Personal Demons

by Phoebe Ravencraft

  Then I assessed the situation. Devlin’s face was screwed up in tight concentration, like he could barely control the truck. To our right was a Toyota, whose driver was looking at me with an expression of sheer terror on his face. But he was hemmed in by us on his left and a semi in front of him.

  A smash got my attention. Another malefaxian had punched the rear windshield trying to get at me that way. Three more crouched in the bed of the truck, attempting to tear through the plastic bed-liner to get to the metal beneath it and presumably the rear axle and the powertrain. Shit, this was bad.

  An idea popped into my head. It was a terrible, awful idea, and I decided I was doing it before I could think about how dumbfuck stupid it was.

  I unclipped my seatbelt and laid my sword against the dash, with the handle pointed towards the window. Devlin’s face was still screwed up in such concentration he looked like he had no idea where he was or what I was about to do. I sighed briefly. It looked like I was on my own.

  I stuck my arms through the window, put my hands on the roof, and then hoisted myself out.

  The wind blasted me in the face and ripped across my body. Flying down the Interstate at seventy miles per hour or however fast Devlin was driving was terrifying when you were hanging out the window. Jesus, Sassy, please don’t fall and get run over. That would be a stupid fucking death.

  I put my palms flat on the roof of the truck and pushed down, so I could lift myself the rest of the way out. I got my ass up over the edge of the door and sat on it briefly.

  The demon who had been trying to break in through the rear windshield suddenly landed on the roof right in front of me. He grabbed two fistfuls of hair, opened his beak, and spit fire into my face.

  Instinctively, my power kicked on. Magic washed through me, warm and pleasant.

  “Thanks, asshole,” I said, as he stared at me in surprise.

  I unleashed two red laser beams from my eyes like Cyclops from the X-Men. The malefaxian looked comically surprised before he died with two holes in his chest. He fell over and toppled off the roof back into the bed.

  Turning my attention back to getting out of the truck without killing myself, I reached inside with my right hand, grabbed my sword, and pulled it out. I laid it across the roof of the truck, putting it under both of my hands. Then I said a quick prayer to the gods who watched over dumbfucks like me, begging them to not let me die.

  Lifting my ass off the door, I pushed off with my feet and hands. I managed to get my legs out the window and put my feet briefly on the door, before pushing off again and rolling up and into a crouch on top of the cab.

  The wind shears were hell. It was all I could do not to fall off the roof into the bed, where the malefaxians could shred me. I lowered my ass and back ’til my boobs were pressed against the metal. I looked like a giant roach, clinging to the cab, and the wind whipped my hair into my face, making it hard to see or figure out what to do next.

  Three demonic bastards remained, and they all looked up at me in surprise. I grinned. That’s right, assholes. The N’Chai Toroth is coming for you, and she is one badass bitch. As soon as she figures out how to move without dying, you are in trouble.

  Devlin hit a bump, lifting me off the roof. Then he swerved left unexpectedly.

  I was cast into the air and went tumbling towards the pavement.

  Fourteen

  For a second, I seemed to hang in the air, as if I were weightless in space. My life – clichéd as this is – passed before my eyes. I saw myself tormenting Ben when we were kids, not appreciating how he looked out for me. I saw myself quitting school, because I didn’t like it and didn’t know what to do with myself. I relived earning my black belt and kicking ass at tournament after tournament. And I thought about Felicia – how she loved me so purely, how I pissed all over her affection, how I treated her like she was a pain in the ass instead of the perfect partner. How I’d cheated on her with Devlin.

  If I’d had time, I’d have cried over how shitty I’d behaved my whole life. I’d have wept for a what a fuckup I was and for how everyone around me always paid for my inability to behave like an adult. I’d have grieved over how much I seemed to hate myself.

  But all this happened in the space of a second or less. There was no time for tears. I only had time to act.

  As I cartwheeled through the air, I stretched out and aimed myself towards the Toyota that had been on our right. I forced my way towards it.

  With a whump, I landed on its roof, slapped my left hand down onto the metal, and trigged a quick flash of magic to cling to the fast-moving car like Spider-Man. A second later, I rolled into a crouch, so that I looked like Spidey but with a sword.

  Now why the hell hadn’t I thought to do that before Devlin hit that bump? I swear my dumbassery is going to get me killed one day.

  Speaking of Devlin, he got the truck righted. I stared at him for a second, trying to figure out what the hell he was doing. But the wind continued to whip my hair into my face, obscuring details. All I could really see was that the allegedly mighty demon hunter looked terrified as he drove down the road, leaving his partner to fend for herself and take out the fiends attempting to crash us.

  With me temporarily out of the way, the three remaining malefaxians busied themselves with our destruction. One of them continued to tear at the bed, another was moving to the hood to finish the work begun by his colleagues, and the third launched itself at me.

  I rose, sending more magic through my boots to keep me rooted to the Toyota. With a quick twirl of my blade, I cut the demon clean in half as he approached. Time to take care of the other two.

  And then the God-damned semi decided to move into the left lane, cutting Devlin off.

  As soon as the right lane was clear, the terrified Toyota driver sped past the eighteen-wheeler, taking me away from the fight.

  I cursed. God damn the Fates that were making this so fucking hard, and God damn Devlin for not helping me. Seriously, what in the hell was he doing in there, that I had to fight all these little shits myself?

  Shut up, Sassy. You don’t have time for that.

  The Toyota had nearly cleared the semi, and I could tell by the way he was moving, he thought he had enough room to shoot around the horse trailer the eighteen-wheeler was trying to pass before the big rig could close the window. Shit. I had no desire to be a part of that stupidity.

  I launched myself off the car, landing on the side of the semi’s trailer. I continued to play Spider-Man, crawling up to the top.

  The wind shears were even fiercer, what with me being higher up and the larger vehicle pushing more air over it. Even with my magic, I feared getting shoved off and into traffic like an empty food wrapper.

  Speaking of magic, I realized I was getting near empty. Shit, that wasn’t good either. Staying as low as I could, I crawled towards the back of the trailer.

  The scene behind me gotten worse. The malefaxian on the hood of our truck had managed to rip a hole in the metal. He was reaching inside it, so he could fuck with the engine. I couldn’t see Devlin through the glare on the cracked windshield, but as far as I could tell, he still wasn’t doing shit to help me. If I didn’t act soon, he’d be dead.

  I closed my eyes and searched for magical threads to pull energy from. A thick current of the stuff ran parallel to the Interstate to my left. Perfect. I reached out and sucked in a giant gulp of it.

  Then I opened my eyes and raised my left arm, shaping my hand into a gun like when we were kids playing Star Wars on the playground. I took aim and shot a red death ray from my index finger like I was Princess Leia.

  It hit the malefaxian in the back, killing it like I’d just blasted a stormtrooper. Then I turned my sights to the remaining demon in the bed. It, too, was working its way through the metal and into the undercarriage of the truck.

  But the cab was in my way. I couldn’t get a clean shot at it.

  I was still brimming with magical energy. So I decided to go back to the superhero met
aphor. I launched myself into the air and flew the intervening distance like Supergirl. Yeah, I know. I switched from Marvel to DC. Sue me.

  Landing perfectly in the bed, I brought the sword back and teed off like I was Ken Griffey, Jr. swinging for the cheap seats at Great American Ball Park. The demon’s head flew off, bounced on the road and was quickly crushed by the car behind us.

  Yeah, baby. Homerun!

  With the demon problem at last solved, I turned around and worked my way to the cab. I leaned around so I could get my head near the passenger-side window.

  “Devlin!” I shouted. “Pull over!”

  He didn’t seem to hear me. He continued driving, his face fixed in severe concentration.

  “Devlin,” I screamed louder. “Pull over!”

  His face suddenly relaxed. It was like someone else had been inside him, and now, suddenly, he was back. He put on his turn signal and moved off onto the left shoulder. I fully behind the cab to eliminate the risk of being clipped by someone going by us. After about ten seconds, he came to a stop on the side of the road.

  I hopped out of the back of the truck. I watched the traffic for a few seconds, to make sure no one was in the left lane. Then I came around the side quickly to get in.

  Naturally, the door was locked. Devlin stared straight ahead, his skin pale and his chest heaving. What the hell was the matter with him?

  I reached through the open window and unlocked the door. Then I opened it and climbed inside.

  “What the fuck is the matter with you?” I demanded.

  He looked at me in confusion. The aftershock of fear danced in his blue eyes.

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “What do I mean? You did nothing to help! You just drove the truck. You didn’t use any of your powers to fight the demons; you didn’t do anything to help me out. I was nearly killed when you swerved in the road. I had to risk getting out of a vehicle moving at seventy miles an hour in traffic! What the fuck were you doing?”

  Devlin blinked twice as he stared at me. He licked his lips to moisten them.

  “When you pulled magic from me, you weakened the bond of Lillina, one of the demons I have trapped. With her binding weakened, she attempted to escape. I spent most of my focus and power to retain my grip on her. What little attention I had to spare, I used to drive the vehicle.”

  Oh.

  Shit.

  Oops. My bad.

  “Uh . . . sorry,” I said. “I didn’t . . . I didn’t realize . . .”

  I couldn’t figure out how to finish that sentence. I felt pretty stupid, though.

  “I just figured you had . . . power, you know?” I offered. “I mean, yeah, you’ve got demons bound to you, but I figured, you know, you had other power, since, you know, you . . . bound them?”

  “The ability to bind demons to me comes from my staff. Alara gave it to me as a weapon to be used in my battles. The rest of my power comes from the demons themselves. I have grown stronger over time, because I have taken their powers and used them for myself.

  “Their magic lies underneath. At the surface, is the binding spell. When you touched me, you took that energy first. Lillina was closest to your hand, so she attempted to break free. Fortunately, you did not take so much that she could leave her prison easily. I maintained enough mastery of her to keep her where she is.

  “But it took supreme concentration to hold her. That is why I could not help you.”

  Damn it. That had been really stupid of me.

  Except that it wasn’t exactly my fault. I didn’t know. No one had told me, especially Devlin himself. He was just like Ash that way. Or Ephraim. Nobody wanted to give me the full story about what was really going on. No one wanted to fully educate me on the magical world.

  And what I didn’t know could get someone killed. Maybe a lot of someones if a demon lord had escaped its imprisonment.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t know that could happen. I just knew I needed magic to fight the malefaxians. I didn’t realize I could fuck things up worse.”

  “I accept your apology.”

  “You should have told me, Alistair. What I don’t know could hurt a lot of people.”

  “It didn’t occur to me you would use me as your source,” he said. “I taught you to read the landscape around you for power.”

  “Yeah, but I’m not that good at it yet. I have to concentrate to find it, and in a fight, every second counts. I chose you because you were there.”

  Devlin nodded. He tucked his hair behind his ear.

  “I understand,” he said. “We must work further on your training, so that your perception of eldritch energy becomes instinctive.”

  Damn straight he needed to teach me more. He wasn’t exactly living up to his end of the bargain here, especially since he’d been standoffish following our tryst.

  I looked around. Traffic continued to whoosh by periodically. The truck looked like shit. There were gaping holes in the hood and bed.

  “Man, we really kind of ripped The Veil all to shreds on this one,” I said.

  “Yes,” he said. “We should get moving before we create more trouble.”

  That was the fucking truth. The last thing I needed was The Order hunting me down. I had enough trouble with Ephraim.

  Speaking of whom . . .

  “This is real fucking strange,” I said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean this is the second time Ephraim has sent demons after me in a public setting. He’s not just flaunting The Veil. He’s giving it a big middle finger.”

  “Who is Ephraim?”

  “My br— The person who is after me. The one who’s commanding these demons. It’s not like him to act like this. Why would he try to kill me in broad daylight? Why would he risk exposing the magical world like that? He knows how dangerous that is. It’s like he’s desperate, but I can’t figure out why.”

  Devlin didn’t answer right away. He stared at me as though he couldn’t believe what I was saying. Then he shook his head.

  “I’m sure I don’t know,” he said at last. “But I do know sitting here isn’t safe. We need to get back on the road before something worse happens.”

  Something about how he said that made me nervous. Something was wrong, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

  But it didn’t matter. Devlin was right. The longer we stayed here, the more we were inviting trouble.

  I nodded at him. He started the engine, and we pulled into traffic.

  Somehow, I knew then we were never going to make it to Denver.

  Felicia

  Felicia paced the hotel room as Aurelia sat on the floor in the lotus position. Her wrists rested on her knees, with the palms of her hands up and her middle two fingers touching her thumbs. She rocked slowly back and forth, mumbling under her breath.

  God damn it, if something didn’t break soon, she might just murder someone.

  What the hell was Ash doing? First, he’d flown them to Kansas City, because that was the closest Order headquarters, and he’d insisted he would need resources to protect Sassy. So fine; they’d checked in with the local magical authorities and acquired a minivan tricked out with a bunch of surveillance gear and armaments.

  But now, he’d driven them to Omaha in the hopes of getting ahead of the train, so they could intercept Sassy. Which sort of made sense, but why were they just sitting around in a hotel room? Sassy’s life could be in danger right now? What if Ephraim got to the train ahead of them? What if by the time they finally caught up to it, Sassy was dead?

  Ash sat at the desk studying maps on his laptop. He would occasionally tap in a few commands, but he was otherwise completely somewhere else. She knew he was searching for Sassy, but the placid look on his face suggested he could have been cruising his social media accounts instead.

  “This is ridiculous,” Felicia said to no one in particular.

  “Patience, Felicia,” Ash soothed. “We’ll find her.”

  “B
efore she’s dead?” Felicia snapped.

  He gave her a sorrowful look, intensifying her guilt. He opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Aurelia.

  “To can help, perhaps,” she said, her spooky Creole accent breaking through the tension.

  “What do you mean?” Felicia asked.

  “Le pére eludes mó,” she said. “Perhaps de child does not sleep. Perhaps le pére does not come to li. To has de intimate connection to li, does to not?”

  Felicia crinkled her forehead. She only understood half the words coming out of the witch-woman’s mouth.

  “I don’t know what you’re saying,” she said.

  “She’s suggesting that you and Sassy shared a close relationship,” Ash said. “She thinks you can help locate her.”

  Felicia could help find Sassy? Why were they just telling her this now? What was all that bullshit about Sassy’s father being a dream-ghost?

  “I thought we were supposed to be tracking the spirit of her father,” she said.

  “Sassy hasn’t dreamed of him since we got here,” Ash said. “That could mean any number of things, but it doesn’t help us find her.”

  “But to loves de child,” Aurelia said. “To has made love to ça. Perhaps to can find ça, where mo cannot.”

  Despite her best efforts, Felicia blushed darkly. Aurelia knew she’d had sex with Sassy? What the fuck all had Ash told her?

  “Why does she keep saying, ‘toe?’” she asked, trying to ignore how uncomfortable this conversation had suddenly become.

  “Creole for ‘you,’” Ash replied.

  He was blushing too. And he wouldn’t look at Felicia. He clearly didn’t want to think about the fact Sassy and Felicia had slept together.

  Yeah, that’s right, asshole. She’s mine.

  “Look, I don’t see how Sassy and my … history matters,” Felicia said. “I thought you were a medium. I thought you could only talk to the dead. Unless Sassy’s dead, there’s no way to contact her.”