Death dragon. Impossible to kill because they are already dead.

“Of course they are. Why the fuck would the world give us a break?” I said, pushing myself to my feet. Why indeed?

Orion spread his hands. “You are surrounded, Rylee. Your friends are dead, your shot at freeing the world gone. Do you surrender? I promise to not go too hard on you.” The demons circling us laughed, as if Orion had told a particularly funny joke.

I looked at my family, met the gaze of each soul I held as dear to me as if we were all born under the same roof. And in them I saw my own defiance reflected. We knew we were surrounded, knew there was no way we could possibly out-fight the horde.

They knew, as did I, this was the end for us all.

I shook my head. “Orion, you are dumber than a bag of bent, useless nails. Fuck you.”

“Yeah, yous fuckity fucker! We’s never surrendering to yous!” Charlie yelled, shaking a tiny sword in his fist. Blood dripped down his upraised arm, and his limp was worse than ever. But he stood with me still.

“Kiss my assy ass,” Alex snarled, his fur standing at attention along his spine as he stiff-legged walked toward Orion.

Mer, her eyes hard as stone, said, “Suck it, demon.”

Doran laughed. “Bite me.”

“Never.” Berget shook her head, her long hair floating on the breeze as if she’d come from the salon only moments before.

Liam looked at me, but he spoke to Orion. “To the end, Rylee.” My heart clenched, and I dared to Track Marcella and Zane. Liam nodded as though he knew what I was doing.

“They’re safe. I made sure of it. And the unicorn went with them.”

Relief flowed over me, and with it a renewed surge of strength. My mind cleared as each of my people—my family—said their piece, and the world seemed to hold its breath. Orion shook his head, but he was grinning with uncontained glee. “Well then, I suppose we’re almost done here.”

The horde around us shifted, tensing, waiting for his call to finish us off. Orion lifted his hand, his red eyes glinting. “It’s been a slice, Rylee. Let’s do this again sometime.”

Under my feet, the ground heaved, and I went to one knee, bracing myself. What the fuck was he doing now?

Orion whipped around, his back to me. “No!”

Behind him, the demons fell in a wave of earth that exploded in every direction, followed by a flame caught up into a tornado that danced through the horde as though picking partners.

I stared as the demons split apart, and opened a perfect aisle for us to see down.

Lark ran toward us, and she was not alone.

The elementals ranged out to all sides of her, and Pamela was with her, flinging fireballs and exploding the earth with every step she took.

Maybe we could pull this crazy-ass thing off.

I swung out my two swords, my broken fingers crying out for me to stop, but I knew an opening when I saw one and rushed Orion while his back was turned, attention on the incoming elementals. Leaping up, I came down hard, driving both swords into his back. “Go, get the fuck out of here.”

Orion screamed as he fell under my sword, but he didn’t dissolve. He spun, backhanding me and sending me flying into the first line of demons. They caught me gently and I saw the scars. Saw the demons attached to them nod. “Get him, Tracker.” They threw me back toward Orion. Like it was a sporting event, and I was the ball to catch and toss between opponents.

Around us, the demons scattered, bleating like an oversized herd of sheep as the elementals cut into them. Though they weren’t able to send the demons back, they were able to slow them, giving everyone a much needed breather.

Orion stared down at me as he pulled the two swords from his back, yanking them out. With a casual indifference, he held them out in front of him, then brought them down hard over his knee, snapping them in half. “You won’t be needing these.”

Shit, without my swords I was down to my whip and crossbow. Both good weapons, but not in close quarters. I scrambled to my feet, and Liam moved to my side. Orion spared him a look. “And you won’t be needing that, either.”

He took the broken tip of one of my swords and flung it toward Liam, driving it right through his heart. My mind stuttered; silver-edged swords could kill vampires. Liam was trapped in Faris’s body—a vampire.

Liam slumped, his fingers touching the edge of the sword. His eyes flicked up to mine and he whispered my name. “Rylee.”

No. Not again, I could not do this again. “You hang the fuck on, wolf; I’m not losing you twice!”

I reached down and jerked the blade out of him, cutting my hand open as I did. He grunted, but I looked away as I spun with the broken blade.

From the corner of my eye, Lark stepped into the circle. “Rylee, use this.” She pushed something toward me.

A blade. One I’d used before. My hand was slick with blood, but the grip on the handle was perfect. “Get Pam. Liam needs help.”

“You got it.” She scooped him up under the arms and dragged him backward, away from Orion. I couldn’t even watch them go. I didn’t dare turn my back on Orion, as he’d so stupidly done with me.

I gripped the sword and swirled it once. It seemed to whine with eagerness as I swirled it through the air, hungry to bite into something. Orion’s eyes narrowed. “It doesn’t matter what the blade is, you are going to be the one to die first. Not me. Isn’t that right?”

He glanced to the left, and I followed his gaze. The final one of the four horsemen, Death—an older woman with graying hair pulled back so tightly, it gave her a free facelift—nodded. “The Tracker will die. I see it. And when she dies, Orion, so will you.”