by Krista Walsh
She wanted to ask him what was out here, but he was radiating an anxious energy, and she didn’t want to distract him. She sensed him moving in front of her, blocking her from whatever was up ahead.
“We thought we’d return the courtesy of your visit today, Zachariel,” a voice rasped, like nails dragging across a chalkboard in the shape of words. “The bosses decided that if you were ready to show an interest in what we have to offer, then it was time to give you the whole picture.”
“Turn around and get out of here,” Zach ordered. “I learned enough today to cause your bosses no end of trouble if they try to create any more with me.”
Another rasping noise came, but this time Molly was certain it was intended as some kind of laugh. She squeezed her fingers around her bow, but didn’t move to set the arrow against the string. She gritted her teeth and frowned in the direction of the voice, wanting to appear tough so they wouldn’t peg her as a weak point.
“The choice is no longer yours, daemelus, we—”
Zach released a fierce growl and was gone from Molly’s side before the rasping voice had a chance to finish his sentence.
Noise broke out around her, and she had to hold back from covering her ears at the cacophony. Screams, shrieks, and harsh laugher blasted in as one mass of sound. She tried to focus on Zach’s voice alone, but either he was staying quiet or his deep voice was melding too perfectly with the others, because she couldn’t untangle it.
She raised her bow and backed away, an arrow nocked. She couldn’t loose it without knowing where Zach was, and the other voices were jumping around too quickly to know where to aim.
Breathe, she told herself. Focus and breathe.
In the rush of her panic, she struggled to find her grounding, reaching deep into her subconscious to tap into her years of training. She forced herself to choose a single stream of noise and follow its movement through the others in the fray. Most of it was too jumbled, but the deeper she fell into her own breath, the more one noise in particular stood out. It sounded like something hissing, a low vibration that rumbled through her head. It moved back and forth in front of her, and she began to track it with the point of her arrow. All she needed was a moment of stillness to put an end to it.
Her heart beat harder as she realized it was getting closer. Now on her left, now on her right. The hissing grew sharper, a steady in-out of heavy breathing.
“Stop right there,” she ordered. If it wasn’t an enemy, she didn’t want to kill it by accident. She wished Zach had taken a second to tell her what was happening instead of leaving her to guess.
Instead of stopping, the same rasping laughter she’d heard earlier crawled through her, raising the hair on the back of her neck, and the wheezing figure picked up its pace. Molly sucked in a deep breath. Tapping into the same level of concentration she’d discovered with the ghouls in the alley, she narrowed in on the area around the beast and made out its shape by the negative space surrounding it. It was shorter than she was, but not by much. She had no idea what it looked like, but that hardly mattered. As long as she knew where to strike.
In a smooth motion, not giving the monster a chance to close the gap between them more than it already had, she drew her arrow and released, all in the space of a heartbeat. A thump vibrated in her head as the figure dropped in front of her, and one less noise buffeted her auditory nerves.
“Molly — duck!” Zach shouted. His voice sounded different, gravelly.
Without hesitation, she dropped into a low crouch and sensed something flying over her head. Spinning on her heel to face the threat, she grabbed another arrow from her side and held it tight in her palm, pointing it outward at the shape now coming toward her. It came up on her right, so she sidestepped and swung out her arm. She missed and ducked again, prepared for it to try and hit her.
Panic threatened to overwhelm her, but she remained focused on her breathing, working to stay in tune with her surroundings and identify the negative space around the monsters nearby. Their noises had initially thrown her off balance, but she was starting to differentiate between the separate sounds. There were multiple voices, including one she now recognized as Zach’s as he growled and raged. She sensed movement all around her, the air currents shifting and pushing against her skin, but for now she concentrated only on the shape that was attacking her.
This one stood a few inches taller than her, and unlike Zach’s wide, looming presence, it seemed…airy. One moment it was in front of her, the next moment behind. Was it fast, or was it somehow spontaneously jumping from one spot to another?
There was no point in guessing. Knowing the how wouldn’t help her deduce where it would end up next. Her sixth sense encouraged her to duck and dodge again, and she twisted and stabbed to the left. The arrow struck something and a piercing cry filled the air, but Molly guessed she’d delivered no more than a scratch. She danced backward to get out of the being’s reach.
Suddenly, she was on her back in the grass, with something heavy perched on her chest. Her bow had slipped from her fingers as she fell, and although she still had an arrow in her right hand, strong fingers had wrapped themselves around her wrist and pinned her arm down. She struggled to fight the monster off, but only succeeded in screaming as sharp knives closed on her neck.
10
Zach gritted his teeth and hurled his elbow backward, aiming for the face of the Ghurgzic demon pressing his head into the ground. While his body remained focused on the fight he found himself in, his thoughts were buffeted by an inner tirade. The stupid human had followed him out of the room. She was determined to involve herself in something that had nothing to do with her, and it was going to get her killed.
He’d wanted to order Molly to go back to his apartment and wait, or even drag her back whether she wanted to go or not, but if someone was coming for him, he couldn’t waste time standing guard at the door. That wouldn’t keep her any safer if someone got in behind him. Instead, he’d hoped she would turn back on her own once she figured out what they were facing. But she’d stayed, and he could do nothing but let things unfold how they would. If the girl wanted a real experience of this world, she was about to get the full picture. And if she died — well, it would be her own stupidity that did the deed. He’d fulfilled his side of the debt and was under no obligation to save her again.
To give her credit, she’d already taken down the Kozkor demon. Its thick-furred corpse lay sprawled in the grass, its sharp spines protruding up from its hunched back, and its claws outstretched in front of it. Drool oozed out the side of its mouth, and smoke sizzled up from the ground where the droplets landed.
Only four more demons to go.
Unfortunately, Molly’s luck had now ended. One of the two Lingor demons was dancing with her, darting in and out of the girl’s reach, moving closer. Zach knew their tricks, knew it wouldn’t be long before the demon went in for the kill, but he couldn’t get to her, being similarly trapped under the weight of the Ghurgzic demon grappling on his back.
He tried again to throw out his elbow to catch the Ghurgzic demon in the throat, but the monster dodged and Zach’s blow hit air. Cursing, he tried to roll over to free his arms from where they were stuck against the ground, but he couldn’t get the leverage. His breath was growing thick with the pressure on his chest.
He swung his head back into the Ghurgzic demon’s face, and it grunted as Zach caught it in the nose. The strike didn’t do much damage, but it was enough to create a moment’s distraction. Zach used it to throw up his hips and hook one knee beneath him. Twisting to the side, he sank his teeth into the demon’s arm. Putrid sweat filled his mouth, and he worked not to gag. The demon jerked its arm away, clearing the space for Zach to roll out from underneath it.
A quick scan across the hill showed Molly still fighting against the Lingor demon. Wanting to reach her, but not wanting to give the Ghurgzic demon another chance to get the upper hand on him, Zach backed toward her.
The Ghurgzic demon grunt
ed and rose to its feet, towering over Zach by a good few inches. The heat of Zach’s rage set fire to his blood and hardened his skin into red scales. The burn only fueled him as he raised his right fist and hurled it into the demon’s cheek. The fangs poking up out of its bottom jaw crunched against his knuckles as its neck snapped to the side. Its wide troll-like shoulders stooped forward as it found its balance, and an arm as thick as a car tire swung toward Zach’s face. He ducked and rammed himself into the demon’s broad chest, forcing him backward. The slight yellowish tone of its skin caught the moonlight, making it look like it had bathed in a vat of acid before coming to the party. Which, Zach supposed, it may well have done. It would certainly explain its rancid taste.
Another shape moved out of the corner of his eye, and he grabbed the Ghurgzic demon’s arm, trying to use his weight to shove it toward the second Lingor demon, which was creeping up toward them. If he could get them both out of the way, he could make it to Molly. In his periphery, he could see she was beginning to stagger, clearly tiring. Unfortunately, the troll tripped over the uneven ground and collapsed to its knee, jerking Zach with him.
The spry, doll-like Lingor demon was moving as though she were a water-sprite, light on her toes and quick enough that if he blinked, he’d open his eyes to find her in a different spot. Her blank white face, devoid of eyes, faced him, the rest of her body shrouded in shadow-black skin. She stretched her twiggy fingers out in front of her and tilted her head, tempting him to look at her.
He knew better. Lingor demons were enough to make one believe that whoever had the power to create new species hated the world. Their figures were eye-catching, all soft curves and muscle, but every part of them was deadly, including their eyeless faces. One glance at where their eyes should have been and you risked having your soul sucked out of your body as your brain slowly fried.
Lingor demons always attacked in pairs, one a clone of the other. He would need to be careful not to kill this one too quickly or the one fighting Molly would just regenerate, taking away their advantage.
He blinked, and she was on his back, her thin fingers wrapped around his arm, her needle-like nails piercing his skin deep into the muscle. He cried out and swung her to the ground.
The Ghurgzic demon reached its feet and Zach grabbed its shoulder, using its arm like a bat as he swung it at the Lingor demon’s head. She flew across the lawn and skidded on her back.
As soon as the way was clear, Zach darted toward Molly. The second Lingor demon had apparently lost patience with her toy. She’d thrown Molly to the ground and now sat perched on her chest, trying to catch her gaze. She’d obviously not yet realized that Molly’s soul was safe from her eyeless stare. Coming up the hill, he spotted the fifth demon slinking toward them. The Colcex demon, red skin and oozing pustules on its face, must have been waiting for an opportunity to charge toward the easiest target.
A sharp scream jerked Zach’s attention back toward Molly. The Lingor demon had driven her needle-sharp claws deep into her shoulder, where the skin connected to her neck. In a few more seconds, he was sure he’d watch the girl’s head get torn clean off.
Fire licked at Zach’s veins as his demon blood boiled. His vision took on a red haze, growing darker around the source of his fury. For the first time in a long time, he was tempted to allow his demon strength full rein, but he couldn’t guarantee that he’d be able to drag himself back, or that he wouldn’t include Molly in his destruction.
His own Lingor demon threw herself at him as he ran, but this time when she tried to sink her claws into his flesh, her nails snapped against his scales. She shrieked and clutched her hand to her chest. Zach backhanded her across the head, sending her flying into the Ghurgzic demon. The impact barely threw the troll off balance.
Zach released a deep snarl, braced his foot against the ground, and prepared to continue his push toward Molly, but the Ghurgzic demon threw his arms around Zach’s chest, squeezing his lungs so tightly he couldn’t suck in any air. His feet lifted off the ground and his stomach clenched as the Ghurgzic demon began jerking him back and forth.
Ahead of him, Molly’s Lingor demon had the girl’s chin gripped in one twig-fingered hand as the Colcex demon hovered over her chest. It licked its lips as it stared down at her, as though considering dinner.
Zach flexed his shoulders and kicked his legs backward, but the Ghurgzic demon held fast. Black spots filtered through the red in his eyes, and not even his anger gave him the strength he needed to free himself. The pure white heat of his angel side stretched deep in his stomach, but he ignored it. A sense of superiority wouldn’t save them now.
Then another scream from Molly was cut short as a concrete block zipped through the air and caught the Lingor demon on the side of the head. White blood spilled across the grass as she collapsed to the ground, the side of her skull caved in. At the same time, a gust of wind billowed up at the Colcex demon’s feet, bringing dirt and stones with it in a whirlwind that trapped it inside, pressing in on it until the beast flailed for freedom. As soon as the block that had struck the Lingor demon landed, it rose again, this time to slam into the Colcex demon’s stomach. The demon crumbled to the ground and struggled to shove the block away, but the corner of the concrete drove deeper into its red, oozing flesh, releasing bubbling black blood onto the grass around it.
Behind Zach, the Ghurgzic demon stumbled as though struck. It lost its grip on him, and he was dumped unceremoniously to the ground. He rolled to his feet and threw a punch into the demon’s gut so hard his scaled hand broke through its ribs. It stumbled backward, one arm gripped around its stomach, and fled down the alley into the night.
“Looks like I picked the right time to take a walk,” a familiar voice spoke up to his left.
He barely had time to register Daphne Heartstone’s sudden presence before she stepped past him and threw a ball of pure magic at Zach’s Lingor demon, who was now struggling to get up. The demon flew backward, landed on her back, then bounced to her feet. She released a shriek that scraped through Zach’s eardrums, then sprinted after the Ghurgzic demon, disappearing into the shadows.
Molly had sat up, her expression molded into a look of wary fear. She still had an arrow clenched in her hand, and when the Colcex demon released a bubbling scream, the rock digging deeper into its gut, she whirled around and drove the arrow into its heart.
Sweat and blood dripped down the side of her face and neck, and her arms were trembling, but the human had once again proved to Zach that she was no coward. He wanted to crack open the skull of the Kozkor demon’s canine head and spill its blood over her hands as a show of respect. The desire made him realize how much of his demon blood was still raging through him.
He allowed Daphne to be the one to approach the girl while he breathed through his anger. Each exhale eased the ripples running through his muscles, which flexed and contracted with every small movement.
Molly jerked away as Daphne crouched in front of her, then relaxed at whatever the sorceress was saying. Zach couldn’t hear any of it, his own ears full of his pulsing blood.
How long had it been since he’d let his demon so far out of its cage? Not since Jermaine had attempted to unleash it, he suspected. It left a sick, oily feeling in his stomach that he tried not to think about. His head ached, and a sharp pounding had taken up residence at the base of his skull. He wanted to sleep, but he had to make sure Molly was all right.
First, he checked to see that the scales were gone from his arms, then he approached, surprised by how weak his legs were as he climbed the low hill that led to the side of the college.
“Are you all right?” Daphne asked him. Blood streaked her chin, and it took him a moment to figure out that it was from the injury on Molly’s shoulder and neck. The Lingor demon’s claws had skewered her.
“No permanent damage,” he said, eying the sorceress warily. “My bruised pride will take longer to recover. How are you doing, kid?”
Molly shivered, and Daphne pulle
d off her blue jacket to wrap it around her shoulders. “I think I’m okay. Or I will be okay. I don’t know. My shoulder hurts.”
Her teeth started chattering.
“Hang on, now,” Daphne said. “We can’t have you going into shock on us. Zach, hold her up for a minute, will you?”
For the time being, he shoved all his questions about what she was doing here aside and crouched down to brace Molly’s uninjured shoulder against his knee. Molly hissed at the movement and squeezed her eyes shut, then reached out a hand. Cautiously, he took it, not sure what she wanted him to do. She tightened her fingers around his, and he returned a bit of pressure, not wanting to hurt her any more than she already was.
“This will be a little uncomfortable at first, but it’ll ease the pain,” Daphne said. “Just keep breathing.” She sucked in a breath, and her brow furrowed as she released it in a slow exhale. She looked up at Zach with an apologetic grimace. “I’m not a healer, and I’m out of practice, but at least it might take the edge off.”
He nodded for her to continue, and she rested her hand on Molly’s injured shoulder. As he watched, a faint golden glow covered the backs of her fingers and traveled up her bare arm until it vanished under the sleeve of her T-shirt.
Almost immediately, Molly cried out and squeezed Zach’s hand tighter. She squirmed to get away from the sorceress, and Daphne had to rest her free hand on the girl’s other shoulder to keep her still. After a moment, Molly stopped fighting, though her nostrils flared with quick, deep breaths and sweat dripped down her face.
While the sorceress was distracted, Zach took a moment to assess her. He still hadn’t processed the fact that she, of all people, had turned up at the moment they needed help.
He hadn’t seen her since they’d left Jermaine’s locked room nine months ago, and she may as well have been a different person. Gone was the squirrelly look of guilt and the haunted circles under her eyes. Her bird-like movements had softened into a grace akin to confidence, and although she was still little more than skin and bone, she had a healthy flush to her cheeks. Her sharp green eyes were focused on Molly’s shoulder with deep concentration.
