Page 5 of Knight’s Retribution

“What you ask for…is not something I would ever give lightly. In the wrong hands…” She stood suddenly, knocking all four demons over as she glided toward Willow.

Willow didn’t move as Vorena approached and walked around her slowly.

“The price for such a gift would be high indeed,” Vorena said, dragging one of her fingernails down Willow’s cheek. A rivulet of blood rose to the surface, and Rocco had to bite back another snarl, had to force himself to stay back. “Blood is sacred after all.”

“What is your price?” Willow asked, voice cold, outwardly unaffected by the jagged slice down her cheek.

“You obviously have access to hellhounds?”

Shit.

Willow shifted. It was slight, but he didn’t miss it. “Yes.”

“Bring me four claws, four fangs, and a vial of seed and we have a deal,” Vorena said, smirking as she looked his way. “Maybe you could volunteer, hound?”

Rocco said nothing.

“May I ask what you’ll use them for?” Willow said, asking Vorena the same question the demon had asked her.

Vorena shrugged a shoulder. “Claws and fangs from Hell beasts can be used for all kinds of wonderful things, they hold significant power… The seed”—her eyes danced—“I have no use for, but I will enjoy the thought of you procuring it.”

“I’ll need your blood vow,” Willow said.

Vorena’s eyes narrowed, then she plucked a thin jeweled blade from a small table near her and pricked the tip of her finger. She squeezed it, and a drop fell to the disgusting floor. “You have my vow.” She glided back to her dais of mattresses. “Leave me now, but make haste, your safe passage just expired.”

“If that’s the case, I hope you won’t hold any fatalities against us,” Willow said.

Fuck. He needed to get Willow out of there. Now.

Vorena laughed, the tone deep and unsettling, and waved toward the door. “Do your worst, witch.”

Willow spun on her heel and rushed for the door, her blade already in her hand.

They raced down the stairs, tore out of the building, and demons swarmed toward them like fucking roaches.

Vorena had been toying with them, amusing herself; she’d had no intention of giving them what they wanted. She didn’t expect them to get out of there alive. But she’d made a deal, a blood vow, and she would have no choice but to stick to it when they survived this. And Rocco would make sure they did.

“This way.” He pointed to a narrow alley.

He needed that blood to release Kyler, and nothing would stop him from getting it. Not even a hoard of bloodthirsty demons.

Willow ran ahead of him, while Rocco hacked at the demons rushing up behind them. He couldn’t use his wings, not here. If they knew what he was, Vorena’s deal with the knights would end and all hell would break loose. Vorena sure as fuck wouldn’t love the idea of handing her blood to a knight.

Sheathing his sword, he sprinted up behind Willow, grabbed her around the waist, and tossed her in the air. She grabbed on to the fire escape without missing a beat and scrambled up. Rocco jumped, catching the iron frame, and chased her up, then kicked the shit out of the old, rusted bolts holding the lower level to the side of the brick building.

With a screech and a groan, it tore out of the wall. He jumped, catching the next level as it plummeted to the alley floor, taking out several demons with it. The screech of metal hitting pavement echoed off the alley walls as they scrambled to the top.

Rocco scanned the rooftop. The stairwell door was bolted shut and demons were already behind it, trying to kick it down and get to them. There were buildings close enough to jump to, and when the fuckers got through, that would be their assumption.

Tearing off his jacket and shirt, he handed them to Willow and scooped her up. His white and silver-tipped wings sprung from his back, and with one more glance around, he shot into the sky.

“Can you get the things she asked for?” Rocco asked when they were close to The Cauldron, Willow’s store, where she sold harmless spells and potions to humans.

The restlessness of his demon grew and he dragged in a breath when that control he’d been clinging to all day finally slipped.

“Yeah, no problem.” She was quiet for several beats. “I want you to find your female, Roc, and getting Golath’s bone back is in all of our best interest.”

Golath was the first demon created by Lucifer, and the first with the ability to open the portal to Hell at will. Now his bones could be used in a blood ritual—in this case, using Kyler’s blood since her demon side carried Golath’s DNA—to open the portal. Diemos had Golath’s finger bone, and he had Kyler. Which meant, as soon as she gained her power, he’d have the ability to move between Hell and Earth at will. Nobody wanted that.