"Do you remember what happened?" I asked him.
"I came here and found you. You were missing for three days and this was the first place I thought to look for you," Rowan replied. "I don't remember anything after that."
I went to take his hands, and when I lifted them up inside mine, I felt the razors draw across my hands. I could see the seal on his forearm. It was a demonic seal but unlike the one that Dantalion and I had.
"What the hell is this?" I asked him.
I turned around and Dantalion had gone. He didn't tell me anything about a demonic seal on Rowan, or any of the other demonic traits he had. All he told me was that he was unharmed.
"I have no idea. Did I drink too much and end up at the tattoo shop like you did?" he smirked.
"Oh shut up!" I was annoyed but glad he was back to his sarcastic self.
"Listen, I can't explain anything right now, only that I have something I need to take care of."
I could feel the fear building inside me. I couldn't believe Dantalion just left us. I needed to know what kind of trouble Rowan was in with the demonic seal and his new found claws.
"I'm not gonna just leave you here" Rowan complained.
"I'm fine, see?" I stood up with my arms extended so he could see I was okay.
"Every time I leave you alone, you end up in some kind of trouble" he showed his serious side. He leaned into me, burying his face in my hair and holding onto my arm. "Not this time." Flames from the center of the circle outside the altar exploded into the night sky. Sparks and embers crackled inside an enormous pyre, almost touching the tips of the trees.
"Rowan, let me go!" I noticed an unyielding quality in him that was more like Dantalion.
He released his grip on me and I moved away, closer to the fire. I was unsure where it had originated from since Dantalion had left us and the Courtyard was silent. Frantically I searched the perimeter in hopes it was Dantalion who initiated the flames. All four directions of the stone border had now burst into flames. A thickness not of mist, but of pitch clouded the air. The flames rose higher within the Courtyard of the Undead. Rich colors of crimson and indigo filtered through the hot flames of the inferno. Rowan moved closer toward me. I did not trust his strange state of mind, and didn't see any sign of Dantalion in the Courtyard.