I jogged around the corner toward an outlet that was relatively intact. It looked like a convenience store. With some luck, I might find something I could use inside.
A chill slithered up my spine, and the small hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
Wind and shadows skittered across the façades of the wrecked stores, surrounding me. A new stench hit my nostrils—acid, sulfur, and brimstone.
My body tensed like a whip, readying to fight, but I had no weapons with me. Dread spread through me as blood pounded in my ears.
The demigods were cruel, merciless beings, but they had at least some humanity in them. And they wanted to preserve human civilization.
Demons, however, were made of pure evil and nothing else.
They had only one intention for humanity—enslaving and destroying it.
I’d thought that fate had finally cut me some slack.
I’d thought that I’d teleported here for a good reason, like this was a place I could claim for myself.
Fate was a sadistic dick.
So here I was with demons closing in.
I halted my pace.
Two horned demons approached me from the front, and a third one that looked more like a troll cut off my escape route from behind.
They were all over seven-feet-tall, wearing scaled armor, their tails thrashing like barbwire. While they had sharp claws and serrated fangs, each one also carried an ax, a spear, or a chainsaw.
Demons didn’t fancy swords much because they were favored by their opponents.
Once again, I had no idea how I knew this—or anything else—about demons.
They strutted toward me as if I were a game or a snack.
My gaze swept over them as I attempted to summon my flame and expel the cold terror in my blood. I was wiped out from the fight against both Jack and Paxton, but I needed my power not to fail me now.
I couldn’t outrun these three predators.
Shit,I cursed under my breath as I spotted a fourth demon perching atop the roof of a building right above me.
I urgently summoned my power again, waiting for a spark of fire to appear on my sweaty, cold palms.
Please, damn you, just give me a sign you’ll aid me.
Magic fizzed in the depths of my well, trying to rise, but all I could access was ember and ash at the bottom.
I’d drained it fighting Paxton, shielding and healing myself, then teleporting here.
I had to improvise until I figured out a plan B.
A green-horned demon clutched a spear in its claws. If I could disarm him and take it, I could even the odds a little.
I needed to entice them to approach first. And I had to do it without showing any fear. Demons preyed and thrived on it.
“Hello, boys, are you lost?” I purred, wheeling around as I endeavored to keep all of them out of my blind spots, though the green-horned demon remained my main target. “I can point you the way home, which is strictly to Hell.”
The demons stared at me, surprised expressions flitting through their yellowish and crimson eyes. I bet no one—definitely no human—had called them boys.
“She’s funny,” a demon with red horns said. “Or she thinks she is.”