Chapter
Eighteen
Bits of oozy incubus rain down on me and I jump back, accidentally knocking over one of my candles. It goes out, thankfully, but it breaks my circle of protection. Not that it would have mattered anymore.
Because there are dozens of incubi fluttering around, looking like bats.
I stand there, completely stunned as I watch the baby demons figure out how to use their wings. For a split second, I think they’re cute. But then one flies at me, screeching and baring sharp fangs.
“Anora!” Ethan jumps up, pulling me against him. He uses the butt of his gun to whack the little incubus to the ground. It hits with a splat and lays unmoving for a few seconds.
Then it lets out a high-pitched screech that alerts the others of it’s attack, and like a swarm of angry bees, the other incubi speed toward us. Hunter bounds forward, shifting into shadow form and knocking several of them to the ground.
“What do we do?” Sam yells, swatting her hands in the air.
“Get them!” Ethan yells back, pulling the enchanted dagger from its sheath. He brandishes it through the air, stabbing a bat-sized incubus against the side of the house. He knocks another one onto the ground and stomps on it, splattering demon brains on the porch. The demons, realizing they’re under attack, swarm back all together, screeching as they communicate with each other.
I throw out my hand, fire springing from my fingers. One of the demons flies right into my grasp and falls to the porch, wings burning as it screams in pain. Ethan stomps that one as well, and incubus brains splatter all over my shoe. They swarm together l again, rising high into the night.
“They’re trying to fly away,” I call out, grabbing the sword from the little white table on the porch, holding it in my right hand. Flames flicker around my fingers, and I race forward, jumping down the porch steps all at once. Holding the sword feels familiar, and I know what to do.
Because I’ve done it before—many times.
“Ignis,” I say and the fire erupts from my hand, moving down the hilt and taking on the shape of the blade. “Come and get me you little motherfuckers!” I take a stance, holding up the sword. The incubi move together like a black cloud, coming at me with increasing speed. Swinging the sword like a baseball bat, I slice through the swarm. Three drop to the ground right away, wings singed and writhing in pain.
And then all hell breaks loose. The incubi all go in different directions, swooping after each of us.
“We have to get them all,” Ethan grunts, whacking another with his gun, knocking it to the ground so he can crush it. Another incubus, much larger than the others, flies right at him and he shoots it, gunshot ringing out over the yard. The thing explodes from the force of the bullet, spraying his face with blood.
The front door opens as Nik races inside, and Hunter shadows after several other incubi who are furiously flying around the back of the house. The wind picks up, blowing my hair wildly around my face but doesn’t affect the magical fire forming the blade of my sword. And since the blade is made up of magical fire and not heavy steel, I can wield this like I know exactly what I’m doing—because I do and suddenly all the training comes back to me.
Hours spent with a wooden sword, practicing how to move my feet and protect my vital organs. Anticipating my opponent’s next move is key, and when it comes to demon s, remembering they never play by the rules.
My hand starts to go down to my side and it all comes back to me in a rush. I got a bad grade on a test when I was in sixth grade because I’d spent the evening training with Aunt Estelle instead of studying at Laney’s like I told my mom.
Mom.
I stagger back, veil on my memory not just being lifted but yanked entirely off.
“And what about American history? Science and basic English? Do they teach that at this…this academy? Socializing is important for kids this age, and Anora is behind compared to the others in her class,” Mom spits, looking at the brochure Aunt Estelle gave her.
I stand there, frozen, and it all comes back to me. My mom did know about magic. Aunt Estelle did tell her, and she…she believed her? No, that’s not the mother I know. She would have denied it. Told Aunt Estelle she was crazy and would have insisted any sort of magic she saw was just some sort of trick.
An incubus flies at me, sharp teeth getting me right in the cheek. Hunter shadows after it, grabbing it in midair, shifting back into a dog so he can break bones with his teeth. Shaking myself, I hold up the sword again and swing it through the air, hitting another incubus. It catches on fire right away and is thrown into a cherry tree several yards away.
The front door opens again and out of the corner of my eye, I see Nik emerge holding a variety of my fireplace tools. He tosses a fire poke to Ethan and gives another to Sam.
“Above you!” he yells to me and then slashes the heavy pair of cast iron tongs in front of him, hitting an incubus to the ground. Sam hits it with the fireplace shovel she’s holding and the thing dies with a squelch of blood.
Three incubi try to make a break for it. I throw out my left hand, telekinetically grabbing them. I strain to keep the hold and bring my hand down in a swift movement, thudding them against the ground. Hunter bounds over, large paws landing on two of them at once. He grabs one with his teeth and shakes his head, ripping the thing in half.
Holding the sword out in front of me, I whirl around, eyes wide as I look to see where the others went. Ethan is running around to the back of the house, following a few demons who are trying to escape. Not today, motherfuckers.
Not. Today.
Realizing they’re in trouble, the incubi scatter, all going in different directions. Hunter barrels to the front of the yard, impressively jumping and pulling another out of the air. He won’t let any escape, though if one or two got out and found their way to nosy Donna’s house, I wouldn’t object.
Really, though, I can’t let a single one out. They’re already here and I know I didn’t summon them on purpose, but it’s my fault. I was the one who brought forth the incubus in the first place, and it’s my energy that fed it and allowed it to burst into a bunch of tiny demons who will no doubt quickly grow up and seek out victims of their own.
Following a group around the house, I throw out my free hand again, tossing a ball of fire at a small group of them. It only hits one and the others come back after me, black wings glimmering in the firelight of my sword. Another bites my hand as I’m swinging the sword through the air and I cry out, taking a quick step back and almost falling right on my ass. Finding my balance, I shuffle one foot back and slice the sword through the air again, hitting two at a time. The fire blade slices right through them and they drop to the ground, insides bubbling and boiling.
Another group of about five of them come at me, circling around me and missing my blade every time I bring it through the air with a whoosh. Gravel crunches and a car slows right in front of the house. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. I was just thinking about sending demons to Donna’s house. Of fucking course she’s here, threatening to report me to the police for being noisy after dark even though it’s still early Spring and the sun sets only hours past lunch.
Sucking in a breath, I jump up, turning around at the same time, and bring the sword down again, hitting four at once. They fall to the ground and the fifth takes off, wings flapping furiously in an attempt to get away.