by Angie Fox
Max stood rod-straight. If he was affected by the scene around him, he gave no indication. He took me in, inch by inch, settling on the darkened emerald at my throat. "You're flinging slayer energy up and down The Strip. Cut it out. We're leaving now. I've word that a succubus will be at Coo Coo Lounge. Get your switch stars."
Something had happened to him. I could feel it like a black hole at the very core of him. "What's wrong with you?"
He gave a predatory grin. "I'm mourning the one that got away."
I'd never seen a cambion turn, but he felt close. I stole a glance at Grandma. She seemed to be thinking the same thing. And it worried the snot out of me that she wasn't even saying it.
"You need to leave," I said to Max. I didn't want him around anyone when he went over the edge. Besides, he was going about this the wrong way. Picking the demons off one by one would likely get me killed and push him over to the dark side. And it wouldn't do any good if they kept bringing more in. It'd be like attacking a roach infestation by stomping just the ones you see. Only these roaches were huge and evil and wanted to kill us. We had to attack them at their source.
"Slayer…" Max warned.
I crossed my arms over my chest. "There are too many of them, Max. What good is it going to do to kill one?"
Max raised a brow. "Want to tell that to the family of the man she kills?"
"Damn it." I reached for my switch stars, despising him for saying the one thing that would get me off track. Whatever life we saved was as important to somebody as Grandma or Uncle Phil or my own adoptive family was to me. "I'll go." I raised a finger in warning. "If you let me do the killing."
Grandma looked ready to punch somebody.
"You'd better be gone by the time I get back," I warned.
Max and I shoved past the witches in the hallway. "What, Lizzie?" Frieda protested. "Are you working for him now? We need you. And besides, your Uncle Phil needs you. His soul's in trouble and you're gonna run off? Don't let that devil on wheels use you."
I pinned her to the wall with a glare. "He stands up to his enemies. I know you can respect that." I raised my voice to be heard loud and clear. "I'm leaving, so you guys need to clear out. Now."
"What? Are you just shoving us aside?" she demanded.
"When you're a liability?" I said to her, and the group, "yes."
That got me some attention and a few middle fingers.
Like they weren't used to being on the run.
"You're making about as much sense as tits on a tree," Frieda snapped over the jeers of the rest of the bikers. "Well, you can kiss my go-to-hell. Leave. It'll serve you right if we get attacked again."
Max's eyes flared. "You need to get the griffin out of Vegas."
As if I hadn't thought of that.
"This attack didn't come because of Dimitri," I said, keeping him moving. "The succubi know I'm in Vegas. The coven is a perfect target. They can get to me and steal energy from the witches to bring more demons in."
Max stopped cold.
Dimitri had just made it back to the thirteenth floor. Despite his weakened state, my honorable griffin had been schlepping luggage for the battered witches. His shock at seeing Max quickly morphed to disgust.
Max's face hardened. "There's your energy leak."
"Dimitri is leaving too," I said, hoping I was right.
Dimitri stepped around me, blocking Max. "Not with him around." He shoved Max into the wall.
Max scowled. "You are the reason for all of this!" No question he was a killer. I had no doubt he'd attack anyone who got in his way.
Dimitri's hair had gone white, and he'd grown leaner, bolder than I'd ever seen him. "I'm not the one keeping them in my basement."
"Enough." I stepped between them. "The question is what we do about it."
"Attack," Max growled as he stormed past me.
"Wait!" He couldn't mean… I tried to see it from Max's warped sense of justice. If the griffin is feeding them, giving them power… Kill the griffin.
Max leapt at Dimitri, sending them both flying down the hallway and into—
"The wards!" Ant Eater hollered, as goo splattered and Dimitri's head hit the far wall with a resounding crack.
"Not good." Grandma yanked me by the arm. "We're leaving. Now."
She had to be kidding. "I'm not going to leave Dimitri and Max to be ravaged by the she-demons."
Dimitri held Max's head underwater as Max brought his fist straight into Dimitri's gut. "Let him go!" I screamed. Dimitri slammed against the wall, bounced off and drove straight back at Max. "Stop!" It was like watching two dogs fight. I had to stop them, but I couldn't jump in the middle without getting bit. Hard.
"Go!" I told Grandma.
"Aw, hell. But the wards—" Fear burned in her eyes.
"That's why you need to go!" I said, herding the Red Skulls down the corridor. I could feel the demons circling, looking for a way in. For the second time that evening, I shoved Grandma through the doorway. The witches might like to talk smack, but they were smart enough to get out of the way of a demon. One by one, they rushed for the door.
Meanwhile Dimitri and Max had worked their way closer to the flickering wards. "Dimitri! Stop!" If I could only get Dimitri and Max out of here before the succubi broke through.
Dimitri had to listen. "Dimitri!"
I made a dash for them, not knowing what I'd do when I got there, but sure I had to stop this somehow.
"Hold it!" A bullet exploded the ceiling above my head.
I spun around and couldn't believe what I saw. "Sid?"
His pudgy face shone with sweat, and he aimed a small silver revolver straight at me. "Back up now or I'll bust a cap in that sweet ass. Come on. All three of you."
"What are you doing, Sid?" I said, as calm as I could manage with my heart hammering in my throat.
"Back up." Sid thrust the revolver to my chest and yanked me against him. Fairy dust rained down around us, and I nearly choked on the stench of stale bubble-gum. No question, Sid was stressed. Good.
Dimitri rushed for Sid, Max on his heels. Sid tried to drag me into an open doorway as an explosion rattled the far end of the floor. Heat seared me down to my underwear.
"Duck!" Sid hollered as the far wall burst into silver flames. I crouched, my elbows in the water, my hands flung over my head as sparks burned fist-size holes in the ceiling above. A soaring inferno devoured six Skeep posts and a potted fern at the end of the hall. I shielded my eyes against the intense glare until it exhausted itself. The flames licked away the last of the Skeep posts and fizzled out.
"You knew—" I began. Wait, of course he knew the end of the hallway would explode. And, my stomach flip-flopped, he said the demons were coming.
"Ward failure," Sid muttered, shoving away from me. "Looks like Battina cast a backup system. Smart lady. That means you got about two minutes." He stuffed his gun down the back of his pants and used his sleeve to wipe the fairy dust from his forehead. "I already told you I'm making it out of here alive."
The thin ward belched smoke and super-energized air. The hallway felt like the desert at noon, and with each step I caught a jolt of static electricity. Lovely, considering we stood in knee-deep water.
"Lizzie! Get back!" Dimitri ordered.
I pitched myself against the wall, not even hearing the piercing shriek of the switch star until it buried itself in the wall to my left.
Max was still going to attack?
I'd switch-star him myself if we didn't need him.
Blood poured from Max's temple and tangled in his golden hair as he sloshed down the hallway. His eyes glowed red like a demon's. "You're feeding the devil himself," he said, his face stiff with concentration. "You need to die."
Max the brave, the unstoppable, the lone vigilante lunged for the man I loved.
We had to immobilize him and get him out of here. No way we could face what was coming, even with Max.
Dimitri thrust out a fist and caught him by the throat. Max slamme
d into the water. He shot to his feet, but Dimitri caught him in midair, hurtling him down again. Shock ricocheted through me. How strong was Dimitri? Even after he'd been drained.
Max had bested demons. He was half damned himself.
"Stop, Max!" I ordered. "Think! We need to leave now!"
His jaw set in a snarl. "First things first." He glared at Dimitri, hate burning in his eyes. "You are a scourge, a plague." Max breathed heavily, water dripping off him.
Max attacked again. Dimitri spun sideways and grabbed the last switch star from Max's belt. He held it down at his side, as the red blades began to churn. I gasped. I knew Dimitri had slayer in him. I'd put it there myself. Still, it was an entirely new thing to see the blades churning like they would for me.
Max had to know it was over.
He didn't. Max launched himself at Dimitri and they toppled sideways, the switch star burying itself in Max's side.
"No!" I choked.
Steam hissed from the wound. Thick blood surged like a pot boiling over, searing the star, melting it as if it had been dipped in acid. Max's eyes widened. He let out a choked gurgle before collapsing headlong into the water. Blood bubbled to the surface.
I cringed at the smell of it, like singed copper mingled with the overwhelming scent of sulfur. At the same time, I refused to believe it. He had to be only half dead, half… holy heck. I rushed to Max's side. His blood sizzled at my skin.
"Max!" I dug through a wad of seaweed, felt for a pulse, trying to ignore my own blood rushing through my ears.
My limbs weakened and my insides churned. Bent on my own misery, I practically fell sideways when a wave of energy slammed into me. It surged through me, filling me to the core. My strength surged, along with my determination, and an immense desire to kick butt. My demon slayer mojo had never kicked in so strong before. Then I knew.
Max was dead.
His captured demons rejoiced in an immense wave of power. It pounded in a heady, almost addicting rhythm. I reached out blindly, bracing myself against the wall as the force of seventeen starving demons threw me off balance. I yanked my hands back and braced them on my hips. It took immense concentration to stay that way. I felt the demons' strength growing, expanding. They fled Max's prison, ready to devour Vegas and their newfound freedom.
Dimitri's eyes shot from yellow to orange to red. His skin paled and his muscles withered. We had nearly twice as many demons free in Vegas and they were draining him, killing him right before my very eyes.
Demons pounded on the wards until the magic gave way. My demon slayer instincts screamed for me to run headlong into the fray, face the new succubi threat, drive them out as I slogged through the wasteland of Max's demon blood.
Too bad they had me outnumbered by about forty to one.
Energy rolled down the hall like a wind. I forced myself to stand tall.
As if giving life to my greatest fear, succubi shrieked through the charred holes in the ceiling. Wave after wave, they roiled upon each other until all I could see was black, leathery bodies. The stench of sulfur made it almost impossible to breathe. They surged, red eyes burning with hunger.
Max was dead. Dimitri was dying and I'd be next.
"Sid!" He wanted to be a badass fairy, well, here was his chance. "Sid!" I forced every bit of will, every bit of strength and desperation I had into that one word. "Sid!"
For a moment, the world seemed to slow. I tried to call out again, but couldn't. And an instant later, I knew why. Time began to slowly rewind itself. The weight lifted from my body. I shifted backward to Dimitri, back to Max's body, backward until Max and Dimitri fought to the death.
Sid's voice echoed in my ears. "Told you that you needed my help. Brace yourself. I'm not too good on landings."
With a pop and a sickening heave, time lurched forward once again.
Dimitri thrust out a fist and caught Max by the throat. Max slammed into the water. He shot to his feet, but Dimitri caught him in midair, hurtling him down again.
"You are a scourge, a plague." Max breathed heavily, water dripping off him.
"He'll kill you!" I yelled, directing every bit of will I had at the hunter.
Max, the suicidal jerk, ignored me.
"Dimitri will kill you!"
Max's mouth quirked at the corner. "Impossible."
"He's part slayer, Sherlock. And answer me this—if you die, what happens to the starving demons you're holding?"
Max touched his side, almost as if he remembered.
I took advantage of the break to squeeze in between them. I laid my palm flat against Dimitri's chest and tried to work him backward. He didn't budge.
"If you don't stop now, Dimitri, you're going to kill him. His demons will eat you alive."
And then they'll come for me.
Dimitri's eyes—brown, still brown thank goodness—seemed to remember.
"So both of you. Step back!" I ordered, voice cracking. To my amazement, they did.
"Dimitri," I said to the impossibly handsome, thick-skulled, entirely too focused griffin on my right, "listen to me. You have part slayer in you. Push it and Max dies." Dimitri stared at Max, his eyes widening slightly.
Max barked out a laugh. "It's not enough."
I wanted to wring his thick neck. "Think hard. Remember. You know it is."
Max unsheathed his last switch star.
"Do it and you die, Max."
Max's face, tight with concentration, gave nothing away. "Yes, well I don't care."
I didn't doubt that for a second. On some level, I think Max wanted to die. "That's all fine and dandy, but I'm not fighting seventeen extra demons just so you can take the easy way out."
Max could do whatever he wanted—after we stopped the succubi, saved Dimitri and Phil, and kept me from, well, I didn't know what the dark mark was doing to me.
I glanced at the wards. Battina had done a good job. Barring an attack from Max's seventeen starving demons, I think we had a minute.
I exhaled. "You are dangerous," I said to them both.
Dimitri didn't move. Only the pounding pulse at his neck gave him away.
Max first. I walked up to the scowling angel of vengeance. He wasn't afraid to die, and I certainly didn't want to be around when he turned. "I thought I could work with you, but I can't. Get out of here. Now."
He stared at me, his face a mockery. I'd done my best to explain to him what was happening and frankly, there was nothing else I could do.
"You won't make it without me," he said.
"It's just too much." I'd barely kept him and Dimitri from killing each other. I didn't want to risk round two.
His red eyes blazed with fury. "Suit yourself, slayer." Max took a backward look at the thinning ward and left us.
I wanted to exhale, but not yet.
Dimitri wrapped an arm around my shoulder and tugged me to him. "Well, that was—"
"I'm not done," I said, turning to my lover, my protector, my friend. "You are a danger—to yourself and to me. You're feeding them and you don't seem to care. You might not have been able to see what could have happened to you just now, but I did."
Forgive me, Dimitri.
I couldn't believe I was about to do this, but I didn't have a choice. I'd asked him to leave with the witches and he'd refused. I told him the danger he was in and he didn't listen. He'd run me out of options, save one.
My throat felt tight. "I don't think we should see each other anymore."
Dimitri looked like I'd punched him in the stomach. He glared at me, shock and betrayal plain on his face. "I don't believe it."
Tears welled in my eyes. Dimitri was my first real boyfriend. I was hoping he'd be the first man to tell me he loved me. Despite the witches and the demons and everything that had happened. But that wasn't going to happen—not now.
He'd changed. And the only way he'd leave is if I left him.
Dimitri touched me on the back of my neck. His hands cooled my skin, even as we felt the presence build. "Li
zzie, I love you." The dark veil lifted and for the first time since we'd gotten here, I could see his true emotions. He stood expectantly, his feelings bare, waiting for me to accept the amazing gift he offered.
Warmth rumbled my spine, threatening to explode. "You love me?" I asked like a complete fool. The practical side of me knew I had to bury it, think instead of a way to get him out of there. The soft side of me wanted to hear it again. Nobody had ever said it to me before, except for my preschoolers. And they said the same thing about Elmo.
Dimitri loved me.
I closed the distance between us, allowing myself a whisper of a kiss on his roughened cheek. It took everything I had to pull away. "If you love me, then leave."
He paused for a brief moment, searching my face. Whatever was written there, it made him nod.
"Good-bye, Lizzie." He kissed me softly on the forehead.
Shoulders back, he strode down the hallway and out of my life.
My heart seized as I watched him go. How could this happen to us? He was the first man to really know me, to believe in me. He was the first to tell me he loved me. I willed myself to stand tall when I'd rather curl into a ball and cry.
It had to be this way, no matter how much it hurt.
I touched my fingers to the ancient emerald Dimitri had given me, his promise that he'd always be with me. I held the dead stone to my chin and let the tears come.
Chapter Eighteen
I made my way to the twelfth-floor elevators as hotel workers rushed down the cookie-cutter hallway. Several of them carried bundles wrapped in black velvet. Weapons, I assumed from the glints of silver peeking from underneath.
Yeah, well I just hoped they brought their wards. We'd saved Max and prevented his seventeen demons from escaping. Now if they could hold the rest away from the hotel at least, well, I might have a minute to think.
No telling where Sid had gone after he wound back time. I wondered if it was me calling him or if he'd stuck around because he knew his city needed his help. Either way, I wasn't one to take a second chance lightly.