We reached the third floor, and Eve opened the door. Garreth slipped through and approached a heavy metal door at the far end.

He shifted back to human just long enough to press his hand to the door. Magic sparked, and it unlocked.

“Let us go first,” he told Eve.

She nodded, and he shifted back, joining me. Eve stepped to the side and pushed open the door, allowing us to enter.

We charged through, side by side. Delight shot through me, my beast enjoying his freedom. It wasn’t often he was allowed to rampage like this.

Upon entering, it took half a second to catalogue the scene. A large, rectangular room, two of the walls covered by hundreds of dials and gages that hadn’t worked for years. Several bulky desks marched down the room, facing the control panels.

Half a dozen guards lounged in the room. Demons again, the same species as before. For the briefest second, no one moved. Then they leapt up, drawing their weapons.

I charged toward the closest one, a growl reverberating in my throat. He slashed out with his blade, but I dodged it before sinking my teeth into his arm and shaking him until he dropped it. He howled, thrashing, and I dragged him to the ground before tearing out his throat.

On the other side of the room, Garreth did the same. Eve had her potion bombs ready, and she took out two guards in quick succession. Her aim was perfect, her speed deadly.

I left the guard where he lay and charged toward another. He, too, held a knife, and he got lucky, delivering a shallow cut to my shoulder. It should have burned, but my wolf was too consumed by the fight to notice. I leapt on his chest and tore out his throat, then left him in a heap.

When the guards were all down, Eve raced to the door. She dug through her potion bag and drew out a pot of liquid along with a brush. Quickly, she painted the substance on the edges of the door. As she worked, the metal glowed briefly before fusing with the wall.

There was no longer any door at all—just a solid wall that our enemies would have to break through.

Garreth and I shifted back to human form, and he went to the massive safe that had been built into the wall behind the control panels. “I don’t have access to this, of course,” he said. “Did Eve come prepared?”

“I did.” She hurried over, digging through her bag. “Brought a few things I hope will work.”

This was the most difficult part of our plan. Garreth hadn’t known what spells the Maker used to seal his safe, so we’d had to guess.

Fortunately, Eve was the best at what she did.

She stepped up to the silver dial and splashed it with a bit of the potion contained in a little silver vial. The metal sizzled and sparked, and she nodded at me. “Try it.”

I gripped the handle and pulled.

Nothing happened.

Shit.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I’ll try something else.” She pulled out another vial and tried again. It, too, didn’t work.

“Hurry,” Garreth said. “He’ll be coming.”

She nodded, hands shaking slightly as she dug through her bag for another option. The seconds passed as she tried to unlock the door for the third time.

Still no success.

“I’ve got one more,” she said, her voice worried. “But the Maker has such powerful magic.”

“Try it,” I said.

A noise sounded from outside in the hall, and I strode toward the door that she had barricaded.

“I’ll be quick.” She splashed her potion on the dial, her face tight.

I listened at the door as she worked, trying to get a feel for how many were lurking on the other side. More than a dozen now. Too many. We were going to have to abandon this soon.

Without warning, the door exploded inward, propelled by such a powerful blast of magic that the noise deafened me and made me temporarily blind. Something heavy slammed into me and knocked me to the ground—the door. Head spinning, I tried to climb to my feet. My vision was still blurry, and my head rang.

When strong hands gripped my arms, I thrashed, but there were too many of them. Three demons had me in their grip. I didn’t stop fighting, but there was no breaking free.

The Maker stood in the rubble of the doorway, staring at us, as his guards charged inside.

Panic flared.

Eve.

I looked at Garreth. “Get her out of here!”

“Not without you!” Eve shouted.

But the guards were almost upon her, so many that they’d overpower her in seconds. And the Maker was here.

A tortured look of despair flashed on Garreth’s face as he looked at me, but he knew I was a lost cause, just as I did. The most I could do was distract them while he got Eve to safety.

With a last surge of strength, I broke free of my captors and threw myself between Eve and the guards who charged toward her, blocking their way. Out of the corner of my vision, I spotted Garreth drag Eve into a transport charm and disappear.

Safe.

She was safe.

I pulled back from the fight, then turned to glare at the Maker. “It looks like it’s just you and me.”

18

Eve

 

* * *

 

The ether sucked me through space as panic clawed inside my chest.

Lachlan.

We left him behind.

Horror froze my blood. Garreth had dragged me out of there without fighting for Lachlan. We’d just left him.

The ether spit me out in the courtyard in front of the Shadow Guild tower, and I stumbled, nearly going to my knees. When I gained control, I spun toward Garreth.

“Why the hell did you do that?” I demanded. “We just left him!”

“We had to.” His eyes were shadowed with worry, but it didn’t make me feel much better. “There were too many of them. He wanted you safe, and it was his choice.”

“Damn it, what about my choice?”

“He’s my brother.”

Shit. I couldn’t fight that kind of loyalty. “We need to go back and get him.”

“We will.”

“Now.”

“Not until we have a plan. Backup.”

As much as I hated it, he was right. “What will the Maker do to him?”

Garreth dragged a frustrated hand through his hair and spun around, beginning to pace. “I don’t know. He’s not part of the Maker’s plan, as far as I know, so he’ll probably use him as bait.”

That made sense. “Why does the Maker want me?”

“I don’t know what his final plan is, but he wants you to transition.”

“As I thought.”

“What’s going on?” Carrow called. I turned to see her step out of the main door, a frown on her face. “Where’s Lachlan?”

“We had to leave him.” Suddenly, I hated Garreth’s previous plan for stealth. He’d said we should go in a small group to avoid alerting the guards before we made it to the control room.

It had failed in spectacular fashion.

“Come on in.” Carrow gestured us forward. “We’ll make a plan to get him back.”

Heart pounding, I followed her inside. Garreth came with us, and Carrow watched him warily. I turned to him, taking in his strange gray eyes. The curse had him—kind of. He seemed to be fighting it off, but how long would he be successful for?