Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 98961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
“I’m going to have to part the warding,” I tell Lucas, holding up my hands. “Or the demon might burn up as he’s dragged through them. You can burn him after we get answers,” I add, knowing what Lucas is thinking. Though if there’s a chance I can save the human the demon is possessing, I will.
It was very much by accident that I realized I can burn a demon as it leaves their victim’s body. Using that kind of power is a good way to announce to the rest of the world that a nephilim lives here, but what choice do I have? We’re fresh out of vampire bodies to use as a host instead of humans. It worked well before binding the demon inside and then trapping them in an enchanted safe room at the academy.
Freya is already upstairs with Binx, keeping guard, and Pandora is on the porch with me, shadowing back and forth, ready to protect me. I inhale, holding my breath as I watch Scarlet lunge at the demon, catching him in the back with one of her giant paws as he tries to run away. He cries out in pain and I grit my teeth, hoping that didn’t damage the human body beyond repair.
I whisper an incantation, sweeping my hands out to magically create an opening in the warding. Scarlet drags the demon through, and I quickly close the warding back up. Knowing that the demon was unable to get through at least lets me know the warding is still intact, since I wondered if the magic had faded when Eamon was able to go onto my porch. Which reminds me—dammit—I still have to tell Lucas about his visit. Eamon hurt a lot of people trying to get my attention, and his actions will only escalate the longer I ignore him.
But right now, I have to focus on the demon. Anger surges inside of me the closer the demon gets, and I want so fucking bad to break into Hell and kill Paimon myself, wrapping my hands around his throat and squeezing the life out of him. He can’t be killed physically, though, but burning him with hellfire would be just as satisfying.
Hellfire killed Bael. It can kill Paimon too. The hard part is getting to him without him killing me first.
“Get off me!” the demon shouts, madly fighting against Scarlet. Her little stump of a tail is wagging, as she’s enjoying every minute of this. She has the demon by the shoulder, teeth clamped into his flesh. She gives him a shake and he screams from the pain. I part the second warding and as soon as Scarlet has the demon on the porch, Lucas speeds out and grabs him, throwing him down on the foyer floor.
“Tell me your name, demon,” Lucas demands, putting one foot on the demon’s chest. Blood drips down his shoulder from the nasty-looking bite Scarlet left.
“I’d rather die,” the demon sputters, eyes going inky.
“Trust me, you will.” I summon a ball of white light and kneel down next to the demon. Scarlet looms next to me, a low growl coming from deep inside her chest. In her hellhound form, she’s the size of a pony but thicker, with sharp claws at the end of her giant paws. She smells like brimstone, made to live in the hottest pits of Hell, slipping in and out of the gate to bring down damned souls. There’s no denying that she’s a monster, yet she sleeps at the foot of my bed most nights.
“It’s your choice,” Lucas goes on. “A quick death or slow and painful, which is my choice.”
The demon says something unintelligible and then coughs, blood spraying out of his mouth. There’s a circle of dried blood on his shirt, right over his heart.
“I think there’s a sigil carved on his chest,” I say, flicking my eyes up to Lucas. “It could tell us who the demon is and I might be able to save this guy.”
“You can’t send the demon to Hell,” Lucas reminds me.
“I know,” I say, though maybe I can send one to the Underworld. “But if I can get it out of him, I can burn it up with hellfire and we can give this guy a chance.”
“He seems pretty far-gone to me.” Lucas’s eyes narrow and he shoves his foot down on the man’s chest, breaking several ribs. I flinch, eyes wide, and look up at Lucas. He’s always been open about the fact he’s a killer. I’ve accepted the fact that he’s killed more people than he can count, and I’ve even grown to appreciate just how well he can bury a body.
But this…this isn’t what we do. I try to save people and yeah, there are times when we have no other choice but to kill the bodies the demons are in, but right now we have a choice.