The one on the right grabbed Jared while the other took my shirt in one hand, and slammed my back against the opposite wall.

“Hey!” Kim yelled from the mouth of the stairway. “Get the hell out of here!” Even though the monsters stood two heads taller than her, she didn’t seem nervous in the slightest. The demons wailed at her, shielding themselves with their shoulders, but they didn’t retreat.

The demon that Jared fought barked at the black-eyed minions filing into the room, and before anyone could react, a half-dozen of the shells dove at Kim, pushing her down the stairway. Her scream faded as she rolled further underground.

Bex leapt in after her, and Claire and Ryan went to work on Jared’s demon.

I tried to rip my shirt to escape the grip of the brute, but his hands were gigantic, and I couldn’t break free. A shell in military fatigues slipped into the room, walked to me without hesitation, and held a pistol to my temple.

The demon holding me signaled his partner, capturing Jared, Claire and Ryan’s attention as well. In a move so fast I could barely follow, Jared pulled his sidearm from his belt and held it on the shell. The entire room froze.

“Don’t. Move,” Jared said.

I nodded. I was sure he was furious with me. His eyes glossed over, and his teeth clenched.

The shell spoke. “We’re taking her out of this place. Do not follow, or we’ll cut the child from her in the street.”

Jared held his gun on the shell, his entire body shaking with rage. Finally he lowered his weapon a little. “I love you,” he said, immediately tensing his arms again.

I smiled. “It’s okay. You’ll just save me like you always do, right?”

“Right. Just wait for me.”

“I’ll wait for you,” I said.

Hesitant, and clearly conflicted, Jared lowered his weapon. In the next moment, I was dragged backward with such force I felt I was flying. The rooms of the Sepulchre flew past, and then I was in the sunlight. The streets blurred as the demon raced me through the old city. A few minuts later, I was dragged into an old building.

The fiend tossed me, and I skidded to the middle of a room. At first glance, the room was a filthy mess, and then I realized the pile of sheets was a provisional bed. No medical supplies or baby blankets.

“What will you do to him?” I asked, hesitant to make eye contact with the rotting pile of flesh standing at the door.

“He waits to devour him.”