“Your wife could feel better, too, just that fast,” Purcell said, reaching into Fernandez’s mind and feeling his profound relief at that thought.
“What do I need to do?”
A sound. Her phone ringing. Ruby rose slowly to consciousness. Who would be calling? The clock indicated she’d only been asleep for a short time. Not long enough. The ringing stopped. She closed her eyes again. Whoever had called could wait. Probably Nevin, who was no doubt dying of curiosity.
Her Dragon clawed at her, like an insistent dog needing to go out. She groaned, rubbing her tattoo. “Don’t tell me I have to let you out to pee.”
It nudged her. “Later,” she said, then grimaced at the word. Something small landed on the bed, like a drop of rain. Then another. She opened her eyes when one landed an inch from her nose. A red M&M.
She jerked to a sitting position and searched her room. The Elemental stood in the doorway holding a bag of M&M’s. “Fergus, what are you doing?”
A cat jumped on the bed.
She sighed out loud. “Oh, just one of the kitties.”
Except the kitties were freaked out by her now. And the reason they were freaked out pushed hard against her, urging her to Catalyze.
So she did.
And the kitty turned into a demon.
“Holy hell.”
She was pretty sure it was a demon, though it looked like a man. Sort of. Its skin stretched unnaturally across its cheeks, and its eyes were solid black with a white retina. That he wore clothing, baggy jeans and a white T-shirt made it seem more surreal. And oddly, even creepier than the subhuman demons. Now she saw the shadow Cyn had mentioned. A harbinger then.
“No. This is supposed to be over,” she said.
It giggled. “Nope, not over, dearie. Play with me. My name is Selwig.”
Was Magda behind this? But Dragons couldn’t summon demons.
Selwig reached toward her in some kind of weird gallant gesture, and she bit its hand. It hissed at her, or maybe it smiled and air leaked out between its rubbery lips. Either way it sent chills scurrying across her scales.
“Ooh, playing hard to get, are you?” it said, now definitely smiling.
“Very hard to get.” She shot out a stream of fire spikes.
It ducked out of the way, but the skin on its arm bubbled in the heat. “Thanks, dearie. I needed a tan.”
“Then allow me to oblige.” She Breathed out again, obliterating the demon in a fireburst. When the flames cleared, its entire body was charcoal.
Selwig surveyed itself. “I bet you’re a terrible cook.” It disintegrated into a pile of ash that re-formed into a creature that just plain looked demonic. “Maybe you’ll like me better this way.”
“Dark green skin, bald head, and those mesmerizing eyes. How can I resist?” She Breathed flames again, but he danced out of the stream.
“Think I’ll go rare this time.” God, it was having fun, giggling, moving its hips back and forth as it taunted her. A moving target.
She narrowed her eyes and sent another blast, singeing its arm. It blew on the smoking skin in quick bursts. Before she could nail it again, Fergus jumped on its back. “No!” she shouted, as its small but razor-sharp talons sank into the demon’s shoulder. Selwig reached back with a growl, but Fergus jumped off in the nick of time. Before she could send another Breath, the demon flew at her, clamping onto her neck and sinking its teeth into her.
She tried to wrench it off, but it grew spikes that lanced her hands. Blood dripped from her palms and fingers when she jerked them back. She had to get this thing off her. Its fangs pierced through her scales and into her muscle, close to the kill spot Cyn had described. Pain shot from the puncture right up to her head. She thrashed, smashing it against the wall again and again until the leech fell onto her dresser. It leaped to the chair. She banged her fist down on it, cracking the chair but missing the demon that had jumped away.
“What, no more giggling?” she asked. Her reflection in the mirror showed a trickle of blood down her neck.
“No, now you’re just pissing me off.”
Fergus darted forward and took a nip before the demon could spin around to face it. While they sparred, she crept up behind Selwig and lunged. It morphed into a dragon, nearly as big as her.
What the hell?
Well, of course, if it could look like a cat, it could look like her. Exactly like her, other than the white eyes. It rushed forward and rammed right into her, sending her tripping over the broken chair and onto the floor. It lunged down toward her, and she snapped at its snout with her fangs, drawing blood. Selwig jumped up and landed on top of her before she could move in the crowded space. It now had the weight of a dragon, nearly cracking her ribs. She threw it off, sending it crashing into the dresser. Pain rocketed through her body as she tried to get up.
Hunter/Prey. She needed to get the demon off guard. Fergus waylaid Selwig, then paid the price by being tossed across the room. Ruby remained on the floor and tried to look terrified.
Selwig came close, eyeing her throat. “Well, dearie, this has been fun, but it’s time for me to end this dance.” The demon flexed its fingers, readying its sharp claws to finish her off.
“No,” she pleaded. “Please.”
The moment it leaned close, she clamped her mouth around its neck. Her fangs sank through skin, muscle, then crushed bones. Black blood squirted. Selwig screamed in agony. Its body sagged and then it evaporated in a puff of dust. She jerked upright and searched the floor. Nothing remained to re-form into anything else.
Fergus jumped up and down and made happy sounds. Before she could even sigh in relief, magick prickled through her. She whipped around to the doorway of her ruined room, feeling the spikes on her back rise.
Cyn stood there, feet spread, body rigid, as though ready to Catalyze. But he was very human. He slowly clapped his hands together. “Very nice. My student has learned well.”
She remained Dragon, adrenaline coursing through her, hoping to use it to intimidate him into going away. Of course, he didn’t. She thrust her head at him, snarling, nudging him hard enough that he had to take a step back to keep his balance.
He didn’t look the least bit intimidated. In fact, he reached out and stroked her cheek, as though she were a horse. Damn it, her Dragon purred, leaning into his touch.
Ruby Catalyzed to human and changed into the first shirt and pants she could find in the debris. “How did you know I wasn’t really injured?”
“I could sense your energy. You looked afraid, but you felt pissed off.”
“It’s disturbing that you can feel me like that.” She narrowed her eyes. “I thought this was over!”
His tight, stretchy shirt molded to his chest as he lifted his hand to the room. “It’s not, as you can see.”
“But why? How? We killed Darren, and Magda can’t summon demons.”
“We assumed that Darren was the mastermind. But something didn’t feel right. I went to Fernandez, my former boss, and asked for Mr. Smith’s description. Not Darren. So it appears that we’re stuck with each other for a while longer.”
“But I handled the demon all by myself.”
“You did indeed. It was gratifying to watch.” The embers in his eyes flickered. “Deeply satisfying, in fact.” He blinked, dousing the embers. “Unfortunately, when this one doesn’t report back, Smith may send more. You’re not equipped to handle more than one yet. We do this together, just as Brom’s prophecy says.”
With an impatient huff, she stepped over the broken pieces of her chair and pictures on the way to the living room. The demon had been through her things, moving pillows and even the coffee table. She found Brom’s book in a different place than where she’d left it and opened it to the latest entry. “There’s a new picture. Oh, great, a big monster with three heads. So that part of Mon’s story wasn’t his literary license.”