Garden of Serpents (The Demon Queen Trials #3)(54)

I watched his perfect features disappear as shadows enveloped him.

“Let’s go, love,” he whispered. “I’ll come back for the demon hunters later.”





30





ROWAN





We pulled open the door, finding the hall mostly empty.

Hand in hand, we walked unseen through the corridor, and I used my mental map of the building to lead him. The southern exit was just ahead of us—a great wooden door, crisscrossed and studded with iron. I glanced behind me, making sure no one was around. Holding my breath, I leaned forward to knock—One. Two. Three. Four.

I waited for the door to open.

“Shai’s not there,” a deep male voice said from behind me.

My muscles froze at the sound of a voice I recognized.

“Seems like your friend didn’t really want you to leave,” the voice added.

I turned to see two men holding rifles. And one of them was Jack Corwin.

Now, here was a question—how the fuck did they know I was standing there when they couldn’t see me? Seems my friend had told them that, too.

Pain ripped through my stomach. When I looked down, I saw that I hadn’t been hit with bullets, but rather darts. One had slammed into my ribs; the other caught me in the gut. I plucked them out, but as the poison from the darts spread through my veins, it seemed to be eating away at the magic protecting me. My body was becoming visible.

I fell to my knees, turning to look at Orion. He’d been hit too, but he was still standing. He rushed the hunters like a wild animal, flinging one of them against the wall. Jack turned to run, screaming for help.

Blocking out the pain, I scrambled to pull my phone from my pocket. I pressed the button on the side, frantically screaming into it. “Siri. Call Legion!”

The phone started ringing, but I could tell by its crackle that we didn’t have a good connection. I glanced up to see Orion trying to chase down Jack, but he was stumbling now with the poison in his body.

“Legion here!” My friend’s staticky voice came through the phone.

“We’re trapped! Can you get to the south exit?”

I couldn’t hear his reply, but my skin was growing hot from behind, and smoke billowed through the air. Tears stung my eyes.

I whirled to see flames consuming part of the door behind me, climbing up and blacking the wood and iron. This should be a good thing. Fire could burn us out of here. But the heat was making me feel sick, the heated air searing my face. And when I swiped my hand across the flame, pain screamed through my fingertips.

Fire hurt. The poison was fucking up our magic.

“Orion,” I shouted.

I turned to see him staggering back to me. Jack must have sensed Orion’s growing weakness, because he turned to walk after us—cautiously this time. I wondered if we could die out here without our magic. Ordinary demons, yes. Lightbringers? I had no idea.

Mentally, I reviewed the map of the place. There was a stairwell just to our left, and two more floors upstairs that would probably have fewer hunters.

I shouted at Orion to follow me and tried to ignore the searing pain of the poison moving through my body. In the stairwell, I glanced behind me, relieved to see Orion was on my heels. Pain etched his features, and I wondered how much extra energy he’d expended trying to chase down Jack.

I didn’t love the idea of running up into a burning building, but we were low on options. And as we climbed the stairs, a sprinkler system started going off, and cold water rained down on us. I shoved the grimoire under my shirt to keep it dry.

Orion pushed ahead of me, opening the door for me on the top floor. When I caught a view of an empty hall, I exhaled with relief. The sprinklers hadn’t set off in here, and I pulled the book from my damp shirt.

“We can’t rest, Rowan,” said Orion. “We have to find a way out.”

“I know.” My body burned with the toxins. I dragged myself through the hall, still clutching the grimoire.

I just no longer had any idea how we were going to get out.

I pulled out my phone again, ordering Siri to call Legion. This time, the ringtone was clear, and he picked up immediately.

“Where are you?” he shouted into the phone.

I didn’t have time to waste on elaborate explanations. “We need you to open the front door for us. Not yet! I’ll knock. Just wait for me there, okay?”

We’d nearly reached the end of the corridor, so I pushed myself as hard as I could, and Orion ran at the same speed.

We finally made it to the wooden stairwell at the front of the building and staggered down as fast as our broken bodies would take us.

As we reached the lowest level, my heart thundered.

Jack Corwin stood there, aiming his gun at us.

If I’d had the ability to summon my magic, I’d have turned the mansion to ash to keep Orion safe.

Jack’s face was red, and sweat dripped down his forehead. “Did you just think you could kill my dad and get away with it?” His shouts sounded ragged, crazed.

Orion turned and started to pull me back up the stairs, his arm around my back like he was shielding me. But I felt the sharp sting of pain as the darts ripped through my skin from behind.

“Hawthorn berries and Ladon venom,” shouted Jack. “Doesn’t feel so good, does it, my friends?”