“What's going on? What the hell is that?”

He didn't meet her eyes as he grabbed a pair of guns from another secret panel in the wall along with several knives that he deftly attacked to his body with holsters.

“We're being attacked.”

Lily's mind struggled to process that information. “Who'd attack here? This place is like a fortress.”

“I don't know, but they must be good.”

Her stomach tightened. “Why do you say that?”

He quickly pulled on a pair of black military boots. “Because that alarm only goes off if a guard pushes it in need of help on the main floor. That means they've already breached through.” He stood. “Stay here. I'm locking the door. Do not leave. Do you understand me, Lily?” He grabbed her by the arms. Too stunned to say anything she simply nodded like a fool.

He took off, the sound of the door closing after him like a hollow thump.

Telal raced to the main floor, taking the stairs instead of the elevator. He felt like an ass for leaving Lily alone, but he had to. Maybe he should have lied about the alarm but he just wasn't the type to say something to make someone feel better.

He reached the bottom of the staircase and plastered himself against the door. A gargled sound in the hallway made his muscles tighten with adrenaline. He knew that sound and one of his men just died. Tapping into his powers, he turned himself invisible and palmed a blade made specifically for cutting. It didn't take a lot of pressure for it to break skin. Peering out the small window, comfortable knowing he stayed hidden, he saw a flash of movement.

Who the fuck was doing this?

He knew he'd lose some element of surprise opening the door, but it had to be done. He opened it and quickly stepped through. The blur that had passed was a man—not a man, he realized—a demon. He didn't stop to process why or how a demon got here, because the demon turned at the sound of the door.  Though he was invisible the demon’s vibrant blue gaze seemed to land right on him.

Telal kept his steps completely silent as he stalked up to the demon. The demon's gaze didn't follow him but his grip on his two swords tightened. Telal walked within three feet of him. All he'd have to do was shove that sword forward and it'd pierce his side. But the demon didn't hear him. Telal ducked past him and, in a quick move, sliced the demon's throat. The demon dropped to the ground, rolling on his back to look up at him. Telal watched the demon's eyes gloss over with death then moved on down the hall.

Bodies of his guards littered the floor like a war zone, the stench of death and blood rotting the air. Telal hurried past them, his magic couldn't keep him invisible forever. It sapped him of magic and eventually it'd sap his strength as well.

A commotion sounded in an office down the hall. Telal ran for it, darting inside. Fuck. He found Kearnyn in the throes of a deadly battle, sword to sword, grimace to grimace. He was barely keeping up with the demon. The demon suddenly backed up, disengaging their clashing steel, then spinning around sweeping his blade in an arc. Kearnyn jumped back but not enough and the blade cut a deep neat line across his stomach. Telal charged the demon, hitting him in the side and taking him down to the floor. The sword fell from his grasp and he planned his knife through the demon's neck with a wet, bone-crushing sound. The demon bucked under him then stilled.

“Are you okay?” he panted, turning to Kearnyn. The vampire was pale but he nodded grimly.

“As fine as can be. Who are these demons?”

“I counted five.” That left three more.

“Stay here.” Telal closed the door and had to lose the invisibility as the magical energy steadily sapped his powers. He had a feeling he'd need them. These demons weren't like anything he'd ever seen before.

Taking the stairs four at a time, he climbed up to the top floor—his office. Inside the hall was ominously quiet, his door, ajar. Telal pulled the gun from his shoulder holster and kept his blade in his other hand. He reached the office door and peered inside. No lights were on. Demons didn't see better in the night like vampires could. If they'd meant to find him sleeping in his bed as they stealthily made their way inside then they were going to be quite disappointed.

Blood pounding hard, he slid past the door without touching it. A demon with bright yellow hair turned to him in an instant and with a flip of his wrist let a throwing dagger fly. Telal had only a second to dodge it, but the blade still landed in his upper shoulder. At least that was better than his heart, he thought. The muscles in his arm instantly went lax and the blade he held dropped uselessly to the floor.

The demon didn't stop but let fly a barrage of daggers. They whizzed through the air at him like sleek bullets. Telal ran across the room and leaped over the couch, huddling behind it. Without looking, he pointed the gun over the couch and started firing. The shots sounded obscenely loud in the small space like little explosions going off. Four bullets later and he heard a loud thud. Taking a moment, he pulled the blade out of his arm and tried to flex his fingers—they barely twitched in response. Fucking great.

“Groolana has'in trume?” Who are you? he asked in demonic.

Suddenly a voice came from right behind him. “Trumei toch.” Your death.

A sharp blade was shoved deep into his back. Telal choked in pain as every cell in his body screamed at the intrusion. He looked down for a moment to see the blade sticking out through his stomach. And then he sucked in a deep breath and let his powers fly. The demon soared back from him, his back slamming in a crushing blow against the wall. Telal reached behind him, hesitated, and then slowly pulled the blade out of his back. Sweat dripped down his face, his teeth gnawed hard on his lips as tendons, muscles, and God knows what else tore in its path. Finally, the blade gave way and he dropped it to the floor.

Panting, bleeding pints down his leg, he stood just as the demon did. They squared off. Raising his gun, he fired. The demon dodged each bullet with incredible speed, swiftly darting left, right, then down. He tugged four little sharp blades from his belt and threw them at once. Telal dropped to his knees but not before one of them embedded in his chest. At once he felt the change. The tip of that blade had been poisoned. He knew this poison too, had watched it made in the rift by special craftsman. This poison was designed to drain magic from a demon.

Telal felt his body weakening and not just his magical energy. His vision started to darken, his muscles relaxed and felt loose, weak. With one last burst of adrenaline, he dropped the gun, held his fingers out, palms to the ground and chanted. It sickened him both mentally and physically.

Using black magic left a dirty feeling in him for a long time. It was unnatural what he was doing. But it was necessary right now. He couldn't beat this demon. The demon pulled his second sword from his back and charged at him only to slam into an invisible barrier. The demon's eyes flared then he started chanting back. Telal spoke louder, his keeping the barrier up as the demon's dark words fought to bring it down. The demon took a step into the barrier, then another and Telal backed up. His shirt dampened with sweat, his entire body burned with hot searing pain from the poison and wound. He wanted to just give up and let the demon end his life, but Lily was out there. He couldn't leave her alone.

Using every ounce of power inside him, he channeled the darkest magic he could. Black wisps shot from his fingertips like smoke undulating in the air then slowly crawled through the air to the demon. The demon's words stumbled and real fear filled his glowing eyes. Sweat dripped into Telal's eyes, burning his pupils but still he continued to chant, to coax the black energy to do his bidding.