Brigette was barely aware of the pain that tore through her; instead, she focused on the male, who was desperately trying to back away. Ramming him into the wall, Brigette plunged the knife into the center of his heart.
“It’s too late. You can’t stop the device,” he choked out. “It’s already set to go off.”
Brigette twisted the blade until the life seeped out of the male’s eyes. “I’m not going to fail. Not this time.”
“Too late,” he rasped, sliding down the wall to collapse at her feet. “Too…late…”
“No,” Brigette muttered, heading into the connecting room.
She didn’t have to stay. She could already smell Roban’s death, and soon his body would be consumed with the flames that would return his soul to the wolf-spirit. He was no longer her worry. But saving the pups…
Dropping to her hands and knees, she searched underneath the beds, in the closets, and through the pile of toys. At last, she found the device hidden behind a laundry basket, and scooping the pineapple-shaped object off the floor, she returned to the outer room.
She wasn’t going to be too late, she told herself over and over. For the first time in her life, she had the opportunity to truly make amends for what she’d done in her past, and failure wasn’t an option.
Pausing long enough to grab one of the rocking chairs and toss it through the window to set off the alarms, she raced out of the nursery and toward the servants’ staircase.
At one point, she thought she heard a male calling her name, but it was hard to be sure. Her heart was thundering, and the shrill alarms were piercing her poor ears. Besides, it didn’t matter. She had one job. And nothing was going to distract her.
She crossed the pantry and headed toward the opening to the basement. Once she was there, she could toss in the device and close the door.
A fantastic plan. Unfortunately, she was just inches away when there was a faint hiss and the pungent stench of chemicals assaulted her nose. As she launched the device toward the doorway, the flames abruptly exploded.
Most of them raced toward the basement, but enough of the chemicals had spilled on Brigette to ensure her destruction. With a resigned acceptance that her end had finally arrived, Brigette watched the flames crawl up her arms.
“I love you, Xi,” she murmured, conjuring the image of the male who had become the center of her existence.
An odd peace surrounded her, as Brigette dropped to her knees and bowed her head in defeat. Just the thought of Xi was enough to protect her from any pain as the fire consumed her.
Chapter 22
Levet’s pace slowed the closer he came to the large cavern. It wasn’t just the memory of their battle against the demented Anasso that caused his feet to drag, although the heavy atmosphere pressed against him like a shroud of doom. Non, it was the layer of frost that was making the stone beneath his feet perilously slippery.
A shiver shook through him as the neared the arched opening. “It’s cold,” he muttered.
“Really, really cold,” Troy agreed, walking next to him with a grim expression. The imp clearly hated the dark, soggy maze of caves. Not surprising. Fey creatures adored sunshine and open meadows.
Or, in Troy’s case, tawdry strip joints and loud music.
“Someone should tell the vampires that it is rude to go about covering everything in frost,” Levet complained as he slid forward, barely preventing himself from skidding straight into the cavern ahead of them.
Troy snorted. “That sounds like a job for a gargoyle.”
Levet shrugged in resignation. “I suppose it will be my duty. Everything else is.”
A loud roar echoed through tunnels, shaking the earth and threatening to tumble thousands of tons of rocks on their head.
“Styx,” Troy hissed.
No other demon had the sort of power to cause destruction on such an epic scale. Well, perhaps dragons. And Jinns. Oh, and his beloved Inga, now that she held the Tryshu in her mighty hands.
Levet shook away the distracting thought, forcing himself to peer through the opening.
As he expected, he discovered Styx in hyper-battle mode, the massive sword cutting huge swaths through the air and his fangs fully extended. Levet shivered. The male was a pain in the derrière, but there was no arguing that he was an impressive warrior.
His attention turned to the vampire Styx was attempting to sever in half with his oversized sword.
“Who is that?” he asked, running his gaze over the male vampire with his stringy gray hair and skeleton body.
Troy shook his head. “I don’t recognize him.”
Levet wrinkled his snout. “He smells weird.”
“Weird? What does that mean?”
“Odd. Peculiar. Abby normal.”
Troy made a sound of annoyance. “I know the definition. What’s weird about his smell?”
Levet studied the too-thin vampire as he stood in front of Styx. He didn’t possess the talent to see auras around creatures, but he could smell them.
“It’s tainted,” he said.
Troy sucked in a sharp breath. “Evil?”
“Madness.”
Together, they watched as the strange male lifted his hand to shoot out sheets of ice that threatened to slice off Styx’s head. The Anasso leaped to the side, smashing the frozen projectile with his sword. The ice shattered to fall harmlessly to the ground, but even a quick glance was enough to reveal that Styx was being subtly herded into a shallow alcove. Once he was cornered, he wouldn’t be able to avoid the lethal shards.
“Shit,” Troy abruptly muttered. “Look over there.”
Levet glanced in the direction Troy was pointing. At first, all he could see was a lump of ice that covered the far wall. Then he caught sight of silver hair and a furious male face.
“Viper,” he breathed in amazement. “He has been turned into a lollipop.”
“A popsicle.”
“Same thing.” Levet waved his hand in an airy motion, fascinated by the sight of the powerful demon frozen solid. Could he see what was happening? Could he hear the battle? Would he mind if Levet took a selfie with him and posted it on Instagram? So many questions…
“We need to get him out of there,” Troy abruptly announced. “As much as I might dislike the smug bastard, I have a feeling that whoever would replace him as the clan chief of Chicago would be much worse.”
Levet wasn’t nearly so certain. Who could be worse than Viper? Then again, Shay would be devastated to lose her mate.
“Oui. You assist Viper,” he murmured, spreading his wings and stiffening his spine. “I will offer my considerable skills to aid Styx in his battle.”