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her distance from her friends until she’d had time to neutralize the threat.
    There was an ominous silence at her words. David scratched his chin as he always did when trying to recall information. “There are two types of Fallen. Those who loved humans just a little too much and those who had problems with upper management and were cast out.”
    Jarred sighed. “I take it these are not the peace loving, tree hugging sort?”
    “The blast should’ve eradicated every trace of them.” But she didn’t believe it. Her luck had never been that good. In case anything happened to her, she had to warn her friends. “If any of the Fallen regained their full power before the explosion, they could still be alive.”
    “Shit.” David paced the cracked sidewalk, his canvas shoes slapped loudly in the deserted street. “Why would demons wish to raise something that could so easily destroy them?”
    Caly shrugged, having asked herself that same question a hundred times without any satisfactory answer. “Almost all the ancient texts agree that demons once worked with angels. Then they became obsolete. They now sulked about in the shadows like vermin. This is their chance.
    “Physical limits prevent the demons from ruling humans. If they woke the Fallen, they could be grateful. If you were a demon, what would you ask for in return?” She shivered and crossed her arms. Not because of the cold but because it could so easily work.
    “It’s all speculation. We need a snitch to find out what they have planned.” She braced herself, and lied to her friends for the first time. “I met a demon years ago who should be able to supply us with some information.” Caly turned away, shame tightening her face.
    “No.” David’s denial was immediate.
    “Definitely not.” Jarred spoke at the same time. “There’s no reason to believe they’d be willing to help. They’re likelier to slaughter you as soon as you open your mouth.”
    “Give me a better alternative.” Her heart lodged in her throat as she waited for a response that would save her from revisiting a past better left alone.
    No one spoke.
    They had no way to coerce a demon into working for them. Oscar’s group was known for their high kill count, not their leniency.
    Surveying the dingy brick buildings, Caly turned her back to the others. “Something came back with us from the temple. When it comes for me, I don’t want any of you to be caught in the crossfire.” Without saying goodbye, Caly walked to her car.
    “Caly.”
    “David, leave her. This is something she has to figure out herself.”
    Though Caly was grateful for Kelly’s understanding, she also knew it wasn’t limitless. She put her car in gear and sped away, estimating she had until noon at the latest before they descended en masse.
    She parked her car near the farmhouse a little before midnight, thankful the house was five miles outside the city limits. She needed the solitude to build her walls as she decided where to begin her search for the one demon that might help them.
    Her djinn.
    Peering into the darkness, she detected no threat and made her way in the house and her room on autopilot. Without bothering to turn on the lights, she stripped, carefully folded her clothes and shoved them in the back of her closet, never to see the light of day again.
    Ready for a hard training session, needing the exhaustion to sleep, Caly slipped into her workout clothes. The house was sparse, a testimony to her meticulous habits. Oscar taught her everything had a place, and if it didn’t, it didn’t belong. Caly didn’t mind most of the time. She couldn’t stand to lose more of herself, not when so little of it remained.
    With a quick jog down the stairs, she paused on the landing. The library lay to the right. The only luxury Oscar had allowed were books, a weakness he himself couldn’t control. He explained them away as research, but they were also his pride and joy. She’d devoured them for the sole