Page 139 of When Death Whispers

“Follow the glow of new power to its source,” he says, voice cold, distant. “And you’ll find the one you call Parker.”

Fucking riddles again. I have no patience for this cryptic bullshit. I sway slightly, vision blurring at the edges, the bleeding from my side wound finally catching up to me.

I think about saying something—something snarky, something pissed off—but the words don’t quite make it past my tongue.

Rad takes a step closer to me. I blink slowly, head suddenly heavy, and I barely register the dark demon’s final words before the world tilts beneath my feet.

“And Nightmare,” he murmurs, “you better hurry. It’s already fading.”

And then?—

The pink glow fades.

My knees buckle.

The world tilts.

And everything goes dark.

50

The human goes downlike a sack of bricks.

Typical. One scratch, a little blood loss, and he’s dead weight. How the hell do humans manage to live as long as they do?

He hits the ground with a dull thud, blood seeping through his clothes and staining the glowing pink roots at our feet. Even in unconsciousness, his stupidly stubborn face looks like he’s ready to pick a fight. Idiot.

The scent of human blood fills the air, mingling with the acrid tang of demon ichor and whatever other god-awful things lurk in the Evergloom. It smells like trouble. Delicious, tempting trouble.

The two new demons watch us with varying degrees of amusement. The scarred constellation asshole seems mostly curious, his pale eyes assessing everything with detached calmness. The bulky red bastard is grinning widely, obviously entertained, his thick tail swishing lazily behind him.

“You could help, you know,” I snarl, glaring at them both.

The red one shrugs, his grin never faltering. “We saved your hides once. Think of it as a friendly first-time bonus. Additional services come with a cost.”

“Fucking helpful,” I mutter, turning back to Hudson. He looks pathetic, sprawled out on the glowing ground, his heartbeat growing fainter. His scent fading bit by bit.

Something unpleasant coils in my gut, tight and heavy. It feels wrong. Feels like dread, regret, or some other bullshit emotion I have no business experiencing. I’m a fucking nightmare demon, for hell’s sake. Human feelings aren’t in my job description.

But Parker is.

My claws flex involuntarily at the thought of her. Those defiant eyes, that infuriating mouth, the intoxicating mix of fear and lust she’s always dripping with whenever I’m around. She’d burn the whole world down for this idiot lying at my feet.

I don’t want to think about what she’d do if I let him die.

Or worse—what she wouldn’t do.

Forgive me. Trust me. Look at me without hatred in those eyes.

I crouch beside him, claws twitching over the wound, torn between saving him and letting the Evergloom finish what it started. His breathing is shallow, his skin pale and clammy. I can practically hear Parker screaming at me to do something, anything.

“Trouble in paradise?” the red demon drawls.

I shoot him a venomous glare. “Keep talking and I’ll feed your horns back to you.”

He chuckles, low and gravelly, folding his massive arms over his broad chest. “You talk tough for a lovesick demon.”

The other demon—the dark, starry bastard—tilts his head slightly, watching me. He looks thoughtful. Too thoughtful.

---