand before us began splitting apart, like a sinkhole.
From the ground, something crawled out, tall, skin like red glass, veins glowing orange beneath the surface.
Horns curled back from its forehead, and when it smiled, the air shimmered with whispers and half-formed promises, sweet and poisonous.
A temptation demon.
Its voice slid through the air like silk. “So eager to fight, even after I offered her peace. Mortals are such loyal creatures.”
I felt the fire in me rise, answering its mockery. “You should’ve stayed away.”
It laughed. The sound crawled down my spine. “And miss the warmth of your thoughts, little fire? You burn so bright when you’re afraid.”
Before it could move, Malakai was already on it—fast, lethal.
His red threads swirling around him slashed against it, meeting infernal flesh.
The demon recoiled, hissing, and the world around us flickered again, half illusion, half real.
For a heartbeat, I saw dozens of demons closing in, their shapes twisting in the red mist.
“Don’t look!” Malakai shouted. “It will make it easier for it to uphold the illusion.”
I grounded myself, drew in a breath, and let the fire surge. Flames roared to life around my hands, washing the illusions away in bursts of light. The true demon screeched as the fire hit it.
Lionel and Eve took position, Eve’s rifle firing, the shot piercing into the demon’s shoulder, while Lionel’s second shot drove it back a step. Jaden raised a wall of mud to block its counterstrike, and Faelin swept her arms wide, conjuring a whirlwind around us.
Ashley, still shaken, crouched beside Nate. “I can help,” she rasped.
He gave her a faint smile. “Then help me aim.”
Out of his pocket he revealed one of her handmade bombs and together they hurled it forward. It struck true, exploding in a flare of orange flame that tore out a gaping hole in the demon’s chest.
It staggered, orange glow dimming. Malakai pointed his gun dead center and pulled the trigger. The demon screeched in response, the quartz burning into flesh, its color shifting into a dull grey.
“He won’t stop until he has the flame-wielder…”
The threat echoed around us before it collapsed into dust that smoldered briefly as the wind took it.
Silence settled again.
“He? Who’s looking for me?” I panted confused.
“You don’t happen to know any other fire admiring demons?” Jaden joked and I merely glared at him.
Malakai’s jaw ticked, once, twice.
Had the demon spoken of his father?
The scent of scorched air and blood clung to us.
Lionel finally lowered his rifle, scanning the empty ruins. “No more movement, we’re safe, for now.”
Eve brushed a few strands of hair back. “If there were others, they’re gone, considering our display.”
Malakai studied his gun before putting it back into his holster. “It was alone,” he said. “A scout, maybe, temptation demons don’t fight unless they have to. It was testing us.”
The words shook me.
Testing us, watching… It had been sent by someone who was looking for me.
I looked around the village, the half-collapsed houses, the dry fountain, the traces of claw marks along the stones. It didn’t feel empty.
Only quiet, as if the whole place was abandoned to simply play the part of a larger trap.
Jaden kicked at a pebble, forcing a grin that didn’t reach his eyes. “So, what now? We call it clear and get the hell out before something uglier crawls out of the dirt?”
I shook my head. “Not yet, if we leave now and there’s still something here, the reinforcements coming after us could walk into the same trap.”
Malakai glanced at me, a flicker of disapproval behind his red eyes. “You want to stay another night in this?”
“Yes,” I said firmly. “We sweep every corner, every cellar and every ruin. After that, we can leave with proof, not assumptions.”
He exhaled through his nose, but there was a faint curl of a smile. “Stubborn as ever.”
I met his gaze. “You wouldn’t love me otherwise.”
That earned a low chuckle from Nate, who was still sitting with Ashley beside the shattered fountain. She was pale, exhausted, but her eyes were clear again. “You’re really planning to sleep here again?” she asked, voice sharp.
“I don’t plan to sleep much,” I said. “We rotate watches and stick together. No wandering off.”
Lionel nodded. “Agreed. I’ll take first.”
Eve stepped beside him, tightening the strap of her rifle. “I’ll take it with you.”
He blinked at her but didn’t argue.
We gathered what we could, reset our perimeter around the least broken building near the square.
As we moved to search the area again, I caught a flicker of something, movement, far off near the edge of the fog. When I turned, there was nothing.
Only the wind whispering through the ruins.
Still, the unease wouldn’t leave me. Malakai noticed, he stepped close enough that I could feel the warmth radiating off him. “It’s dead,” he said softly. “Whatever’s left out there, it won’t come for us again.”
But the way his eyes flicked towards the fog said otherwise.
I forced a nod. “Let’s make sure of it.”