Chapter 12 #2
“Delphi and I are the only ones who can see this thing,” I repeat. “And now it knows I can see it.”
“Do you have any idea where it went?” Mabel asks.
“No.” I look toward the exit. Then screams erupt somewhere outside. “But I don’t think it’ll be hard to find.” I tighten my grip around the knife. “Subtlety isn’t exactly this demon’s strong point.
We regroup in the alley behind the piano bar. It’s dark and narrow back here, and it smells like trash.
“All right,” Antonio says, naturally taking his usual position as leader of the group. “We need to split up and find this thing. Two groups—one with Wren and one with Delphi, since they’re the only ones who can see it.”
“Zeke and Mabel stay here and do damage control,” Xavier interrupts.
Mabel isn’t old enough to hold someone spellbound, but Zeke definitely is.
Keeping her with him also keeps her out of harm’s way, more or less.
Yes, she has vampire strength, but I know Xavier is thinking along the same lines I am.
Mabel is too sweet and innocent for this.
Not just for fighting the demon, but for what she could come across while doing it. The kind of death and destruction she might have to see. Theo, Ryder, Delphi, and Antonio head down the alley in one direction while Xavier, Devon, Leo, and I go the other.
“I have no idea what’s over here,” I admit. “I haven’t exactly had a lot of opportunities to leisurely explore downtown.”
“If the demon is trying to hide because it knows you can see it, heading this way makes sense,” Devon says. “There’s an empty building. It’s big. Sixty-three thousand, two hundred ninety-two square feet.”
“That is oddly specific information to have.”
“It’s for sale. We’ve been looking into it.”
“Makes sense.” Two waitresses step out of a nearby alley for a smoke break as we walk past. I almost ignore them. Then I glance down at one woman’s shoes. “Hey. Are you an eight and a half, by any chance?”
“I am,” she replies, looking understandably confused.
“And by any other chance, would you want to switch shoes with me?”
She lifts one foot, revealing a dirty, worn ivory-colored Croc.
“Your shoes look designer,” she says, wrinkling her nose in confusion.
“My feet are killing me. These are brand-new Valentino heels that I’ve worn for, like, two hours.
Please trade me.” The other waitress looks at her with pure jealousy.
We quickly swap shoes, and I flip the Croc strap around my ankle.
“They’re in sport mode,” I say as I start walking again. “We’re good.”
“I’m thinking we keep a change of shoes for you in the car at all times,” Xavier says, the slightest hint of amusement in his voice.
“That would be smart. Also, at this point, I feel like I’m cursing us every time I wear heels and a dress because we always end up chasing demons.”
“If that’s what’s causing all these demons, we’ll throw away every pair of heels you own.” We hurry toward the empty building, and the dark energy in the air grows stronger with every step.
We’re definitely on the right track. Xavier grabs the door and pulls it open like it’s nothing. Actually, he doesn’t just break the deadbolt. He pulls the entire door off its hinges. Is it wrong to get turned on by him at a time like this? I wouldn’t act on it now, obviously.
Leo pulls a flashlight from his pocket and clicks it on. I conjure an energy ball and toss it into the air, slowly feeding it more power until it glows brightly enough to illuminate the room.
“Whoa, sis, that’s pretty fucking cool.”
“I know, right?” I say, probably a little too excited. We slowly make our way deeper into the building while I hold my hands slightly in front of me, trying to read the energy in the air.
“It’s here,” I whisper, my voice barely audible. “I get the sense it’s hiding. But I don’t think it’ll run once it realizes we’re here.”
I hand my knife to Devon. “It knows I can see it, and last time it made me weirdly disoriented without even touching me. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get close enough to kill it, so I might have to direct you guys.” I turn toward Leo. “Which means you’re vulnerable to whatever it can do too.”
“What about them?” he asks, jerking his thumb toward the vampires. “I thought necromancy was Vaelric’s specialty.”
“Vaelric,” I correct. “Not necessarily this demon. And if it could control Xavier, it would’ve done it onstage.
That would’ve caused way more damage.” I shudder at the thought of the demon making Xavier publicly lose control.
What happened with Governor Richards is bad enough.
We already have enough political and public fallout to deal with once we’re safe.
My heartbeat picks up the deeper we go into the building. Then the demon’s laugh echoes from somewhere above us, making my skin prickle.
“You know,” I start, feeding a little more energy into the glowing ball above me, “I really wish you guys could hear this demon. It’s not fair that I’m the only one who has to put up with how annoying it is.”
“You can hear it right now?” Xavier asks.
“Yeah. I think it’s upstairs.”
“Should we taunt it?” Leo suggests.
I look at him. “That could actually work. Demons, much like short men suffering from small-dick energy, are incredibly easy to anger and goad into confrontation.”
“How exactly do you taunt a demon?” Devon asks, tightening his grip on the knife.
“Surprisingly easy. Watch.” I take a deep breath. “Hey, loser!” I shout. “I see you’re too scared to come face us. Is it because you know you can’t handle us? You know we’re gonna kick your ass, don’t you?” Something shuffles overhead. We all freeze.
“Is it really that easy?” Devon asks.
“Demons are used to humans avoiding them,” Leo explains. “The energy they give off causes that instinctive I need to get the fuck out of here feeling. So when you challenge them instead, you’re basically challenging everything they believe about themselves.”
“They’re egotistical evil assholes,” I sum up with a shrug. “Just because they’re easy to taunt doesn’t mean they’re easy to kill.”
We continue down the hallway. Suddenly, Xavier speeds in front of us and catches a stack of two-by-fours seconds before they come crashing down on top of us.
“Nice try,” Leo says. “You’re gonna have to put in a little more effort than that, dumbass.”
Xavier throws the boards aside. They hit the floor with a loud clatter. And the demon appears.
“He’s there!” I shout, pointing. Xavier swings his knife. He misses by inches. The demon shimmers out of view, and this time I see him lift a hand and snap his fingers.
A thin thread of electricity shoots through the air.
I duck behind Devon. It hits him instead. He jerks backward, blinking.
“Oh, shit.” A second later, he recovers and turns toward me.
“Yeah, that was the demon,” I say. “He was trying to cast some sort of confusion spell on me, but he hit you instead.”
“I feel fine.”
“Stay in front of her,” Xavier commands, continuing to slash his knife through the air.
“Leo, behind you!” I shout and my brother spins, brandishing his knife.
The demon jerks backward and smacks his head against the wall.
The hallway is under construction. It looks like they’re moving a door several feet down the hall, and drywall panels and other construction materials are piled everywhere.
The demon deliberately crashes into them, sending everything tumbling into the narrow hallway and making it even harder for us to fight.
The demon grabs a tub of spackle and throws it straight at Leo.
I telekinetically stop it in midair and send it flying back.
It hits the demon square in the face with a satisfying thunk that echoes through the otherwise empty hallway.
Xavier follows the sound and swings. His knife catches the demon’s arm.
Thick, black, gooey blood drips onto the floor. The demon hisses and scurries away.
“I think I got him,” Xavier says, uncertainty in his voice.
“You did. In the arm.” I point. “He went that way.” We take off after him.
This time, we have more to follow than negative energy.
Thick drops of blood, almost the consistency of molasses, trail down the hallway like a grotesque line of breadcrumbs.
We follow it into a large open area that looks like it was meant to become some sort of conference room.
“What were you going to buy this building for?” I wonder out loud. Then I shake my head. “That is so not important right now.” I spread my fingers and raise my hand, feeding more energy into the floating ball of light until it rises higher and brightens the room.