Page 99 of Wicked Deeds

A second lesserkind, stood behind Gwen, holding a jagged black knife to her throat.

Her eyes were wide and frantic as she gagged against the hand over her mouth.

Cold terror swept through me. I turned back, trying to stay calm. “You can’t hurt her. Jack wants her.”

“Jack wants a witch. You will do. Your power is known.”

“My power is mine,” I snarled.

“We shall see. But if you want the small one to live, then you will come with me, witch. No tricks.”

Gwen made a muffled noise of protest but I knew I had no choice. I slowly lowered my hands, nodding. “Okay. We’ll come.”

Presumably it would take us to Jack. And into the path of Usuriel and Callum, I hoped. Maybe even the Cestis.

The lesserkind jerked its head past my shoulder. “We go that way. Start walking.” It pulled a knife to match its friend. “My blade is sharp and I am fast, witch. Do not be stupid. My master will reward you if you serve.”

Reward me with a quick death, most likely. I wouldn’t let it take me. I’d rather die. But Gwen…I couldn’t watch her die first. I had to try to keep her safe.

Swallowing down the acid sting of lesserkind stink and bile at the back of my throat, I turned. The second lesserkind—thinner and more mottled gray—began to drag Gwen backward, lifting her with ease, so that only the tips of her toes trailed along the carpet, giving her no chance of getting enough purchase to try and fight back. Probably just as well. I was relying on Jack needing her alive, but a lesserkind could kill in a second if it lost its temper. One had killed Ajax with a single blow. Gwen was safer if she didn’t struggle.

Her eyes were closed. I didn’t blame her. I didn’t want to look, either.

But I had no choice. My lesserkind shoved me forward, moving fast until we were in the lead. The thought of the knife at Gwen’s throat was enough to stop me trying anything even as my instincts screamed at me to fight or run. Instead, I just walked, the lesserkind’s knife pressing into my jacket every time I slowed.

Instead of heading straight toward the demon magic, we went around, leaving through an exit door and going up a flight of cement fire stairs before entering again a floor above.

Did they know the others were here? The Cestis and Riley Arts? Or Callum and Usuriel?

With every step, I hoped someone we knew would appear.

Someone who could help us. Save us.

I would have even welcomed Usuriel with open arms. But there was nothing but more empty corridors and the feel of demon magic growing stronger. Every time I glanced back at Gwen, the sight of tears running down her cheeks felt like a gut punch even though I tried to take it as a good sign. If she was scared enough to cry, I hoped it was a sign she was still the one incharge, that the lesserkind hadn’t invaded her mind and seized control.

My shields were slammed shut as tightly as I could slam them. So far I hadn’t felt any attempt to breach them from the lesserkind. It knew Gwen was enough to buy my cooperation.

Fear had turned my heart into a jackhammer. The sensation of demon magic was growing, the feel of it feeding my fear as the wrongness of it made every nerve in my body rebel against taking one step closer.

But I did it anyway. Though I moved as slowly as I could, considering there was a lesserkind with a knife at my back and another with a blade at my sister’s throat. But any half second I could buy us was a chance for the Fae or the Cestis to reach us.

When we finally stopped at a door with a half-faded sign that readOakes Conference 1, I nearly laughed. A freaking meeting room. Jack was summoning a demon in a goddamned meeting room? It would have been funny if I wasn’t so scared.

I’d spent a lot of hours in anonymous meeting rooms in countless client offices over the years. Now I might die in one. I bit back the choked sound of half-hysterical amusement rising in my throat. The lesserkind carrying Gwen approached the door and it swung inward.

It was a larger room than I’d expected. About forty feet or so long and twenty wide. There was a second door in the far wall, but it was otherwise empty of anything you’d expect to find in a conference room.

Instead there was only Jack, crouched inside a glowing white circle that burned my eyes. He was using chalk to carefully inscribe a second circle with a series of symbols that resembled runes. Only a lot nastier looking than any rune I’d learned. The shape was almost complete.

Fuck.How long did we have until he finished?

The magic, whatever it was, filled the room, battering my senses. It made me want to spit, as though it was physically crawling into my mouth. I stopped in my tracks, then jerked as the tip of the lesserkind’s knife pressed into my spine.

The lesserkind prodded me forward and his companion dragged Gwen closer to the circle.

Jack glanced up and his face darkened. “What are they doing here? I don’t need her yet.”

“Found them,” the lesserkind behind me said. It was close enough that its breath blew across the side of my face. “Both free.”

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