Page 109 of A City of Smoke and Demons
‘Familiars.’ Tobias nodded at the figures on the other side of the street. ‘And ahead of us as well.’
Ezra shook his head. ‘I don’t care. Let them try and stop me.’ He wasn’t afraid of them anymore, and he wasn’t going to let anything stand between him and Analise, not when they were so close. The Familiars didn’t make any move towards them, their eyes tracking him and Tobias as they continued down the street. Every time he blinked, Ezra saw Lira’s lifeless body and heard Jem’s horrible, gut-wrenching scream.
That wasn’t going to happen to Analise. He wasn’t going to let it.
A handprint of shimmering gold pressed against the door of a townhouse.
‘This is it,’ he told Tobias. The door was locked, and in the time it took Tobias to extract a lock pick from his coat, Ezra was nearly crawling out of his skin. He shook his head as Tobias crouched by the door, grabbing him by the collar and yanking him backwards. ‘No time,’ he ordered, then drew his pistol and kicked the door in, the lock giving way easily.
Tobias swore as Ezra charged inside. The foyer was cold and dark. There were no signs of a struggle, nothing out of place. It was eerily quiet, the air thick, filled with a strange humming. Ezra could hear his own heartbeat and the rush of blood through his veins.
Analise’s magic decorated a door to the left. Ezra started towards it.
Tobias caught his arm. ‘Wait. Your recklessness will get you killed, Ezra. We need a plan.’
‘I plan not to die,’ Ezra said. Magic oozed from beneath the door, curling into the air like smoke. Ezra adjusted his grip on his weapon. He exchanged a look with Tobias and for a moment, they were ten years into the past, both of them younger, fresher, keen and eager for a new life. Ezra took a shaky breath. He needed to remain calm. Needed to face whatever was beyond that door. He would not break.
The door was unlocked, as if whoever was inside was waiting for them, and they stepped into a room of death. Magic saturated the air, much like the night Ezra found Analise in the morgue, but this wasn’t the controlled, calm magic she’d used on the Familiars in the Order’s basement.
This was chaos.
Power threaded through the air, tendrils of it rising from the three bodies on the floor.
Ezra sucked in a breath.
One of the dead was John, and he recognised the woman who had been following him. Sprawled on her back not far from them, red hair spread like the setting sun, was Analise. Blood was smeared beneath her nose.
‘You came for her,’ said a silken voice. ‘How sweet.’
Ezra froze. He knew that voice.
Sitting in an armchair, cool and casual, was a man in a white suit.
‘Hello, Ezra. I have to say, you’ve disappointed me.’
Before Ezra could say a word, the Devil waved his hand and Tobias was flung out into the foyer, the door slamming shut behind him. The unmistakable clicking of a lock echoed around the room.
Ezra lifted his gun and fired, the bullet flying across the room and embedding itself between Asmael’s eyes. His head flung back, hitting the wall with a sickening crunch. Ezra rushed forward, but before he could reach Analise, laughter cut into him, as sharp as a knife.
Asmael touched his forehead. ‘Good shot.’
He stood, and Ezra stumbled back as a pair of wings, white as snow, exploded from Asmael’s back. Black eyes blazed, and that inhumanely beautiful face was filled with fury. Not a drop of blood tarnished that crisp white suit.
It appeared silver didn’t work on the Devil—and the Devil didn’t appreciate being shot.
He clicked his fingers and Ezra was pulled across the parlour, straight into Asmael’s outstretched hand. Fingers closed around his throat with otherworldly strength and squeezed.
‘You were supposed to belong to me,’ the Devil whispered. ‘I was looking forward to adding your soul to my collection, Ezra Ives.’
‘Tough luck.’
Asmael chuckled. ‘It doesn’t matter. Your life is forfeit. Even she won’t be able to bring you back. I was going to see if she could, but …’
Those fingers tightened. Ezra’s lungs were on fire. He scrabbled desperately at the iron grip around his throat.
He looked down. He’d rather Analise’s face be the last thing he saw than the fallen angel who was delighting in choking the life from him. She was conscious. As their eyes locked, he hoped she could read everything he felt there.
Her lips moved, shaping words Ezra couldn’t hear. The world was darkening around the edges. His feet left the ground. He blinked in time to see Analise lunge forward and close her hand around the Devil’s ankle.
