"I need to stop getting into situations where all my options are potentially bad."

Jack Campbell, Dauntless


Samantha

So that plan was a bust.

Sam was surprised that James didn't kill her on the spot. Douglas and Oly created enough chaos to distract him for a minute, but it went downhill. When James dragged Sam away from the group, she expected to die. After surviving weeks among the Hunters, here was where she bit it.

James didn't kill her, though. Not yet. He chewed her out, interrogated her about demons and the attack on Mission Creek, accused her of spying. She didn't think she did anything wrong until she got Oly close enough to attack. Down in the sewers, she was trying to survive like everybody else. Spying was the last thing on her mind.

At least he forgot about that when the demon came.

Sam didn't know what she saw. The only way she could describe it was 'unholy.' Its scales seemed to absorb the last rays of the sun instead of reflecting it. Several feet away, everyone but Tasha scattered away from Douglas. The almighty Hunters dove for cover, everyone else ignored. Douglas had to lean hard on Tasha to get to his feet and follow, both adults glancing at the sky.

As for Sam, she couldn't move.

She'd never seen a demon like that. Afrits were large, but not that big. This was the kind of creature people wrote horrible legends about. Who Summoned it? Why would they think that was a good idea? This was an apocalypse demon, not a human's plaything.

James' eyes were huge, his hands hanging by his sides as he watched the demon. "Soad…."

The name made everything click. This was the demon who destroyed Mission Creek. The one who the military didn't seem to be able to stop. The one who prompted James to torture and kidnap to learn about it. Did Kevin know its weakness? Did it even have one? A ton of silver might hurt Soad, but she doubted the Hunters had stored enough away for something of that size.

James grabbed Sam's arm, squeezing tight as he watched the monster. "Move." He shoved her towards the side of the road, letting go of her.

Sam stumbled towards some tall grass, swallowing. She didn't know how well they could hide from something like Soad, but she didn't want to stand around for him, either. Picking up the pace, she dove into the tall grass by the road and crouched low. She heard James slip into the grass behind her, but she didn't care. She was making her way back to where Tasha and Douglas were hiding. By the time she found them, the wind had hit.

Soad's wings were enormous, generating gusts of wind that tore through the area in waves. Sam tucked herself in with Tasha and Douglas, who was leaning heavily on a thin tree trunk. He was breathing hard but managed to smile at her, anyways. Tasha patted Sam's back as she watched the horizon, sitting in the dirt as they waited for Soad to either notice them or pass by. James kept his distance, watching as the two remaining Hunters huddled together.

The one Oly attacked laid in the open, silent now. His face was a bloody mess, but if Sam squinted, she could see his chest rising and falling in the fading sunlight. She pointed at him, opening her mouth, but Douglas shook his head. "Don't draw attention by darting out there. If we hold still, Soad might not see him."

Sam didn't want to stake this guy's life on maybes, but she didn't want to risk it, either. She sat fully, letting out a huff as the wind tore at her shirt. All they could do was wait now.

Tasha pointed at the mass that was Soad, shooting Douglas a look. "You expect Leo to be able to Summon that?"

Douglas threw his hands up, wincing. "Not for a few years. Right now, there's no chance in hell he'd get Soad into a Circle."

Sam perked up at the conversation. What was going on here? The last time Sam checked, Leo didn't Summon anymore. She didn't even know why he kept Ysthry around. "What?"

Douglas waved the question away. "It's not important right now." He nodded at her. "Where have you been?"

Sam winced, pointing back towards Mission Creek. "I feel in a manhole. The Hunters are keeping survivors down there, as long as they aren't Summoners."

Tasha's eyes widened. "What happens to Summoners they find?" When Sam didn't answer, Tasha sucked in a breath. At least Sam didn't have to spell it out for Tasha.

Douglas raised an eyebrow. "How'd you find Oly?"

"She found me." Sam lowered her voice, glancing at the Hunters. "Kevin asked that I find you before James did, and Oly just popped up while I was looking." She looked back at Douglas and Tasha, frowning. "He said something about an underground lab. I couldn't find it."

Tasha and Douglas exchanged a look that made Sam frown. She was missing something here. Maybe Chase being a demon wasn't the only secret they had? It wouldn't surprise her, between rumors of a lab she'd never seen and their obsession with technology. Maybe it was where Davenport Industry's top-secret new inventions were kept. She didn't care what they were hiding as much as they seemed to. Douglas sat up straight, wincing. "Is Kevin okay?"

Sam shook her head. "He was alive when I left, but it wasn't looking good."

Douglas ground his teeth, hissing out a sigh. Sam tensed, waiting for Douglas to shoot the messenger, but he just nodded and sat back again, closing his eyes. "Okay."

Tasha patted Douglas' arm but focused on Sam. "How have you been? Are you okay?"

Sam hesitated, thinking about that. With that question came a wave of exhaustion. She was so tired. Sam rubbed her eyes but nodded. She just wanted to find her parents and go home, but she couldn't do that. Her parents might be dead, and her home was a pile of debris in a town overrun by demons. There was no going back.

Tasha shifted her weight so she could rub Sam's back. "It's going to be okay."

Sam hoped so. It didn't feel like things would be okay, but she could dream for just a second. She settled down, swallowing hard. Right now, they couldn't do anything but wait.

The two Hunters shifted closer in the dark, holding their guns still. Sam squinted at them, frowning. She knew those guys. "Jason and Chris, right?"

Jason nodded, sitting with a huff. "You didn't drag that thing out here with you, did you?"

Sam shook her head. "This is the first time I've seen him."

"Don't start blaming her for things," Douglas grumbled. A second later, he sucked in a breath. He twisted around, then winced at the action.

Chris was behind Douglas, pressing around that knife in Douglas' back again. "Don't squirm."

"When do we pull the knife out?" Tasha asked, frowning.

Douglas waved her question away, hissing through his teeth. "Not until we have stitches or something. For all we know, the knife is holding things together back there."

Sam paled. "You're just going to walk to Mission Creek with that in your back?"

Douglas shrugged a shoulder. "Seems like the plan so far, unless Soad kills us first."

That prompted everyone to look up for a second. James moved closer at last, sitting close to them. He gave a sideways look to his Hunters sticking so close to Douglas and Tasha but didn't say anything. Sam fidgeted, shifting closer to Tasha. She didn't like the look in James' eye. There was a dangerous glint that she couldn't place, something she hadn't seen from him before. James narrowed his eyes at the group, his knuckles white as he held his rifle. "Everyone shut up and lay down before it finds us."

Lucky for them, Soad didn't seem to care about a few humans lying flat in the vegetation on the side of the highway. He was easy to see even after the sun had set. His scales were darker than the night around him. The air pressure his wings generated as he flew overhead made Sam's ears pop. She hissed, rubbing them as she watched Soad's wings. He had to beat them fast to stay in the air. He didn't slow down, though. His tail whipped a tree over, but aside from that, the only thing left when he passed them was the wind.

Soad was on a mission, and it didn't involve them.

They waited a few moments after Soad flew away, just in case. Sam opened her eyes from her spot on her stomach, lying between Tasha and Douglas. Douglas was shaking, watching the sky as Soad almighty flew away. Tasha raised her head, patting Sam's back as she spoke. "You don't think he's going to destroy Los Angeles now, do you?"

James pushed on the ground, sitting up to shoot Tasha a look. "He's heading that way, isn't he?"

Douglas had eyes on Soad, ignoring James. "You think they're coming for us?"

Sam swallowed, not quite following the conversation. "Who?"

Tasha squeezed Sam's shoulders. "God, I hope so. I don't want them in the city if Soad is headed there."

"Who's coming for you?" James demanded.

Douglas and Tasha both furrowed their brow. Douglas went so far as to raise his hand. "You didn't think you could just run off with us without the family following, did you?"

"Or calling the police," Tasha added, glaring at James.

Chris and Jason sat up, dusting themselves off as James' eyes widened. Sam frowned. He hadn't thought of that. How didn't he think of that? It was kidnapping 101, right? You picked someone who wouldn't be missed.

Jason scrambled to his feet, holding his rifle close to his chest. "Get up. We need to move."

Sam sat up, biting down a groan. She'd been walking all day. She bet these guys had been walking all day, too. They couldn't make it to Mission Creek if they kept going. There was no way, especially with Douglas nursing a stab wound. They would have to slow down for him. Even Chris and Jason exchanged glances at that.

Douglas gathered his legs up under him, though, sucking in a breath even as he winced. "Good."

Tasha raised an eyebrow as Douglas rose to his feet, favoring a leg. "Douglas, maybe we should – "

Douglas waved at Tasha, gritting his teeth. "Come on. Let's go." He stared James down, narrowing his eyes. "I hope your knife is expensive. I'm keeping the stupid thing."

James didn't have much to say about that, and Sam didn't blame him for the silence. Douglas had a glint in his eyes that Sam didn't like. It was almost feral. Sam wasn't going to tell Douglas that they should stop when he looked like that.

Tasha pursed her lips and ducked close to Douglas when she stood so that he could lean on her. As he threw an arm around her shoulder, she fixed James with a look of her own. "Let's just go, then."


"Oh God, what's wrong with me? Why does nothing ever work out?"

Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones's Diary


Bree

Bree rubbed her temples for a long second, sighing. She was getting a headache, and it wasn't from the swaying tree branch she sat on. "Okay, run this by me again."

Over her eyeline was a branch with four birds on it. The demon branch, she thought. Her enchanted bead let her see Oly, Yahn, Ysthry, and Chase hanging tight to the bark. Chase was digging at a spot on his back with his beak. She could only guess why he went with a raven when the others picked small songbirds. Oly watched as Leo hugged the tree trunk, looking nauseous. Bree could barely see him in the moonlight. Soad's approach kicked up a strong breeze, blowing the tree branches around. Mr. Davenport and Adam clung to their respective branches, watching Bree with wide eyes. Trevor sat on the branch with Mr. Davenport, hanging onto him like a spider monkey and looking at the ground.

Bree didn't blame them. She had a hard time wrapping her mind around this, herself.

Yahn tilted his sparrow head at her, fluffing his feathers out. "You're what is drawing Soad out. It feels like Apollyon is around, and I'm betting Soad wants to prevent a fight."

"But I'm not Apollyon," Bree protested. This was the part that was messing with her. She wasn't a powerful demon. Hell, she wasn't even a typical demon, thank everything. How was she giving off an energy that equated to Apollyon? More importantly, why didn't Chase tell her when they got here? If she was a walking Bat-Signal for demons, wasn't that important?

"When did this whole energy thing start?" Mr. Davenport grabbed onto a branch beside him as the one he sat on gave a violent buck.

Bree narrowed her eyes at the raven. "Yeah, Chase. When did this whole energy thing start?"

Chase flicked his tail feathers. "After you cut Apollyon's tooth. I think it's just his blood staining the blade that everyone's feeling."

One of the birds flapped its wings. "You cut Apollyon?" Ysthry, judging from the voice.

Yahn stepped along the branch, his tiny talons locking and unlocking around the wood. "You're what happened earlier! You changed everything!"

Bree was more confused now. She sighed again, forcing air between her teeth. "Changed everything how?"

Yahn resettled his wings, tweeting. "You shifted the balance of power, in a way. You shouldn't have been able to hurt Apollyon at all. We all felt that hit."

"What does that mean?" Adam called over the wind.

"It means she has a sword that can cut anything," Chase readjusted his hold on the branch. "That's what happened. It's not like Bree's a demon-hunting god now."

That was true. Bree couldn't imagine fighting Apollyon when he was actually trying. She got lucky with that hit. She shook her head. "Is it the sword everyone thinks is so energetic?" Chase hadn't wanted anything to do with the sword because he claimed it radiated a lot of energy.

"Wait, a sword that can cut through anything?" Mr. Davenport scoffed. Trevor hissed, grabbing any branch is could as Mr. Davenport sat forward. The kid didn't spend enough time in trees, apparently. Mr. Davenport wrapped an arm around Trevor to steady him as he continued. "Swords can't cut through anything."

Bree shrugged. "It cut through a dimension to get us home, so yeah, anything."

Silence met that statement. Nobody knew what to do with this information. Most of them weren't there to see it for themselves. Bree shifted her weight, then grabbed the branch as she turned too far. She moved back to sit more firmly on the limb.

Oly broke the silence. "Where's the sword now?"

"Right here." It took a second of concentrating, but the sword handle touched her palm with a quiet whoosh. She closed her hand around the grip, holding it up so the blade reflected the moonlight. Demons hissed and scattered, flapping off to branches further away from her. Even Chase escaped to a branch further up in the tree.

Adam let out a laugh. "Whoa, cool!"

Leo still sounded woozy as he spoke. "You didn't tell me that thing could cut anything at all."

"You didn't ask," Bree answered, lowering the sword a bit.

"It's perfect! Maybe we can fight Soad with it, if it's a magic sword," Mr. Davenport explained, giddy. "We just need to get close enough to get a good shot in without him stomping us into the ground!"

Chase flapped his way back down to the branch beside Mr. Davenport. "Well, he's coming this way, so we better figure it out fast."

A roar tore through the air. "Apollyon!"

Bree stiffened, clutching her sword. The last time she heard that voice, her soul was torn from her body. She had a score to settle with that monster, that was for sure. "If someone can distract him long enough, I can probably jump on his back. I bet a sword through his spine would do it."

Adam raised a hand in the darkness. "I could distract him, I bet. It worked when he was stuck in Krane."

Chase fluffed his dark feathers up. He used his mission leader voice when he spoke. "That's probably the only chance we have."

Mr. Davenport sat up straight, gesturing broadly at Bree. "Look, we can – shit!"

Bree didn't register Mr. Davenport cussing. Instead, she was locked on Trevor, who fell backwards as Mr. Davenport's motion made the branch jerk. He screamed, flailing his arms as he dropped. His screams didn't last long, though. Bree shot out of the tree and to the ground, catching Trevor in a blur of motion. She breathed a sigh of relief, shifting her hold to set Trevor down on his feet. "You okay?"

Trevor just stared up at her with wide eyes, pointing. "How did you do that so fast?"