Dancers scattered to make way for the demon frantically pushing his way through the people filling the ballroom. Whipping his head every which way, Denzyl desperately scanned the crowd for any sign of Devyn. Even the tiniest glimpse of the human would have set Denzyl at ease, but much to the demon's dismay, Devyn was nowhere to be found.

"Where is he? Where is Devyn?" Denzyl inquired of Miren when he spotted her in the crowd.

Miren furrowed her brows when she heard the demon's frantic inquiry. "He went looking for you."

"How long has he been gone?" Denzyl asked as he began looking through the crowd again.

"Not long," Miren responded with a small shake of her head. "What's going on, Denzyl? You look like you just saw a ghost." Miren reached out and placed her hand on Denzyl's forearm when she observed the demon's alarmed state.

"I need to find Devyn. He's in danger," Denzyl told Miren as he set off to search for his love.

"What do you mean? Denzyl?" Miren called after the demon, but Denzyl did not waste any time answering the human. His mind was set on finding Devyn. He needed to make sure Devyn was okay. Miren released a huff as she watched the demon hurry into the crowd to continue his desperate search before turning to Hanna and saying, "I need to change. Something is happening, and I am going to find out what it is. Can you handle things here?"

"Yes, ma'am," Hanna confirmed with her CEO.

"Thank you. I'll let you know the situation once I figure it out. Keep things as calm here as you can," Miren responded before rushing to one of the back doors of the ballroom.

Using scent and hearing as his main source of information, Denzyl followed the human's faint trail up the emergency staircase to the sixth floor. Emerging onto the dark floor, Denzyl closed his eyes and listened to the silence around him. At first, he heard nothing. But...once several moments had passed, the quiet ding of an elevator arriving at the floor sounded at the opposing end of the floor. And what followed filled Denzyl with desperation to find the human. Grunts and sounds of struggles preluded a gagged cry of pain causing the demon to immediately rush toward the source of the commotion.

Reaching the opposing side of the floor, Denzyl entered the lobby just in time to see the doors closing on a tied and gagged Devyn being grappled by four dendrum. The human's eyes widened when he saw Denzyl running toward him, and Devyn frantically shook his head to signal to the demon to not chase after him. Reaching the elevator after the doors had closed and the lift had activated, Denzyl watched the elevator begin to travel up before sprinting back to the emergency stairs and racing up the steps.

It was not long before Denzyl broke onto the roof of the massive skyreacher. Strong currents whipped around Denzyl as he surveyed the roof. Loud whirring immediately drew Denzyl's attention to the center of the roof where a hovercraft was stationed. A group of dendrum were gathered before the craft, and at the front of the group stood Etta with a gun to Devyn's head. Blood oozed from a gash on Devyn's brow, and his clothes were torn indicating a furious struggle had taken place.

"You've gotten slow, Denzyl," Etta shouted over the noise of the craft just behind her. "I'm disappointed. You should have been able to reach us in the elevator just now." A tsk left the woman's lips before she concluded, "It must be because you have been playing around these past months. You've grown soft."

"Let Devyn go," Denzyl growled, ignoring Etta's taunts.

The female tilted her head to the side in amusement. "You're in no place to be giving commands, Denzyl. Even if you are the avex, these orders came from the emyr.

"What do you want, Etta?" The avex inquired of the green-eyed demon.

The corners of Etta's lips curled into a smirk as the female looked at the desperate man standing before her. "I must admit, Denzyl. I haven't been completely honest with you." Denzyl's brows furrowed at Etta's words. The avex remained quiet, letting the female explain, "The emyr really doesn't care about some measly human; it's only one soul. He receives tenfold that each day." Etta paused to take a breath before finishing, "What he really wants is you."

Relief filled Denzyl. That was the best thing he could wish for. If Klein was to get his hands on Devyn, he would be killed immediately, but the emyr could not afford to kill his one and only heir. He would most likely strip Denzyl's memories once more and would not have to worry about Denzyl regaining them since Devyn would not be there to jog his mind. Denzyl hated the thought of forgetting Devyn once more, but he would gladly do it if it meant keeping Devyn safe.

It did not take long for Denzyl to make up his mind. He knew why Etta had made him think her target was Devyn. She knew Denzyl would rather he be the target than Devyn, so Denzyl kept his response simple. "Then take me."

Devyn began struggling against Etta and shaking his head vigorously as he attempted to voice his displeasure at Denzyl's decision. The human's struggles extracted a growl from the female behind him, warning him to stop trying to get out of her grasp. Etta raised a brow at Denzyl's compliancy once she had forcefully calmed the human. "You must really adore him, Denzyl. I did not think it would be that easy."

"Let Devyn go," Denzyl voiced, stopping Etta from continuing her mocking observations. Etta's eyes narrowed at the demon cutting her short. "Do you want me or not?"

Etta rolled her eyes at Denzyl's push to make the trade. "You're no fun," the female released in a pout. "Fine, I'll release your pet once you are compliantly on the craft and sedated." Etta raised her brows and asked, "What? I can't risk you trying to break out once I've let your pet go and ruin the trade. Safety measures, Denzyl. I'm not trying to die today."

Denzyl snarled in response, but he accepted Etta's conditions and began making his way toward the craft. Devyn's eyes widened, and he began to struggle against Etta as Denzyl neared him. Tears formed in Devyn's eyes as he shook his head, pleading for the demon to not trade his life to save him. Devyn's heart broke when Denzyl walked up to him and said, "Everything's going to be okay." Devyn shook his head in protest because he knew everything was not going to be okay if Denzyl got on the craft. How could it be okay? The emyr was psycho, Ryiak was psycho, Etta was clearly psycho; the monir was the only one who was not psycho. It was not going to end well for Denzyl should he give himself to be taken back to Sendrum.

Devyn's knees grew weak when Denzyl walked past him and up the hatch into the hovercraft. "Drug him and throw him in the tank," Etta ordered once Denzyl was in the craft. Etta kept the gun of the barrel pressed against Devyn's head to ensure Denzyl's compliancy as three dendrum approached the avex and pinned him to the floor of the craft as another pierced his arm with a needle and injected a clear serum.

The effects of the drug began to take over Denzyl, but he fought to stay awake until the craft took off to make sure Devyn was okay. Denzyl watched carefully as Etta began to back away from Devyn, the gun still aimed at his head. The demon lowered her gun as she stepped onto the craft's lowered hatch and began ascending the ramp until she was inside the hovercraft. Denzyl began to relax when the demon was fully in the craft, however, when the hatch activated and began to close, Etta raised her gun and aimed at the human who had turned and was stumbling toward the craft.

The sound of the gun going off consumed Denzyl as he watched Devyn fall to his knees just before the hatch closed. The drug had now taken full effect, and Denzyl felt his body grow limp as Etta bent down and whispered into his ear, "Oh yeah, I had one other order to dispose of the human. I had to keep that one to myself, sorry."

Rage, despair, and heartbreak filled the avex, but Denzyl was unable to act upon his emotions. His world felt as if it was spinning, and it seemed as though Denzyl was falling from a great height. How could he have been so stupid to think Etta would let Devyn go safely? A cry was caught in Denzyl's throat that he desperately wanted to release. The thought of Devyn lying on the ground all alone with a gunshot wound pained Denzyl immensely especially since he did not know if the wound was fatal.

"Sleep well, Denzyl," Etta bid as the demon began to lose consciousness. The female's snicker rippled through Denzyl's ears as the gunshot continued to sound in his mind until he was completely unconscious with tears streaming down his face.