Page 83 of Infernal Secrets

A shadow passed over the bins and I whimpered, slapping my hand over my mouth to stifle the sound. I hugged my purse to my chest as a creature stalked back and forth on the other side. I wondered if the scent of my blood gave away my hiding spot.

After several minutes, the low growls moved away from the bins, and I let out a sigh of relief. My adrenaline was crashing, making me all too aware of the pain radiating down my leg.

I could call for help. Would they even come?

The princes won’t save you.

I squeezed my eyes shut, shoving the words from my mind.

Ash would come. So would Zeke. But Ezra and Cyn? Ezra had saved me before, but maybe he did it to help Ash, not me. Would he come now if I called?

I had to try.

“Rae! Rae, where are you?”

“Raelynn!”

I almost dropped my phone at the sound of Zeke and Ash’s voices. They’d come. But how? How did they know how to find me? How did they know I needed them?

“Found her!” Zeke reached into the gap, hauled me out, and crushed me to his chest. “You scared me.” He trembled, his breathing labored. “Why did you run from us?”

“What?” I tilted my head to look up at him in confusion. I didn’t run from them.

“When you saw us, you screamed and ran away.”

I squinted. “I—what?”

“She probably couldn’t tell it was us. It was dark and we were in our alternate forms.” Ash pulled me from Zeke and lifted me into his arms. “We need to get her out of here. She’s injured. Ezra and Cyn have it taken care of.”

I screamed as a boil-covered creature with leathery russet skin leapt onto the bins and swiped at Ash’s head with its long black claws.

Before anyone could respond, a clawed black hand impaled the creature through the chest and ripped its heart free from its body. When the creature collapsed over the bins, I saw Cyn.

He stood in the same form I’d seen the night we met, chest heaving with every heavy breath. His pitch-black eyes burned as he speared me with his gaze. Blood splattered his sharp jawline, dark fluids and chunks of flesh clinging to his clothes.

His gaze snapped to my wounded leg, and his upper lip curled into a feral sneer, revealing the elongated double fangs I’d only glimpsed before. A deep, primal growl rolled through him, vibrating the air.

It wasn’t just a demonic growl. The sound was a warning, a promise, and something darkly possessive that sent heat curling low in my stomach.

How did I know that? How did I know the sound wasn’t something to fear?

The renewed pull beneath my ribs told me I had nothing to fear. Not from him—at least not right now.

“Get her out of here,” he said, barely holding onto his restraint.

His hand tightened around the still-beating heart, crushing it. His eyes met mine one last time before he dropped the remains of the bloody organ and disappeared into the fray.

Too many questions swirled in my mind as Ash ran across the parking lot with me in his arms. “How did you get here? How did you know where to find me?”

“Your phone. Cyn tracked you,” Zeke said, keeping pace at our side.

I wanted to be angry about the invasion of privacy, but it might have saved my life. One of those “pick your battles” situations.

“We used a taxi service to get here,” Ash said, skidding to a sudden stop.

Five infernals resembling the one that clawed my leg with acidic saliva blocked our path.

Zeke grabbed Ash’s arm. “The elevator!”