Demon Marked

a leathery membrane slithered against his chest. Madelyn’s wings formed, snapped wide—not hurting him, not trying to dislodge him, not breaking the Rules. Still, he didn’t like it.
    They flapped once, twice. Though Madelyn couldn’t speak, the intention was clear: She was going up, and Nicholas could hold on if he wanted to.
    Ash’s eyes widened. “Nicholas, let go. Let go now!”
    Not in a million fucking years. Not when her soul depended on Madelyn’s silence. He’d hang on even if the trip took him all the way to Hell.
    He felt Madelyn’s laugh against his hand—and his arm was almost yanked from the socket as she launched straight up. Ash’s scream of rage and fear followed them, ripping through the night, then drowned in the rush of air, the slap of wings. Madelyn dove. Nicholas’s weight shifted, almost broke his hold. Jesus. His right leg caught her waist, gave him another anchor. In his pocket, the hard bulge of the grenade dug into his thigh.
    The wind whipped her hair into his eyes, his face. He could barely see anything below, just darkness beneath them. Darkness . . . and a faint crimson glow. Ash, racing along the ground, tracking their flight.
    Madelyn laughed against his hand again. Calling in her swords, she dove—toward Ash. Oh, fuck no.
    Without hesitation, Nicholas tightened his hold on Madelyn’s mouth, his leg at her waist, and unhooked his arm from her throat. He shoved his hand into his pocket. Yanking the pin with his teeth, he released the safety lever. How many seconds? Three? The dark ground rushed toward them—and Ash was there, Ash with no weapons to defend herself against Madelyn’s swords.
    He wrapped his arm around Madelyn’s chest, shoved his fist against her heart.
    Two . . .
    At least it would be like this, knowing Ash was safe. That she had nothing left to fear. He wished he could have given her more.
    One . . .
    He hoped that crazy Guardian hadn’t given him a dud—
     
    The explosion burst through Ash’s head, an agonizing crack through her ears . . . and then only a faint, ringing silence. Her scream echoed in it, a silent eruption of pressure that squeezed her chest into nothing. She ran, but not fast enough to catch him.
    The impact into the ground vibrated against her feet. Nicholas, on top of Madelyn—maybe she’d broken his fall. Maybe her body had shielded his from the shrapnel. Maybe there was hope.
    But she couldn’t feel a heartbeat, and her scream echoed in the empty silence again when she separated him from the mess that had once been a demon. Hauling him to her chest, she tried to breathe life into him, only tasted blood and death.
    Oh, God. He should have let go.
    She couldn’t let him go. Even now, though someone was coming, a white light through the darkness. Probably humans, investigating the explosion. They could have Madelyn, wings and all, and the Guardians would cover up the truth somehow. She’d take Nicholas, and she’d . . .
    She didn’t know. Nothing seemed to matter now.
    A touch at her shoulder. She could feel the vibration of a heartbeat now, though it wasn’t the one she wanted, the punctuated hum of a voice through the silence. The white light grew brighter, washing out the red glow cast over his skin.
    She looked up into Taylor’s horrified face. Taylor’s lips moved, and Ash realized the glow was coming from the Guardian, brighter now, impossible to look at.
    Ash only wanted to see Nicholas, anyway.
    Taylor sank to her heels on the opposite side of his body. She touched his forehead, and the light was everywhere except in the blackness of Taylor’s eyes. Her voice hummed again in the silence, and echoed in Ash’s head.
    Nicholas, you have given your life to save another’s, and so now you have a choice: Will you continue on to what awaits at Judgment, or will you serve as a Guardian?
    And impossibly, impossibly, though he had no breath to speak, no life to shape the words, his voice, his reply—
    I will serve.
    Taylor’s laugh came from nowhere, everywhere. Well, this is my first, so let’s hope I get this right. Ash, stand back.
    She did, not even moving but suddenly outside the light, looking into the blinding brightness, still holding Nicholas’s body to her chest. Her heart seemed filled to bursting, aching with joy that couldn’t have possibly come so close after the devastation, but she was overwhelmed with it, the highest up after the lowest down.
    He’d be a Guardian.
    She flattened her palm over