If not for the sulfur burning my nose, I might not have noticed the figure was a demon.
It looked like me. My hair in a ponytail. Wearing the sundress with yellow flowers that I’d worn to the press conference. But the eyes…
Its eyes were two solid red orbs.
It hissed, and a wave of demonic energy rolled over me, making me dizzy. I gripped the doorframe. This one was much stronger than the last demon, and if I let it, it could suck the soul straight from my body.
Or my families’ bodies.
I lifted my vial of brew number two as I entered the room. Dastien was at my side and the others slipped into the room behind us.
“That thing doesn’t look anything like the last one,” Chris said.
“This one’s a major demon,” Cosette said. I didn’t turn, but I hoped she had her sword ready back there.
“Mistress wants you dead.” Its head tilted to the side as it studied each of us. Assessing us.
“Feeling’s mutual.” I said a prayer, and threw the vial, but the demon didn’t flinch as it shattered. “Shit. Twos are duds.” Clinking sounded behind me as the brujos readjusted.
It swiped off the black sludge dirtying the sundress, and then shot me a look of pure rage that had me stumbling backward.
“We need more room to fight.”
It stood there, slowly inching forward, as its red gaze darted among us.
I wasn’t sure why it hadn’t attacked yet, but that wasn’t going to last. Once it was done assessing what we were and how to kill us, it was going to.
I backed out of the room, not wanting to turn around, but we needed to draw it outside. Not everyone could fit in my parents’ bedroom. We were going to need everybody in this fight, and I wanted that thing as far away from my family as possible.
It started to move faster. “Run,” I whispered.
The wolves heard and everyone else followed them. I quickly backed to the stairs—not wanting to turn my back to it—and then it leaped at me.
I jumped to the bottom of the stairs in one go. My hands touched the floor as I hit the ground. The demon scrambled after me, knocking down picture frames. It lunged, almost slashing my ankles, but Dastien grabbed me, tossing me out of the house. A boom sounded as it tore through the wall. We only had a few seconds before it was on us again.
Cosette stood ready with her sword and this time, her skin was definitely glowing. “This one will be faster than the other. Get ready to try the new potions.”
Adrian, Donovan, Meredith, and Chris had already shifted. Claudia waved her hands over them, drawing a few glowing knots. The saint’s ruby ring glimmered on her finger. “Hopefully this will keep the demon blood from burning you.”
Shane and a pale-looking Raphael stood shoulder to shoulder. Shane held his first and middle fingers out, ready to flick some spell. A bead of sweat ran down Raphael’s face, and I had a moment to wonder if we should’ve left him on campus before he stumbled back a step.
As I dug out another vial, Dastien’s change ripped through our bond. Claudia drew another knot, and I felt her spell wrap around him.
Shaking off drywall dust, the demon appeared in the doorway.
“Stop!” I threw all my will in to the word. All I had to do was freeze it, and we could end this before anyone got hurt.
It stopped moving and I let out a breath as I turned toward Cosette. “It worked. Hurry and—”
Panic surged to me from Dastien, but that was the only warning I got.
A heavy weight fell on me, drowning me in choking sulfur. I hit the ground, and only just managed to get my hands up before the demon tore out my throat. Its claws flayed my side, and I screamed. The cuts burned like fire licking my skin.
Wolf-Dastien rammed it, and suddenly the creat
ure’s weight was gone. The wolves surrounded it, slashing out, but unlike the lesser demon, this one wasn’t taking damage. Any hits the wolves landed just made it more pissed. I couldn’t tell if Claudia’s spell was working because they couldn’t make the thing bleed.
Raphael picked me up off the ground, and it felt like my side was being torn apart. The heat of the pain spread down my leg. We had to end this. Fast.