Was he asleep?
An odd flip of pleasure in my middle caught me off guard. He’d fallen asleep while I was touching him. If that wasn’t a tiny step toward trust, I didn’t know what was.
I settled more comfortably on the bed. His breathing was slow and even, his body limp and free of tension. I slid my hand up his spine to the back of his neck, quiet wonder displacing my earlier discomfort. So close to being human, yet so different.
His skin was cooler than mine, meaning he’d yet to fully recover. Watching his face, I inched my fingers into his damp, messy black hair. My soft sense of amazement deepened.
We were bound together. I had saved his life and he had saved mine. Though it was the magic that forced him to protect me, he had fought and bled to keep me safe. I would never abuse the power I had over him again. He and I were in this together, and demon or not, he deserved as much respect and consideration as I would give anyone else who’d saved my life.
In the dark room, I settled beside him, keeping quiet watch over the sleeping demon.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Hunched over the motel desk, I jotted notes on a pad of white stationary. My phone was propped beside me, the MPD app open on the screen. I’d spent the better part of the last two days researching every guild and mythic in the country that specialized in mythic history, knowledge, or magical study, plus everything I could find about Demonica.
The MPD archives weren’t my best source of information, but it was all I had to go on. Once Tahēsh was dealt with, I’d visit these guilds and begin building out the puzzle of demonic gateways—or however demons entered and exited our world.
Beside my phone was a thick textbook—The Complete Compilation of Arcane Cantrips—pulled from my suitcase. In between research, I’d been reviewing its contents. Cantrips were the weakest form of sorcery but they were all I knew and recent events had convinced me to refresh my memory.
With nothing exciting going on, I’d expected Zylas to drive me insane, but he’d turned out to be an extremely accomplished lounger. During the day, he hid on the motel roof and absorbed as much sun as he could through the persistent cloud cover. In the evenings, he entered a sort of “low-power mode,” where he lazed around the room, cat-napping and recuperating strength.
At night, Amalia insisted he return to the infernus. I was glad she’d taken that stance because I hadn’t wanted to tell Zylas that neither of us could sleep with his crimson eyes glowing in the corner. He’d be delighted to learn he was extra terrifying in the dark.
He was currently sprawled across my bed on his stomach, face in my pillow. His armor was back on, and he’d repaired the damage to the leather and metal with a series of fine-tuned spells that I was dying to learn more about. Demon magic was unlike anything I’d ever seen. It was as powerful and complex as Arcana spellwork, but as fast as elemental magery.
Adding a final guild name to my list, I sighed at the daunting scope of this task. Cracking the mystery of demonic gateways, which had gone unsolved for centuries or maybe even millennia, should’ve had me freaking out, but I was as quietly excited as I was intimidated. Uncovering ancient history was one of my favorite things ever, and it was the best sort of excuse to read all kinds of fascinating new books. Yeah, I was that much of a nerd.
But it wouldn’t be a quick process, and I hoped Zylas would be patient.
As though my thought had woken him, he rolled over and sat up, his attention turning to the door. A moment later, the handle clacked. Amalia slipped inside, a takeout bag hanging off her arm, and bolted the lock.
“Ugh,” she grunted, dropping the bag on the desk beside me. “Would you believe some creeps in a car followed me to the bus stop?”
I opened the takeout bag to find two containers of Chinese food. “What did they do?”
“Nothing … just followed me. The bus came right away, so I didn’t have to wait around.” Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she lifted out a box and a pair of chopsticks. “I got you sweet and sour chicken.”
“Thanks.” I cracked the box open and dug into the rice with a fork. “How did it go at the guild?”
“Tae-min is pissed you won’t come in.” She shrugged. “But what’re you gonna do? We can’t tell him your demon got his ass kicked.”
I regretted informing Amalia how badly Tahēsh had beaten Zylas. It’d only confirmed her suspicion that he was a weak and useless demon.
The demon in question appeared beside me, but he didn’t acknowledge her taunt. His attention was fixed on my takeout box.
“Any updates on the demon hunt?” I pulled out a napkin. “I can’t believe Tahēsh has evaded capture for three days now.”
“They aren’t going to capture the demon,” Amalia corrected with a roll of her eyes. She used her chopsticks to lift a tangle of noodles out of her container. “They’re going to kill it. Also, do you have to do that?”
I glanced up, then resumed scooping a few bites of saucy rice onto the napkin. I handed the sample to Zylas. He examined the offering, smelled it, then dumped it in his mouth and swallowed. I’d told him several times he’d get more out of food if he chewed it but he wouldn’t take my advice.
As soon as he was done, I plucked the napkin from his hand. He had a terrible habit of dropping literally everything on the floor when he was done with it. At least he wasn’t burning things like he had in the summoning circle.
As I stuffed the garbage in the bag, Amalia made a disgusted noise. “He doesn’t need food. Why are you wasting it on him?”
“Because he likes to try it,” I said simply. He wanted to taste anything I ate—except meat. Apparently, meat from this world tasted as bad as my blood and he was going full vegetarian for the duration of his earthly visit. “So? The hunt?”
“Quit indulging him. He’s already useless. You don’t need to—hey!”
In one swift move, Zylas had plucked her takeout container from her grasp. He dug his hand into it, lifted a glob of noodles, and tipped his head back to drop them in his mouth.
“That’s mine, you horned freak of—ahk!”
Her chair tipped over backward and she slammed into the floor. Zylas unhooked his barbed tail from the leg and swished it innocently as he licked sauce off his fingers.
Amalia clambered off the fallen chair. “You promised not to hurt me if I helped Robin!”
“But are you helping?” he crooned malevolently. “Are you useful? How?”
Her jaw clenched, fear dilating her pupils.
I grabbed her noodle box from Zylas in case he was planning to drop it. When I held it out to Amalia, she stepped back.
“Not after he stuck his hand in it. Yuck.”
I offered my sweet and sour chicken instead, and her eyes widened in surprise. She hesitated, then took it. I dug my fork into her noodles. Yeah, Zylas had touched them, but … whatever.
“Demon hunt?” I prompted yet again.
She picked up a chicken bite with her chopsticks. “The body count is rising. Several combat teams have engaged it, but no one has had much luck.”
My stomach twisted with guilt. As I’d feared, Tahēsh had escalated to killing his mythic hunters. I unenthusiastically hefted a forkful of slimy noodles, no longer sure I could stomach any food. “I don’t understand what Tahēsh is doing. Why is he only roaming around the Eastside? He could go anywhere. He must have a goal or purpose in mind.”
I glanced at Zylas, hoping he had a theory, but he was observing Amalia like a kid about to step on an ant hill.
“Does it matter?” she asked with a shrug. “Maybe he can’t get away anymore. One team reported that the demon is injured and can’t fly well.”
“Injured?” Zylas repeated unexpectedly. “What injuries?”
“A broken wing and a damaged hand, according to the report. Its injuries aren’t really slowing it down.”
Zylas’s eyes gleamed. He wandered to the window, his tail snapping back and forth.
“What about Uncle Jack?” I aske
d. “Any contact from him?”
“No.” Frustration tightened her mouth. “I have no idea why. He must’ve reached a safehouse by now.”
I nodded, squashing the question I wanted to ask. Amalia didn’t need me to point out the most likely reason behind her father’s silence.
“He isn’t dead,” she stated firmly, guessing the direction of my thoughts. “I snuck into Tae-min’s office and used his MPD login to see the investigation on your anonymous text. The only bodies they found in our house were the two guys your demon killed. They don’t know who the summoners are or who owns the house. They don’t even know there were two demons.”
That was good. I needed my uncle alive. Despite everything else, I hadn’t forgotten about my mother’s grimoire. It was right at the top of my priority list, along with getting Zylas safely back home.
“Payilas.” Zylas turned away from the window. “As long as Tahēsh wanders freely, you must stay here and blend in, yes?”
“Yes,” I agreed warily.
“Then it is time to hunt.”
My breath caught. “You mean … you want to go after him?”
“He is injured. I want to see how much.”
“But …” I shook my head. “Even injured, he’s too strong. He could kill you.”
He glided closer, staring down at me. “Small and weak ones like us, payilas, we can still kill the strong.”
My eyes widened. Like us. He was smaller and weaker than most demons, and I was smaller and weaker than most humans.
“I can sense it.” His lip pulled up to reveal his sharp canines. “The time of dh’ērrenith.”
Assured victory. I swallowed hard. “Are you certain you want to do this? We don’t have to.”
His smile widened and he leaned down, bringing our faces close. “This time, we will hunt him—and this time, he will feel my claws.”
* * *
“Now what?” I whispered.
Hunkered as low as possible, I peered across the sea of rooftops. We were perched on the concrete roof of a six-story building that could’ve been an office complex or apartments, but I had no idea because we hadn’t entered it. Zylas had climbed the outside of the building, carrying me under one arm.
Crouched beside me, he scanned the downtown view, his eyes glowing in the darkness. As it turned out, he could find the other demon if he wanted, though he had to get fairly close before he could detect his adversary’s presence. That had taken us three hours, and it was now past nine o’clock.
“He is on that roof.” Zylas pointed. Four structures filled the city block between us and the similar-sized building where Tahēsh waited. “He is not moving.”
“Is he hurt?” My brow scrunched. “If he was injured, why wouldn’t he heal himself?”
“It is the most difficult vīsh to master. He did not learn it.”
“But you did?”
He cast me his taunting, wolfish grin, then refocused on his prey. I scanned the block, trying to get my bearings. I needed a map.
As I slid my phone out of my jeans pocket, I grimaced. Between rips, stains, and water, I was running critically low on clothing. For our demon hunting excursion, I was wearing a purple zip-up sweater and jeans with a flower embroidered on one hip. On my way out, Amalia had remarked that I looked ready for a hardcore book fair.
I opened the MPD map. Red X’s dotted it—the reports of demonic activity—and I squinted as I worked out where we were and where Tahēsh was. Eyes widening, I lifted my stare to the pale building the demon was parked on.
“The Crow and Hammer guild,” I whispered in disbelief, “is right across the street from Tahēsh. Why is he waiting beside a guild?”
Zylas shrugged. “Something to hunt?”
I remembered the guild master Darius and his comrades. Did they know the demon was stalking their guild? I hoped they were safe.
“Now what?” I asked again.
Zylas hunkered lower, his tail swishing across the gritty concrete. “Ambush him. I will attack from behind, but I must get close. Any closer than this and he might sense me. If I use vīsh, he will know.”
I watched him, unnerved by the wicked cunning in his face as he plotted his attack.
“He might not come down, so I must go to him …” His stare turned to me and his eyebrows pinched together.
I leaned away from his intense assessment. “What?”
His mouth twisted. “You cannot do it.”
“Do what?”
“Get close enough. If I am inside the infernus, he will not sense me, but you would not get close enough—not while he is up high.”
I couldn’t scale the exterior of buildings, but that wasn’t the only way to reach a rooftop. “I could sneak through the interior.”
He considered that, then whipped back to face the distant building. “He is moving!”
A dark silhouette appeared on the rooftop, then broad wings spread. Tahēsh sprang off the building and glided away—in the opposite direction of our hiding spot.
“Where is he going all the sudden?” I demanded.
“If he goes to the ground, it is my chance,” Zylas growled, grabbing me around the waist.
He leaped. I choked back a scream as we plunged over the edge. He dropped down the side of the building and grabbed a windowsill. For an instant, my white face reflected in the glass, then Zylas let go. I clapped a hand to my eyes, holding my glasses in place as we plummeted another story. He jumped the rest of the way down, hit the pavement, and launched into a sprint.
Struggling for air, I yelped, “Stop! Stop!”
He skidded to a halt and I squirmed out of his arm.
“You’re crushing me,” I panted, massaging my ribs.
His tail snapped impatiently. “If you could go in the infernus, this would be easier.”
I decided to ignore that as I stepped behind him, grasped his shoulders, and jumped. He caught my legs and pulled them around his waist—then he was running again. He whipped around the corner and sprinted up the middle of the street. If there’d been cars on the road, he would’ve matched their speed.
One block flashed by, then a second, then a third. Ahead, the buildings separated to reveal a park, where erratic white light was flickering through the surrounding trees. Zylas dashed toward it. A streetlight glowed across a decorative wooden sign that read, Oppenheimer Park.
He sprang over the sidewalk, landed silently on the grass, and ducked into the shadowy trees. Tahēsh’s savage laugh floated out of the park, followed by the thud of a heavy body hitting the ground. I peered through the barren branches of a shrub.
Two vehicles were parked on the grass: a black van and an old red sports car, their headlights illuminating the scene. I blinked, then blinked again as though the sight might change if I focused my eyes differently.
The park was full of people and demons—three men in a cluster, one holding a heavy broadsword; two demons battling Tahēsh; and three other guys, one on the ground. The first three men were in mythic combat gear, but the others wore street clothes. They didn’t even have coats. Civilians who’d gotten caught in the fight?
Tahēsh had already hammered one demon into the ground and he spun, slamming his tail into the other.
Zylas let out a vicious chuckle. “Tahēsh is slow. I will tear him into pieces.”
“You can’t use any magic,” I warned him. “There are too many people. You have to pretend you’re enslaved.”
He grunted irritably—annoyed by the reminder and the restriction. Contractors couldn’t wield their demon’s magic, so even a single demonic rune would betray our secret.
The two non-combat guys had grabbed their friend—who seemed to be unconscious—and were heaving him toward the red car. The driver’s door flew open and a redhaired woman leaped out.
“What’s the plan?” I whispered.
“Wait,” Zylas crooned. “Wait for the right moment.”
Tahēsh and the upright demon were locked hand to hand, and the winged b
east pushed into the other demon with superior strength.
“Get up!” one of the geared men yelled. “Get up, get up!”
The downed demon twitched pathetically, its tall, lean body gouged with wounds. It was contracted, I realized. Two of those men were contractors and the third was their champion.
The other group had loaded their friend in the car. Were they leaving? Good. The fewer witnesses, the better for—
“Demon magic! Get back!”
At the champion’s bellowed warning, the contractor team scrambled backward. Crimson magic spiraled around Tahēsh, a circle of runes spreading across the grass as he summoned a spell—something that would shred his opponent and the surrounding humans, who were far too slow to get clear.
“Zylas!” I gasped.
He shot out of the trees. As Tahēsh’s spell blazed, the magic seconds from detonating, Zylas streaked between the two vehicles and charged straight for Tahēsh. Reaching the glowing circle, he sprang, twisted, and landed in a backward skid.
His hand dragged across Tahēsh’s spell, red light flaring over his fingers.
With another twist, he leaped away—and Tahēsh’s spell exploded. Red power ballooned outward, throwing all the humans off their feet and hurling the contracted demon to the ground.
With a furious bellow, Tahēsh pivoted, searching for his new opponent.
Zylas paused for the briefest instant, his stare meeting Tahēsh’s, then he streaked past his adversary. The winged demon whirled to follow, his movements markedly slower than they had been in the demons’ last fight.
With a slash of Zylas’s claws, blood spurted from the back of Tahēsh’s thigh. As Tahēsh roared in pain, Zylas leaped onto his back. The much smaller demon rammed his claws between his enemy’s ribs in swift strikes, then sprang away again.
Scarcely breathing, I clutched a tree as Zylas spun around the brutish demon, moving ceaselessly, darting in with tearing claws and jumping clear. Tahēsh turned clumsily, unable to keep up, unable to land a hit.
Taming Demons for Beginners: The Guild Codex: Demonized / One Page 18