He shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out when he comes back. In the meantime…” Talon trailed off and pulled me against his body, letting me feel exactly what was on his mind. I moaned when he pressed his lips to mine, and I wondered if I’d ever get tired of how fucking good it felt to kiss him.
 
 “That was quick,” Ashland drawled, pulling my focus away from the way Talon had started palming my ass. I looked over to see Misha standing in the room once again.
 
 He shrugged. “There was this kid. I threw him in a holding cell on fight night.”
 
 “You what?!” I shouted. “A kid?”
 
 “Well, more of a teenager. One of Scorpio’s. And before you flip out, he saw me in my demon form. I didn’t have time to get a cognitive mage in here to erase those memories before we left for Besmet,” Misha explained, completely unapologetically. I blinked at him, not really knowing what to say.
 
 Rhodes sat down at one of the barstools around the kitchen island. “So what? You just told him he’s not gonna die and he’ll be free soon?”
 
 Misha nodded. “Basically. Can we move on now?”
 
 I think the fuck not.
 
 “Fight night?! That kid’s been down here thinking he’s going to die sincefight night? Has he even eaten?”
 
 “Of course he has,” Ashland replied, completely unflustered.
 
 Felix moved to stand next to me, taking some of my hair between his fingers. “We take care of our prisoners. You should know that by now.”
 
 “Oh, is that what I am? Your prisoner?” I teased, lifting my eyes to his.
 
 “You were,” Talon stated, wrapping an arm around my waist. “Now, you’re justours.”
 
 The sexual tension in the room was rising, fast. My heart hammered in my chest as I clocked every movement each of my demons made as they moved closer. Surrounding me.
 
 Snake suddenly chittered urgently in my mind, his mental presence spiking with alarm. I spun out of Talon’s hold toward where he was perched on a counter, his little body rigid with tension.
 
 "What is it?" Jasper asked, his form flickering with concern.
 
 Before I could answer, a wave of dizziness hit me hard enough that I had to grab the counter for support. The air felt thick and heavy, with an energy that made my teeth ache and my skin crawl. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
 
 "Palmer?" Multiple voices called out in concern, but they sounded distant, underwater.
 
 "Something's happening," I managed to get out, my voice tight. "The veil… It's— Fuck!"
 
 Power surged through me without warning, raw and electric. My vision blurred, reality splitting into layers—the physical world overlapping with the spirit realm in a nauseating double exposure. Through the haze, I saw something that made my blood run cold.
 
 "He's here," I whispered, horror crawling up my throat. "Scorpio... he's here. And he's not alone."
 
 The others tensed, moving closer to me as if they could physically shield me from what I was seeing. But this wasn't something they could fight. Not yet.
 
 "What do you mean he's not alone?" Ashland demanded, his hand finding my shoulder, grounding me.
 
 I turned to look at them, knowing my eyes were probably glowing with residual power. "I'm not sure." I shook my head, trying to get a clearer grasp on whatever my body was trying to tell me. "He's just… not alone."
 
 Snake's claws dug into my shoulder as every nerve in my body went rigid. The guys had been spreading out, discussing strategy and defensive positions, but something... shifted. The air itself seemed to thicken, pressing against my skin like a physical weight.
 
 "Stop," I breathed, the word barely a whisper but carrying enough urgency that everyone froze. "Nobody move."
 
 My spirit witch senses were screaming; the veil between realms was practically vibrating with wrongness. It felt like standing in the eye of a hurricane, that eerie calm before everything goes to absolute shit.
 
 "Palmer?" Jasper materialized beside me, his form flickering with concern. "What is it?"
 
 I held up a hand, trying to focus on the sensation crawling up my spine. "There's... fuck, I don't know how to explain it. It's like when you're about to get struck by lightning. The air gets charged, your hair stands on end, and every instinct screams at you to run."
 
 "You’re sensing spirits?" Rhodes asked, his voice tight with tension.