Damn and she still didn’t know about his wife or child. It shouldn’t bother her, but it did...too much. As she gazed out at the vast scenery of glaringly bright snow-drenched mountains, Chloe, for the first time since being kidnapped, truly missed her family. And her job, which she was certain, was gone now. Not that Carl wouldn’t give her the bartending job back with a few sweet smiles sent his way. Was she manipulative in that way? Just a little. Really, Carl was such a softie.

This whole thing had been like one short joy ride for her. She was learning new things about herself, her body, and about a man that captivated her. Now she was ready to cut the ride short and go home from the carnival.

A strange sound caught her ears, interrupting her thoughts. Chloe squinted out into the empty, snowy wasteland of hills and mountains. Not a town or city in sight. They were clearly in the middle of snowy nowhere. The glare of the sun off the snow threatened to burn her retinas.

“Do you guys get trains out here?”

The guards stopped talking and instantly were at her side. Though neither of them

answered her question, they peered out the gate with intent, alert eyes. Then they both sprung into action at the same time.

The blonde warrior slammed his fist into a brick at the side of the gate. But instead of breaking, the brick slid perfectly into the wall like some sort of button. In a matter of seconds, guards swarmed onto the parapet walls back at the castle, and dozens more came pouring out from all sides of the castle...heading straight for her.

The earth started moving. At first, she thought it was from the warriors running towards them, but then she saw snow flying into the air outside the gate in clouds and she realized it was coming from the ground. The sickening, warning feeling started in her stomach. A little too late stomach, she thought angrily.

Warriors grabbed her, pushing her further and further away from the gate.

“Wait, I want to see. What’s going on?” No one answered her.

A wet, heavy sound like a body being dropped into mud brought her eyes swinging over the heads of the warriors blocking the gate. The sound didn’t stop. Repeatedly it came like some kind of eerie warning. Chloe fought against the warriors trying to pull her away and jumped up and down to get a look. Her stomach bottomed out at what she saw. Holes forming in the ground, arms coming out.

One hole was particularly big, leaving a black cavern of a hole around it. Chloe’s eyes went huge. She recognized that hole. The earth shuddered as if gods shouldered those snowy mountains in the background and were pushing them with brute force. If not for the warrior holding her arms, she would have fallen to the ground.

“KLLOOOOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEEEE!”

Chloe jumped at the long, rumble of her name that was so loud she wouldn’t be surprised if those mountains just had avalanches. The guards started shoving her hard, back towards the castle and she went, straight into the arms of Tyrian.

He set her aside coldly, pushing her into the arms of Rayn. “Take her into the castle. I’ll be there in a minute.”

There was no hesitance. Suddenly her body was tingling from her forehead to her toes, the snow and warriors around her flickered, then disappeared as if by magic. Suddenly, she was standing in Tyrian’s study surrounded by the warmth of the fireplace. Rayn only gave her a brief nod, before he disappeared in that same strange way.

“What the hell was that?” Vampires couldn’t teleport around. They didn’t have that kind of ability. That was a power demons had. Her hands flew to her mouth, stifling a gasp.

The sounds of shouts and screams sent her running to the window. She braced her hands on the cold stone and leaned out. Her jaw fell to the ground at what she saw.

It was her demon, and he wasn’t alone. There were dozens of them, maybe forty, or fifty, attacking the gates and walls with swords and claws. Yet her demon was different, big and half-dead, and towering over them all.

Those around him were skinny as a skeleton with greenish skin and hideous, contorted faces. Their jaws were long and pointed out from faces that were covered with white lines of war paint.

These weren’t just any demons. These were idummu, the worst of them all. Bottom feeders that would listen and fight for anyone for a chance to cross the rift and be free. What kind of demon had she summoned? How did it amass so many followers so quickly?

Her hands curled into the cold stone and her gaze unerringly fell to Tyrian. Even amassed in a crowd of warriors wearing the same fierce expressions, he stood out so clearly to her. He gave orders, never shouting but speaking clearly.

Warriors opened the gate and exploded at the skeletal warriors, swords and axes twirling and flying. Arrows flew from the parapets, whizzing through the air like bullets.

Her demon stood at the back, its black, fathomless eyes staring at the Atal Warriors. It tossed its gray head back and howled a bone-chilling sound that she swore shook the walls of the castle with its intensity. When the demon finally stopped, the roar echoed deep into the cold mountains. The demon raised its black fathomless gaze and landed straight on her.

Chloe’s mouth fell open and watched, stunned, as it raised its long arm and pointed straight to her. Its giant mouth, filled with those sharp black teeth, moved, spilling out sounds and syllables she couldn’t decipher into any kind of recognizable language.

The demons screeched, their red and yellow eyes fixing right on her.

“Oh, shit.”

A sudden popping sound filled the space behind her and like a frightened heroine in a horror movie, Chloe slowly turned to face it. A snarling demon, crouched at its knees, slowly stood. Its big yellow eyes webbed with red spider web veins around the pupils eyed her like she would be its next meal.

Chloe took a quick step back but found her butt hitting the giant window. Oh, shit. The demon’s thin lips pulled into a smile, a thick line of drool falling out of its mouth to glob onto the floor.

Her stomach rolled with the urge to vomit. Then the idummi demon sprang at her. Sharp claws dug into her arm, its bony legs wrapped around her as if it was trying to hug her. The demon was incredibly strong and muscular for something barely five feet tall and bone skinny.

Its knobby bones dug hard into her hips and legs.

It spun her around, crashing them both onto the hard floor. Screaming, Chloe struggled to free her arms from its grasp—to gain some kind of purchase—but it snarled at her, spit spraying onto her face. She was momentarily stunned as the putrid, decaying smell of its spit reached her nostrils. It squeezed her arms in a viciously hard grip and she felt sharp pinching as her skin tore under his grip.

Chloe lurched forward and screamed into the demon’s face, it pulled back in surprised, and she used that moment to throw the demon off her. Its head slammed into the corner of the hearth and Chloe quickly ran for the door.

She reached for the doorknob, her heart thundering in her ears, adrenaline driving her to be faster, stronger, and then she was tackled from behind by a heavy weight. She went tumbling forward, her cheek and mouth slapping against the hard wood door at an awkward angle. Pain exploded in her head. She tasted coppery blood in her mouth and winced as flaring, pulsing pain instantly beat around her busted lip.

Then there were heavy footsteps behind her and the bony weight at her back was gone.

Chloe quickly rolled over and saw Tyrian and Rayn there. Tyrian snapped the demon’s neck with a nasty twist and threw the bony body into the burning fireplace. He came to her, raw anger on his face. The ice completely melted. He bent down and picked her up, cradling her against his chest.