She winced as pain registered in her chest—a long, slow rip followed by a lingering throb. Her eyelids fluttered open and she saw Thomas’s head blocking the stars. Ignoring the pain, she focused on the important thing. “Thomas, you’re okay.”

“So is Adam. Shields kept us alive, but not conscious. We’ve all been out for a while.”

“Boyle’s gone,” she whispered. “How’s the child?”

“She’s fine, the woman and the non-magickal male are also okay, if a little beat up and upset.”

Movement caught her eye on her right side. “Hey, champ,” said Adam, limping toward them. “Just can’t manage to keep your shirt on, can you?”

She raised her right hand. She hadn’t lost her death grip on the knife’s handle even in unconsciousness. The blade was bloody and rusted in places and the material of the shirt she’d used as a hand guard was crispy and eaten away.

“I don’t think it likes copper,” she said, a wide smile spreading over her mouth despite the pain burning like bonfire in the center of her chest.

They were going to make that demon pay.

“COPPER,” MUTTERED MICAH, FROWNING AS HE RAN his finger down a page of printed text. “Copper…Oh, yeah, here it is.” He mumbled to himself for a moment while Thomas shifted impatiently.

“Demons are greatly injured by copper weaponry and have difficulty healing wounds inflicted thusly,” Micah read. “Copper is also known to cause a weakening of the beast’s overall magickal structure and an allergic reaction in the physical structure.” He looked up from the text with raised eyebrows. “Huh.”

“Huh?” Thomas glowered. “We were nearly killed out there. That information would have been useful, Micah.”

His cousin spread his hands, indicating the pages and pages of paper strewn across his desk. “I’m going as quickly as I can here, boss. You rushed off so fast after that lead on Alexander I hadn’t even had a chance to download all the documents yet.” He passed a hand over his tired-looking face. Thomas noted Micah’s eyes were bloodshot and he had five o’clock shadow.

“So no other metals, just copper?”

Micah nodded. “Apparently. I’ll keep looking for more information, but you have to know that some of it was corrupted. There are pages missing and—”

“Tell me what else you’ve found out.”

His face instantly lit up. “There’s lots of information here about their world. They reign supreme in their reality, having exterminated all other races. They’re cannibalistic, too.”

“Lovely.”