burned in its eyes.
72 | GAIL KOGER
My hands slick with blood, I dug out the healing potion and drained the bottle.
Energy flooded my battered body, chasing away every ache, every injury. Grabbing my
sword, I rose to meet the Hag Bat.
It lunged at me.
Off with its head. My sword sliced through bone and tissue. No sense wasting
good chocolate. I popped a piece in my mouth. Damn, that hit the spot.
Over the stupid wailing, I swore I heard a puppy whimpering. Maybe I was losing
it.
Another Hag Bat dived out of the darkness, its claws extended.
The puppy yelped loudly.
I raised my sword. “Tempore. Cuidam. De cruce.” Blue fire shot from the blade and
struck the Hag.
Whoosh! It burst into flames and crashed into a boulder.
“Ha! Gotcha!”
“Yip. Yip.”
The puppy sounded like it was celebrating too. I searched the shadows. Was it a
hellhound? Or something else? I spotted what looked like a ball of white fur.
I eased cautiously toward it. “Hey, little guy, I’m not going to hurt ya. Please,
please do not turn into some kind of demon spawn with big sharp teeth.”
It cocked its head and wagged a fluffy tail. It looked like a cross between a Maltese
and a Yorkshire terrier. And then, a deep-throated growl broke from it.
I froze.
The little guy barked ferociously at something in the darkness.
“What do you see?” My psychic senses finally kicked in. Oh, fuck. Some bad shit
was heading our way.
A horde of revenants shuffled into the light.
Oh, my God! “Grams, I need a little help here.”
CATCHING DRAGOS | 73
“More than a little. How could you forget the exploding demon spell? It’s one of the first
ones I taught you.”
And how many times had I been dropped on my head today? “Can we save the
lecture for later? Like when I’m not in danger of becoming dinner for a bunch of zombies?”
“Vel de alia contentum,” Grams huffed.
I quickly repeated the incantation and boom! Zombie guts everywhere. And I do
mean everywhere. Yuck. I knocked a piece of brain off my shoulder.
The little hairball of a puppy grabbed a finger and started chewing on it.
“No! No, baby. Icky. We don’t eat zombies. Spit! You heard me. Spit.”
The little guy whined pitifully.
“I know you’re hungry, but that rotting mess of flesh will make you sick.”
It dropped the finger.
“Good baby.” I held out my hand and crooned, “Come here. C’mon, come to
momma.”
It crept toward me.
I knelt down. “What are you doing in this horrible place? Where’s your momma?”
“Momma dead,” she sobbed in my mind.
Okay. Definitely not a normal dog. “I’m so sorry. My name is Mariah. What’s your
name, honey?”
“Xero.” She laid her head on my knee. “Don’t like it here, Myee.”
“It’s Mariah, not Myee, and I don’t like it here either.” I gently petted her silky fur.
Xero shivered. “Leave now?”
“Soon. Very soon.”
“Scared, Myee.”
I sighed. Myee? What the hell. “I promise I’ll kill anything that tries to hurt you.” I
cuddled her against my chest.
74 | GAIL KOGER
She licked my hand. “I belong you?”
“Yes, you belong me.” I kissed her head.
Fabian suddenly demanded, “Who are you talking to?”
“Xero.” I flashed him a mental picture of her.
“Put it down. Now!” Fabian demanded.
“No. She’s scared.”
“It’s a demon.”
“You don’t know that,” I countered.
Fabian shot back, “There are no dogs in hell.”
“Are too. They’re called hellhounds.” That had come out a bit childish.
“That creature is not coming with us.”
“Her name is Xero, and yes, she is.”
Xero piped in, “Who he?”
“That’s Daddy Fabian.”
“He belong you?”
“Yes. He’s mine.”
“Damn right I am, and I’m not that thing’s father,” Fabian replied angrily.
“Don’t be a total dick. She’s a baby, and there is no way I’m leaving her here.”
“You’re not being rational.”
“I know. It’s called PMS,” I put in blithely.
Xero cried pitifully, “No leave me!”
“It’s okay. It’s okay, sweetie.” I stroked her shivering body.
“The child stays with you,” Grams stated in outrage.
My dog-hating hunter growled. “No—”
My headache suddenly got worse as Serafina invaded our minds, cutting Fabian
off. “We protect children, not abandon them.”
CATCHING DRAGOS | 75
Fabian uttered a curse in a language I didn’t know. “Fine. She comes with us.”
“Smart man.” I stood as a hot wind kicked up the dust and the wailing grew in
volume.
Xero sneezed. “Why they cry?”
“‘Cause they live here.”
“The king comes. The king comes. Asmoday is here!” the voices yelled insanely.
“Fuck.” I stuffed Xero in a pocket. “Be very, very quiet and don’t come out until I tell
you it’s safe.”
“Demon-snake hurt Momma.” Xero snuffled.
“Did he? Paybacks are my specialty.”
“Me like paybacks.”
“We’re going to get along fine, kid.”
Torch after torch abruptly flared to life, casting an eerie orange glow over a
bloodstained sacrificial platform. Thousands of skulls and bones littered the floor.
The presence of death grew overwhelming. Grief, rage, hatred, and a fierce desire
for vengeance slammed into me. The dead wanted payback, and as the Judge I was just
the girl to give it to them. I was also one hell of a ghost whisperer. “Gallice material
transferm est quaedam.”
The bones trembled on the floor.
“Good move,” Fabian whispered in my head.
“Why, thank you.” I clung to his presence, surprised at how much his simple touch
eased my fears. The damned blood bond really worked. Fabian was nearby and ready
to pounce on any demon that threatened me.
A raspy hiss of a voice taunted, “The hunter cannot save you.”
Boy, was the demon-snake in for a big surprise. I gave a girly little yelp and spun
around. My jaw dropped when Asmoday crawled into the light. The fucker was the size
of a garden snake. “You’re itty-bitty.”
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“Once I eat your virgin heart, I’ll be restored to all my glory.”
“I. Am. Not. A. Virgin.”
The little bastard bit my leg and spat out the blood. “Your blood has been
corrupted.”
“Hallelujah. At last he sees me for the slut I am.” A sudden thought struck me.
“Wait a minute. If your power is kaput, how in the hell did you open a portal?”
Asmoday grinned, showing off his nice sharp teeth. “I trapped Gader’el and took
his power.”
“Grams, what’s a Gader’el?” The image of a seven-headed horned dragon formed in
my mind. “Hmm. How hard would it be to free him?”
“Difficult, but Serafina and I have a plan. How long can you keep the wimpy demon king
busy?”
“Long enough,” Fabian answered.
I shivered at the sensation of cadaverous fingers brushing against my face. My
army was ready. More than ready.
My shadow warriors frolicked gleefully behind Asmoday.
“Miraculum sepulcrum ibidem solus noverm.”
Skeletal limbs abruptly tore through the ground and wrapped bony fingers
around Asmoday. He roared in fury.
With banshee-like shrieks, hundreds of disembodied skulls flew out of the
darkness and attacked the demon king.
“Now is the time to pray,” Grams said.
Fabian appeared out of thin air. Hmm. He could do a “nobody’s there” illusion
spell too?
“Glad you could make it,” I said.
With a wary glance at the struggling demon-snake, Fabian pressed a cross into my
hand and wrapped his arm around my waist. “Together?”
CATCHING DRAGOS | 77
“Together.” As one we recited, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's
sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;
for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
Asmoday’s furious howls rose in volume.
“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest
my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all
the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”
Fireflies danced in the darkness. Our grandmothers’ magic rocked.
With a thunderous cracking boom, a seven-headed dragon appeared. Chomp! He
ate Asmoday.
“Well, that was quick.”
Gader’el’s sulfurous yellow eyes surveyed us for a moment. “Do not return.
Desopsuit de cruce.”
Poof! We were back at the circus.
78 | GAIL KOGER
Chapter Eleven
I let out a giddy laugh. “We’re alive! God almighty, we’re alive.”
“Yes, we are.” Fabian’s lips claimed mine with a kiss so carnal it shook me.
I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Who said romance was dead?”