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that could be approaching. Ben and Luke met Nick and I in the middle of the pile of corpses. My sensors went haywire.
    “Lieutenant,” Quinten shouted, pointing to the tops of the buildings sandwiching the alley.
    My heart stopped.
    Demons snarled from the rooftops, surrounding our scouting party. There had to be fifty of them at least, a mix of breeds. I spied Yathuri with their blood-red eyes trained on us, their claws jutting from their hands, Efrits with their elongated snouts openly hissing, displaying rows of gleaming fangs, and more Hathas. I heard the flapping of leathery wings and glanced skyward. The rising dark was obscured by the blackened bodies of Ahures.
    Five against more than fifty. Even for a full squad, those would be crappy odds. I had to get my men out of there.
    “Move,” I ordered.
    The nightmare poured over the rooftops and onto level ground, surrounding our hunting party. We formed a circle with our backs to each other. There were too many to take down with hand-to-hand combat. I nodded at Quinten and the rest of my men switched to their assault rifles. We had to risk the close confines. My men opened fire.
    I yanked my .45 out and began firing rounds. All thoughts of Cade, the Coven, and the rest of my wretched life emptied with every kicking reverberation of my side-arm.
    The Ahures dive-bombed our little party with talons extended. They liked to play with their prey and would snatch their victim up, fly them a hundred feet or so in the air, before dropping them to their death. Sick fuckers liked their meals as liquid pulp. I dropped my shoulders as one missed me by a few inches.
    “Shit!” Nick screamed, and I heard him go down. Was he dead? I glanced back and saw him holding his shoulder. Not dead, but the Ahure’s talons hurt like hell. The rest of us surrounded him as the demons caught scent of fresh human blood. Their actions became frenzied. I sensed their ever-present hunger. They thirsted for human blood the way we craved water.
    Demon carcasses piled up around us, making movement difficult. If we stayed put, we would become this horde’s next meal.
    “We need to leave the alley,” I bit out, striking my blade against a Yathuri’s throat when a bullet failed to stop its advance.
    “Christ, Lieutenant, there’s nowhere to go, and we’re surrounded. How the hell do you want us to accomplish that?” Ben huffed out, protesting as he wrestled with a Hatha.
    “If we can remove ourselves from the confines of the alley, we can toss a few grenades to clear out the rest,” I ordered, taking a page out of my father’s book. “Quinten, Luke, I need you to push our advantage forward to the street. Ben, grab Nick. I’ll bring up the rear. We need to move, now.” I commanded.
    “Let’s do this,” golden boy Luke affirmed.
    As a unit, we fought. Their green serpentine blood caked our features as we forced a demon retreat. A bullet caught an Ahure between the eyes, and its head exploded. Only fifteen feet until we reached the street.
    We jostled forward, claws swiped and clutched toward me.
    “Duck!” Quinten boomed.
    Heat blasted me as a fireball careened past my head and exploded up against the building’s side. The flames snagged a few Hatha in the mix. Their dying screeches pierced my ears. It seemed a Feronte had joined the fray.
    Oh, joy!
    Our party pressed forward, firing at every demon in sight, until we emerged on the open street.
    “Watch for friendlies.” I heard an all too familiar voice behind our company. We were no longer on our own.
    By the gods this was bad!
    “What the devil are you doing out here?” I swiveled my head from the melee long enough to spy Cade, with his platoon of soldiers flanking his sides. Some of his men had already engaged with the enemy and leaped into combat.
    “Get your balls out of their vise grip and help us out,” I snapped. Man could take his rage and suck it up like a good little soldier.
    Fury emanated from his solid frame as he