Chapter Eight #2
Its fur caught fire. Anywhere the bleach touched, blue fire leaped up.
It was like she’d soaked it in gasoline and lit a match.
I checked my bottle and sniffed it. Yeah, it was for sure bleach, so I had no idea what Poppy had done to make the thing almost spontaneously combust. I didn’t throw my bleach on the burning creature, because it looked pretty incapacitated as it was.
Instead, I kicked the thing further into the shop, where it collided with a shelf.
More flames licked up to consume the cardboard candy boxes.
“Shit,” I whispered and then when I realized Poppy appeared to be frozen stiff in place, I seized her around the waist and half-carried her out the door—something which wasn’t easy considering I still had Finn over my shoulder.
“I think you just lit that thing on fire,” I said.
She nodded, and I could tell she’d come to the same conclusion, but she looked pretty shell-shocked about that realization.
“How is that possible...?” she began.
I shook my head. “I don’t know, but is it really important at the moment?”
“I guess not,” Poppy said, a slightly hysterical sound bursting from her when I set her down on the pavement outside. She immediately fell into step beside me as I ran across the parking lot and then paused underneath the shelter of the treeline, trying to catch my breath.
Finn rubbed his ribs with a frown when I set him down, but I couldn’t say he was my concern at the moment.
I’d done what Wanda wanted me to do—I’d gotten the two of them out of there.
Now, I was worried about everyone who was still inside.
There were flames visible in the front window.
I didn’t know where Angelo and Indigo had gotten off to.
They didn’t appear to be near the pump or inside the store.
All I knew? We needed to get out of here.
With fire in the picture, this place was a tinderbox.
It wouldn’t take much for an explosion to consume the entire building.
“I could help,” Finn said. “I have magic.”
I looked over at him and shook my head. “So does your mom, but you don’t see her charging into danger.”
“She doesn’t have magic like mine.”
I wasn’t sure that was true, considering what she’d just done to the creature, but I kept my mouth shut. Instead, I continued shaking my head, and this time, Poppy joined in.
“It’s best to err on the side of not being eaten,” she said.
“There’s a time and a place,” I said. “If you go in there, you’re just going to distract Wanda, and you know that’s only going to tick her off.”
Hurt flashed in Finn’s eyes, but he knew I was right.
“I’m in the same boat, buddy,” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I want to help. But there are times you have to respect your limits. And this is me respecting my limits. Besides, none of us could ever live with ourselves if we let something happen to you.”
Finn looked slightly mollified, but the frown didn’t disappear from his face. He at least let his mother chivvy him toward my truck.
Indigo then appeared seemingly from nowhere, shadows coalescing around her like a shroud.
The shadows threatened to swallow her whole, and I had to fight the urge to run in the opposite direction.
Fear poured off her like perfume, choking the air.
The scent of ash and brimstone was almost as strong.
The source became clear a moment later when a bat-winged demon landed on the roof, tearing off the panels with ruthless efficiency.
Angelo. It seemed stupid unfair that he was handsome in his demon form too.
He was already slicked with sweat when he began lifting the witches out.
Indigo marched forward, expression resolute, still more darkness gathering around her. She seemed to draw it from every slanted shadow. Even the sky seemed darker. Bleaker.
“Night hag,” Poppy explained in a whisper. She couldn’t seem to tear her eyes off Indigo either. “That’s what you’re feeling,” she continued to explain as her eyes finally met mine. “They’re nightmares made flesh. They can stop a heart if they want to. That’s how Libby died, you know?”
I stared at her, wide-eyed. “Libby is dead?”
Then she realized her mistake. “No, I mean… the first time around.”
Oh, for the love of Pete. The first time around? “Wait, is Libby like... a vampire or something?” I was dating a vampire? “Why did no one tell me this?”
Poppy winced. “It’s a long story. Let’s make it out alive first. Suffice to say… no, Libby isn’t a vampire.”
Well, at least that was somewhat relieving.
“How’d you do the fire trick?” I asked, figuring I might as well make conversation while we waited out here, under the treeline.
Poppy chewed her lip. “I don’t know. It’s never happened to me before. I think... it might be my connection to the coven.”
“Your connection to the coven? I didn’t know you were in the coven.”
She nodded. “Wanda insisted I join, for added protection. And since then, it seems like I’ve almost channeled some of the witchs’ power. I mean—I’m definitely more powerful than I used to be.”
“So, you’re a witch too?” I asked.
She shook her head. “More like an honorary witch. But it comes with unexpected side effects.”
So not only magic, but unstable magic. My friends were just full of surprises today.
The dragon let out another roar, this time sounding desperate.
I wanted to pity it. No one deserved to die scared, but we didn’t have a lot of choices.
I was pretty sure this thing had been sent to kill us.
And I also had a hunch that if we didn’t deal with it, it would continue to come after us.
It might even kill innocent people in its rampage.
And that was when I realized maybe I could be useful to those who were still inside.
Or, I could at least check to see if all of the humans had made it out okay.
“I’m going to go make sure everyone who isn’t a monster made it out okay,” I told Poppy.
“RJ,” she started.
“I’ll be okay,” I answered. “But you both stay here.”
Then I jogged back to the situation in the store.
My attention immediately settled on Indigo, and through the window, I could see her lengthening her stride, catching hold of the creature’s tail before it could disappear from the building.
The effect was almost instantaneous. The lizard creature began to wail, a sound that scraped at my ears.
After a moment, it began to shake violently, making still more of the roof tiles fall inward.
Angelo had nearly retrieved all of the coughing witches, as far as I could tell.
The human clerk who’d been at the front was now asleep in Angelo’s arms, in the process of being spelled by a witch that I didn’t know well.
I didn’t spare them much attention, though.
Mainly because I wanted to make sure Indigo was okay.
As I watched, the creature went limp and, a few moments later, Indigo sagged to the ground, clearly exhausted.
I immediately started after her, mainly because I knew no one else would.
She didn’t stir until I came level with her and offered her a hand up. She considered it for a moment before accepting my hand, and I yanked her to her feet.
“You got Poppy and Finn out?” she asked.
I nodded. “Just like Wanda told me to.”
She smiled wanly. “I like a man who listens to directions.”
“I mean, when monsters are involved, you kind of have to, right.”
She laughed softly. “Hmm. You can be taught. Maybe you’ll survive us yet.”