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harm. He stepped forward with a hand out, attempting to placate us. “Stefan has motive and means—”
    “Motive? What? You think Stefan deliberately sent Damien after me?” A snarl rippled across my lips. The room contracted in on me.
    “That’s not what I meant, Charlie, and you know it.” Coleman rubbed his forehead and puffed out a sigh. “We all need to calm down. Given that Stefan’s trapped outside our jurisdiction, he’s not my concern right now. Stopping Damien is. Charlie...” He paused, my narrowed glare giving him reason to hesitate. “We’ve got enough info for now. Go home. Get some rest. I’ll call you if we need anything else.”
    A quick nod was all I could offer in return. Shivers rippled through me so damn hard I was afraid my voice would fail me.
    Adam thanked Coleman and Hill for their time while I seethed by the door with rage simmering beneath my skin. I wished looks could kill. Adam was right about one thing. When I got my demon back, he was toast.

Chapter 7
    T ree branches tear at my bare arms. My sore feet pummel against the loose earth. I stumble and fall hard against a bank of gnarled tree roots. Pain arcs up my side, but it soon becomes lost in the agony radiating through me. Teeth gritted, I will myself back to my feet, and even though my lungs burn, and the air drags through my teeth, I somehow find the energy to keep running. This time, maybe this time, he won’t find me.
    A swollen moon, bruised purple by the wash of clouds in the night sky, watches over my escape. I’ve waited weeks for the full moon to rise. I need its light. Sometimes, the night is so thick it clogs my throat. Tonight though, the air is clean. It tastes like freedom.
    Eyes watch from the shadows as I burst through the undergrowth. I jump fallen branches and weave around trunks of the ancient trees. The things that wait in the dark won’t risk attacking. Not yet. But if I fall too many times… if I stop to catch my breath...
    I’d rather be torn apart by lesser demons than return to him.
    He must know by now that I’ve escaped. He’ll be looking.
    I look up through the skeletal branches. Aside from the moon, the sky is an endless black. Dipping my chin, I summon all my reserves and run faster. My leg muscles burn, and my chest tightens. I duck and dart, hissing as claw-like twigs snatch at my flesh. My wings snag behind me. I’m yanked back, pulled at an angle. Unbalanced, I stagger and fall into the branches’ brittle embrace. Barbed creepers coil around my ankles. I kick out, but the vines twist higher and hook into my legs. A rumbling growl bubbles up from inside. Liquid fire flares across my skin. It washes over me. The creepers burn to dust in a blink.
    A grumbling snarl ripples somewhere behind me. My heart leaps into my throat. I claw apart the smothering bushes and scramble free. Fire drips from my flesh and sizzles on the damp leaves. I’m on my feet. My leg muscles bunch, ready to spring forward. Something heavy and cold hooks around my wrist and yanks my arm back so violently I’m spun around and dragged off my feet. Face down in the mulch, the chain around my wrist tightens, almost wrenching my arm from the socket. I cry out and then try to gulp back a scream.
    I’m trembling so hard I bite my tongue and taste blood. Tears sizzle on my cheeks. I barely made it to the shoreline. I ran so hard. I thought I had a chance this time. I thought I was free.
    He’s behind me. I can sense the whispering touch of his element crawling over my flesh. I don’t want to see. My claws sink into the earth. I close my left fist around a handful of dirt. If I can blind him, maybe I can unwrap the chain... Because if I don’t... If I can’t get free. The things he’ll do...
    I tense, but his foot comes down on my lower back. He leans his weight into me, grinding my pelvis into the ground. Stones and roots dig into my ribs. His cool hand grips the rise of my left wing, and he laughs. The sound of that