“Valec.” I groan.

“Bree.” He grins.

“What are you doing here?” Sel steps in front of me, and Valec and I both roll our eyes.

The afternoon light finds all of the shadows and planes of Valec’s face, the outline of his fangs as he smiles, the deep red of his cravat and vest. “It’s nice to see you, too, Selwyn.”

“How did you find us?” Sel snaps.

“Mariah called me from Hazel’s. Said you’d gone off in a rush.” He stuffs both hands in his pockets. “Imagine my surprise when I’m in the middle of restocking the bar and a wave of your power”—he points at my chest—“hits the Lounge like the blast radius from a nuclear bomb. Whatever you did put two of my waitstaff on the floor, and they still haven’t woken up.”

“My—” I start, then close my mouth. Sel glances at me and curses, wiping his hand over his mouth.

Valec watches the two of us. “Something happen here?”

I nod. “Erebus attacked us.”

Valec’s brows shoot up. “That old goat. I hope he was extremely, intimately close to that blast you let off. Please tell me he’s dead.”

I shake my head. “Not dead. Burned, apparently.”

“Yes,” Sel says, sharpening. He grabs my hand. “We need to keep going. Get as much distance between us and the Mageguard as possible.”

“Them and everyone else,” Valec mutters.

Sel pauses. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Valec curses. “I knew it. I knew neither of you would realize what you’ve done. Hades, I hate being right.”

“Speak plainly, trickster,” Sel growls.

Valec points to me. “You, my dear, set off an aether bomb that reached my bar all the way in the hills. If I felt it, so did every Shadowborn or Shadowborn-adjacent creature in the Southeast. You’re lucky I found you first. That much power? Any hungry demon worth their salt is going to be looking for its source. Forget Erebus, you need to clear out before you get cornered by a pack of isels hoping to go corporeal in a jiffy.”

Sel goes still beside me. “That much power could help dozens of demons go corp.”

“Hundreds,” Valec adds. “And even a fully corporeal demon will want to know where that wave came from.” He shivers. “It felt like… rage and pain and chaos. The good stuff.”

“We gotta go.” Sel pulls me onto his back.

Valec sighs. “That’s what I’ve been saying. And not just right now.” He points at me. “You need to get to Volition before you set off another one of those root bombs.”

Sel starts to jog. “I hear a road that way. We can get a ride, maybe—”