Theo bolted, grabbing his sword from the floor and whirling to face his demonic adversary, a hulking blond Atrika who looked like he enjoyed bone crunching as one of his hobbies.

The Atrika rushed him, gathering power, and Theo moved to the right, dodging a blast and cutting upward with his blade. He hit his objective, the demon’s thigh. The wound popped and snapped. Acidic blood dripped while the creature roared in pain. Apparently, this one hadn’t taken the caplium that would partially protect him from copper. That was cocky of the daaeman and very good news for Theo.

The daaeman recovered fast, though, and lunged at him, catching Theo around the waist with a roar and whirling him around to crash into the wall. A hard wave of pain slammed through Theo’s body. The demon’s acidic blood dripped onto Theo’s thigh and made him bellow. Burning agony sank deep into his skin.

Gripping the sword’s handle tightly, he brought it up and slammed it into the side of the demon’s head. The Atrika released him and turned away, staggering. Theo slumped to the floor for a moment, then forced himself back up to fight again.

Magick rose fast and hard and Theo moved to the side, avoiding the bolt that followed. It burned a hole in the wall right where he’d been standing a moment before.

Theo turned and slashed with his blade, only narrowly missing the head of the daaeman. Before Theo could even take another breath, the daaeman hefted him up with two hands and held him over his head like he weighed nothing.

Stefan sprawled on the steps with a grin on his face as the Atrika tried to snap Theo in two like a dry branch. Theo’s spine cracked and he bellowed from the sharp wave of pain.

Gods, Sarafina. He should have told her how he felt about her when he had the chance.

Then the thought was gone, replaced by a red haze of pain as the Atrika broke him in half.

BAI CAUGHT HER IN THE WOODS. HE FELL ON TOP OF her, rolling her into the leaves underneath a tall pine tree. The needles stuck into her skin, but it was only a breath of annoyance compared to the enraged, red-eyed Atrika pinning her down.

How could she possibly hope to defeat a being that had the capacity to bend space and time? She didn’t have a prayer.

Pushing that negative thought from her mind with a healthy dose of rage, she fought him like she imagined any bar brawler would do—throwing punches, kicking, screaming. She figured she was pretty safe. After all, he wasn’t going to damage his future children’s mother, right?

His hands clamped down on her upper arms and his huge body weighted hers into stillness. “Stop.” He growled. “Don’t force me to do something I will regret.”