“Then don’t pull this nonchalant attitude with me. This is my sister you’re talking about.”

He shrugged.

Thane had already taken off into the pack to find out about Stephanie. He came back a few minutes later, a grim look on his face.

“Stephanie’s parents say she left the house to go to a friend’s house, but none of the guards have seen her all night.”

“See, she’s been using them all along. It’s a smart way to infiltrate the enemy really,” Telal said.

Lyonis made another lunge for the demon, but stopped when Lily stretched up on her toes, grabbed the demon’s golden-skinned face in her small hands, and planted a big kiss on him.

She pulled away before he could push her off. The demon looked...stunned.

“I told you not to touch me.”

“You said not to hit you. Say another smart-ass comment while my sister’s in danger and I’ll keep planting them on you. One horrible kiss at a time, got me?” The hard edge to her voice belied the teasing words. The demon twitched but didn’t say anything.

“How do I get to her?” While she’s still alive, he added silently. He could sense her, feel her, as all mates could do. He could feel the strength of her soul still beating, but for how long?

All eyes trained on Telal.

He crossed his arms across his big chest. “I can teleport to the deepest level of the rift.”

Lyonis shook off the arms holding him. “Take me now.”

“But,” Telal interjected, “I can only take one other person with me at a time and you won’t be able to kill the demon.”

“Yes he can!” Lily said. “She was stolen from the house so the potion and dagger should still be here. He can take that down there and use it.”

Telal rounded on her. “A mere dag and vanishing spell will not kill Dura.”

Lily cocked her head to the side. “Yes. It. Will. The dagger was enchanted and blessed by a good friend of mine.”

Telal tossed back his head and laughed.

“You may have heard of her, Rosa El Blanco.”

His laughter died, his expression almost becoming angry. “You know Rosa the White?”

“We’re besties,” she whispered fiercely.

Telal looked as if he didn’t believe her but then he just shrugged. “If the white witch has truly enspelled the weapon then you may serve to deal damage to the demon. Though I doubt it can kill it; perhaps just hurt it.”

“Take me there now,” he said to Telal.

Turning, Lyonis ordered Jackie to grab the dagger and spell. She returned with it a minute later. He saw the worry and hesitation in her eyes. She was worried about her Alpha. But he could issue no comforting words to her now.

Lyonis took the dagger from her and instantly felt the power in it. It was heavy but not from its mass; the spell held a positive, wavering energy around it like an aura. He clenched it in his hand then stepped towards the demon.

“Please bring her back,” Chloe said, tears falling down her face. The sisters huddled next to each other, hands held tightly.

Telal stepped forward, clasped Lyonis’ shoulder in his hand and said, “Hold tight.”

And then they disappeared.

The dark, endless sky above cracked with streaks of silver lightning. Thunder boomed in the open space around her and Willow struggled to sit up to see. What kind of magic was this?

She cried out as her broken ribs stabbed at her. The sky formed a white slit that reminded her of a thin cloud, and then it was gone and two men appeared on the ground. The demon roared and spewed garbled words. Danny, Stephanie, and Rachel launched themselves at the intruders.

Willow gasped at the sight, blinking several times as unbelievable hope filled her chest.

“Lyonis!” It came out more as a croak, but he heard her.

He turned back to look at her just as Danny tackled him down to the ground. His eyes took in everything in a blink, then his gaze focused on the boy on top of him, and she saw his pained expression.

The blue-haired demon was here too. He locked into a battle with Rachel as Stephanie sidestepped around him to engage with Lyonis. Telal quickly got Rachel in a chokehold.

Willow struggled to her feet, favoring her good leg. Her chest hurt to breathe, to move, and hell, it hurt even when she didn’t move, but she stood.

“Don’t kill her!” she screamed.

The blue-haired demon flicked her an annoyed gaze, and tightened the pressure around Rachel’s neck. Her eyes fluttered shut slowly and her body slumped. Telal dropped her to the ground, surprisingly gently.

He squared off with the demon who started chanting more dark words. Black, wispy smoke came out from the ground and slowly took the shape of clawed hands. Another arm appeared then dozens of skeletal bodies, black and oozing like tar, pulled out from the sharp ground with groans and moans.

Willow made her way towards Lyonis, dragging her useless leg and holding her ribs. She had to help him, had to kiss him one last time just in case they didn’t make it.

Telal suddenly let out a fierce battle cry. The sound brought chills down her body and made her pause at its power.

Lyonis also knocked down Danny and Stephanie without killing them, and then he rounded on Dura. Dura took a hard step back and Willow toppled to the ground with a choked scream as her hurt leg roared with pain. Only Telal and Lyonis didn’t budge as the demon moved with quaking steps.

Willow refused to give up. She had to help them.

The black, oozing monsters she’d summoned surrounded Lyonis and Telal, screeching war cries. Willow rolled onto her stomach and used her elbows to lift herself off her broken ribs. The pain was excruciating; tears fell again and again, intermixed with her sobs of pain as she crawled, dragging her useless leg behind her.

Lyonis transformed. She’d never seen anything like it.

He let out an unholy roar as his body grew into a great monstrous beast. A gigantic wolverine, Lyonis towered as tall as the demon with claws as long as a butcher’s knife, legs as thick as tree trunks and brown shaggy fur covered pointed ears, a fanged mouth, and a monstrous chest. Still, he clenched the miniscule dagger in his paw and launched himself at the demon.

He hit it, knocking the demon to the ground. They rolled together and then he plunged the dagger into the demon’s big rounded belly.

Telal spun on the black summoned beings. He held out his hands and spoke harsh demonic words. The beings slammed against an invisible barrier, falling backwards, only to charge again and again at it.

Telal’s expression was fierce as he kept his palm out, then faced his other palm to the ground as if he was coaxing something to come out of it. And then white streaks of energy like shafts of sunlight came out. Brilliant blinding light. The demons screamed and scuttled away from the light as they ran. Those that were too late, too slow, were pierced with the light and exploded in a buff of black smoke.

Willow continued to crawl, somehow managing to move with the intense pain inside her. Lyonis and the demon continued to fight, claws slashing and missing as they both dodged each other’s blows.

She had eyes only for him as Telal continued to destroy the summoned creatures.

Lyonis faced off against the demon. The slash in its belly oozed black blood on the sharp ground. Lyonis lunged forward in his great form and slashed two-handed down the demon’s middle. He caught scaly skin, ripping it in shreds down the front. More blood spilled, but the demon didn’t drop, didn’t seem to weaken.

Telal turned to her with wide eyes. “The spell!” he shouted over the screams and shouts of the monsters.

Startled, she remembered the words and started chanting. Her voice was a croak. Each time she tried to scream to be heard over the monsters, her chest constricted, ribs stabbing at her. Still she continued to crawl forward, chanting the words.