“You are going to help by staying safe in your dorm and not answering the door to anyone but me or one of the guys.”

“I can fight,” she insisted, her cheeks flushing pink. “You saw me yesterday. I know what—”

“Do you hear those sirens?” I lifted my chin to the ceiling. “This isn’t a fight between halfs and pures. That means something has gotten inside that shouldn’t be inside.”

Her blue eyes deepened to storm clouds. “I know that. I can—”

“Do you remember what happened last time?” I stepped to her, my chest and stomach clenching at the memory. “I’m not going to end the night searching you down and finding you like I did last time.”

Blood drained from her face. “And last time, I was taken from your room. You know, the safe place!”

Well. Shit. She had a point. I shook my head. Time was of the essence here. “Then you don’t answer the door unless it’s me.”

“Seth—”

“Just stay in your room, Josie. You’ll be safe there.”

“I don’t see you telling Alex to stay in her room,” she fired back. “Nor did Aiden seem to stop her.”

“That’s because I know Alex can hold her own.” And truth? I also wouldn’t lose my shit if Alex got hurt. Josie? I would go nuclear on this gods-damned Covenant and level the place.

Josie stepped back, bumping into the door, and I could tell I’d said something very, very wrong to her. I wasn’t quite sure what it was. I’d said a lot of bad shit to her recently, but I didn’t have time to really question it. She turned around stiffly and went back into her room.

At least she was staying put.

Hooking the daggers on to the belt, I took off down the hall. When I hit the lobby, I spotted Colin standing with a group of halfs. I started to order him to keep watch over Josie, but I trusted that she’d only open the door for me. I didn’t trust that of Colin. He was a young half, susceptible to compulsions, and I had no idea what was going on out there.

Bursting out the front doors and into the cooler evening air, I made my way past the small army of Guards. They had already begun setting up a line in front of the dorm.

I stopped, grabbing the collar of one of the older Guard members. His eyes widened with surprise as I lifted him up on the tips of his toes. “Try actually defending the students this time. If this line is broken when I get back, I’m not going to be happy, and that means you’re not going to be walking for the next week or month. Feel me?”

The older man swallowed hard and nodded. Letting him go, I sure as hell hoped, for his sake, he got the message. Last time, the possessed Guards and Sentinels had gotten right into the dorm and right to Josie.

That knowledge ate at me as I forged forward. After what had happened that night, I’d told myself I wouldn’t put duty before Josie, and I was doing it again. A ball of dread settled in my stomach like lead. The nymph’s words floated through my thoughts as I cut across the quad, heading for the walls. Was I going down the same path again?

Up ahead, I could see Sentinels racing forward. Smoke billowed from the vicinity of the main wall and spilled into the courtyard. Shadows moved inside the dense smoke, and from a distance it looked like a macabre dance. In about ten seconds, I caught up to Alex and Aiden, and it was more than a little bizarre falling into step beside them. As we drew closer, the scent of burnt trees and something far more pungent filled the air.

Aiden glanced over at me. “Lose your shirt, man?”

Back in the day, that question would’ve opened the door for the perfect comeback, one that usually involved Alex. Now? I lifted my hand and flipped him off. “Anyone know what’s going—?”

A white-garbed Guard staggered out of the smoke, the front of his outfit splashed with red. His throat was torn open, revealing the pink, congealed tissue and shattered bone. The Guard went down on one knee and then crumpled.

“Daimons,” Alex said, flipping the dagger in her hand. “Or a mountain lion.”

Reaching to my side, I unhooked one of the daggers. “I’m going to go with a daimon.”

“That’s a relief.” Alex slowed her step. “Because I really don’t want to kill a kitty.”

I paused long enough to look at her. She tossed a grin in my direction.

Aiden moved ahead, throwing up a hand, stopping us. “Hold on a second.” He moved his arm, holding his palm out toward the thick smoke. A slight ripple of power sparked. Wind picked up behind us, turning into a heavy, churning gust. The stream moved over the courtyard, lifting the smoke and blowing it back.

Holy shit, there were daimons everywhere, and the titanium gate was open. A few bodies littered the ground and as the wind settled, I realized all those still standing were halfs, which explained why no one had summoned wind yet, and on the ground . . .

Shit.

Dead and/or dying pures.

Some still being fed on, like a scene straight out of a zombie horror.

Aiden looked over his shoulder. “Being able to control all the elements has its bennies.”

Huh. Look at Aiden, being all demigod and stuff. “Cute,” I said, stepping over a fallen Sentinel. “But can you still fight?”

Alex snorted as a daimon lifted its head from the neck of some damn pure who should’ve never been out here, thinking he stood a chance. The daimon was a half. There were no razor-sharp teeth or creepy-ass black eyes. The male looked normal. Well, with the exception of the blood pouring from its mouth and the skin stuck between its teeth.