Page 97 of Soulmarked

Sterling's response crackled through our earpieces. “Damn it! That should be impossible. I have all Hallow teams accounted for except...” A string of curses followed. “Alpha-7 went dark three hours ago. Thought they were just out of range.”

“They're compromised,” I said, spotting familiar insignia as figures moved through the trees.

“Confirm status, but exercise extreme caution,” Sterling ordered, his voice tense but controlled. “These are trained operatives. If there's any chance to save them...”

The first hunter came from the shadows. I recognized James Choi, but the thing wearing his body moved wrong, joints bending unnaturally.

“Contact,” Sean growled, but I was already moving. My dagger found flesh that smoked where blessed metal met corrupted blood. James's body crumpled, demon smoke pouring from the wound, but he was breathing. I always felt a twinge of satisfaction when my research on exorcism techniques paid off.

More appeared. A woman emerged from rippling shadows, her movements unnaturally predatory, eyes solid black. Behind her, a massive man blocked our path, darkness seeping from his pores.

“Really didn't want to hurt your people,” I muttered, falling into a defensive stance as the possessed woman launched herself at me.

“Any time you want to get your hands dirty, princess!” Sean called out as he engaged the larger hunter, his blades flashing in the wrong light. “These aren't your research subjects!”

“Working on it!” I caught the woman's wrist before her claws could find my throat, throwing her into a writhing tree. The dagger found its mark, and another demon burned away.“They're still people under there,” I insisted, feeling the weight of every exorcism.

“Always with the saving people,” Sean muttered, ducking under a lethal swing. “Even when they're trying to kill us.”

More possessed hunters emerged from the twisted landscape. Though their faces were strangers to me, Sean clearly recognized them - his former colleagues from Hallow.

“They're trying to slow us down,” he called out. “Classic demon playbook.”

One of the suspended hunters convulsed in their column of dark energy, their life force draining faster. The fracture widened, and something vast shifted in the darkness beyond.

“Move!” I shouted, already running. But more possessed hunters blocked our path, blood dripping from their eyes, their skin cracking to reveal darkness beneath.

The fight became a blur. My blade found demon after demon while trying to preserve their hosts. Sean fought beside me, his style more lethal but no less precise.

We moved like we'd been doing this forever, covering each other's blind spots. When a possessed hunter nearly caught my flank, Sean was there. When three converged on him at once, I had his back.

But they kept coming, and time was running out. I could feel it in the way reality shuddered around us, in the way the mark burned colder. Whatever was trying to come through that fracture was getting closer.

The air turned thick and heavy. Even the possessed hunters staggered back, their borrowed bodies trembling in recognition of something more powerful.

Asmodeus stepped from between trees that bent away from his presence, wearing the shape of a man like an ill-fitting suit.

Every movement was too smooth, as if he existed slightly out of sync with our reality. Shadows slid across his skin, and his glowing ice-blue eyes held centuries of cruel patience.

“The marked child returns,” the Prince said, his voice like velvet being dragged over shattered glass. “We've waited so long for this moment.”

“Let them go,” I demanded, nodding toward the suspended hunters. “They're not part of this.”

His smile stretched too wide, revealing teeth that were simultaneously perfect and wrong. “Oh, but they are necessary. As are you, dear boy. As you've always been, since the moment you were marked.”

“Cut the crap,” Sean snarled, Irish accent thick with fury. “What the hell are you planning?”

The Prince's laugh was like breaking bones. “The demon gate requires a sacrifice to break the walls between Hell and Earth completely. Their deaths will provide the initial surge. But you,” his gaze fixed on me, “you will be the key that unlocks it all.”

My blood ran cold as pieces clicked into place. All those deaths, all that stolen life force wasn't just power. It was preparation.

“So this is it,” Sean growled. “Not just a temporary portal but a permanent breach. A demonic all-you-can-eat buffet with humanity on the menu.”

“Not just a doorway,” the Prince corrected, amusement humming through his voice. “A floodgate that will never close again. My legions will pour through, and this world will become an extension of our kingdom.” His head rotated unnaturally. “And your precious marked one is the perfect conduit for such power. After all, that's what he was made for.”

The mark pulsed at his words, sending ice through my veins. Fear cracked through my professional mask. I could feel thetruth in his words, feel the way my mark responded to the power gathering around us.

“I wasn't made for anything,” I managed, but the words sounded hollow.

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