Page 68 of House of Demons and Bones

Sy grabbed the mage prince and slanted her mouth against his, all fierce lips and sharp fangs. When she growled and nudged, Cade parted his lips, letting her tongue sweep in.

Silas and Louis watched with undisguised envy.

“Is a kiss really necessary?” Rowan ground out.

“You want to save our brother or not?” Killian snapped back. His relief was obvious—better Sy kissing Cade than me. “Besides, that kiss isn’t even romantic.”

“Make it quick, little monster,” Rowan ordered Sy. “We don’t want Cade suffering through this longer than he has to.”

The Fury tried to retreat into Cade’s heart, but my darkest flame blocked her escape. Sy’s light wrapped around the mage prince, shielding him while my dark flame burned the black spells forged with blood magic and severed the Fury’s connection to her host.

Bayrose hissed, trapped with nowhere to run. In panic, she bolted from Cade’s body. Sy broke the kiss, her claws lashing out, her white light snagging the Fury.

“Going somewhere, little Bayrose?” Sy’s voice dripped with savage glee.

The princes gaped at the two-inch phantom Fury, her blue lips twisted as she squirmed and shrieked in Sy’s grip.

“Fuck, it’s real!” Silas shouted in alarm, jumping back in the water.

Louis’s eyes went wide. “Fuck me!” He made the sign of the cross.

Cade stared at the Fury, trembling, unable to utter a word. Terror and rage burned in his turquoise eyes, now free of shadows. Rowan’s vines emerged, ready to strike if the Fury slipped through Sy’s claws. That wasn’t going to happen on my watch.

“Kill it now!” Killian snarled.

“Make it confess before the execution.” Rowan had a different idea.

“I never wronged you, Bayrose. Why did you do this to me?” Cade asked, finally finding his voice, his face dark with cold rage. “Who worked with you?”

Bayrose threw her tiny head back and laughed.

“She won’t tell us,” I said through Sy’s mouth. “But I see the druid’s signature. We need to end her now. She’s no longer a being but the manifestation of a curse.”

Cade nodded for us to eliminate the Fury.

Sy’s white light poured into the Fury’s phantom mouth while my dark flame engulfed it, and together we erased the Fury’s soul forever.

“I’ve never felt so light,” Cade said, tears streaming down his face. He turned to Sy. “You and Barbie freed me. I owe you a life debt.”

“Consider it even, Prince Cade,” I said.

Suddenly, my familiar bond pulled taut. A second later, Pucker popped into existence above the water, making everyone jump.

“Ladies and gentlemen.” His grin faded when the heirs met him with stony faces.

No one liked surprises, especially when the heirs were still wrestling with everyone’s secrets—including their own—and failing to hide their shock and nerves.

Pucker shot Sy an uncertain look. “So the cat’s out of the bag?”

“Report, Pucker,” Killian interrupted. Always the hardass.

Mental note: remind him later that Pucker answered to me. I could get territorial too—no one liked their toes stepped on.

“Uh, I’ll just tell both you and mistress,” the ghost guardian said. “You there, Barbie? An army of Shriekers is heading here. They’re about two miles out. You wanted me to watch the other side of the Veil, and I did.”

We can battle in my form,Sy offered.

No,I said.You can’t channel the heirs’ magic. Plus, we can’t risk Ruin discovering you.

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