They tried to go a roundabout way, away from the bodies. It was hard. Twice, they got caught in dead ends and had to double back. Once, they realized that the path was curving along the other side of the mountain. They ran into six separate squads, two of them with seeing scripts that saw right through them. Yena eviscerated both magic users into shuddering clumps of bloody, broken armor.

When they finally did find a proper, out of the way path, tracing their way back toward the gate by trial and error, it turned out that all their efforts had been useless.

Grobitzsnak was still in the hallway in front of the gate, doing something with the bird.

“Fuck.” Catrin put extra emphasis into the swear, biting her teeth together to keep herself from screaming her rage. “Elrya’s holy tit, can’t we just get one break?”

Technically, the gods had already been kind to them. They had found their charges relatively unharmed, acquired both a book and an orb of destruction, and were all still alive and in one piece.

But, with the sight of Grobitzsnak in the other hallway, bent over, doing something with the bird’s corpse, and the sight of the ornate gate-room doors so tantalizingly out of reach not far behind him, she felt the gods would permit the blasphemy.

“Gods fucking damn it all,” she hissed, pacing away from the corner to a place out of Grobitzsnak’s earshot, teeth bared at the rest of the world. “Gods fucking damn it!”

“Let me guess,” Doneil said dryly. “He’s still there.”

“Yes.” She took a breath, lip curling. “And he doesn’t look like he’s moving.”

And she highly doubted the glamour would fool him a second time. Not after a battle with his magic still loose and active.

By the looks on the fey’s faces, they didn’t think so, either.

“We could fight him.” Yena bared her teeth. “I bet I could win.”

“You need to get on the other side of him.” Her gaze snapped up. “Caracel, please tell her. Either we leave this mountain and find another gate, or you two need to do your damnedest to get on his other side.”

Caracel said nothing. Instead, his vision was half-focused, contemplating something.

She rolled her eyes at the ceiling.

Great. Thanks for that.

Yena’s jaw muscles rippled in her cheeks. She stared at the end of the hall, dead-eyed and intent. Her fingers tensed into claws at her sides.

She still wanted to kill Grobitzsnak. Catrin could feel it.

“I think we should leave,” Catrin said. “It’s the safest option—for everyone. Pemberlin would be delighted to house you. We can find another gate. You will be delayed, but you will be alive.”

“We don’t even know if the other gates are still working,” Yena said. “This one could just be a fluke!”

“And, chances are, they could be just fine. Hells, I bet your people and the goblins are working on a solution right now.” She cringed at linking the two races in a single sentence—the fey did not like the goblins—but they were the ones who, historically, operated and maintained the gates.

Yena’s gaze was sharp, angry. “You want to kill him, too. Don’t even deny it, rnari.”

She let out a frustrated breath. Her mind flicked back, remembering how Yena had crunched the Void Wraith to the wall. How, with the power of the orb, she had exploded body with barely a thought.

“If we don’t kill him, hundreds will die.” Nales’ fingers flexed, and he rubbed the inside of his forearm where the tendons sat. Like Caracel, his gaze was unfocused but pointed toward the corner, brows furrowed in deep focus. “Even without the orb, he still has an army. He won’t be able to corrupt a ley vein, but he won’t be an easy take-down. He’ll hit Brighton first, use the population to feed his army. His demons would spread to the surrounding farmland. Pemberlin would be next.”

Catrin settled him with a dead-eyed look. “And if we fail, that will still happen and he could then use us to make it happen.”

“If it could prevent hundreds from dying, it is worth it.”

She shook her head. “If we get out, we can send someone ahead to warn them.”

“It wouldn’t be much warning. Grobitzsnak was planning to attack tomorrow.”

She bowed her head and rubbed at her temples.

Doesn’t this demon need to sleep? Suns. And why is he so hell-bent on attacking?

Who knew? Maybe that’s just what demons did. Or maybe their world was just that much better than the demons’, and he wasn’t wasting his chance.

Fuck.

“You really think you could take him?” she asked Yena.

The fey hesitated. “Yes. Probably.”

Catrin didn’t say anything for a long moment.

In the other hall, magic pulsed. Big enough to shake the air like a drum. They all flinched.

A sound followed, wet and sharp. She heard him shuffle. Heard him heave the bird around.

He was strong. His magic felt old. Powerful.

He was also alone. And potentially worn from the battle he’d fought—she doubted Franas had been a pushover.

She bowed her head and pushed the pads of her fingers into her temple again.

Gods, I am not actually considering this, am I?

“This is a terrible idea.” She heaved a sigh and turned to Yena. “How long would it take you to open the gate?”

“A minute, maybe two. It depends on what state it’s in. The last time, it was very slow.” Yena paused, her eyes flicking up to Catrin. “Are you really considering this?”

“Like Doneil said, us upper level rnari are a notoriously suicidal lot.” She laced her tone with sarcasm. “Are you sure you can open it?”

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“Yes.”

That, at least, would give her a connection to Kodanh.

“Fine. Let’s do this. But I want you on his other side before you attack. If we distract him, can you get around?”

She had no idea how the fey’s glamour worked—considering the power fluctuating from around the corner, she had her doubts—but he hadn’t seen her earlier, and both Yena and Caracel were nodding.

“Good. Make sure you’re on the other side. Retreat into the gate if you have to.” She had no idea how she had become the ringleader of everything, but Caracel was nodding.

“We will.”

Quiet descended around the corner, but Grobitzsnak was still doing something. She felt it, like scratching at the marrow of her bones. She rolled her shoulders and took a few silent steps away from the group, listening.

Was he going to move?

The group fell dead silent as a scraping sound started, and the flutter of butterfly wings tickled the inside of her abdomen. She thought of the one that had been in the kitchen, recklessly tumbling its flight across the stone arch of the oven. The heat in the air as she’d taken it into the safety of her caged fingers and let it go outside.

She waited, still as ice, holding her breath.

All at once, the magic heaved and let go with a shock that made the air shudder. Some of it whipped through the floor, snapping at her feet.

She shot back—too late.

He’d sensed her.

The scraping sound stopped. A dreadful, thick quiet fell through the hall. Every inch of her froze.

“I know you’re there. Come on out. Let me see who has been crawling through my halls.”

The tone was toying, the words in Janessi. Either he already had a good idea of who might be crawling through his halls, or the touch of magic had given him a little extra insight.

Fuck.

“Get that gate open. I’m going to need it. When we start fighting, try to get around us. Don’t hit him with anything until you get on the other side.” She glanced behind Yena. “Doneil, you and Matteo stay here. Watch our backs for the undead horde.”

She took a shuddering breath, trying to calm the shake of her throat, and swallowed back a lump of fear. Her heart was pounding. “Nales, with me. We’re the distraction.”

The prince nodded, drew his sword. “He likes to play with his food.”

“Good.” She grunted, drawing her own blades. “Because I’d hate to have him wipe the floor with me before the gate is open.”

Her entire body shook.

Bright tits, this is a bad idea.

Before she could think better of it, she rolled her shoulders, whispered a quick prayer, and strode boldly into sight.

Grobitzsnak’s stare hit her like a brick wall. She stiffened as the air seemed to thicken around her, flashing back to the beat of his power in the forest. He was more at home here in his castle of stone. The very walls seemed to hum and shift around him.

It took everything she had not to balk. Instead, she held her shoulders back and met his stare, direct and unflinching, her face a mask of steel.

“You,” he said. “The rnari warrior.”

His voice was bemused, but an uptick of surprise quilted its edge.

He hadn’t expected her. Interesting. Though she did not like the way his tone had turned thoughtful at the end. He’d said her title like weighing a measurement.

She took a smooth, calm breath and flicked her gaze over him, letting her lip curl. Slowly, she leaned her weight onto her right hip. A relaxed gesture.

“Yes,” she said. “Me.”

Nales stepped up two paces to her right. The demon’s gaze flickered his way, lingering. The ghost of a smile touched his lips.

No. She definitely did not like this. Any of this.

What in the ten hells are we doing?

The demon shifted. Slowly, deliberately, he dropped down from where he’d been standing on top of the bird. Magic raced through the air. She tensed as some of it hit her, but it was only a feeling spell. Latent, testing. Like the flicker of a snake’s tongue. Each step he took felt like a hammer.

She clenched her grip tight on her blades, then relaxed it, watching him.

He moved like someone who had all the time in the world—as if he controlled every facet of the confrontation and could bat them aside like flies. His power quickened the air, made it shift and flex, to thicken like syrup.

But he also moved like a predator.

She pinned it down, watching him advance. It was subtle, but it underlaid nearly everything he did, from the smooth glide of his gait to the casual way he flexed his clawed fingers.

Very deliberately, she let herself shudder.

His gaze snapped to the weakness. The air thickened, energy spiking as the movement attracted him. He pierced her with a sharp, narrow focus.

She let out a slow breath, her mind racing. She could use that—but how? They needed to start the fight before that gate opened, then distract him from noticing the fey, which meant they needed to start the fight soon.

But they couldn’t attack him yet. He was too smart. Would likely suspect something.

Plus, she didn’t want to get her ass kicked too quickly.

He paused, ten paces out. His arms folded across his chest, one finger tapping at the bottom of his bicep.

“True coincidences are rare things,” he mused aloud, his voice light and even. His considering gaze flicked over them again. It settled on her. She was closer, a greater unknown. He’d already beaten Nales. “Did you let the ancient one out?”

Did he mean the bird? Franas?

She grunted. “It was a joint effort.”

Hopefully, he wouldn’t think too hard about his other escaped prisoner. Hopefully, he didn’t yet know that they’d escaped—though she highly doubted it. He’d already said he didn’t believe in coincidences.

“I see.” Once again, his gaze flickered over Nales. It lingered this time. “Where is the orb?”

“Not here,” she said.

Technically not a lie. She didn’t have it on her person. And if he couldn’t sense that, he wouldn’t sense it on Yena around the corner, either.

If he had, this conversation would already be over.

Nales spoke, his tone lilting and ambient. Light. “If you hurry, you might be able to catch it before it walks out your front door.”

The demon stilled. Suddenly, Nales had his full attention. She felt it in the air, like a fire. Every atom of air seemed to stop at once.

Silently, she rejoiced.

Thank the gods he can lie better than I can.

“Ah,” the demon said, realization sinking in. “You mean to challenge me.”

“Oh, yes.” Nales swung his sword, light and nimble, a simple rotation. “I have a few hits to repay you for.”

His voice was ready. Eager.

The demon chuckled. “You have no magic to speak of. This won’t be much of a fight.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Her gait slid forward in the slow, smooth stalk of an assassin. She shifted her grip on her blades and allowed a slow smile to tighten the edges of her lips. “Give me five years, and I could grow a nice little line of dogwoods for your front lobby.”

She grimaced inwardly at the awkward line, but she had other things to think about. In her head, she calculated. Long legs, long arms—he’d have a large reach. She didn’t see a blade on him, but his clawed fingers had mean-looking business ends. He’d attack like a bear, or an upright mountain lion. Quick, fast lunges, try to grab her. Pound into her with his magic.

She breathed out, a shivery feeling running through her, aware of Nales to her left. Everything sharpened around her as years of rnari training kicked in.

Slowly, she lifted her blade, never taking her eyes from his. “I’ve been wondering—is there an actual eye behind that mask, or will my blades just sink into shadow when I break your skull?”

He growled, took a step forward—an instinctual movement, a predatory urge to answer a challenge, and one she had been counting on. His growl ripped through the air.

“Why don’t you come here and find out, rnari?”

Magic crackled to life, hot and raging, thick as a blade. Her instincts screamed. She jumped, landed in a roll, just as her training had taught her, and lunged straight at his face.

The rnari valued speed and strength, in that order. Accuracy was second nature. She had one lucid, satisfying moment when the snarl under his mask switched to a start of shock and surprise.

Then, magic crushed her.