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Authors: Pippa DaCosta
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madness like it. I might gladly have sated the boiling need in front of our demon audience had I not heard the familiar click of obsidian claws on concrete. Hellhound? A thunderous growl rumbled the walls and startled half a dozen car alarms.
Stefan pulled back, surfacing from the madness of hunger. “I’ve got this.” He swept me aside, and in no more than two strides, had summoned a lance of ice twice his height. He strode toward the handful of demons, face determined. Two Scorsi demons, black scorpion bodies glistening, flanked the car-sized hellhound. I dipped my chin and shoved back my demon as she clawed to be free. The hellhound bowed its head. Huge hairless shoulders bunched as it readied to leap. Its flanks quivered, and paws the size of my head splayed on the asphalt. Hellhounds were tough. I’d been unlucky enough in the past to have several after me. They can’t usually be seen by human eyes or stopped. But the veil was weakening, and none of the rules seemed to exist any more. I had no idea if this one could be stopped, but Stefan didn’t seem concerned.
The hound leapt. Stefan’s crystal wings burst into existence. He lunged and plunged the lance into the beast’s neck. It let out a broken gurgling howl and smacked down behind Stefan with a sickening crack. He wrenched the lance free of the twitching beast and spun. His wings fractured the light, magnified it, and threw the fragments across the entire garage, bathing the scene in a broken kaleidoscope of light. The Scorsi demons scuttled on scorpion legs. Backing up, they danced nervously, suddenly unsure they’d chosen the right quarry. Their humanoid torsos rippled and bucked. Beady eyes flicked from me to Stefan. They must have sensed the residual power Stefan radiated. I smiled. This would be over sooner than I could have imagined.
Before I knew I’d been hit, I found myself crumpled on the ground, face down in a pool of motor oil. My head throbbed, my side ached, and something burned like a bitch down my back. What the hell? Huge scorpion legs skittered into my line of sight. The demon made a curious chuffing sound around its bristling lips and then arched its stinger high over its body, and plunged the barb into my shoulder. I screamed. Fire burst from my skin. My demon slammed into me, evicting my humanity, and the lights went out.
Chapter Seven
I woke with a mouth as dry as a sandbox, throat stripped by acid, and my skull caved in. At least that’s what it felt like. I groaned and winced as a hideous headache ballooned inside my skull. “I’m gonna be sick.”
Jerry filled my vision, not a hard thing for him to do, considering he’s built like a pro-football player. His all-over tattoos swirled and dipped across his cheeks, nose, chin, and continued over his shaven head. A black tank top strained against bulging muscles. He wasn’t the first face I expected to see. Concern knit his brows together.
“Welcome back,” he growled, his voice the verbal equivalent of dark chocolate: smooth, decadent, and delicious. “That deceptively little body of yours is going to punish you over the next few hours. Go with it. It’s ridding you of Scorsi venom.”
Oh, right. The garage. The demons. The kiss. “Stefan?”
“Here.”
I turned my head, even though the shards of glass shifted inside my skull, and saw him standing by the window, arms crossed, one leg leveraged against the wall. Wait, where were we? Bare floors. Oddly bright flower-print wallpaper. One couch, of the well-worn variety. Jerry’s place. “What happened?”
“You were busy ogling me and got yourself sideswiped by a lesser demon.” Stefan frowned. “Sloppy, Muse. How did you pass enforcer training?”
“I didn’t.” I plastered my cool hand against my forehead. “If you weren’t so distracting with those fancy wings of yours, I would have been fine.”
“Next time I’m taking down hellhounds for you, I’ll remember to tone down the pretty.”
Jerry’s
Stefan pulled back, surfacing from the madness of hunger. “I’ve got this.” He swept me aside, and in no more than two strides, had summoned a lance of ice twice his height. He strode toward the handful of demons, face determined. Two Scorsi demons, black scorpion bodies glistening, flanked the car-sized hellhound. I dipped my chin and shoved back my demon as she clawed to be free. The hellhound bowed its head. Huge hairless shoulders bunched as it readied to leap. Its flanks quivered, and paws the size of my head splayed on the asphalt. Hellhounds were tough. I’d been unlucky enough in the past to have several after me. They can’t usually be seen by human eyes or stopped. But the veil was weakening, and none of the rules seemed to exist any more. I had no idea if this one could be stopped, but Stefan didn’t seem concerned.
The hound leapt. Stefan’s crystal wings burst into existence. He lunged and plunged the lance into the beast’s neck. It let out a broken gurgling howl and smacked down behind Stefan with a sickening crack. He wrenched the lance free of the twitching beast and spun. His wings fractured the light, magnified it, and threw the fragments across the entire garage, bathing the scene in a broken kaleidoscope of light. The Scorsi demons scuttled on scorpion legs. Backing up, they danced nervously, suddenly unsure they’d chosen the right quarry. Their humanoid torsos rippled and bucked. Beady eyes flicked from me to Stefan. They must have sensed the residual power Stefan radiated. I smiled. This would be over sooner than I could have imagined.
Before I knew I’d been hit, I found myself crumpled on the ground, face down in a pool of motor oil. My head throbbed, my side ached, and something burned like a bitch down my back. What the hell? Huge scorpion legs skittered into my line of sight. The demon made a curious chuffing sound around its bristling lips and then arched its stinger high over its body, and plunged the barb into my shoulder. I screamed. Fire burst from my skin. My demon slammed into me, evicting my humanity, and the lights went out.
Chapter Seven
I woke with a mouth as dry as a sandbox, throat stripped by acid, and my skull caved in. At least that’s what it felt like. I groaned and winced as a hideous headache ballooned inside my skull. “I’m gonna be sick.”
Jerry filled my vision, not a hard thing for him to do, considering he’s built like a pro-football player. His all-over tattoos swirled and dipped across his cheeks, nose, chin, and continued over his shaven head. A black tank top strained against bulging muscles. He wasn’t the first face I expected to see. Concern knit his brows together.
“Welcome back,” he growled, his voice the verbal equivalent of dark chocolate: smooth, decadent, and delicious. “That deceptively little body of yours is going to punish you over the next few hours. Go with it. It’s ridding you of Scorsi venom.”
Oh, right. The garage. The demons. The kiss. “Stefan?”
“Here.”
I turned my head, even though the shards of glass shifted inside my skull, and saw him standing by the window, arms crossed, one leg leveraged against the wall. Wait, where were we? Bare floors. Oddly bright flower-print wallpaper. One couch, of the well-worn variety. Jerry’s place. “What happened?”
“You were busy ogling me and got yourself sideswiped by a lesser demon.” Stefan frowned. “Sloppy, Muse. How did you pass enforcer training?”
“I didn’t.” I plastered my cool hand against my forehead. “If you weren’t so distracting with those fancy wings of yours, I would have been fine.”
“Next time I’m taking down hellhounds for you, I’ll remember to tone down the pretty.”
Jerry’s
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