Demons (Darkness #4) (5 page)

“The last time these
mongrels
offered aid,” the Boss said in low, hate-filled tones, “they whimpered like curs and ran, leaving
us
to deal with it. There is no way I’m leaving holes in the defense. This is easily settled with them leaving now before the demon is released.”

The breath left Sasha’s body, a brief flash of
compassion covering her face. Just as quickly, it was gone; business.

“The pack before me consisted of a loose band of scared individuals,” Tim argued. “Our kind don’t do well in that setting. I stepped up, disbanded the old regime, and instilled the new order. We aren’t cowards, and we do not back down. He’s working with haunted memories, no matter how potent. Like a child.”

The Boss flexed, probably hating that comment. His gaze flicked toward the warehouse, deciding. Probably realizing it was a hopeless argument with Sasha in control. Finally, he glanced at Sasha without a word.

Picking up the cue immediately, her gaze shifted to the warehouse. “We’re out of time.
”

A strange black mist billowed within
the building, creeping out of the broken windows. If not for a glossy sheen containing it, that stuff would’ve been spilling out onto the street. In the middle of the door, standing on two clawed feet, with long, stringy arms ending in another set of claws, stood a ghastly creature that could only be a demon. It was just as vile and terror-inspiring as Charles had always heard.

It stared at Sasha.

“That black mist is not my magic,” Sasha whispered, squinting at the warehouse. “I don’t know what it is, but it’s not me.”

Strange sounds erupted from the gnarled and twisted thing, deep and scratchy. The
Boss stepped right to Sasha’s side, scary as all hell, ready to protect her with his life. Charles stepped up, too, ready to be her backup line of defense, or her first line of defense—whatever she needed.

“Yeah, right,” Sasha answered the thing
. Charles felt his magic stir. She was calling the elements. “Plentiful rewards, right? You creeps are all the same. Although, I gotta admit, you are way scarier than the other ones.”

Charles felt a cold hand on his shoulder. A pale arm and
a flat, blue stare was attached. “We must link. She cannot work the demon on her own,” Toa said, an urgency in his gaze Charles had never seen before.

Charles’
balls started to tingle in warning. Toa freaked out couldn’t be good…

“Is she talking to it?” someone asked in a terrified whisper.

“Who else?” Dominicous asked Toa, his face a stern mask of determination, not unlike the Boss.

“I thought she didn’t know how to link?” Charles asked hurriedly, aiming for a steady tone
. He didn’t really know how, either. He’d only done it in class a million years ago, and that had been under calm conditions, with him already pegged as the clown in class—he didn’t have to be serious. This was…different. Unstable. Lives depended on it this time.

“Maybe I should just use my sword,” Charles murmured as Sasha took a step toward the thing in the doorway, still staring at her.
Still talking to her.

“Hurry!”
Toa pushed.

The Boss grabbed Sasha’s arm, pulling her into his body. His sword swung out,
white with a gold frost, the effect of taking her blood. Within their line, glowing swords came up in a rush, the Boss’ readiness an unspoken command. Orange, red, and one green flashed; this crew was packing some power.

Toa shook Charles, knocking him out of uncertainty.
“Link, damn you! We are out of time. She is already feeling out the magic attached to the demon!”

He felt a tickle of magical touch as Toa’s hand on his bare arm heated up. “I am ready to engage the link. You must reach out to accept it—keep the pool of magic central.”

What the hell does that mean?

Charles took a deep breath and pulled a balanced mix of elements. He felt the energy reaching for him, jagged and sticky. Like threading fingers, Ch
arles linked his magic with Toa—surprisingly easier than he expected. Energy swirled between the two of them, yanking at Charles, then pushing.

“Keep it central,” Toa said again, his brow furrowed in concentration.

Charles clenched his teeth and wrestled with the flow of elements, trying to move his pool of magic away from his body and along the invisible line of the link between him and Toa, like shoving it out along a tightrope. Their combined effort steadied, shaky but manageable.

“Phew, that wasn’t so bad,” Charles reflected, too soon.

“Dominicous,” Toa said in a monotone.

A blast of power surged through the link
from Dominicous, shoving way too much magic Charles’ way. He wrestled again, trying to keep it from infusing him and shell-shocking his body. It tried to force its way in, though, tingling along his skin like hot needles, singeing and burning. Too much—it was too much magic!

“Central
ize it, you fool!” Toa yelled, his hands balled in fists, sweat standing out on his face.

Charles squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated with everything he had, trying to force it back out along that tight rope.
Trying to breathe through the crushing weight of all that magic; trying to rip off his skin and flash-burn his bones.

Inch by inch it went, back to the middle. Balanced, as much as it could be, seemingly hanging out in the air
, waiting for Toa to dip in and use it. So much power. So hard to deal with.

Charles longing
ly grabbed the handle of his sword as Dominicous asked, “Who else?”

“More?” Charles couldn’t help the whine. This was way out of his league.

“We only need three of high level,” Toa said calmly, once again staring at Sasha. “She is already analyzing the magic.”

“Let Toa handle the chants, Sasha,” Dominicous commanded in a firm tone.

She didn’t acknowledge. Her gaze was locked on that demon, body bowed slightly, brow furrowed.

The demon stared back,
its too-large mouth filled with gnarly teeth, grinning manically, always talking. Rasping out incoherent words as she stared.

“Yuck, you’re gross. Lots more powe
r than the other ones. But…” Sasha took a few unconscious steps in its direction, as if working out a tough math problem. “You’re a runt, aren’t you? You aren’t all the way here, or something. You’re…practice.”

“Stop her!” Toa shouted as
the Boss pulled her back. She didn’t notice any of it.

Which was not like her.

Magic swelled, dragging Charles attention away from Sasha, the power wobbling within the link between the three of them, the bubble of power starting prickles up Charles’s arms.

“Focus on the link, Toa, Charles is inexperienced. He is drawing the power to him in his protectiveness.” Dominicous stepped forward,
up beside Sasha and the Boss, facing the demon. “We don’t need him passing out before he can be of use.”

The link trembled, the center of magic yanking toward Dominicous.
Toa’s forehead beaded in sweat.

“Let it
loose, Sasha. Let me handle it,” Toa instructed.

The thing had started making those hor
rible sounds again. Like a blade scraping across decaying bones. Black mist spread out along Sasha’s magic. Pulsing. A smell of burning hair drifted from the warehouse.

“Oh yeah, I’d
get to lead until you got free,” Sasha spoke to the demon. “Lot of good vast riches and mind-blowing power gets me, since you’d just suck my power dry and kill a bunch of people. Nah, I think I’ll just kill you.”

Power surged in Charles, Sasha unconsciously bolstering him as she always had in classes.
They didn’t have a link, but they had a deep connection through friendship—she always had him in her unconscious bubble. Except, this time, he wasn’t excited about the extra magic.

The link wavered, the extra push
from Charles battering toward Toa.

“I cannot maintain this balance with the two of you drawing inconsistently,” Toa yelled.

Tim stepped closer to Sasha as he pulled off his sweats, ready to change. Knowing it was coming soon. Whatever happened in the past, Tim was not one to run away, and he was proving it.

“It could be sucking the magic out of her right now,” Toa warned. “It uses speech to enact a kind of trance.”

“It’s not,” the Boss growled, still holding her. “She’s not expending any energy right now.”

The thing started its grating again. Sasha
waved her hand through the air. “Right, well, banishing you out of your mobile form might as well be killing you. And guess what, ugly, you aren’t real mysterious. Your creator was practicing—I can see that now. You’re an experiment gone wrong. You’re no stronger than a messenger, isn’t that right? All I have to do is…”

“No!” Toa shouted.

The sheen around the building cleared away in an instant, that black plume of smoky vapor spilling out onto the street. Charles could feel it, sucking at him, draining his energy and power even before it touched his skin.

It tumbled forward
as the creature surged, rushing, aiming directly for her.

The Boss tossed her behind him, bracing in front of her. Dominicous
stood right beside him, sword out, knees bent. A quick blur and blast of magic, and suddenly a Kodiak bear lumbered in the place of Tim. A huge roar rumbled the ground. Bursts of magic lit around the circle, various animals taking the place of their human counterparts. Growls, shrieks and barks sounded a battle roar.

“Cut it down!” the Boss roared.

Glowing swords swung out, three males running forward to cut off the charge. And not a moment too soon.

The mani
acally grinning demon reached the first line of defense as the ranks closed in behind it, locking it in a circle of glowing tattoos, swords and fur. A claw struck out with a blur of movement, swiping the midsection of a male with green power. Three gapes in leather bubbled forth a sludge of red, the claws cutting through leather and skin like fingers through foam. Another demon claw swung out, catching a furred arm. The demon snarled, legs whipping out, catching someone on the thigh as a red blade swooped down into the melee.

Magic and metal cut t
hrough a thick demon hide, a sizzling swirl of smoke rising from the wound. The howl battered through the street, hate and rage filled. Claws lashed out, downing one male and one wolf.

“No!” Sasha yelled
, dagger yanked from its holster. The blade was burnished gold, dimming fast.

“Do not lay that spell, Sasha!” Toa commanded with strain in his voice, his face pale, his hands fisted.
His legs wobbled where he stood, trying to balance magic and work it at the same time.

Charles stepped forward, but staggered in a wave of dizziness. Magic pulsed and pus
hed, yanking at him one minute and pushing the next, threatening to overcome him. Threatening to blast him with more than three times what he could safely handle.

“Include the Boss in this link—he can balance this,” Charles said through clenched teeth.

“Hurry, Toa,” Dominicous said, knuckles white around the hilt of his sword.

“She is working—something,” Toa
replied with strain lancing his words. “She is laying intricacies she doesn’t understand. She is in survival mode.”

A male went down, rolling away. Three steps had the demon
halving the distance to Sasha, faster than thought. Claws swinging.

Shit.

Charles staggered forward, skin on fire. Magic scored him like razor blades. Sweat drenched his face.

So this is what the warning stages of magic shock felt like.
Now he knew why Sasha wanted to hold back more often than not.

“Almost…” Toa went down on one knee, yanking the magic away from Char
les. Trying to keep it centered. Trying to split his focus. To play Superman.

Dominicous stepped forward with
Stefan, shaky on his feet, ready to combat the demon regardless of the magical balance in which he teetered. Another roar shook the ground from the bear, followed by one from a massive tiger.

A quick wave of fear crossed the Boss’ face before determination rushed back in. He stepped toward Tim, cutting him off, trying to cover the hole he thought Tim would leave
if he got scared and ran. As he did so, he left a gap…straight for Sasha. The creature saw it, saw her, right before Dominicous slid over, covering the path to her with his body.

“Focus, Stefan. Focus on
her
,” Dominicous yelled, somehow bracing for that galloping, clawed, grinning monster. Also playing Superman.

“She laid the spell.” Toa
went down to his knees. He wavered, his brow dipping low over his eyes. Then his eyes closed. Hands met concrete.

The magic in the link w
hipped wildly, stabbing Charles before ripping away nearly completely. Then back. Toa hung his head, struggling for control. Struggling with a spell so intricate Charles was lost.