The box cracked, groaned and fell open. Milly spilled out, her hair tangled and dirty, her face pale and bruised but she was alive. I bent to touch her, then remembered the venom.

“Erik, can you carry her?”

He didn’t answer, just scooped her up in his arms. “We need to get out. Look at the wolf’s bracelet.”

I looked to see the bracelet fading. “Shit, we need a way upstairs or Orion is going to win by default.”

The building around us shivered. I looked at Erik and he shrugged. “Don’t know.”

I directed my question to the wall, to the monster who made up the structure. “You can hear us? You know we want to stop Orion, but we have to get out of here.”

The building again shivered and floor below us shifted, lifting us toward the ceiling.

“Oh shit.”

That was not what I’d been hoping for.

“Erik!”

“Let me think.”

I crouched as the ceiling touched my head. “Think faster. Pamela, Alex, lay on the floor. Pam, if it starts to squish us, you fire away, understand?”

She nodded, blue eyes hard, but not afraid.

Erik crouched, Milly unmoving in his arms. “The building is alive and can hear us, so I’m guessing that it doesn’t like what Orion is doing to it.”

The building gave a loud groan, pitched suspiciously like a “Yes.”

I ran with it. “Then you’ll help us get out?”

Another groaning, “Yes.”

There was no other option at that point. We had to trust the building that was alive, that was likely some sort of demon, and hope for the best.

Yeah, not really a gamble I wanted to take, but what other choice did we have?

I held my breath as the ceiling drew close and as Pamela lifted her hand, the ceiling shimmered and pulled back.

Only one problem. Seemed like we were about to get the express route. The panel below us began to pick up speed.

“Lie down, Rylee,” Erik said, doing so himself and laying Milly flat. The walls around us flashed by and I forced myself to look up as each floor above us drew close and then disappeared a hairs breadth before smashing into us. I didn’t know why it had to be that way, but I didn’t care. We were getting the hell out of here.

As fast as the ride up started, it was over, the building let out a final groan. “Go.”

I sat up. Shit, we were in the room Alex and I crawled into what felt like hours ago. I glanced at his ankle. Only the faintest shimmer of gold showed. We were running against the clock, but I managed to keep my manners intact.

“Thank you.”

I stood, Pamela and Alex scrambled toward the window and Erik followed.

I paused and put my hand on the building. “Why?”

The building, a living entity demons carved out as their base, gave me an answer I didn’t know how to react to.

“Not all demons bad. Remember.”

Well shit. “I’ll remember.”

I climbed out the window. “Alex, you lead the way back to the gate. Smell our back trail.”

He gave me a snappy salute. “Yes, boss!”

Behind us, the building groaned, the ground around the base shooting up in large chunks, and demons—lots and lots of demons—poured out of the windows.

“Time to go.” Erik hitched Milly a little higher in his arms and took off, Alex running beside him.

Pamela stared at the demons, her eyes glittering with hate. “I want to kill them all.”

How much had she seen, how much had they hurt her? I pointed after Erik. “Another time, Pam. We’ll have another shot at them.”

Running flat out, we barely stayed ahead of the horde. Alex ran in front, nose to the ground and then in the air, then back to the ground. I couldn’t see any flash of gold, and that worried me.

We had to make it; Thomas had to hold the doorway for us.

Otherwise, we might as well give up.

Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen.

Three hours. Thomas held up his finger. “I will open the veil. If they are not there, waiting for us, there is no re-opening it.”

Liam ground his teeth. “Thomas.”

The necromancer looked at him. “Yes?”

“If she isn’t there, you are holding the veil open until I say. Understand?”

Thomas snorted. “Negotiations were made, you’d change them now?”

“These are lives on the line, not negotiations.” Liam stepped closer, so Thomas and he were almost nose to nose. “They are lives that are needed more than any other in the world. You will hold that veil open until I call cease.”

He stepped back and nodded for Thomas to go ahead.

Megan gave him a look, her eyes full of worry; she mouthed something at him. Something that looked like ‘kill him.’ Yeah, that was not going to happen. Right at that moment there was nothing else he could do. Thomas would betray them, or he wouldn’t. They would just have to wait and let the scene play out.

The necromancer put a hand on Frank’s shoulder then one on Megan’s, and the two teenagers slumped a little. Across from them, the veil began to open, finally revealing the same archway Rylee and Alex stepped through only three hours past.

No one was there.

No Rylee. No Alex.

Just a vast empty plain. At least Megan had been wrong about that. Thomas had so far kept to his word. Now Liam had to get him to hold it a little longer.

Thomas let out a long sigh. “This is why I do not like opening the veil into the deep level. No one comes out, not ever. I told you that.”

Liam spun toward him. “You never said that.”

“Didn’t I? Well, it was implied.”

“You hold that open.” Liam stalked toward the open veil, but whatever made him a guardian kept him from going any further. He stared onto the open plain. There was movement, far, far in the distance.

“There is someone coming.”

Thomas snorted again, and his voice was strained. “Even if it is her, I am not sure how long I can hold this open, wolf.”

“Thomas, hold it open. You have to.” He strained his eyes, peering into the shimmering darkness.

The veil slammed shut. “I cannot, Liam.” Thomas slid to the ground between Megan and Frank.

“No!”

Thomas lifted his hand. “Let me rest. I am a fool, but I will open it again for you.”

“He’s lying,” Megan whispered. “It’s all an act.”