Chapter 16 Sagitta
Sagitta
Something big creaked in the apartment.
My eyes snapped open.
It took reality a second to rush in. I was in Chase’s bed. He was sound asleep next to me, his lips parted slightly as he breathed in a steady rhythm. He looked so peaceful.
He obviously hadn’t heard the floorboards creak. But I had.
I begged my racing heart to still as I listened harder. Was I imagining things? A few long beats passed, and the apartment remained silent. I wondered if it was just a vivid dream that had leaked into my waking mind.
But my intuition told me something was off. Quietly, I slipped out of bed, tiptoed to the closed bedroom door, and pressed my ear against it.
My breath cut short when I heard it—the snuffling sound of a creature that definitely should not be there.
Instinctively, I reached for my bow. It wasn’t there. I was dressed only in Chase’s borrowed shirt and boxers.
Shit. I left my weapon in the living room.
Maybe I didn’t need it. Maybe it was just a wild animal. It wasn’t uncommon for city raccoons to open windows with their hand-like paws and crawl inside, searching for food.
As quietly as possible, I turned the doorknob and glimpsed through the sliver into the living room, praying to see a hungry little bandit.
I sucked in a breath.
It was not a raccoon.
It was a demon.
The thing had rough skin in a hideous shade of purple.
Dark horns spiralled out of its head, and its fingers ended in talons.
It skulked around on two legs, but was low to the ground and fell to all fours to sniff the carpet.
Its long, narrow nostrils twitched intently.
I realized with a pang of dread that it was scenting the spot where Chase and I had sex.
I grimaced. The demon was memorizing our scents to hunt us down.
This was bad.
I silently shut the door and tried to calm down.
Focus. This isn’t the first demon you’ve dealt with, and it won’t be the last.
But without my weapon, I was vulnerable.
And so was Chase.
My heart lurched. I couldn’t let him get hurt. After all my failures, that was one outcome I absolutely would not allow.
I glanced at Chase, still asleep in bed. I wanted him to stay that way. I’d grab my bow, slay the damned thing, then crawl back into bed. If I couldn’t even defeat a single weak demon by myself, what good was I as an exorcist?
But even I couldn’t kill a demon with my bare hands. I needed my bow.
Gritting my teeth, I creaked the door open a few centimetres. My gaze snapped to my bow. It was by the front door. I needed to sneak past the demon to grab it.
But the demon was no longer sniffing the carpet. It had skulked into the kitchen and climbed onto the counter. It grunted like a pig until it came to the box of donuts, then started wolfing them down.
I seized my chance. My heart pounded as I sneaked out from behind the door and crept along the far wall to the front entrance.
I knew better than to turn my back on a demon, so I kept my eyes glued to the wretched thing as I felt for my weapon.
When my fingers brushed against the familiar wood, relief surged through me.
But whether it was due to anxiety, or doubt, or the fact that I’d just woken up, my fingers fumbled. The bow slipped out of my fingertips and landed with a thud against the laminate tiles by the front door.
The demon snapped its ugly face towards me. Donut crumbs sprayed from its mouth as it hissed.
I tore my gaze from the demon for a mere second—just long enough to grab my bow properly—but the demon moved faster. It was already halfway to the door, and its rows of serrated teeth were bared and ready to rip me to shreds.
Standing up would take too long. I had to fire from this indecent position on the floor.
Except when I reached for an arrow, I realized I’d forgotten my quiver.
Dread turned my insides to liquid. My bow comprised only half of my weapon, and I’d fucking forgotten the other half.
The demon shrieked as it launched itself at me. I had no time to think. I swung the flat side of my bow hard, smacking the thing in the head. The momentum threw it sideways and it skidded across the carpet with an angry squeal.
I had two precious seconds to get my shit together before it lunged at me again.
Normally I kept my bow and quiver bundled together with a leather strap, but the buckle must’ve come undone.
I’d been so focused on getting along with Chase since I moved in that actually fighting demons hadn’t crossed my mind.
I’d neglected to be prepared at all times. This was a terrifying wake-up call.
My quiver was hung up on the key rack. I swore under my breath as I snatched it, threw it over my back, and readied an arrow. The demon was already on its feet. Spit and donut crumbs dribbled down its jaw as it ran in my direction.
A practiced calm washed over me as I lined up my prey in my sight. It was just a lesser demon. One good shot in the eye with a holy arrow should be enough to send it back to the Hell it spawned from.
But if I missed the kill, I’d only piss it off—and an angry demon was the worst kind.
The bow line was taut. A fraction of a second and the demon would be in position. I held my breath, ready to fire.
And then the bedroom door opened.
Chase stood there in his underwear, jaw halfway to the floor as he gawked at the scene.
My heart froze.
I didn’t want him to get involved. I didn’t want him to get hurt.
I had to kill the demon now.
As the demon’s head snapped in Chase’s direction, I fired the arrow, praying fervently that it would be a clean shot.
If I’d fired at a normal creature, it would’ve hit. But the demon was supernaturally quick. The tip of my holy arrow grazed the demon’s hide, leaving a sizzling mark in its wake. It briefly smoked, then stopped.
The demon hissed at the pain. Annoyed, but barely scratched.
Shrugging off the hit, the demon turned its attention back to me. I withdrew another arrow. As long as the demon focused on me instead of Chase, I could kill it. He just needed to stay out of this.
“Come here, you Hellspawn,” I muttered, glaring the creature down.
It let out a nasty bellow. Its talons dug into the carpet, shredding the fibres as it prepared to attack me again.
My finger twitched eagerly. I wanted nothing more than to see my arrow split the demon’s eye socket.
To know that I’d done my job properly at least once and protected Chase from a single goddamned demon.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Chase run back into the bedroom. My brief flash of relief quickly died as he returned brandishing a baseball bat.
My heart sank.
Oh, no. He’s not going to—
Chase charged at the demon and swung. It was too loud, too obvious. Even an earth animal would’ve heard him coming, let alone a demon.
The imp leapt into the air, nimbly dodging the strike, then snarled at Chase.
“Go back to the bedroom and close the door,” I yelled at him. “I’ll handle this!”
“I’ll help you,” Chase called as he took another heavy swing at the imp. It dodged again, but the bat shattered the legs off a cheap side table. I winced as cheap particleboard splinters showered the carpet. As if there weren’t enough problems in his apartment right now.
“Normal weapons won’t do anything to a demon!” I yelled.
Chase frowned like he’d just learned the tooth fairy wasn’t real. “What?”
“Just stay the hell out of my way!”
As we argued, the imp seized its chance. It rushed at Chase.
Fury swelled in my chest. I fired another arrow.
Direct hit. Not a clean kill—supernatural beings were faster than mortals, and I couldn’t adjust my body in time—but enough to slow it down. The imp bowled over when the arrow lodged in its hind leg.
Chase stared, eyes wide. He was frozen to the spot.
I slipped a third arrow into position while running closer to the imp.
“Chase, move!” I barked.
“But I don’t want to leave you alone with that... thing,” he insisted.
This was no time to argue. Every second counted, and Chase was wasting time with his well-meaning yet ignorant offer.
“And I’m trying to make sure it doesn’t kill you,” I countered, glaring at him. “I know what I’m doing, so do me a favour and get back to the—”
Talking instead of fighting was a mistake.
The imp suddenly flattened to the ground, racing across the carpet towards me like a snake. The jarring shift took me off guard. In the time it took me to lower my aim, the imp lunged at my leg. Its serrated fangs shredded my pants and sank into my calf.
I weathered the storm of searing pain by gritting my teeth, but it barely helped. It was a vile, indescribable type of agony. Worse than being bit by an animal, or stabbed by any sharp object. It was sickening. The wound felt tainted and ugly.
But I seized my chance. While the imp latched onto my leg, I aimed with shaky hands and fired a third arrow directly into its eye.
It squealed as the holy energy sizzled, destroying it from the inside out. The demon was consumed by dark smoke. It shrieked one last time before it vanished.
My knees gave out. I gasped and slid to the ground.
Chase ran over to me, eyes wide in terror. “Fuck, are you okay?”
I nodded without meaning it. I hadn’t even looked at the wound yet. It felt bad enough.
“I’m taking you to the hospital,” Chase declared.
I laughed weakly. “No, you’re not.”
Chase’s voice hardened. “Sagitta—”
“I know you’re trying to help. But I want you to actually listen to me instead of deciding things on your own. The hospital can’t treat this.”
“But—”
“It’s not a dog bite, Chase, it’s a demon bite.”
Chase blanched as the words sank in. He was so deeply worried that I didn’t have it in me to scold him for getting involved.
“Oh god. You’re not going to die, are you?” he asked, his eyes growing wet with tears.
“No. Please, calm down.”
“Then how do we treat it?”
I sighed. I wasn’t looking forward to what would happen next. “We have to go back to the temple. There’s a specialty healer on call.”
“Like a doctor?”
I decided not to mention his lack of credentials. Chase was already worried enough.
“Essentially,” I said.
“Okay. Okay.” He blew out a long breath. “Let’s go right away. I’ll get dressed and bring you some new pants.”
“Don’t bother. The demon residue will ruin them.”
Chase made a face at the phrase ‘demon residue’.
“I guess it’s early enough that people won’t be walking around outside,” he said, glancing out the window. “Should I call a ride?”
“No. I want this incident contained. I’ll walk.”
Chase let out a one-note laugh. “Uh, yeah, no. I’m carrying you.”
“You’re not serious.”
He crossed his muscular arms, his mouth curved into a stern frown. “Do I look like I’m joking?”
He didn’t. But I still didn’t believe him until he returned, fully dressed, then gingerly lifted me into his arms like I was a human-sized doll.
I was too startled to protest. I knew from experience that carrying another human being wasn’t as easy as it looked in media, yet Chase’s arms didn’t even tremble with the effort.
It was impossible not to feel his powerful biceps bulging against my back.
“You good?” he asked.
I was probably as good as I could be, given that I’d just been bitten by a demon. Being carried in Chase’s arms like a sack of flour definitely numbed the pain.
“Yes,” I said. “Let’s go.”