“I haven’t had the taste of a woman’s flesh in quite some time,” he sneered. “The pleasures of humans can be the pleasures of demons as well.”
I threw up a little in my mouth. “You’re never going to touch me,” I growled, my blood pounding in anger.
The higher demon just smiled, showing a slip of teeth. “But we will, little witch.” Watching me, the demon rolled his eyes slowly over my body from my breasts to my groin.
“Never,” I said, my voice final.
“We’ll see about that,” answered the same higher demon.
Tension pulled me stiff, and hearing the pleasure in his voice, I felt a snarl escape from me.
I’d rather die than be raped by a gang of higher demons. Nothing male touched me without my permission.
And then something inside me snapped.
A slow burn of fury took root. “I’m having a really bad day,” I began, all the emotions from the court meeting rushing back into me. “So, if you don’t want me to fry your ugly, rapist asses, you should get the hell away from me. Cause I’m feeling a little crazy tonight.”
The middle higher demon chuckled, and his eyes took on a satisfied glint. “Let’s play, little witch.”
And then they did.
8
Did I mention that higher demons had super-supernatural speed?
In a blur of motion, the higher demons attacked, their death blades whistling in the air in a song of death and destruction and blood.
But I was ready for them.
“Feurantis!” I shouted. Energy rushed out of me into my hand and I hurled a fireball at the nearest higher demon. The blast exploded on his chest into a roar of flame, and for an instant it turned that black mist as bright as though I were standing under an afternoon sun.
I didn’t wait to see if my spell worked on him. The bastard had two brothers. And they were coming at me.
I raised my right hand, my sigil ring blazing with energy.
“Dis caeli!” I cried, waving my arms as the magic of my rings roared through me. A blast of powerful kinetic force hit both higher demons, slamming them back through the blackened mist and to the ground with a satisfying thud.
“Ha!” I shouted, feeling a burst of pride at my own skill. And Tran said I wasn’t even a real witch. “Take that. You want some more, eh? You black-eyed, mother—”
With a pop, the fire on the first higher demon went out. His shoulders rocked up and down as he laughed. He looked at me, his ebony eyes glistening with amusement.
Damn. There wasn’t a scratch on him. Not even a scorch mark on his suit. They either had wicked tailors in the Netherworld, or he was immune to my magic.
I gave him a nervous smile. “Can’t blame a girl for trying,” I said as I took a step back.
He wiped the arms of his jacket with his free hand. “No. And you can’t blame a demon for killing a mortal either. It’s in our nature.”
The sound of shoes scuffing the pavement reached me, and his brothers appeared through the wall of black mist. Swell.
The higher demon bared his teeth in an evil grin before lowering himself into an attack stance.
I took another step back. I wasn’t stupid. Straining my mind, I searched for a spell or dark curse that would actually work on a higher demon. Which were slim. I focused my will on my rings, concentrating, and I felt a gentle pull on my core.
His fist came out of nowhere and hit me in the side of the head. It threw me hard to my left, and if I hadn’t planted my legs at the last minute, it would have thrown me to the ground. And then I’d have been finished.
My concentration vanished. I stumbled and whirled around, blinking the black and white spots from my eyes. God. That. Hurt.
“Amateur little witch,” snarled the higher demon. “You’ll have to do better than that if you want to defeat us with your little witch tricks. Think bigger.”
“All righty then.” I blinked, my head throbbing with pain, and shouted, “Sphaeras!” A sphere-shaped shield of golden energy rose up from the pavement and pulled to a close just over my head.
“There you go,” I howled. “Bigger.”
Okay, so it wasn’t a sphere of fire or some dark demon magic, but I needed to think. I needed time to contemplate how I was going to get out of this mess—alive.
My shield wouldn’t last forever, but I needed to protect my ass in order to save my ass.
Think, Sam. Think!
If I couldn’t defeat them on my own, I’d have to find someone or something that could.
And I had just the demon in mind to kick some higher demons’ butts.
Pulling out my chalk from my pocket, I fell to the hard pavement and began to draw a summoning circle.
When in doubt, always summon a deceitful demon from the seventy-two listed in the Ars Goetia that you can control. Or one with a giant mouth full of sharp teeth.
Through the shimmering golden energy, I saw the two other demons join their brother just as I finished my circle. The three of them stood facing my golden sphere, their body language confident and sly, and I didn’t like it.
I smiled and waved my fingers at them. “Oh, boy, do I have a surprise for you guys,” I laughed, and I began to draw the summoning triangle-shaped sigil. These fools had no idea who they were messing with.
Next, I wrote the name Buné in the center. Buné was a massive, three-headed dragon demon. Three giant dragon maws to each fit a higher demon’s head. It was perfect.
No way could these higher demons take on a two-thousand-pound dragon. And he was cute too, purple with a fiery red mane of hair that spread from the tips of his heads to his tail. But he did have a temper, especially when someone stepped on his tail. Love dragons.
Heart thumping, I shot to my feet again while channeling the magic from the summoning circle and triangle. “I conjure you, Buné, demon of the Netherworld—”
There was a sudden snap, and my protection shield fell.
Ooops.
My pulse spiked as I watched the last of my golden energy shimmer and disappear around the edges of three death blades pointed at me.
I stilled, and then I glowered. “You bastards burst my bubble.”
The higher demons grinned, their gray teeth like that of cadavers. They made odd little gestures with their death blades, and threads of black mixed with gold light leapt toward their arms in spiraling paths. It was almost as though their blades had consumed my sphere like they consumed souls.
I knew I had seconds to react before they did. I never stopped drawing on my rings, pulling the energy into me.
“For that, I will break every bone in your body and then I will take your witch flesh over and over again,” said the middle higher demon. His gaze jumped to mine, his delight lighting his black eyes. “We are going to have some fun, witch bitch.”
I seethed. “Call me that again, and I’ll have to agree.” My frustration gave my voice some anger.
The higher demons moved.
And so did I.
In a smooth motion, I pushed the energy from my rings and threw it. “Vento!” I shouted, and a blast of powerful wind hit the higher demons, throwing them back and giving me those precious seconds to turn around and run. I knew my spells wouldn’t hurt them, but what else could I do? Give a witch a break!