by T. G. Ayer
Maya sent another blast of power through her magic and the rope of flames encircling the demon grew brighter—almost eye-wateringly bright. Across the circle, Mirov’s head was bent as he prepared the containment tank. Though still experimental, he’d brought their little ghostbuster device along just in case. Hopefully it worked.
On Mirov’s nod, Maya thrust her power harder at the demon who stumbled and took a step back. Her creatures still hovered in mid-air materializing behind her and she growled in anger.
Dark power pulsed again, stronger than ever before and Maya’s lunch threatened to say hello. But she ignored it. With her free hand, she drew a baton from her fire and readied herself.
The other hand remained on the rope and she used another surge of power to send the vamp-demon stumbling two steps back toward Mirov who waited just beyond the circle.
Using the containment tube meant the demon would need to be lured as close as possible to Mirov and at the very last moment the circle of magic would need to be destroyed by one of the team.
And then they’d have to pray it worked and that the vamp-demon’s pets from hell didn’t end up coming through anyway. The pair were a horrifying sight. The creature on the left looked more like a tiger with its orange eyes and striped fur covering whatever skin he revealed beneath his ragged clothing.
But Maya was determined to reduce the danger at least by one element. As the minion stumbled another foot backward, Maya flung her fire-stick straight at him. The stick tumbled through the air, letting out sparks of embers and a plume of smoke, but Maya was already focusing on sending his mistress one more step back. She knew she’d hit her mark, and a brief glance confirmed her fire stick had got the tiger-demon straight in the eye. The creature’s howl was lost as the portal faded away, taking his unharmed partner with him.
And they now faced a vampire demon so much more furious what with her entourage eliminated. Beside Maya, Joss took a step closer, readying herself to smudge the blood of the circle apart with her toe and break the magic.
But just as they had underestimated the report of magical activity in the toyshop, so did Joss underestimate the smarts of this demon.
The creature swayed, staring at Maya for a moment. Despite being weakened by the blast of intense power, she still managed to study Maya with a look of cold curiosity, edged with malicious amusement. Then she spun around and faced Mirov so suddenly that the agent flinched and then back-pedaled.
But distance from the demon didn’t help. The creature flung out a hand and sent a pair of slim daggers flying toward the agent. He dove away, probably as stunned as Maya that the vampire had breached the circle herself—even if temporarily.
Thankfully, he rolled aside in time, but the demon had jerked back within the circle and was readying herself to send another set of daggers flying at him. The deadly sharp blades appeared out of thin air, glinting menacingly as she moved her arm wide to fling them at Mirov.
Maya acted out of instinct. She shoved every bit of energy within her core into the rope of fire, focusing it on the torso of the demonic vampire. The witch was about to attack her team, her family, and there was no way Maya was going to allow that to happen.
A part of Maya was aware that Sabala watched, muscles tense as though wanting to pounce, Joss was ready to pounce, spine curved like a runner ready for the starter’s gunshot, and Mirov had rolled over and was crouching beyond the circle, wary and tense, watching the demon as she approached. His gaze flicked toward Maya as a sudden burst of energy buffeted them like a hot wind throwing the demon’s hair behind her.
Mirov had removed his goggles when it shattered, as had Joss had, so Maya now stuck out like a sore thumb with her own still strangely intact.
Her power still surged through the rope and her limbs quivered as worry set in. She was delivering so much energy into the rope and yet the demon was still walking, still approaching Mirov. How was it possible?
The creature did appear to be struggling, her limbs moving as though she waded through quicksand, but she still closed the distance between herself and the agent.
There was no time for Maya to pull her punches, that was for sure.
A voice whispered within Maya’s mind, a familiar tone implying she knew the speaker well. “Use your inner power. You have it for a reason.”
Maya frowned, looking around her at Joss and Sabala, though neither paid her any attention, their focus solely on the danger within the magic circle.
What inner power? And the voice? Why did it sound so familiar?
She thrust the questions away and considered the words. Was he talking about her magic-detecting instinct? As the questions filtered through her mind, a scene flashed before her, the setting unfamiliar. Her view felt personal, as though she was recalling a memory. Perhaps a memory of the Mother’s?
And slowly, so slowly, Maya felt control slip away. Her mind drifted even as she watched her power surge into her rope, as the creature approached Mirov, as the memory tugged at her too hard to resist what with all her energy already focused on the vamp-demon.
The scene warped and shifted, then rearranged itself to reveal an ancient temple. And before Maya, stood a demon not unlike the one she now faced in the basement, that she was supposed to be eliminating. She felt the cool damp air against her cheeks, her nostrils filling with the rancid musty smell of caves, mold and blood.
A burst of fury rushed through Maya and her awareness seemed to break off into two separate views. And she watched herself focus her energy and split the pulsing power in half, sending one speeding down the length of the rope to maintain some control over the demon, and the other aimed inside her own center of energy.
She had no clue what she was doing. All she could do was struggle uselessly as she watched the scene play out around her.
Maya was not in control, not one bit.
Chapter 12
Maya took a breath. She may not be in control, but it didn’t mean she was afraid. Her ability to sense the dark magic conjured by the teens now proved to be the key to eliminating the magic powering the demon—something Maya had only become unaware of when she’d been enveloped within the memory.
Maya was vaguely conscious of Sabala’s low warning growls which were overlaid by a second voice in her ear, her dad calling out for her response, asking what was going on. She was tempted to laugh but she suspected she’d sound far too much like the crazed demon currently terrorizing her team.
A thought floated within her head, the voice from the memory intertwining with her own. She had to work fast enough to end the creature before it got too close to Mirov. But Maya still had no direct control over her movements, feeling as though another being now possessed her body, intending to use her to fight its own battle. A battle which was—weirdly enough—eerily similar to the one she now faced.
She found herself forced to stare both at the vampire demon in the basement and at another creature within the damp caves in her vision. Both were screaming loud enough that Maya was sure her eardrums would have burst by now. And then slick warmth slid down the side of her neck to confirm it. The hellhound got to his feet and walked over to her, voicing his worry with a soft huff. But Maya’s injuries were the least of her concerns.
Fear simmered within her as the pulsing power hit her senses. For a second, the vortex of energy churned her stomach and made her positive she was going to puke.
And then the sweeping waves flowed through--and then out of--her body with a blast that was nothing like Maya had expected. Fire surged out toward the demon, enveloping her in a blanket of searing heat and sending her flying backward. Sabala skittered along the concrete, nails scrabbling as he tried to remain upright while sliding away.
The creature slammed into the far wall with a sharp crack before sliding down to the floor leaving a stain of dark blood in her wake. She certainly wasn’t about to get back onto her feet anytime soon. Mirov could go ghostbusters on her as soon as he got back to his feet.
The power
of the blast of magic had thrown everyone onto the ground with the force of a hurricane of flames. The teens seated around the circle were sprawled on the floor, their fire-lit bodies looking dangerously near death.
Maya was about to pull the fire back inside her when she spotted Joss who now also lay on the concrete, holding her head tight, blood streaming from her eyes and nose.
“Joss!”
Maya raced for her friend, terror ripping into her heart, even as she became aware of her surroundings, the basement now just the basement, no longer overlaid with the scene from the vision. No time to think about it.
Maya dropped to her knees beside Joss and reached for her friend’s head to help her up. “What happened? Are you hurt? Joss!” Sabala blinked to her side, nose bumping the injured girl’s shoulder.
Joss moaned something unintelligible and reached for Maya’s hand to give it a squeeze. “I’m fine. I think. I was just thrown away when the blast hit the demon.”
“That doesn’t explain the bleeding,” Maya grumbled as she probed Joss’s skull. Her fingers grazed a large lump though when she checked there was no sign of blood. “You have a lump on your head so just be careful. We’re going to have to watch you for concussion.”
Joss did a half-roll onto her elbow and pushed herself up slowly, the other hand still cradling her head. Then she sniffed and blinked, only now registering the blood on her face. Frowning, she backhanded the drops away from her mouth, smudging it into a garish smile in the process.
“At least you’re not leaking blood from your head as well,” Maya offered, tipping her head as she smiled through her relief.
“I’m fine,” Joss said, giving Sabala a pat on his neck. “A little blood loss isn’t going to keep this girl down. And you got her good.” Joss grinned and cocked her chin at the summoning circle and the demon’s body.
Maya didn’t say anything. Agent Mirov approached, giving Joss a worried once-over while holding a palm to a bleeding wound on his chest.
Seeing the direction of Maya’s gaze, he smiled thinly. “Got hit by one of the demon’s blades. But I’ll live.”
Maya nodded slowly, guilt washing over her as she understood how responsible she’d been for his injuries. And for Joss’s too. Ice sluiced through Maya’s veins as worst-case-scenarios filled her mind but Mirov’s voice pulled her back to the moment.
“We have to get her back to HQ fast. She’s probably got a concussion but I’m not sure about the bleeding,” he said curtly.
But Maya didn’t hear the words her supervisor uttered. Her eyes were now focused on the vamp-demon behind them. Within the flames, the creature stirred, hands lifting off the ground slowly and she shifted to prop herself up into a seated position, back against the wall. Her hair only half hid her face, and what Maya could see of her features was ragged, skin torn to reveal the bones of her jaw beneath.
Barely aware of what she was doing, Barely registering Sabala’s growl, which sounded like a warning, Maya boosted herself to her feet. She flung her hands outwards just as the demon stood to face her, ruined features stark against the open wound on her cheek. But her eyes, filled with a furious dark fire, were focused on Maya.
And Maya was ready.
This time, when the vamp-demon raised her arms to attack Maya, the creature from the depths of hell was already too late. Maya let her fire loose, using only one single rod of searing hot flames.
She drew it from deep within her core and thrust it out of her palm, straight at the creature, so fast Maya would have bet good money that neither Mirov nor Joss would have seen it move before it struck home.
The demon screamed again, and Maya rolled her eyes. “Can you get the hint and die already?” she muttered under her breath. But she knew the creature was done for. Her aim had gotten so much better in the last few weeks of practicing.
The creature fell silent as she stumbled backward, a look of confusion on her face. The expression was followed quickly by surprise as she glanced down to see the gaping hole in her chest that Maya had carved with her rod of pure fire. Then the vamp-demon bumped into the wall and let out a low hissing gurgle before sliding to the ground.
And the last emotion Maya saw in the vamp-demon’s eyes would haunt her for weeks to come. Maya shook her head as the life faded from the creature’s eyes. But she had no time to ponder the demon’s strange expression.
Sabala urgent whining had Maya spinning on her heel and racing to Joss’s side. When Maya had left to attack the demon, Joss had been conscious and lucid, but now she lay almost as lifeless as the rest of the kids sprawled on the floor of the basement.
“No, no, no, no,” Maya whispered as she reached for Joss’s throat to find a pulse. She breathed a sigh as she found a fluttering thread of a heartbeat beneath her fingers. Not a good sign but Maya held desperately onto the fact that Joss was alive, and ignored how barely alive her friend was.
Maya blinked back tears as she touched Joss’s forehead and wiped her pale hair from her eyes. Her lids were closed and blue cast to her lips filled Maya with fear. She sat there with the hellhound, both frozen in place at Joss’s side. Around them, the basement was suddenly filled with movement—medics racing for Joss with a stretcher, a gaggle of agents tending to the unconscious kids, techs focusing on the two corpses.
Maya swallowed hard. They should count themselves lucky with the loss of only two lives. Well, one if you acknowledge the vampire demon as not human enough to be called living.
The kids were all unresponsive though and Maya crossed her fingers and sent a prayer up to the gods she’d met so far. Her gut told her already that not all of them would survive this night, especially after she’d felt the darkness of the demon’s own power.
For the creature to have summoned so much power in this world she would already have drained all those kids nearly dry. It would be touch and go for all of them.
At last, Maya stood back to let the medics do their work, taking comfort from Sabala who sat beside her, his warm head against her thigh as though he knew how much she needed reassurance.
Minutes later, she and the hellhound followed the medics as they carried Joss toward the stairs while Mirov yelled, “Make a path people. And I want the van running when the medics get there. Someone get me the keys!”
As Maya took the first stair, she spared a glance at the corpse of the demon, now nothing more than leathery skin on a pile of bones. And a quiver of fear rippled through her.
Heart tight now, Maya let out a breath, but she was far from relieved. She replayed the demon’s last moments in her mind, her throat tight.
Maya had dealt the death blow to the demon. But, just before the creature had died, she’d met Maya’s eyes with a triumphant sneer.
What had Maya missed?
Chapter 13
The medics hauled Joss to the communications van and laid her on the floor before securing her gurney to a few hooks along the paneling.
Then they scattered, leaving to return to the basement for the kids who’d survived. Maya hadn’t made a move to go with them, and neither had Sabala, who’d chosen a spot beside Joss and settled down, head on his front paws, eyes on the unconscious girl.
Soto, an agent-medic, had remained behind to watch over Joss, so when Mirov yelled out from the front of the van to “Shut the damned door,” she was snatched from her web of fear to the present, which means she now had time to consider the fact that he’d been serious about driving.
Mirov--with the stab wound still bleeding profusely.
She obeyed, then hurled herself into the passenger seat just in time for Mirov’s takeoff, her neck crunching as she was flung against the seat. She grunted and massaged the sore spot.
“You might want to ease up in case you kill the patient before we get her to HQ.”
Mirov’s jaw tightened and he only drove faster, weaving in and out of traffic. He shot her a glare, though his expression was far from angry.
“Thanks,” he muttered before focusing on the roa
d.
“What for?” Maya squinted, genuinely confused. She’d gotten him hurt after all. He had nothing to thank her for.
Mirov snorted, then winced. But he covered his reaction quickly and said, “If it wasn’t for you, I’d have more than a stab wound to contend with. You really need to know when to give yourself some credit, Rao.”
Maya rolled her eyes. “Speaking of stab wounds, want to slow down a little so I can plug the leak before you drain out by the time we get to HQ?” she asked, giving him a sideways glance.
His face was a study in creases, brows furrowed with worry, skin at his eyes crumpled with pain. Maya gave up, unclipped her safety-belt and slid from the seat to enter the back of the van. She kept her weight light on her feet as she approached the patient, the hellhound and the agent watching over Joss.
Just then, Mirov made a sharp right turn, throwing Maya hard into the wall. Her shoulder sparked with pain and she grabbed onto the desk where she’d sat with Joss not so long ago.
Maya steadied herself as Agent Soto looked up, curious. Maya said, “First aid kit? I need to see to Agent Mirov before he bleeds all over the comms van. Hate to have to take the repair costs out of his pay check. Plus, we need to keep him alive long enough for us to get to HQ.” Maya grinned, though she was as far from amused as anyone could possibly be.
Still, Soto snickered and twisted to dig inside his fat orange bag. He handed Maya a stack of gauze, antiseptic swabs, and bottles of saline, which she took with a nod before being thrown off her feet as her soon-to-be patient hung a sudden left.
She grabbed the back of the seat behind her to steady herself, then jerked her chin at the open bag where a surgical kit sat, scissors glinting in the dull light of the van’s interior.
Soto’s eyes went wide. “Want me to deal with it?” he offered, though he did throw Joss a worried look. He’d hooked her up to an IV and a heart monitor, and the look on his face said he didn’t want to leave her, just in case.