“Wha—” I looked at Kellan, whose hand was outstretched toward us.

He rolled his eyes. “She would’ve alerted them if she hadn’t shut up. Take her out; get her in the car with Aumae. They’ll watch over her.”

“And how I’m supposed to do that? They can see me now.”

The window flew open behind me, and Kellan smirked. “Fly, Shay. Fly.”

I rolled my eyes, but bundled Gus in my arms and climbed onto the window’s frame. Perched there, I glanced back once and then jumped. I landed, smooth on my feet, and was across to the car in a hurry. The back door flung open, and Aumae held open her arms, a cloak over her and I placed Gus in her arms. As soon as she wrapped them around her, both of them were invisible to the human eye. I looked at Damien who still sat in the front seat. He stared back, unaffected. It was like we had gone to get groceries, and it irked me for some reason. It should’ve meant something to him.

“He’s going to need your help soon,” Damian spoke in a flat voice, watching over my shoulder.

I swallowed a harsh retort and hurried back. Instead of the front door, how we’d gone before, I circled back to Gus’ bedroom window. No light shone out of it, so I sucked in my breath and jumped back up. When I cleared the frame and landed on my feet beside the bed, I saw that Kellan wasn’t there.

In fact, he wasn’t anywhere. I left the room and searched the remaining ones on the floor, but nothing. Then, as I stood at the top of the stairs, Dylan, Leah, and Matt all stood at the bottom, conversing with each other.

“I don’t care what you guys think, something’s going on. Someone’s here.”

Dylan cursed under his breath.

“It can’t be Kellan and Shay, can it? We did the chanty thing and nothing happened. How can we not see them?” Leah’s voice went from excited to confused and ended with disappointment.

Dylan had been watching her as she spoke and then rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re excited to see the demon? That’s pathetic.”

“It’s not pathetic,” she cried out. “I used to have a relationship with him, and I can’t help that I still…”

Matt shuffled to the side, looking disgusted. “Still? You still have a thing for him?”

“But I want Shay dead. Isn’t that enough?”

Both guys snorted and looked away.

“What?”

“I’m going to check on Gus,” Dylan started to say as he turned to the stairs and then he looked up. His hand had been reaching for the hand rail and then he froze. His hand froze in mid-air as his eyes were locked on mine. “Holy—” As he cursed, he went pale.

I’d forgotten they could see me now. “Hi…”

Dylan threw something at me, and I sidestepped it as it soared over my shoulder and shattered behind me.

“Get down!” he yelled, turning away and throwing an arm over his eyes.

Matt and Leah did the same, but I stood, confused. And then a light exploded in the house, from behind me, and I turned in curiosity. What could produce such blinding light? It didn’t bother me, not at all. My eyes were able to see clearer and I bent to scoop up the broken pieces. It looked like a Christmas ornament, one that sparkled and illuminated. It was beautiful.

“What the…”

I turned, holding the ornament in my hands and saw Dylan’s mouth fell open.

The light started to fade, and he gaped at me, speechless.

“But…you’re…”

Matt growled, grabbing Leah’s hand, “I told you. Your stupid tricks won’t work on them. They’re too strong. Come on!”

He dragged Leah behind him to the back of the house. Dylan remained as I soared down the stairs toward him. He couldn’t seem to move, and he lifted a hand to me, pointing. “What are you? That should’ve—all demons are affected by that. That was some of the Holy Fire. It’s supposed to sear the skin off any demon, but you…you picked it up like it’s a toy.”

I balanced the broken ornament in my hand, rolling it around my opened palm.

“It’s very pretty. White mosaic?”

A gurgle left Dylan’s mouth as he stood, as white as the ornament in my hand.

Then my eyes snapped to his, cold. “What else does your grandmother have up her sleeve?”

Dylan didn’t answer. He turned and fled. Everything shifted in me when he took flight. A burst of pure energy rushed through me, spreading throughout my body from fingertip to my hair follicles, and I lifted off the ground in one movement. Soaring over him, I landed in front, stopping him and staring straight into his eyes.

He gasped, reeling backward. “Your eyes—they’re black, just black…”

“I know.” My voice was different, stronger. It sounded like it was coming from a well, an ancient well that was so deep and water was surging upward at an alarming speed. I didn’t know what it was, why my voice was like this, but I felt connected to every messenger that had died before me. They were with me in that moment.

“Demons don’t look like that. Their eyes are red, brown sometimes when you see their true form.” He kept inching backward.

“Are you trying to run away from me?” I glided after him, moving an inch to his inch. “Do you think you can escape me?”

As I watched him consider his options, run, fight, or surrender, I saw into him. There was a tiny speck of blackness in him. It had a ring of the same reddish brown that he just testified all demons have in their eyes. Dylan didn’t know it, but he was becoming part of a demon or a demon was becoming a part of him.