The rain fell in a deluge, battering hundreds of black umbrellas lined up across the elite grounds of Greenwood Cemetery. An autumn wind carried a bone-chilling cold, but Xavier Aristhos did not feel it. He stood frozen. His eyes stared vacantly at the mahogany casket as it was lowered slowly into the earth. His grandfather, the only member of the Aristhos family who had ever treated him like a human being, was now being buried six feet under.Across the mound of fresh red clay, Isabella and her son, Adrian, stood beneath a large canopy held by a bodyguard. Isabella dabbed at her eyes with a lace handkerchief, a sickening display of feigned grief. Beside her, Adrian looked entirely too conspicuous for a funeral in his designer suit. He watched Xavier with a crooked, triumphant smirk.The ceremony ended. The crowd of vipers in neckties began to disperse. Adrian stepped toward Xavier, intentionally slamming his shoulder into his brother’s."Is your little sob story finished yet?" Adrian

The temperature in the autopsy suite of St. Jude’s Hospital in Manhattan plummeted. The air conditioning was set to its maximum, yet this bone-chilling cold felt different. It felt wrong. It was as if a massive block of ice had been placed in the center of the room."Hell, it’s freezing tonight," complained a stout janitor named Hector. He rubbed his thick arms. "You sure the AC isn't broken, Dave?"Dave, a thin man with a gaunt face, leaned his broom against the wall. "It’s not the AC, you idiot. I told you, ever since that body from the ravine arrived, the air has felt strange.""Which body?" asked the third man, Mike, who was puffing on an e-cigarette in the corner of the room."That one," Dave pointed with his chin toward the steel autopsy table in the middle of the room. A corpse lay upon it, covered in a white sheet from head to toe. "Xavier Aristhos. The bastard son of that wealthy family. Rumor has it his step-family had him killed."Hector let out a loud laugh. "I don’t care

The freshly exhaled smoke froze in the air. The hellish blue light from Xavier’s eyes reflected off the phone screen, making the text look like two dancing spirits. The sensation of glass shards tearing through his right bicep seemed to vanish, replaced by a cold that pierced through to his very marrow."Fenrir! Lyra!"The warehouse’s steel door flew open instantly. Lyra entered with a quick stride, followed by Fenrir, whose expressionless face looked even more lethal under the dim glow of the bulb."What is it, Boss?" Lyra asked, her eyes immediately fixing on the phone screen in Xavier’s hand.Xavier didn't answer. He tossed the phone toward Lyra. The demoness caught it with one hand without a change in expression. After reading the message, her cynical smile vanished."Damn it," she hissed. "Isabella isn't wasting time. She knows Arthur is the only one of your grandfather’s spies left.""I don't care," Xavier said, forcing himself to stand. Every muscle in his body screamed in prot

The torrential rain outside seemed to be trying to wash away the blood pooling on the floor of Arthur’s apartment, but it was a futile effort. Inside, the silence was deafening. Xavier stood in the center of the room, his gaze fixed on the body of the old man lying at his feet. The silver pocket watch in his hand felt cold, colder than the corpse itself.Lyra glanced at her watch, then toward the door. "Boss, we have to go. I’ve held off the 911 calls for twenty minutes, but an NYPD routine patrol will pass this block shortly."Fenrir added in his heavy voice, "These bodies will be a problem."Xavier did not turn around. He did not scream. He did not smash the furniture. He simply stood there, and then something strange began to happen.A drop of thick red liquid traced a path from the corner of his right eye, cutting through the dried blood on his cheek. Then another drop fell from his left.He was crying.But the tears falling from his eyelids were not clear. They were the color of

A haunting silence hung in the air for a fraction of a second. Marcus and his four personal guards stared at Fenrir with their mouths agape, as if they had just seen a gorilla break through a bank vault door. Concrete dust was still falling from the ceiling."Who? Who are you?" one of the guards shouted, his voice cracking with panic.Fenrir did not answer. He simply tilted his neck until a sickening crack of bone was heard, then stepped further into the room."Shoot him! Shoot!" Marcus roared, snapping out of his shock.The four guards immediately unleashed a hail of blind gunfire. The cramped room was filled with the thunder of pistol shots and the muzzle flashes. Dozens of bullets streaked toward Fenrir.Xavier, still lying on the floor, only offered a thin smile behind his bloodstains. He knew exactly what was about to happen.The bullets slammed into Fenrir’s chest and shoulders, but they did not penetrate his skin. The projectiles simply flattened upon contact with the demon’s b