She opened her eyes.
She stood in the middle of the scene she'd imagined. In front of her the demon, with his half-man, half-lizard body, loomed larger than life. His eyes blazed red, his claws dripped with blood and a human arm dangled from one of them.
Time faltered, slowed down and circled the room. The demon's eyes widened and lit up with recognition.
Tarian sucked in a quick breath and squeezed the two hands she still held. Their answering squeeze told her all she needed to know.
Time snapped back and rushed forward. Daric stepped in front of her, his arms thrust out wide in some sort of manly display of chivalry. The demon responded by throwing the arm at them. She and Frankie both ducked, leaving Daric to take the brunt of a swipe from the demon. The force threw Daric across the room and into the marble fireplace, and knocked Tarian off her feet. Frankie drew his gun and fired powered bullets at the demon.
The demon deflected each bullet sent his way. Ricochet sent them careening around the room, igniting bits of wallpaper or collapsing furniture.
Tarian tried her best to stay low while gathering her focus to her. With Daric down, she wouldn't have time to draw the circle. How well the spell would work without the power circle she didn't know, but she had to try. Frankie couldn't hold the demon off forever.
In the back of her mind, she realized something was missing. Something important. But she couldn't take time to figure out what.
She started to recite the words she'd memorized, adding her magic to it.
The demon growled, licked his lips, then flicked an energy bolt that knocked Frankie back across the room and into the window. Glass shattered as Frankie sailed through it and out of sight. The demon flicked again, this time toward Daric.
She watched as it struck him and he slid down the marble fireplace. Daric collapsed, his body slack. Then the demon turned back toward her. His eyes gleamed with triumph, or maybe he was just hungry. Whichever it was, she wanted no part of it.
Tarian backed away from him, her feet scrambling to get a grip on the slick floor. She managed to stand, and then run from the room. She could at least lead him away from Daric, Frankie and Alex.
Alex.
Where the hell was Alex? He wasn't with her, and he wasn't in the room. She hadn't felt him behind her when they arrived, either. The realization hit that he hadn't come along for the ride. Her heart pounded. Without Alex, without the guys to contain and distract the demon, there was no way to get the ritual done.
Alex and Frankie were unconscious. She had to do something, or the demon would have all of them. She had to lead him away from the men and get far enough away to gather her magic and finish that ritual, even if it meant he could siphon more. Even if she had to do it alone.
She ran down the hall. A door stood open in front of her and she raced for it, not caring where it led. Anywhere that gave her half a second to gather her power was fine.
The door turned out to be to the kitchen. As she reached it, every window in the room shattered. Glass shards tore at her clothes. Something sharp smacked her in the cheek, and blood oozed down. Something else slammed into her back and she landed on the floor, the breath knocked out of her.
Before she could get her bearings she heard a low laugh, then a kick sent her skidding across the floor. She slammed into the cabinets and felt one of the handles crush into her back. Gasping, she managed to look up. The demon's tongue licked out in serpent fashion and he hissed, then started to advance on her. His arms flexed, and she felt a pull on the tracer.
She pushed to her feet. She had to distract him from taking more of her power. She sent a kick to his chest, along with the strongest magical pulse she’d ever managed in her life. It was enough to push him backward, colliding with the wall with enough force to knock a hole in it.
It didn’t slow him down. He seemed more eager to get to her than he had been before. She knew she’d never get in another kick. He was in fighting stance now and ready for it. Instead, she sent another pulse, this one aimed at his head. It glanced off him and ricocheted, shattering another window behind her.
She had to do something different. Something unexpected. She laughed, a loud raucous noise that sounded foreign to her. Then she said the first thing that came to mind.
“You think you have me exactly where you want me. You’re a fool. You can’t kill me. You need me.”
It was all bluster, but the demon paused. Sweat poured across the scales on his hands and face. He seemed almost disoriented. His reaction surprised her, but she wasn't going to waste the moment. She gathered a combination of energy and sent fire toward him while she pulled on the wall behind him. He was covered in an avalanche of daggers made of wood. His clothing caught fire, fueled by her magic. Backlash from that much power hit her and she staggered. Her stomach boiled and her head swam through thick, stifled air.
For a moment the demon stood watching her, his clothes in flames, shards of wood sticking out of his body everywhere that wasn’t covered in scales. Then he disintegrated into a puff of smoke and ash just as he had in the alley, blown away by a wind she hadn’t created.
Tarian doubled over in pain as her neck and shoulders seized against the tracer. Her power flowed out at an alarming rate. Not in damage spells or protective spells. Pure power, pulled along an invisible cord to the demon.
If it were a rope, she’d have clutched at it. But she had no idea how to combat this. She tried frantically to cut off the flow, but in the end all she could do was try to solidify the cracked shield around the tracer. Eventually, the flow slowed to slow stream. It was the best she could hope for.
She stood in the ruins of the kitchen and gasped air. Why had the demon left so quickly? She'd like to think she had the upper hand, but she knew that wasn't true. He'd been kicking her ass. Again. He had to have known he would win this fight. He could have had her right then. Something she’d said seemed to startle him, but she couldn’t fathom what it was.
She could see bright daylight through the hole in the wall. She waited, ready to strike at anything that moved.
Silence.
As she released her muscles, both physical and magical, parts of her body started to protest all the abuse. Her back stung, and she'd definitely twisted her ankle. She glanced down and saw new scratches along both of her arms. Blood dripped from them, and she could still feel blood on her cheek. Her eye felt swollen.
Cold rippled through her. It wouldn’t be long now. The demon would control her soon.
Chapter 34
A distant whimper grabbed Tarian's attention. Daric. Or Frankie. She couldn't tell which. And where the hell was Alex? She limped down the hall as fast as she could manage.
A lingering trace of red mist drifted from the living room to greet her. She stopped at the entrance and leaned against the wall. She hadn’t really seen the room before. All she’d noticed was the demon with a body part in his claw. Now she had a chance to survey the situation.
It was pure hell on Earth. A nightmare. Small chunks of human flesh coated the room from floor to ceiling. Body parts littered the floor. She saw a finger here, a toe there, so many it had to have been at least a dozen people. An eyeball stared at her from the middle of the room. It still had the ligaments attached to it. Bile rose from her stomach to coat her throat.
Daric balanced on his hands and knees by the fireplace. Relief surged through her as she realized he was alive and moving, even if he was badly hurt. She limped over to him and helped him stand. He looked dazed, but he wasn't whimpering or even moaning. So what made that noise?
Another whimper drew her attention to the far corner. She left Daric to see if she could help whoever it was. A naked girl, or what was left of her, lay at an awkward angle with her head shoved into the corner and her once pretty blonde hair now dripping with blood. She must have been the last one to join the party, as she still had most of her body parts attached. Her entrails spread across her stomach, and her legs had been ripped off at the knees. He
r eye sockets were both empty, wide, blank holes. Her arms lay at awkward angles, and her hands were missing.
As she watched, the girl's body twitched. One final convulsion, and it lay still.
Tarian turned her back on the room and threw up.
She heard footsteps, and then felt a hand on her back.
"You okay?"
She wiped her mouth and turned to Daric. He had an impressive bruise already blooming on the side of his face.
"I'll live. You?"
“Better than her.” Daric looked around the room, his mouth set. “Where're Frankie and Alex?"
"Frankie went through the window. Alex…I don't know."
Daric started for the window, but seemed to think better of it and turned for the front door instead. She couldn't blame him. Tiptoeing through the bodies was not high on her list of things to do.
She followed Daric out, anxious to get away from the room of horrors before she threw up again.
Frankie lay on a small section of grass in front of the window. One arm was twisted underneath him, and one leg lay at an awkward angle.
She stood on the front step and watched as Daric assessed the damage.
"Might have a broken leg here and a dislocated shoulder. I can do minor stuff, but this is going to need a real healer. "
She nodded, numb.
"Where's Alex?" Daric looked around.
"I don't know. I don't think he made it through with us."
Daric stood and opened a travel portal right there in the front lawn. Tarian winced with each breath as pain shot down her back and around her ribs.
That poor girl. Those people. The vision of that room was too horrible to contemplate, and yet it was burned forever in her mind.
The demon could just as easily have torn Daric and Frankie apart right there in front of her. He hadn't, but he could have. He outmatched them in every way.
“Why didn’t he kill me?” Her voice sounded weak and hollow. She cleared her throat and tried again. “He could have. Why didn’t he?”
Daric shook his head. "I don't think he wants you dead. Not yet, anyway."
She looked down at her arms. More scratches. More blood lost to the demon, although this time it was probably mixed with others. She was beaten, battered, and bruised, and the demon had more of her blood.
She had no choice.
Her magic drifted away, and now he had the means to take it even faster. More blood meant more of a link to her, more ability to perform a bigger ritual.
Unless she did hers first.
Tarian knelt next to Frankie and pulled one of the daggers free from his belt.
Daric grabbed her hand. "Tarian, where are you going?"
"We have to do this now. Right now."
"We’re in no kind of shape to do a ritual right now. Look at you. Look at me and Frankie. We're wasted. We need to regroup."
"Look." Tarian thrust her arms out at Daric. The claw marks glared out, still wet with blood. "He has all he needs. Between this and the amount he siphoned away while we tangoed in the kitchen, I’m screwed. It has to be now."
"We need a strategy, Tarian. A plan. Rushing in is the last thing we should be doing." Daric's voice took on a pleading tone that wasn't a bit like his usual teasing. "Please, wait. You need a healer. It won't take that long."
He reached out to take her hand. "Those people need to be seen to. Frankie deserves healer attention. You need to be thinking clearly before we attempt this again. Sometimes it's smart to pause and catch your breath. You don't always have to rush in. I guarantee you the demon is already regrouping. We gave him the advantage just now. Let's not do it again."
She nodded, still numb. Her first attempt at leading the charge, and she'd failed miserably. He was right; a real leader would regroup. Her mother certainly would. She tucked the knife back into Frankie's belt.
"Can we manage him, or should I go for help?"
"We got this, if I boost a bit. You keep him steady; I'll lift." She felt Daric gather power and levitate Frankie off the ground. Between the two of them, they got him into the portal and out the other side, into the rotunda.
Alex looked so angry it was almost comical. Almost. If she hadn't just seen a girl gasp her last breath and two of her friends get the crap kicked out of them.
She held up her hand to stave off the rant she knew was coming. "I didn't know you wouldn't come with us, Alex. Save it. Frankie needs help."
"What's going on?" Calliope's voice echoed down the hallway. She ran up to them and immediately knelt next to Frankie. Her eyes closed, and she began to hum a tune. It sounded suspiciously like "I've been working on the railroad."
Tarian watched as her sister worked. Alex uncharacteristically stayed silent. It took a moment to realize Daric had disappeared.
Frankie groaned and opened his eyes just as her sister sat back, a smug look on her face.
"He'll be fine. Just a clean break."
"When did you learn to heal?"
Calliope grinned up at her. "I've been studying for years with Chloe. It's why I can sew so well. A body's not so different from a dress, really. Who do you think healed your arm before?"
"I thought it was Chloe."
Calliope shook her head.
"Wow. Nice work." Her little sister certainly was growing up. Somehow in the last few years her sister had become a fashion designer and a healer. She wondered what other talents her sister had tucked away.
Daric returned a few moments later with healer Chloe and two other healers. Among the three of them, all of their bodily wounds were patched up in a matter of minutes. The mental ones, she had a feeling, would take much, much longer to heal. Chloe's magic hands couldn't fix the psyche. Only time could do that.
Time was something she just didn't have.
"We can use the house. We can pull him there; his essence is all over it. If we pull him, then we'll be better able to complete the ritual." Her words echoed off the rotunda walls.
"What are you talking about?" Calliope stood up and frowned at her.
"The demon. I have to complete a banishment spell on him, but obviously we can't just show up and do it."
"Yeah, because that worked out perfectly." Frankie muttered. He ran a hand through his hair. "Our brilliant plan wasn't so brilliant."
"This time, we portal there. All of us." Tarian turned to Alex and gave him a stare. "I draw the circle, we get ready and then we'll pull him to us."
"How?" Daric's eyes narrowed as he looked at her.
"We'll have to use his link to me." She shrugged. "I can feel him. All the time. The power loss is more than just a trickle, now. Even here. I don't have any more options. It has to be now."
"And this time you take a little more girl power." Calliope stood up straight, her shoulders square.
"No way." Tarian and Frankie both spoke at the same time. She had to grin at that.
"You need me. I can help you pull him, Tari. I'm better at the internal stuff. And I'm the strongest in this group, except for you. Well, usually. Today, I might just be the strongest. I don't have a demon sucking at me." Her sister crossed her arms and thrust out her chin. "Plus, I can heal. You need me."
"We can't risk both of you. We shouldn't even be risking one of you." Frankie pointed at Tarian. "You, Scion, should stop putting yourself in harm's way. Send the troops in. That's what the Sentinels are for."
"The Sentinels won't be able to get anywhere near this guy." Calliope stomped her foot. "I've been studying demons. I know what to do. They don't. We aren't helpless little girls, Frankie. And you can't tell me what to do."
Well, well, well. Little sister was definitely not so little anymore. Tarian couldn't help the little swell of pride she felt. Even if she agreed with Frankie, and the last place she wanted her sister was anywhere near the demon…if they did it the way she planned, the demon would be trapped before he had a chance to breathe. It would work. With Calliope's strength and the spell, it would work.
"Daric, please o
pen a portal. I don't want him to feel me moving until absolutely necessary. Let's go to the backyard." She hoped he'd understand that she didn't want her sister seeing that room of horrors. He nodded and did as she asked.
"Tarian, you can't be serious." Frankie looked more frantic than she'd ever seen him. His eyes darted back and forth from her to her sister and back.
"What about you? Aren't you going to protest?" She turned to face Alex, who'd remained strangely quiet.
"I know that look. I ain't even gonna try to stop you. But I got your back. This time, I go first." Alex brushed past her and into the portal before she could stop him.
She turned to Daric. "Together?"
His eyes danced in the way they had when he fought her in the arena, and the dimple flashed at her in a way that made her want to run with him to the bedroom. He took her hand, and they stepped through the portal together.
Chapter 35
Alex stood at attention in the center of the backyard, his weapon drawn and his magic focused more than Tarian had ever felt from him. "All clear. For now."
She held out her hand to Alex. "Can I borrow your dagger?"
He handed it to her slowly, as if trying to come up with a reason he shouldn't. She smiled as she took it from him, and then ignored the hiss of breath as she drew it across her wrist. Blood bloomed, then run down her arm to drip on the floor. Pain blossomed a moment later.
Tarian traced the outer edge of the circle first. Memories of school lessons flooded back to her. Even though she hadn't practiced this in years, it felt natural. She'd certainly done enough of them. She wondered if her tutors would be proud. She tried to get the edges exactly right, but noticed the circle wasn't exactly perfect. It would work, but it wasn't pretty. The real power lay within her and her blood anyway, not the shape of the circle.
Demons & Djinn: Nine Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Novels Featuring Demons, Djinn, and other Bad Boys of the Underworld Page 136