The Sweetest Burn (Broken Destiny #2)

When had that happened? Jasmine and I had practically been joined at the hip for those two months, and I hadn’t seen Costa train her once. The only way I would have missed that was if they’d been sneaking out to do her training while I was asleep, or perhaps during one of my many trips to the grocery store...

All at once, I remembered their guilty expressions when they’d jumped up from the couch after I stormed into the bus earlier. My eyes narrowed as I looked at them. Was this the only thing they’d been hiding from me? Or was there something more?

“Great” was all I said, but I made a mental note to corner Jasmine later and find out if anything was going on with her and Costa. Not that Costa was a bad guy, but Jasmine was only eighteen, and Costa was...well, a lot, lot older.

Yes, I was being a total hypocrite by letting their age difference concern me since Adrian was over a century older than I was, but I couldn’t help it. She was my little sister. If I didn’t look out for her, who would?

I was still wondering if something more than friendship had been brewing between Jasmine and Costa when I pulled Brutus through the gateway first. But when we tumbled onto the street in front of Zilber Hall, the horrible aftermath from the realm spilling onto the campus chased everything else from my mind.

Fire trucks were lined up on several streets, spraying water onto the still-smoldering buildings. So many cop cars had their red-and-blue lights flashing that it cast a weird strobe effect over the campus. New ambulances were arriving as fast as other ones were leaving, their sirens almost indiscernible over the equally loud wails from the fire trucks and police cars. Students were either huddled together in groups, or were running around screaming out names as they searched for missing friends.

It was so awful, no one had noticed me and Brutus suddenly stumbling onto the sidewalk. Judging from the few people I made eye contact with, they were too shell-shocked to care even if they had seen us appear out of nowhere. We’d been in the light realm for at least half an hour, but on this end, it looked like it had only been minutes since Demetrius had pulled the realm tunnels back, so chaos still reigned.

“Keep an eye out for demons,” I told the gargoyle, patting him on his wings. “I’m going back for the rest of them.”

Once I had everyone back on this side, we scattered; Jasmine and Costa to treat the injured that the paramedics hadn’t gotten to yet, and me and Adrian to find Father Louis.

We went to St. Joan’s Chapel first. The roof had a huge hole from where Brutus forced his way inside to get to me, but I was surprised to see that the chapel doors looked like they’d been blown off with dynamite.

“Blinky,” Adrian said by way of explanation, flashing me a quick, wry grin. “That demon really wanted to kill me.”

Considering that Adrian had kept him locked up for the past several years, I didn’t doubt it. “You shouldn’t have sent me away with Brutus,” I muttered. “Seriously, Adrian, don’t ever do that again.”

“I needed to slow him down to make sure you got away,” he replied without the slightest hint of remorse.

I stopped our brisk pace to grab him. “I’m not the same girl you rescued all those months ago. I can take care of myself now, especially with the hallowed weapon in my arm. Your staying behind could’ve gotten you killed, just like your diving into a crowd of demons with Brutus almost got you killed. All I had to do was run by Demetrius and get to the Archon gateway, and I would’ve been fine. Stop thinking that you need to save me, Adrian.” My voice softened. “Saving people is my job, remember?”

His expression flashed between fury and tenderness, until I wasn’t sure if he was going to kiss me or shake me. “I can’t help it,” he finally replied. “I see you in danger, and my world narrows to only one thought. Keep you safe.”

He sounded so frustrated that I took his hand, pulling it up to kiss his knuckles despite all the dirt and blood on them.

“I love that you feel that way,” I said with all sincerity, “but we both need to expand our worlds beyond concern for each other if we’re going to win this war.”

He looked like he was going to say something else, and then his mouth closed with an audible click. Instead, he brushed my face with his hand and turned around.

“Father Louis’s car is still in the parking lot, so he didn’t leave the campus,” he said, getting back to the task at hand. “I’ll try his cell.”

Adrian pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket, then let out a snort. “Guess I should’ve known.”

It was smashed as well as soaked from my bath water, his blood and the blood of who-knew-how-many minions and demons who had tried to kill him. Adrian attempted to use it anyway, and then threw it down when the screen didn’t even power on.

“We’ll borrow one,” I said, looking around to see if any of the people near us had one.

“Don’t bother,” Adrian replied, striding toward the chapel. “There’s a phone inside here.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

FATHER LOUIS DIDN’T answer his cell phone. A sobbing student did, and from the details Adrian managed to get out of the hysterical guy, we headed over to the Jesuit Residence. I already feared the worst, but seeing the doors blown off the multistoried building the same way the chapel doors had been destroyed confirmed it.

“Blinky came here,” I said, shooting a grim look at Adrian. “Do you think—?”

“Yes,” he replied in a stony voice. “He went after Father Louis to get the map.”

I didn’t know if the Jesuit Residence had been on hallowed ground, but when I saw the long, ice-slicked puddle that snaked up to the building and continued past those decimated doors, I realized it didn’t matter. A realm tunnel had spilled out here, allowing Blinky and any other demon all the access they wanted.

There was also blood. A lot of blood, and I tried not to step in the crimson swaths as we walked inside the building. The first thing I saw was two guys who looked to be my age, hugging each other in the corner. Two cops were with them, one getting their statements while the other cordoned off an area around a large, sodden hump in the biggest puddle of blood.

The last several cops I’d seen had been minions, so I kept my hands near the knives strapped under my shirt as we approached. We hadn’t just used the phone back at the chapel. We’d also resupplied ourselves with weapons from Adrian’s stash in his loft. My right arm hadn’t begun to hurt or glow, so at least there didn’t seem to be any demons nearby.

“Officer,” Adrian said, striding up to the cop by the blood puddle. “I need to see that man. I know him.”

The cop turned to face Adrian. His face was very pale, but I was relieved when his eyes didn’t show any unearthly flash of light in them. He was human, then, and just pale from shock.

“There’s not much left to see,” the officer replied, shaking his head. “Someone butchered him.”

I closed my eyes. I hadn’t wanted to believe that the bloody hump on the floor was Father Louis, even though deep down, I’d known that it was. He’d been such a kindly old man, and now he was gone, and in a horrible manner. It wasn’t right.