Elena woke up screaming.
Maya knelt beside her, watching as Elena's eyes flickered between brown and black before finally settling on their natural color. The real Elena was back, but she looked like she'd aged ten years in three days.
"Sarah," Elena gasped, grabbing Maya's arm with desperate strength. "I remember everything now. Sarah isn't dead, Maya. The parasite lied about that too."
Maya felt the world shift around her. "What do you mean?"
"My daughter didn't kill herself after the exorcism. She was taken. The demon who originally corrupted her—he grabbed her soul during the ritual and pulled her into his dimension as punishment for my interference." Elena struggled to sit up, her face pale but determined. "I've been searching for a way to get her back for twenty years."
The Guardian's presence stirred around Maya like a concerned whisper. "Elena speaks truth. The demon Malphas has been collecting souls as insurance against future interference."
Maya helped Elena to her feet as the crowd in the parking lot continued to disperse, people wandering away in confusion, most of them probably assuming they'd had some kind of collective fainting spell.
"So all this time, while you were hunting parasites..." Maya began.
"I was looking for him. For Malphas. But he's not just any demon—he's a Duke of Hell, one of the ones who makes deals with mortals. Catherine was just one of thousands of people he's corrupted over the centuries." Elena's voice grew stronger with each word. "And now that we've destroyed his newest creation, he's going to be very, very angry."
As if summoned by his name, the temperature in the parking lot dropped twenty degrees in seconds. Maya's breath came out in visible puffs as frost began forming on car windows.
"Ladies," a voice said behind them, smooth as silk and cold as winter.
They turned to see a man who looked like he'd stepped out of a Renaissance painting. Tall, elegant, with sharp features and eyes like black diamonds. He wore a perfectly tailored suit that probably cost more than Maya's rent, and he radiated the kind of confidence that came from knowing you were the most dangerous thing in any room.
"Malphas," Elena breathed.
"Elena Walsh. Still meddling in affairs beyond your understanding, I see." Malphas smiled, showing teeth that were just slightly too sharp to be human. "And you must be Maya Chen. The girl who just cost me five centuries of work."
Maya felt the Guardian's power surge through her, but something was wrong. The protective presence felt... muted somehow, as if it was being suppressed.
"Impressive," Malphas said, noticing Maya's confusion. "Your family's Guardian is quite powerful, but I've had twenty years to prepare for this meeting. Iron circles buried at precise locations, binding spells, a few favors called in from colleagues. Your supernatural babysitter is temporarily indisposed."
Elena stepped protectively in front of Maya, but Malphas just laughed.
"Oh, Elena. After all these years, you still don't understand how this works." He snapped his fingers, and suddenly Elena couldn't move. She stood frozen like a statue, her eyes the only part of her that could still express the terror she felt. "I don't want to hurt either of you. I want to make a deal."
"I'm not making any deals with you," Maya said, backing away.
"Not even to save your new friend? Not even to save Elena's daughter? Not even to save every person in this city from becoming my next collection of parasitic hosts?" Malphas's smile widened. "Because that's what's going to happen, Maya. Without Catherine to feed them to me gradually, I'll have to harvest souls more... efficiently."
Maya felt sick. "You're bluffing."
"Am I?" Malphas gestured, and suddenly every electronic device in the area came to life. Car radios, cell phones, digital billboards in the distance—all of them displaying the same image.
A young woman who looked exactly like Elena, but twenty years younger, chained in what appeared to be a dungeon made of black stone and flame.
"Sarah's been waiting so patiently for her mother to find her," Malphas said conversationally. "Though I'm afraid the years haven't been kind. Time moves differently in my realm, you see. She's experienced about two centuries of captivity in your twenty years."
Elena made a strangled sound behind her frozen lips.
"Here's my offer," Malphas continued, his black eyes fixed on Maya. "Come with me willingly. Let me study that fascinating bloodline of yours, help me understand how to corrupt Guardian-blessed families. In exchange, I'll return Sarah to Elena and leave this city alone."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I turn everyone in a fifty-mile radius into parasitic hosts, starting with Elena. Sarah stays in my dungeon forever, and you get to watch your world burn while knowing you could have prevented it." Malphas checked an expensive watch on his wrist. "You have twenty-four hours to decide."
He started to fade away, but then paused, his expression suddenly curious.
"Oh, and Maya? You might want to check on your mother. I believe she's been having the most interesting dreams lately."
Maya's blood turned to ice. "What did you do?"
Malphas's laugh echoed even as he disappeared completely. "Nothing yet. But bloodlines run both ways, my dear. And your dear mother has always been such a vivid dreamer."
Elena collapsed as the paralysis spell broke, but Maya was already running toward her car, her hands shaking as she tried to call her mother's phone.
It went straight to voicemail.
And in the background of her mother's cheerful greeting, Maya could hear something that made her heart stop—the faint sound of music playing.
"Ave Maria" in a minor key.