A thick, badly chipped hoof stuck out from behind the divan. It was cloven.
I took a deep breath, readied my weapons and stepped around the divan. A dead demon was sprawled full length along the back of the divan.
Thick, green blood formed a puddle on the floor beneath the demon’s middle, which was torn and ravaged as if ripped apart with huge razor-sharp claws.
Blood was sprayed across the back of the formerly pretty divan, painting it in a horrendous pattern, along with clumps of worse stuff from the demon’s gut.
It looked as if Slayer and Darma had gotten their demon.
I shoved the knife back into my boot and stood, frowning. I’d have to speak to them about massacring subjects in the homes of my clients. The mess they’d made was definitely gonna create some customer satisfaction issues.
The only warning I had was a tiny hiss of air.
Something hit my back and sent me sprawling. I skidded through cold, slimy demon blood and hit a wall, dropping the knife I’d been holding. I heard it skitter away across the slick floor.
My head slammed hard into the wall and I went woozy, unable to fight back as multiple knife-like objects ripped across my back and pain exploded through my body.
The pain pulled me back from the brink of unconsciousness. My mind cleared and I screamed as massive teeth closed over the back of my neck, plunging deep.
A feral musk enveloped me and something silky brushed against my exposed skin. The horrible stench of blood—and worse—wafted over me as the creature holding me between its teeth shook its massive head. The skin on my neck ripped under the teeth like soft fabric under sharp scissors.
I screamed.
The creature lifted me off the floor and flung me, slamming me into a wall on the other side of the room.
My vision wavered. Blood ran in thick, warm ribbons down my back and into my eyes. I could hear the thing breathing, the husky sound of air sifting in and out through massive nostrils.
It sounded huge.
I fought for breath, my chest heaving with panic. My legs were rubber and my arms heavy. I pushed feebly at the floor but didn’t have the strength to wrench myself upward. Not that it would have mattered anyway, since I would probably have passed out if I’d stood up. The smell of something wild and untamed clogged the air I breathed. The house seemed to shudder with each step the creature took. I could hear the thing’s claws tapping against the wood floor as it moved toward me.
I struggled to identify the smell.
It wasn’t gargoyle, despite the huge-sounding claws. Goyles don’t have fur. And the smell was muskier, more warm blooded.
The thing stopped and I waited, fighting the grayness trying to take me under. I held very still while it scented me. Moist breath coated my face and the feral scent thickened in my lungs. I retched and it roared, the sound explosive and terrifying in my helpless state.
Instinctively and blindly, I lifted a hand and shot power in the direction of the roar. A surprised yelp preceded the sound of something heavy hitting the divan across the room. Adrenaline gave me the impetus I needed to spring to my feet. Reaching up to swipe at the blood running into my eyes, I cranked my eyelids open and pulled my power forward.
What I saw climbing to its massive paws made me gasp.
It looked like an enormous dog, charcoal gray with darker stripes down its back and on the crown of its head. The dinner-plate-sized paws were striped too, with claws that looked about four inches long and razor sharp.
The creature’s eyes were orange and filled with hostile intent. Its tail, thick and shorter than I would have expected, snapped angrily as I returned its glare.
I squinted. “Frunk me.”
The thing opened its maw and roared again. I lifted a hand with a power ball in it and the creature sprang, landing on me and taking another power arrow in its massive chest as I went down. I shoved both hands under its lower jaw to hold the snapping teeth away from my face and tried to pull the power forward again.
I couldn’t gather enough to do any real damage, I was too distracted trying to keep my fingers away from the snapping jaws. I placed my feet in the creature’s belly and shoved hard, injecting the kick with the little bit of power I’d been able to conjure.
The creature lifted just enough to allow me to space shift away, landing on my back on the divan.
I leapt to my feet to the sound of claws and an immense weight pounding across the floor toward me. The house bobbled sickeningly in the clear blue sky. I clutched the gore-covered fabric of the divan with one hand as the house swayed and reached into my boot to pull my second knife free. Flinging it toward the monster, I threw myself onto my hands and flipped over its head.
The knife slid into the monster’s chest with a wet
thwuck
, stopping it dead in its tracks. The thing lowered its massive head to examine the thick black handle protruding from its chest.
As I was scrambling around looking for the knife I’d dropped, the creature expelled the one in its chest with a thought and sent it across the room, headed back toward me. I barely managed to fling myself out of the way before it struck.
Finally spotting the missing knife sticking out from under the divan, I skidded through a river of green blood to grab it. When I turned back around, the enormous creature was standing over me, its fishy breath bathing my face.
Whatever the thing was, it had moved in complete silence and with a preternatural speed.
I looked up into the wide orange eyes and saw intelligence there. The creature’s soft charcoal face had three large, darker stripes between the ears. The ears themselves were smallish and had longer tufts of white fur sticking up from the tips. The nose was pink, on a wide muzzle, which I now saw was spattered with blood.
Green, demon’s blood.
I gulped. “Nice puppy. You don’t want to kill the nice demon hunter, do you?” I jerked my head toward the dead demon. “We’re on the same side here.”
It cocked its head. Every hair on my body stood on end and my bowels clenched with the sure knowledge that, despite the harmless and almost cute appearance of the creature’s face, I was looking at a stone-cold killer.
But not a mindless murderer. It was definitely a calculating one. I watched with horror as my fate blossomed in the monster’s mind, the picture finally bleeding into its expressive gaze.
Afraid to move for fear I’d inspire the thing to attack, I pulled my power forward, keeping my gaze firmly locked on its face.
The creature opened its massive jaws and my pulse picked up at the sight of all those sharp white teeth. A drop of monster spit pinged off my cheek. I blinked but didn’t move, holding power just under my skin like an explosive charge awaiting fire to ignite it.
I allowed the power to enhance my vision so that I’d anticipate the creature’s movement almost before the thing knew it was moving.
The creature seemed to swell, its muscles tightening so slightly the movement was almost not visible, even with my enhanced vision. It was preparing to leap.
The power sparked in my fingertips and my skin tightened to the point of pain. I gritted my teeth, holding it in by sheer will alone.
The monster’s eyes widened. The floor groaned under its massive claws, the razor-sharp tips digging into the hard wood like it was sand.
Sweat popped out on my upper lip.
The air shimmered and the monster’s gaze jerked sideways.
I reached up and touched its massive chest, feeling the strange silkiness of its fur under my power-drenched fingertips. And then I shot everything I had into it.
It flew across the room with a pained yelp.
Before I could leap back to my feet, the air thickened and two figures shimmered into the room with me.
Slayer’s pretty eyes narrowed on me before sliding toward what was left of the demon on the floor several feet away.
My sister covered her pert nose with one hand and made a noise of disgust. “Eww, what have you done now, Astra? It smells like a butcher shop in here. And what’s that all over you?”
I looked down. I was covered head to toe in green blood. It stank of sulfur.
“She killed the demon.” Slayer jerked his head toward the carnage beyond the divan.
Darma’s pretty face folded into a scowl. She planted her hands on her hips and glared at me. “You’re just determined to keep me out of the business aren’t you, Astra?”
I glanced around the room, my eyes searching for the monster. I knew I hadn’t killed it. It would be coming back any moment. “I didn’t kill that demon. I thought you had. Are you telling me you just got here?”
They shared a guilty glance, which made my stomach knot with worry. “We…um…got lost,” Slayer offered weakly.
“Lost?” I narrowed a disbelieving gaze on him. He just shrugged, studiously avoiding my gaze.
“He took a wrong turn on Main and we ended up in the country somewhere.”
Slayer glared at her. “You told me to turn there!”
Darma opened her mouth but I held up a hand, having heard way too much already. “Forget it. You’re here now. I need your help. There’s a massive furry thing in this house somewhere. We need to kill it before it gets out.”
Something squishy pressed against my calf and I jumped, power escaped from my fingertips and exploded a mirror on the wall just inches from Slayer’s left shoulder.
He leapt sideways, carrying my sister down to the floor with him. “Damn, Astra, you need to learn to hold your power.”
I looked down into the small face of the cat I’d seen earlier. Its eyes narrowed on me and its whiskers twitched. I was amazed my power leak and resulting explosion hadn’t driven the thing off.
The short tail snapped as the cat wound around my legs, whining plaintively. “Damn cat,” I murmured. Glancing at Slayer as he jumped back to his feet and pulled my sister up with him, I grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. This thing has me a little jumpy.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know. It’s big, gray and hairy with stripes and really big claws. You’ll know it when you see it. Let’s split up and search.” Glancing at the cat, which still seemed to be trying to tell me something, I added, “I’ll take the food-prep area.”
The prep area was clear, as was the rest of the house. I was filling the cat’s water and food bowls when Slayer and Darma joined me with a report that there was nothing in the house.
I sighed, sinking into one of the tall chairs lined up along a short counter. Slayer dropped into a chair across from me.
I watched the cat eat as my mind roiled. Something felt off. I shivered as a feeling of discord tweaked my senses.
“You look pale.” Darma’s voice held no concern, only a clinical awareness. She’d been a nurse at an unplanned-care unit for most of her adult life. Taking care of people was second nature to her. She placed a hand on my forehead and frowned, turning to Slayer. “She’s burning up and she’s clammy.”
He was on his feet and striding toward me immediately.
I bristled, shoving off the stool. I hated to be fussed over. “I’m fine. Let’s just get out of here.”
But Slayer stopped in front of me, way too close, and peered into my face. He reached out and touched my chin with one finger, lifting it to gaze at my throat. That was when I realized my daemon hickey was pulsing painfully.
“It’s bright red, Astra, and it looks swollen.”
I touched the mark Dialle had given me and found that it was giving off heat too. Sparks flared and I jerked my fingers away, looking at them. A small blister rose from the reddened skin of my burned fingertips. “Shit!”
Dizziness swamped me and my eyes rolled back. My legs turned to water. I toppled sideways off the tall stool and a strong pair of arms caught me before I splatted on the hard floor.
My mind felt as if it was filled with feathers.
I was lying on something hard and cold as voices clashed far away. They sounded as if they came from the other end of a long, dark tunnel. One was high pitched, filled with hysteria, and the other was impossibly deep and calm.
Sound stopped and my head swam. I fought unconsciousness until we came out of the space shift and Slayer laid me down on something soft that smelled like flowers.
I tried to open my eyes but they wouldn’t open. They felt as if they’d been glued shut.
That was when the first wave of nausea hit me. I retched, expelling the contents of my stomach with a violence that cracked at least one of my ribs. Strong hands grabbed my head and turned me onto my side, where I curled into a fetal position and rode out several painful spasms tearing through my gut.
The cold sweats followed right on the heels of the gut spasms. Then the nausea returned.
Knife-like pain moved into my head at that point, bringing back the nausea and rivaling the agony in my stomach.
I curled into a tight, tiny ball in the middle of the bed and tried to hide from the exquisite pain.
Strong fingers touched my forehead. I shook my head, trying to shake them off, but pain banged hard against my brain from the unnecessary movement so I stopped.
Heat emanated from the fingers, followed by a soothing numbness. Then a deep voice saying, “Sleep now, Astra. You’ve been poisoned but you’ll be all right.”
I expelled a breath on a sigh and my muscles loosened. Something soft and warm slipped over me and my thoughts started to fall away.
I think it was a long time until I was able to form another useful thought.
Chapter Five
Gobsmacked!
Sex, sex, all around, her Settling riding sway,
But danger rides the daemon mark, and breeds a double play!
My thoughts roiled and snapped.
Jagged, blood-covered fangs lunged for me, the cool silk of fur smoothed across my heated, super-sensitized skin and the feral stink of aggression swamped me.
Claws ripped at my skin. Pain exploded across my awareness.
My angry dreams were softened occasionally by healing touches from large, slightly calloused hands. The calmer moments were interspersed with strident repairs dealt from softer, much smaller hands. A deep voice droned soothing nothings and shrill demands tried to pull me, kicking and screaming, back to health.