Ashes(119)

"Where's Nora?" But then Harper saw her gripping a boulder, screaming as a red flame repeatedly lashed her. At any other time, Harper would have marched over there and dealt with the bitch herself. Right then, she could barely stand on her own. She groaned through her teeth as another spasm assailed her womb. "I am not having this baby here!"



Keenan scratched his nape. "I don't think leaving here is going to happen any time soon."



No, neither did Harper. The archdemon was out of control, drunk on power. She knew exactly how that felt, because her own demon had experienced the same invigorating, intoxicating, high. No demon came down from that easily, especially not one on a warpath. As for an archdemon on a warpath …  well, that was a whole other thing, and she wasn't equipped to talk it down. It had a habit of developing tunnel vision when it thought she needed avenging.



She'd managed to talk it down once in the past, but not before an entire building and a bunch of dark practitioners were destroyed. Hell, it had almost killed Tanner and Larkin that night, too set on getting to Harper and slaughtering those who'd taken her from it to really think. It couldn't happen again. It -



Harper froze at the familiar droning sound. Fuck. She spun to see that Nora had opened another portal and was reaching out to it with one hand. "Oh God, she's going to get away."



"No, she won't," Levi growled. He flicked a hand, and Nora's head suddenly slammed against the boulder. The portal disappeared with a pop.


      ///
       
         
       
        



Harper released a sigh of relief. She'd forgotten the reaper had a telekinetic ability. "Thank you, Le -" She cut off as she spotted the archdemon walking toward Nora. She was the only incantor still alive, Harper then realized.



The flame whipping Nora paused. Like a snake, it slithered up her body and contracted around her. Then it dived down her throat. Eyes bulging, she choked and jerked as more and more of the flame shoved its way inside her – no doubt searing, burning, and consuming everything it touched.



Agony blazed in her amber eyes and her face scrunched up into a silent scream, but Harper had no pity for her. None at all. And when Nora's body spontaneously combusted, Harper's demon grinned with pleasure and satisfaction.



She let out a long breath. It was over. They were all dead. The fire hadn't died, though, she realized with a frown. No, it was still blazing, fierce and furious. It was also spreading along the landscape, consuming the snarled trees and frail shrubs. The mist was gone, and now heat waves shimmered in the air. The archdemon turned away, apparently not done playing.



"Stop!" Harper shouted. "They're dead. Thank you. They're gone …  I need Knox right now. Let him come to me."



But it didn't. The demon walked away. The vortex was feeding its anger and ill-intent, she realized, and that was not at all good. "We need to get Knox away from here. This place … "



"I know, I feel it," said Levi. "But getting the demon to leave will be a big fucking job, and I don't think you're up to it right now."



He was right, but …  "I have to be." Harper sighed. "I guess I'm gonna have to fight fire with fire."



Larkin stilled. "What?"



Locking down on all her out-of-control emotions, Harper used the last of the dark energy within her to tap into her link to her wings. As Knox had taught her, she used it as a bridge …  and she called to the power waiting on the other end of it. The ground trembled and the air buzzed as, at Harper's will, flames of hell sprouted out of the ground in front of the archdemon. They acted as a barrier, got its attention. The demon tried to lower them but it couldn't, because these flames were answering to her, not the entity.



It slowly and stiffly turned to face her. Although there were no eyes, she felt it looking right at her. It knew what she'd done, and it wasn't happy with her. Then it stalked toward her, and she lowered the flames before her panic could send them out of control.

 

"Harper, get behind me," said Tanner.



She resisted his attempts to move her and instead stepped aside, putting a little distance between them, hoping another contraction wouldn't make her double over. "Don't be stupid. If it thinks you're trying to keep it from its mate, it'll hurt you – sentinel or not."



Tanner growled. "And what if it hurts you, huh?"



"It won't."



"Ordinarily, no, it wouldn't. But this place is feeding its anger and warping its mind. Right now, it's got vengeance on the brain, and you just pissed it off. What if it now wants vengeance against you?"