“What?” Danny gave a sideways grin and turned, heading toward the Giudecca canal.
“The gate?” Cole shouted. “Did you close the gate like I told you to?”
“Did you tell me to close the gate?” Danny laughed, his voice trailing off into the night.
Two more Shadows slipped through the dark, and Cole veered right. In their true form, all Nefarius were like smoke. Shadows and phantoms. Guardians of the Nocturnal Plane’s shadow grounds.
Running down a narrow flight of steps, moonlight cast movement from the rooftop far ahead, and Cole’s steps slowed. He eased away from the yellow spots of lamp light and found camouflage under the street’s darkened eaves, his focus toward the rooftop ahead.
Gargoyles of all sizes came alive under the moon’s glow, their grotesque bodies breaking free from the concrete structures confining them on the rooftop. Horned heads cut away from stone like dormant caterpillars splitting through cocoons. Talons detached from the building’s facade, leathery wings spread high and wide, and the Devil’s Children amassed on the roof. The beasts flew down like giant, repulsive bats.
As if in response, the shadowy forms of the Nefarius bled from between buildings, underneath drains, slipped from eaves, and joined the Devil’s Children in the middle of the street. As a united front, the host fled through a gateway of dancing, silver light hovering above the road. It closed down behind them with an audible pop.
“Danny!”
“I saw them,” he answered from somewhere in the dark. “That must have been why the Nefarius came here. To group up with the Devil’s Children.” Danny jogged over.
“For what? They don’t work as a team. You know that.”
“I left the gate under the Gesauti open. We can get back through.”
“I knew you didn’t close it. Why don’t you ever listen? And