The Sweetest Burn (Broken Destiny #2)

“The staff,” I whispered, the pieces falling into place. “You said yourself that they’ve been looking for it so they can use it to tear down all the realm walls, but they can’t feel it. Only I can, so what if their new tactic is to absorb places with natural phenomena to force me to look for it on their territory, just like I had to do with the slingshot?”

He parked the car and got out, taking the manna with him. When he came back, the bag was empty but when we started driving, the thump-thump-thump from the flat tire was gone.

“Then they’ll be coming for this realm sooner than I expected,” he finally answered, his tone hardening. “In fact, they might already be here.”

*

OF ALL THE things I least expected to see in the middle of a desert, a castle had to top that list. Yet there it was, sprawling across a couple acres, with a watchtower that loomed majestically over one corner. The fact that I could see it at all meant the castle had battery-powered emergency lights, and they showed off white walls, Spanish-style tile roofs and multiple curved archways. With its size and opulence, it would be the first place that demons picked to set up their headquarters. Say what you will about evil fallen angels; they weren’t a pitchfork-and-brimstone crowd. Instead, they liked to live in style, and the fancier, the better.

Which begged the question, “Why are we here?” I asked.

Adrian killed his headlights, using the faint illumination from the castle to drive off-road. The sand was much softer here, with the peaks and valleys you’d expect from a normal desert. It was slow going, and I thought we’d get stuck a few times. It took almost twenty minutes to go a hundred yards, but Adrian finally parked the car beneath a Joshua tree jutting out from the hill. We’d be invisible here, unless you went trekking through the sand, which must be what we were about to do.

“The gateway’s here,” Adrian replied. “Makes sense. Whoever absorbed this realm would want it by the castle so they could keep pulling in tourists from the other side.”

Anger burned through me. That’s similar to what had happened with Jasmine. She and her boyfriend had stayed at a bed-and-breakfast that had a realm gateway in the innkeeper’s office; a place no guest would feel wary about entering, and one they’d rigged so that select guests wouldn’t be able to leave.

I chased the memory away as we got out of the car, closing our doors quietly. We’d seen other cars parked in front of the castle, but who knew if they all belonged to innocent tourists? One of them might be from the same demon that had dropped this realm onto this place. He or she had to be here somewhere. It took incredible power to make a realm, Adrian had told me, and that power couldn’t be harnessed from long distance.

Adrian gestured for me to follow as he started up a steep hill. I did, looking around warily. I couldn’t see much, but my eyes were starting to adjust to the dark. Months ago, after journeying to multiple demon realms, I’d been able to see almost as well as Adrian. Repeated use brought out the perks of my lineage. Too bad my hatred of the realms had stopped me from practicing my night vision since then.

My cell phone rang, the sound shattering the quiet and startling me so much, I almost dropped it. I’d had it in my hand in case Jasmine or Costa responded to my texts, but I hadn’t really believed I’d hear from them on this side of the realm.

Adrian snatched it, hitting Answer before the next loud ring. “Are you out?” was his single hushed question.

“We got out,” I heard Costa respond, and the rush of relief I felt was so intense, it weakened my knees. “You?”

“Still here,” Adrian whispered. “We’re—”

The light from the phone went dead. As anticipated, the best the signal could manage was a few seconds, but that was enough. We now knew that Jasmine and Costa were safe. Brutus, too, since he’d been hiding from the sun in the tour bus. I was so happy, I could have spun around in giddy circles.

Adrian gave it back to me after setting the call alert on vibrate. I put it in one of the zippered pouches in my pants. We wouldn’t need it again until we were out of this realm, and hopefully, that would be soon.

Adrian paused when we reached the low wall that ran around one side of the sprawling Mediterranean-style structure.

“The gateway’s somewhere inside the house,” he said, once more feeling the air as if it had form. “From the sounds, all the people are on the lower level, so let’s start at the top.”

I didn’t get a chance to ask how he intended for us to do that. Adrian ran to the corner of what looked like an exterior courtyard, where grapevines twined up to the second floor. He brushed the vines aside, revealing lattice and thin, hollowed-out logs that must have been there for additional support. Adrian grasped one of the thin logs, but instead of vaulting himself up, he gestured to me.

“You first.”

I went over to him, intending to fit my feet in the lattice spaces and climb. Before I could do that, Adrian grasped me low around the hips and pushed. Suddenly, I was scrambling to grab the roof tiles so I didn’t slide off the second floor. I knew he was strong, but I was hardly a waif of a girl, and here he’d almost shot-putted me onto the second floor with a single push.

Then I was scrambling back to get out of his way as he vaulted himself upward next. Good thing the roof only had a mild slope, because the barrel-shaped tiles were slick with the cold. Adrian raised himself into a crouch and grasped my hand, leading me across the roof. I followed, mimicking his low profile, only to stop abruptly when we reached the exterior flue of a chimney. My right arm begun to burn with a sudden, startling pain. Adrian stopped at the same time, touching the stones on the chimney.

“There,” he said with dark satisfaction. “The gateway is right below this.”

The pain in my arm grew more intense. I grabbed it with a yelp, and when I pushed up my sleeve, I was shocked to see the slingshot-turned-tattoo change from a dull brown color to a rich, shimmering gold. Pain radiated from each loop of the former rope where it curled around my arm, until the entire marking felt as if it were on fire.

“What’s wrong?” Adrian said, not seeing the odd golden glow because my hand covered the parts that were visible.

At first, I could only shake my head in pained confusion. I had no idea why the slingshot tattoo was now burning as though it had been inked onto my flesh with acid. It had never done that before...wait. Yes, it had. Once.

I glanced at the chimney, then at the tiles beneath us. Somewhere below us was the gateway, according to Adrian. But maybe that wasn’t the only dark object in the house.

“Adrian,” I whispered, uncovering my right hand so he could see the new, golden sheen on my supernatural tattoo. “I think the demon who made this realm might be here.”





CHAPTER TWELVE