How could he have been so reckless? He should have sensed her intention before she acted. He should have stopped her. Protected her.

All he could do now was damage control.

He physically lifted her away from the demon, breaking her connection to it. She fought against him, but he used brute force to control her flailing limbs.

Because he’d stayed tied to her mind, he could still feel the taint of the demon sliding around in her, causing her to experience an artificial cascade of fear and anger.

Her arms were pinned at her sides, and she tried to claw at his thighs to free herself. Her fingernails had started lengthening into claws, and in a few more seconds, she was going to be ripping through a lot more than just denim.

“Calm the fuck down, Lyka.” He gave her a squeeze to emphasize his order and to rob her of just enough air to weaken her. She was incredibly strong, and it took every bit of power he could muster to keep her under control.

He did his best to stroke across her thoughts and calm her mind. She was a total wreck upstairs, thanks to that rabid taint the demon had infected her with.

Slowly, she began to stop fighting, partly because she was starved for oxygen, and partly because he was working hard to burn every speck of demonic stain from her thoughts.

When she went totally limp, he let up enough pressure so she could breathe normally again. He didn’t dare let her go, though—not until he was sure that this wasn’t a trick.

Joseph stayed firmly in her mind, giving her no chance to put up those giant mental barriers again. He was staking a claim on this territory, too. Putting down roots. Settling in for permanent residence.

“I didn’t invite you,” she told him.

“Too damn bad. You opened yourself up to that thing. You let it in. If even one shadow of that fucking demon is left in your head, I’m going to be here to kill it. Don’t even think about trying to lock me out again, or you’re going to have a headache for about a year. Understand?”

She nodded. “I hear a helicopter coming.”

Joseph’s hearing apparently wasn’t as good as hers. Something else that was a gift from her Slayer side, no doubt. “Are you calm now? Can I let you go?”

“Yes, but the second you do, I’m cutting the tape away from that demon.”

“I should just kill the fucker.”

“You do that and we’ve lost our last chance at finding Eric and those kids.”

He knew that. He hated it, but he knew it was true. “I can’t let you run off after a demon without me, and I can’t leave until I know Ronan is safe.”

“Then you’d better hold on tight, because I can only fight the compulsion to fulfill my vow for so long.”

Joseph watched the chopper land in a nearby clearing while he kept a tight hold on Lyka. It was no hardship having her in his arms, but he would have much rather had her there because she wanted to be than because she had to be.

A couple of minutes later, Nicholas came through the brush and found them. His phone was in his hand, its screen lighting up the scars crisscrossing his face.

“It’s nice that not everyone disables the trackers in their phones,” he said as he approached. “This is why I put them there. So I can find you when you need help.” He eyed Lyka. “Looks like you need help.”

“I’m good,” said Joseph. “Ronan isn’t. I need you to take him to Tynan.”

“I thought I’d be bringing you two back, too. That’s why I came with an empty chopper.”

“We can’t go yet,” said Joseph. “We have a demon to follow.”

Nicholas lifted his brows. “On foot?”

“I doubt it has a car,” said Lyka.

The demon grunted and gurgled behind its gag as it tried to chew through the fabric.

“We really can’t lose it,” said Joseph. “You don’t happen to have a spare tracker on you, do you?”

“Always. Hang tight.” He jogged off toward the helicopter and came back a few minutes later with a black backpack. “I assume you’re going to let this thing loose?”

“Yes,” said Lyka as she tugged against Joseph’s hold, as if testing to see if he was still in control. “The sooner, the better.”

Nicholas turned the demon onto its stomach and sliced through several layers of duct tape to reach its skin. He used a small tube of superglue to adhere an electronic gadget about the size of a dime to the center of the creature’s back. He then glued a scrap of leather over it. “So it won’t try to scrape the thing off on a tree trunk.”

“Can I pick up the signal on my phone?” asked Joseph.

“Use the app I installed last year. I’ll text you the code to this tracker.” He gave Lyka a meaningful glance. “You need a hand with anything else?”

“Just Ronan.”

“I can come back after I drop him off,” said Nicholas.

“Itching to get away from the desk?”

“Hell, yes.”

“I’ll be home soon and free you.”

“You’d better. I need to be out there looking for Torr.”

“Do you have any leads?” asked Joseph.

“Still looking. I don’t think the magic that zapped him was evil.”

“Then he’ll turn up. Have a little faith.”

Nicholas picked up Ronan’s limp body. “Call if you need me. I’ll be on standby.”

“Will do.”

Nicholas disappeared through the brush with Ronan in his arms.

Lyka jerked against Joseph’s hold. Her tone was nearly frantic. “Need to go now. My skin is burning.”

“Just hang on, honey. Once Nicholas is in the air, I’ll cut the demon free.”

As soon as the chopper flew over the trees, Joseph dragged her away from the demon and loosened his hold. “Stay here.”

“I don’t know if I can, but I’ll try.”

He let go of her. She hugged herself, rubbing her hands over her arms like a junkie in need of a fix.

Joseph made quick work of cutting the tape restraining the demon. He left a few loops of it—just enough to hold it in place for a few seconds while he went back to Lyka.

He got a firm hold on her with one hand while gripping his sword in the other.

The demon broke free and started toward them. It stopped cold as Joseph lifted his sword. “Run or die.”