Still holding her breath, Soraya leaned away from the door, a chill running down her spine as fear wrapped its way around her lungs.

  This can’t be happening. Not now. The thought came to her in a choked whisper.

  She’d changed her mind. She’d sooner face one of her strange hookups than the terrifying monster on the other side of their door. How it found her from that other place—she was at a complete, panicked loss. None of it made sense, but just because it defied all reason didn’t mean it would keep her and Jesmine safe.

  The memory of the creature tearing the door off at the Drunken Duck flashed through her mind. She took another quiet step back, inwardly cringing as her backpack made a slight rustling sound that she doubted Jesmine could hear, let alone the thing behind the door—at least, she hoped it couldn’t.

  “Soraya, who is it?” Jesmine’s whisper was like a gunshot beside her head.

  Soraya spun and pressed a finger to her lips. A sinking feeling told her the creature could hear every little thing they were doing, just as she could hear it.

  The sound of the floorboards creaking in the hallway had her tensing.

  Her eyes darted to Ahvi’s bedroom window. The front door was the only official way out, but over the years, they’d learned to seek exits anywhere if they were brave enough. Sometimes, creativity—and stupidity—were the key to escaping situations like this.

  She caught Jesmine’s gaze and mouthed “Ahvi’s window.” Jesmine nodded and stepped toward the—

  The front door exploded off its hinges, missing Soraya by inches.

  “Jesmine, run!” Soraya yelled.

  The air pressure popped in her ears as the door slammed into the floor, skidding into the living room and toppling the TV.

  Before Soraya could run toward Ahvi’s room, the looming, giant figure strode in, its gaze immediately finding Soraya’s. That grotesque smile slithered across its face—she swore she could hear the smile stretched across its face, like old leather cracking.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the broom she’d used as a weapon from earlier and lunged for it. She bitterly wished for her gun—only to remember, too late, that she’d left it on Ahvi’s empty bed.

  The broom was in her hands for barely a second before she looked up—just in time to see the creature’s booted foot arcing toward her. The kick landed square on her chest, punching her breath out of her lungs as she hurtled backward into the kitchen, narrowly missing the bar.

  Her backpack cushioned the crash, but her skull cracked against the linoleum. Vision swimming, ears ringing, chest aching, she barely registered Jesmine’s shout across the apartment. Gritting her teeth, she forced a breath into her lungs, the air feeling like fire scorching down into her injured chest as she shoved herself up onto her elbows—

  And froze.

  The monster loomed over her, clawed hands outstretched, ready to seize her head—

  BANG!

  The gunshot echoed in the cramped space. The creature’s bloodred eyes crossed as it staggered, slumping against the counter. Soraya didn’t hesitate. She scrambled past it, catching glimpses of black liquid oozing from its skull onto the floor as she fled the kitchenette.

  Jesmine was standing a couple of feet in front of Ahvi’s door, her steady hands lowering the gun she held, her eyes wide with shock.

  For one heartbeat, relief surged through Soraya—Jesmine had done it, she—

  Clicking and a wet, shuffling noise rasped behind her.

  She whipped around, and her heart stuttered in her chest.

  The back of the creature’s head was blown wide open. Black goo and pieces of rotten flesh dripped down its cloak. But that sight alone wasn’t the reason why every fiber of her being was screaming to get away.

  It was the fact that it was still standing, and the pieces of fragmented skull and flesh were piecing themselves back together.

  It was healing itself.

  It went against any natural order known to womankind.

  The word demon flashed through her mind, and for a split second, she wondered if the devil himself was after her for all the sins she’d committed— and there were quite a few.

  No time to dwell.

  “Move!” she shouted.

  Blood roared in her ears as she bolted for the now-cleared doorway, Jesmine right on her heels. She didn’t know how long they had until it was done putting itself back together, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to wait and find out.

  She had no doubt when the monster came too, it was going to be madder than it was before and come after them with twice the vengeance. Why was the demon hunting her in the first place? She didn’t care to imagine at the moment.

  Soraya reached the end of the hall and saw a cloaked figure lying slumped at the top of the stairwell. Hooded head bowed, hands twisted at unnatural angles, palms upturned like a macabre offering. Dark red blood pooled beneath him, seeping into the floorboards. His chest had been torn open—a mangled ruin of flesh and bone.

  “Fuck,” Jesmine’s cruse was sharp beside her.

  Soraya clenched her teeth as she ran by the corpse. Her sneakered feet slipped in the river of blood trickling down the stairs. The sticky, half-congealed mess clung to the worn wood as she forced herself onward.

  It wasn’t the first time she’d seen a dead body, but it didn’t make it any easier to witness. The image was burned into her mind of the man’s silver hair peeking out from beneath his gray hood and the intricate silver detailing of his cloak, now stained crimson.

  As they hit the ground floor, they found a second body—a white-haired woman pinned to the wall by a long black blade. Soraya forced herself not to look, desperate to spare her already frayed mind another gruesome image, but she couldn’t miss the blood pooling beneath the woman’s booted feet, dangling inches above the ground.

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  What the hell were they dealing with?!

  Soraya was more and more convinced that it wasn’t a demon after them but the devil himself. She briefly debated running to the nearest religious facility. She had never been very religious, but maybe now was the time to start.

  As they burst out of the building, stumbling down the stoop onto the sidewalk. Soraya veered right, charging down the slanted street—

  Then skidded to a halt.

  She spun, grabbing Jesmine and yanking her back just before she could run past— straight into the line of sight of the frog monster perched on the street corner. It sat unnervingly still as if keeping watch.

  Perfect. It would be just their luck if both creatures from hell were working together. She must have pissed off some ancient deity to deserve this.

  Soraya didn’t stop to think. The clock was ticking. Still gripping Jesmine’s hand, she sprinted toward the intersection, pumping her legs past their normal limit. Jesmine gasped for air behind her, slowing, but Soraya held tight. No way she was letting go of her

  Once they crossed the intersection and reached the right iron gate, Soraya finally let go of her friend's hand and whirled around to make sure they weren’t being followed. The coast was clear—only a lone car speeding past, some early riser desperate to beat morning traffic.

  Soraya sent a silent prayer to the sun to come up faster. Both times she had encountered the spawns from hell, it had been at night. Maybe they couldn’t be out in the sun. It was a fragile hope, but one they couldn’t afford to wait for.

  “Hop the fence, we can cut across campus and get to the metro station at Expo Park,” she directed as she turned. Jesmine was bent over and dragging in breath after breath, gulping air down like a drowning woman. She gave Soraya a shaky thumbs up. It will do.

  Lucky for both of them, they’d already had their packs slung over their shoulders when the demon attacked. Without them, they’d be left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

  After making quick work of hoping the fence, Soraya assisted Jesmine over the top since she was still winded from their run. They made their way across the deserted campus, passing by their hidden fountain—usually a refuge, now just another landmark in their flight.

  The silence was unnerving. On school days, this place teemed with students who had to dodge the self-important people on bikes and motorized skateboards speeding through the loud, chattering crowds.

  Today, as they jogged to the other side of the campus, Soraya’s anxiety was racketing up with each of their—Jesmine’s—labored breaths and pounding footsteps that seemed to echo in the silence around them. They probably could be heard from miles away.

  Soraya’s nerves screamed with every step and gasping breath, but she saw no movement, heard no pursuit. She crushed the fear rising in her throat. Focus. Run.

  Once they reached the far side of campus, they vaulted the back fence and jogged across the narrow street to the metro station. On impulse, Soraya pulled out her phone that was still miraculously in her pocket to check the time—only to be reminded that her phone was dead. There was no time to charge it.

  “Jesmine, can you check when the next E Line toward 7th Street will be here?”

  Jesmine nodded and swallowed down a gulping breath as she pulled out her phone to check. “E-line…it will be here in twenty minutes.”

  Soraya clicked her tongue and looked around the empty platform. They were too exposed out in the open and there was nowhere to conceal themselves. “Let’s go across the street into the Rose Garden, we can hide there until the train comes,” she said, decisively.

  “Can we walk there?” Jesmine’s voice was frayed with exhaustion. “I’m pretty sure we lost them at this point.”

  Soraya could see the adrenaline leave her friend’s posture, but as for herself she felt more awake than ever but agreed with Jesmine. She didn’t want to run the risk of burning out her friend too early in their journey.

  They quickly crossed the street and headed down the concrete steps into the Rose Garden, looking for a spot where they could watch the street, but still be hidden from view.

  After finding a nice darkly lit area behind the pink rose bushes, Jesmine collapsed on the grass, the pack still strapped to her back. Soraya settled down next to her, keeping one eye out toward the street in case any suspicious figures headed their way.

  The garden itself was set up in a rectangular grid. The towering rose bushes were spaced evenly apart like silent sentinels guarding the park from any unwanted intruders.

  Passed the garden, if they’d kept going straight, the path leads to the grand fountain that was in between the garden and the Science Center.

  She could hear it run as the water splashed down in multiple steady rivulets. She could smell the water mingled with the scent of warm, floral undertones of the roses as well as the mossy earth of the grass and soil. For once she wasn’t choking on the exhaust or the general trash smell in the inner city. It relaxed her fraction—a tiny, minuscule fraction.

  “Okay, Soraya,” Jesmine said after she caught her breath, “you officially win the ‘Attracting Craziest Men’ award,” she declared. “And honey, you need to set your standards way higher than whatever the fuck that thing was back there. You can do way better—” A hint of mockery entered her voice. “Did you close your eyes the whole time you guys were doing it?”

  “What?!” Soraya squawked. She whipped away from the street to stare at her friend, who lay sprawled on the grass with her eyes closed and a wicked grin splitting her face. “Do you really believe I slept with—with that thing?” She was absolutely perplexed that Jesmine would ever think she would sleep with a decaying corpse!

  Jesmine shrugged her shoulders. “Every woman has that one uggo on their roster and since you were practically glued to your vibrator this past month, I thought maybe you had gotten desperate toward the end there. The first guy was a knockout if that makes you feel better.”

  Soraya smacked Jesmine’s leg. “No, weirdo. That thing almost killed me before! And before you ask, no, I don’t have a clue what it is or how it found me—us— but it did take a chunk out of me and I guess it was coming back for seconds,” Soraya spat with indignation. “And I have no clue what those frog demons are either, all I know is that for the past week, crazy shit has been happening to me ever since I hooked up with that man back at Midnight Jungle. Most of it doesn’t make sense and the rest of it is just plain impossible to explain and we have been through some crazy shit…but nothing like this and, and I feel weird—different and, and—“ she cut herself off to blow out a long, steadying breath.

  An awkward kind of quietness settled over them. The fountain’s rhythmic splashing wrapped the rose garden in a deceptive calm, the water’s steady cadence at odds with the tension thrumming through Soraya’s veins.

  “Those dead people in the stairwell…” Jesmine voice barely rose above the fountain’s murmur. “Did you know them? I hadn’t seen them around before.”

  A flash of silver hair beneath an embroidered hood flickered through Soraya’s mind. “No…The woman had the same hair color as one of the guys you hooked up with. White…like snow…” Soraya trailed off as she pictured Raziel and, strange enough, Alkimos.

  “I—I think that’s their real hair color,” Jesmine said softly like she couldn’t believe it herself. “Like the Targaryens but better looking.”

  Soraya didn’t say anything to that, lost in her thoughts.

  “You said you feel…different, and the thing with your ears…are you—” Jasmine blew out a breath of her own before continuing, “Are you turning into an elf?”

  Startled, Soraya snapped her gaze back toward Jesmine. “An…elf? Did you just ask if I’m an elf?”

  “Turning into an elf,” Jesmine corrected.

  “That’s not funny, Jesmine,” Soraya’s voice came out sharper than intended.

  Jesmine met her gaze. “I’m not trying to be,” she responded, dead serious.

  “Why even ask me that? There is no such thing as a, as a…” Soraya couldn’t finish the sentence, not because of how ridiculous it sounded—but because the terrifying possibility rang with a truth she couldn’t voice.

  “Do you know what a changeling is?” Jesmine continued. “Like in those old fairytales.”

  Soraya’s face drained of color. Every instinct screamed to shut this down, yet she heard herself correcting her friend, “Changelings aren’t elves…they’re fae.” Jesmine slow nod sent ice through her veins—until another memory surfaced. That unfinished sentence from the apartment, just before Jesmine had pinched her pointed ear…

  “Jesmine…” Soraya’s voice came out in a whisper. “What were you going to say about Ahvi?”

  Jesmine met her gaze squarely, “You. Ahvi. Those winged men I slept with.” Her fingers dug into the soil. You’ve all got pointed ears and this…freakish glow about you.”

  Confused, Soraya furrowed her brow. “A freakish glow?”

  “And Ahvi’s been lying, Soraya.” Jesmine’s hands trembled as she clenched fistfuls of earth. “She’s not—they’re not—from our world. She’s—they’re not human.”

  Her words pelted at Soraya. Fragmented memories erupted behind her eyes—oceans glowing underneath unfamiliar stars, savage yet beautiful-looking men, a jade fountain bigger than a city block, glowing indigo eyes. Places and people that shouldn’t exist played like a film in her head.

  “Soraya…” Jesmine’s voice cracked. “I…I don’t think you’re human, either. I’m starting to remember stuff—from when we were kids…I think you’re one of them.” Her eyes shone with terrified certainty. “I think you’re fae.”