Page 68 of Reign

Owen’s throat and mouth started working as if he was talking, only he was far enough from Connor and the drone for me to miss his words. My fingers squeezed into fists. This was bad—very bad. Rex was a full, soulless demon, one who would be far more powerful now that he was indoctrinated into Satan’s service; not only that, he held a grudge for his son...a big one.

“Satan’s willing to give you a chance, son. Give him the bitch with the key, join him back in Hell, and he’ll let your brother live. Continue this useless war against him, and he’ll make Zander, you, and your bitch suffer for an eternity.”

“Really? You think I’d give up the key to join him in that shithole?” Connor laughed loudly.

I nudged the drone around a little. Sophie had emerged from the shadows behind Rex, the others surrounding her.

Connor nodded to her. Being out in the open would put all of our cards on the table, particularly when she revealed the Halo, but there was no choice. Sophie had to try and close the Rift before Rex called for more backup. She pulled the Halo from her jacket and put it on the floor, pulling a dagger from her thigh.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Drake’s voice came from the bank of computers near Lance.

“My job,” Sophie hissed and cut open her arm, aiming a stream of blood onto the Halo.

Drake swore and ordered the others to form a wall between her and Rex.

I gasped and leaned forward, trying to catch the strange words she uttered. The Halo began to glow.

Rex glanced over his shoulder at her. “Now that’s not nice, princess.” He held out his hand as if to grab the Halo. It shot forward between Drake’s legs. None of them had a hope of stopping it.

“No!” yelled Sophie, diving to catch it, but Drake grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

A shield of purple magic slammed down between the Halo and Rex. He bellowed and sent Stone flying into the air. B’nar immediately hit the Rift with a massive blast of magic. Ice covered the ground in front of Connor, covering Rex’s legs. The demon howled as the ground steamed and then exploded outwards, sending Connor skidding onto his back, across the floor.

The full scale of the Rift finally came into view. B’nar’s magic had revealed it.

“Fuck!” I cursed. It was at least twelve feet wide. As if they had been waiting, more demons rushed through the hole. We’d been fooled. The Rift was far larger than Rawson had been allowed to see.

With no hesitation, I fired into the midst of the demons. The first wave fell before the world around me exploded, sending me tumbling out of my chair and across the room. I slammed into the wall. Pain shot through my left arm, and my lungs burned as a fireball sucked all the air from the room. All I could hear was a deep ringing sound. I blinked, turning my head. What had just happened? Dark, blurred shapes appeared. I tried to move, tried to see where Ava, Lance and Som were, but the air was full of smoke and dust.

“Find her!” roared a familiar voice.

“Walker?” I croaked, my throat bone dry, the moisture sucked out by the hot, dry air.

“Move! Leave the others. She’s our target.”

Oh, shit!Pain burst through my broken arm. Biting my lip, I forced myself to half-slither on my belly, half-crawl towards the nearest door. The fucker had double-crossed us! I peered through the dust. The approaching figures were all dressed in dark clothes, but it didn’t look like fae armour. They all held guns, but none appeared to be alight with magic. One came close enough I could see the insignia on his uniform. Double-crossing mother fucker! SBI! He was working with the SBI. I snarled. He should have brought his army to take me. These guys were going down right before I took that icy bastard out. Fire simmered beneath my skin. Mea might be contained by pregnancy hormones, but Fire wasn’t. My nostrils flared, and Mea growled. I hadn’t really thought Walker was cold enough to kill my baby and me. My heart hammered against my chest.My baby!That fucker wasnotgetting my child!

I slipped my knife from its sheath and, ignoring my pain, slashed the tendons at the back of my enemy’s knees, both of them. He screamed and fell. I pulled his weapon off him and shot him in the back. No remorse. It was my baby and me, or him. I had no issue with saving my baby above all else.

Bullets ricocheted off the wall behind me.

“Stop firing,” roared Walker. They did. “Ember, come out now, and your friends can live.”

A pause.

“Fine.”

Holding in my scream of pain, I darted to a nearby table and crouched down. Peering over the top, I could see Walker through the dust, illuminated by the flickering overhead lights. There was a scuffle, and another shadow appeared in front of Walker. I squinted. My chest tightened.

Ava.

“Ember? Come out now. She’ll die because of you if you don’t.”

“She’ll die if I do.”

“Don’t, Em! Run!” screamed Ava.

He pushed Ava away from him, aiming his gun at her chest. “What if I give you my word?”

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