He didn’t know if he’d killed it, but at least the damn thing was going away. Soon the demon was invisible, nothing but white smoke, then gone.
“Ryder!”
Ryder pivoted at Angelique’s warning tone and raised his daggers, but too late. The demon was on him and grabbed him by the throat, shoving him back against the wall.
Trapped and his breath cut off, Ryder struggled for air and fought to break free. The demon had his arms pinned against his sides so he couldn’t raise the daggers to stab the monster.
Shit. White spots flickered in front of his eyes. He was losing consciousness, felt himself weakening as his airway was cut off.
He didn’t have much time left, nor the strength to fight the demon.
Where was Angie? He closed his eyes, trying to summon the last ounce of his strength, but the demon was too strong.
Then the demon abruptly released its hold around his neck. Ryder sucked in massive gulps of air, blinking to clear his field of vision. As soon as he could focus again he took in the scene in front of him, certain he had to be delusional. What he saw couldn’t be right.
Angelique was behind the demon, both hands wrapped around its throat. Her fingernails were embedded in its neck, blood pouring from where she had wounded it.
The demon wasn’t struggling. Instead, it stared at Ryder, wide-eyed with shock. Then it turned to mist, vanishing within an iridescent cloud.
Now all he could see was Angelique, her hands still held in the same position they’d been when she’d attacked the demon, her fingers covered with its blood. Her long nails-no, they looked like claws-reformed into her normal short ones.
Holy Christ. What the hell had just happened here?
He took a step forward. “Angie.”
She wore no expression on her face, as if she were looking straight through him. It was like her mind was somewhere else.
“Angelique.” He reached for her arms, drew them down to her sides. “It’s over now. The demon is gone.”
She blinked. Looked up at him. Her arms began to shake, then the rest of her, and he knew what was going to happen. He slid an arm around her waist just as she crumpled. Her eyes swept closed, her head drooping against his shoulder as he eased them both to the floor.
Thirty seconds ago she’d been a warrior.
Now she was out cold.
And he had a million questions about what he’d just seen. Because no way could a normal human woman kill a demon with her bare hands. No matter how strong her fingernails were.
Besides, Angie had short, stubby fingernails. The ones she’d embedded in the demon were like two-inch claws. And after she’d pulled them out, they disappeared.
He picked up her hand. So small and delicate, yet covered in blood.
He rubbed his fingers across her skin, wondering how such a small woman could have kicked that demon’s ass.
Did Angie have demon blood in her? Or did something else happen to her in that cave in Australia? Wasn’t that part of what he’d been sent to find out? She’d just exhibited some kind of superpower, definitely. Evil. . not that he’d noticed. She’d killed a demon, then passed out. She hadn’t taken that long-clawed fury out on him, she’d taken it out on the demon. That was a good sign.
And the new demons. . interesting breed. He had to report to Lou about them. Strong, seemed to be able to survive the silver-tipped daggers, though he was able to make one disintegrate if he could get the dagger in deep enough.
Trial and error. Fun stuff. If he didn’t get killed in the process. He’d like it a lot better if he could just shove his fingers in their throats like Angelique had done. He wondered what that would feel like.
Just the thought of killing them that way gave him an adrenaline rush. He hated to admit it, but he envied Angie’s ability to destroy the demon. He had to rely on weapons.
Angelique stirred. He looked down at her and she raised her lids, her inky lashes lifting to reveal confused eyes.
“You passed out,” he informed her.
She sat, reaching for her head, but stilled when she saw her bloodied hands. “Oh, God. What did I do?”
“Don’t you remember?”
She nodded. “Wait. Yes. I. . killed that thing. I did kill it, didn’t I?”
“Hell if I know. But it disappeared after you stuck your nails in its throat.”
She looked pale. “Mon Dieu.” She pushed away and started to stand. Ryder got up first, then helped her. She was still a little unsteady on her feet.
“I’m all right. I need to wash my hands.”
She wasn’t all right as she weaved her way to the bathroom and turned on the water. Really hot water. She washed, taking a brush to scrub the blood from her hands until they were clean. Through it all, she remained silent. He did, too, knowing she had to go through the process. Some didn’t handle a kill well. He waited to see how Angelique was going to deal with it.
He’d bet Angie didn’t know any more about what she’d done than he did. She seemed to be as surprised about it as he was.
After she dried her hands, he helped her to the sofa, though she seemed to be strengthening more and more with each passing minute. He went to the fridge and got them both something cold to drink. She took several gulps of juice before placing the bottle on the table.
“Thank you. I was dry.”
“You’re welcome.” He studied her, looking for any other changes in her. Nothing. She looked and acted just like the normal Angelique. Normal facial features, no fangs, fingernails still normal. Her eyes were clear, though confused.
“I have no idea where that came from, Ryder. The demon went after you and this. . feeling just came over me.”
“What kind of feeling?”
“Anger. I saw that thing grab you by the throat and I was furious. I stood right in front of it, weapons in hand, and instead of coming at me, it skirted around me as if I didn’t exist and headed straight for you.”
Ryder resisted the urge to smile. “It pissed you off that the demon didn’t come for you?”
“Hell, yes, it did. It went after you with a vengeance, as if you were the only threat. What am I? Week-old moldy lasagna? I’m not without skills, you know.”
He snickered at her taking offense at not being attacked by the demon. “Darlin’, I appreciate your thought process, really. And thanks for coming to my defense. That bastard had me by the throat and my arms pinned. I couldn’t get at my weapons or slash at him.” She’d saved his life.
She shrugged. “I have no idea what I did. It was as if something took me over. Almost like flipping a switch inside me. I felt this burst of anger, then an incredible surge of immense power. I was on autopilot after that. Is it dead?”
“I think so. At the least, it’s gone.”
“Good enough.” She looked down at her hands. “So now I suppose I’ve added to your problems.”
“In what way?”
“You have to figure out what happened to me to make me like. . that. Do you suppose touching the black diamond in Australia did something to me?”