She willed herself to go faster, turning left when the road came to a ‘T’ and then ground to a halt as she took in the scene that unfolded before her. Sunny was shouting up at the sky—no, at the upper story of a building—where the nightdemon was clinging to the roof, nose burrowed into a window that wasn’t open but smashed in, several shards of glass still intact, giving it the appearance of having shimmering teeth that were closed around the monster’s throat.

The screams were coming from inside the window, but now abruptly ceased as the massive rodent dragged its snout back outside, something dangling from its maw. Not something, Soraya realized in horror. Someone. The someone’s legs flopped about as the nightdemon sprang from one roof to another, making off with its prize. It was a wonder that the nightdemon could even walk and climb with the chains and cinder blocks still attached to her, much less leap from one roof to the next, a testament to the godsblood-imbued strength flowing through her powerful form.

“Seela, please!” Sunny cried, and Soraya’s heart sank. Not only at the pleading in the woman’s tone, but also at the fact that her voice would carry to anyone who was scared and listening behind windows and doors, other townsfolk who would finally realize who had been behind the killings all this time. Even if they were able to capture Seela again, even if they were able to use godsblood or some other method to heal her, the villagers would come for her, seeking justice, and they wouldn’t be wrong to do so.

Maybe it was the ache in Sunny’s voice, or maybe it was a shred of the kind, good woman who was Seela still clinging to the nightdemon’s murderous mind, but the creature stopped to look down at them, golden eyes boring into the very fabric of the night itself. But then it hissed and leapt to the street, loping along with its leathery tail flicking behind it, dragging chains and cinder blocks scraping and crashing in its wake.

“No,” Sunny said, expression bent with despair as tears leaked from her eyes. “No, we can’t…there’s nothing…I don’t know what to…how to…”

Soraya recognized the same feeling of lostness in the woman that she’d felt herself not so long ago, so she took her into her arms and said, “It’s not over yet. As long as we can still pull air into our lungs, there’s a chance. Don’t give up on me. Now chin up, let’s go.”

The woman literally lifted her chin up, the steel returning to her eyes. She didn’t bother to wipe the tears from her eyes as she repeated Soraya’s words back to her. “Let’s go.”