Darius growled. “I know what you are, demon. You’re not supposed to be in the mortal realm.”
The man—demon—laughed. “But here I am. And guess what, I didn’t escape the underworld alone. Others are hunting down the rest of the warriors of Anubis. We’re going to get rid of you all.”
Brisa screamed as the demon went on the attack, his sword moving so fast she could barely track it. Miraculously, Darius countered with the same speed. She stood, watching mesmerized, unable to move, as the fight began in earnest.
To her, Darius and the demon seemed evenly matched, but then Darius lost some ground, bringing the pair of them closer to Brisa. She walked backward until her back hit the gate and she stood in a bit of sand that had worked its way under it.
Growls continued to rumble out of Darius as he blocked each hit. He seemed to push the demon back a bit. She held her breath when a gold knife appeared in his other hand and he tried to slip it past the demon’s guard. His opponent ran his sword across Darius’ forearm before he kicked the smaller blade out of his hand. It landed close to Brisa’s feet.
“Your dagger won’t work on me, warrior. It was made only for the mortal evildoers you hunt. But this, on the other hand,” a dagger Brisa hadn’t seen him holding was thrust into Darius’ side, “was made specifically to take you out.”
Darius grunted in pain as he looked down at the dagger sticking from between his ribs. He dropped to his knees, his sword slipping from his fingers. He blinked his eyes, as if he were having a hard time seeing or staying conscious.
The demon laughed cruelly. “Right about now, you should be weakening. The blade is as spelled as your gold one. And from looking at you, I think it’s doing its job. Now all I have to do is finish you off.”
Brisa didn’t think, she just acted. She bent and picked up Darius’ gold dagger with one hand and a fistful of sand with the other. As the demon moved in to make his next strike, she threw the sand in his face, hitting him in the eyes. He cried out and staggered back a step, wiping at his face. Only thinking to protect Darius while he was down, she shifted closer to the demon and cut him across the cheek. He swung at her, knocking her to the ground.
She lifted her head, tasting blood in her mouth where he’d struck her, and saw Darius lurching to his feet with a loud growl. He went after the demon, all teeth and claws. Taking sword cuts to his belly and thigh didn’t deter Darius from trying to beat down his opponent. At one point, Brisa thought Darius was about to take the demon out, but just before he could make the final strike, the demon disappeared. His disembodied voice said, “I’ll be back, warrior, to take out you and your mortal bitch.”
Shaking all over, Brisa saw Darius sway on his feet. He let out a groan before he collapsed on the ground. She let out a shout and ran to his side. What fear she’d felt for him was now gone. The demon scared her more. Darius had done everything he could to protect her.
She knelt beside him and dropped the gold dagger. His eyes were closed. “Darius.” When he didn’t stir, she tried again, louder. “Darius! You have to wake up. I can’t get you into the house by myself.”
Thinking the worst when she still didn’t get any kind of reaction, she held her hand out in front of his muzzle. A puff of warm air hit her palm with each breath he took. Brisa sighed with relief.
Needing to rouse Darius, she took hold of his shoulders and shook him. He groaned. “Come on, Darius. You have to wake up.”
He finally opened his eyes. “Brisa?”
“Yeah, it’s me. We have to get you in the house.”
“The demon.”
“He’s gone. For now. Let’s get you on your feet.”
She grabbed his hand and stood before she slowly pulled him up in a sitting position. Getting him to stand proved a little more difficult. He was so much bigger than her. By the time she managed it, with his arm around her shoulders and hers around his waist, she was breathing hard and her muscles were shaking from the strain.
Taking the time to only retrieve the two weapons, she steered Darius toward the back of the house. They stepped through the door at the kitchen, which Darius had left unlocked. That was as far as he made it. He stumbled, then fell. Brisa was forced to let him go before he dragged her down with him.
Chapter Eight
Still huffing and puffing, Brisa sat on the floor next to Darius. “We’ll rest for a bit, then try to get you upstairs.”
“No. Too far,” Darius said. “Take the dagger out. It’s making me weak. I should heal after that.”
She swallowed. “You want me to pull it out?”
“It’s the only way.”
Brisa stood, then crossed over to the light switch and flipped it on. While she was at it, she opened drawers until she found the one that had clean tea towels in it. She snatched up a few and returned to Darius.
She knelt, her gaze taking in the spots where the fur on his body was matted with blood. She swallowed past the large lump that formed in her throat. “If I pull out the dagger, you’re going to bleed, a lot.”
“Do it. Won’t heal unless you do.” Darius’ voice sounded weaker. His eyes kept trying to close.
Taking a deep breath for courage, Brisa gently wrapped her hand around the hilt of the dagger. She counted to three, then gave it a hard yank. It made a wet, sucking sound as it came free of Darius’ body. He growled. She dropped it to the floor and quickly wadded up a tea towel and pressed it to his side as blood seemed to gush from the wound. She continued to apply pressure, waiting to see his wounds heal as Darius said they would.
She started to feel concerned when the first towel became totally blood soaked. The second she reapplied was quickly doing the same. “Darius, I don’t think you’re healing.”
His head rolled toward her. “I’m not. Need help. Have to talk to Anubis. He can…” Darius passed out.
Brisa shook him several times, but she couldn’t rouse him. “No, no, no,” she said, a chill running down her spine. Darius continued to bleed profusely. At this rate, he’d bleed out.
Concentrating on what Darius had said before he’d lost consciousness, she remembered the small room off the living room that was dedicated to the Egyptian god, Anubis. Darius had said he had been praying to the god. Maybe he’d actually spoken with Anubis.
Desperate and ready to try anything, Brisa surged to her feet and ran to the living room. She whipped open the door to the other room inside it. Not sure if this would work, or that Anubis would actually hear her if he truly were real, she cleared her throat.
“Anubis, help me. Please. Darius needs you. I think he’s going to die if you don’t. There’s so much blood.”
Brisa held her breath and waited. Then just about jumped out of her skin when a voice filled her head.
Tell me what happened, Brisa.
“You know my name,” she squeaked. Brisa felt another presence in the room with her. Holy shit, she was actually talking to an Egyptian god.
Anubis chuckled. Yes, I know your name. Darius told me about you. Now what has happened?
“Darius and I were on the beach when he suddenly shifted into something half human and some kind of animal. Then a demon appeared and they fought. Darius ended up stabbed in the side with a spelled dagger that is making him too weak to heal. I can’t get him to stop bleeding. I’m afraid he’s going to die if you don’t help him.” Brisa’s breath hitched on the last words.