Love Your Entity(72)
Ronan grabbed her arm and held her in place. “What the hell?”
Sierra tried to kick out and managed to get one foot free but it went through something she couldn’t see but could feel. It was some sort of putrid plasma that wanted to suck her in.
“Don’t let me go!” she frantically told Ronan.
“Never.” He pulled her closer but it was as if she was mired in quicksand. Ronan went full vamp. She could feel his strength increasing along with his fury. “Release her!” he roared.
For a moment she was afraid she’d be pulled apart, like a wishbone at Thanksgiving or a prisoner locked in a medieval torture dungeon. Suddenly, without warning, she was released. The sucking noise as she pulled her foot free confirmed her fearful realization that she’d nearly been taken in. Her foot was covered in black slime.
That did it. She turned on her side and threw up. “Get it—” Barf. “Off.” A dry heave. “Me!”
Ronan slid his hands under her thighs and lifted her in his arms. In the blink of an eye, she was downstairs in the basement.
“You’re safe here,” he said.
He set her on top of the washing machine and turned on the water from the laundry tub. Gently reaching for her feet, he shifted them so the water rinsed away the slime. She watched it slide down the drain. What if it came back up again? She shimmied back, almost falling off the washer.
“Close the drain,” she shouted. “Use the plug!”
Ronan did.
“It could return.”
“Not here,” he said. “We’re in a secure area.”
“Since when?”
“Since Damon secured it. He’s a vampire Demon Hunter.”
“Was that a demon?” she asked unsteadily.
“It may have been.”
Sierra wrapped her arms around Ronan’s neck and rested her forehead on his shoulder. Tremors continued to grip her body.
He ran his fingers through her hair, trying to soothe her. “I’ve got you now.”
“Are we interrupting something?” Damon asked from the stairway. Zoe was right next to him
“Something tried to grab Sierra,” Ronan said. “It may have been a demon.”
“What did it look like?” Damon demanded.
“It was invisible to me,” Ronan said.
“Me too,” Sierra said, releasing her manic hold on Ronan and sliding to the floor to stand on her own two feet.
“Did it speak?”
“No,” Ronan said.
Sierra shook her head.
“What happened to your foot?” Zoe asked.
The slime was gone but the moldy dark color was back.
“Shit!” Sierra was so light-headed she thought she’d crumple onto the cement floor.
Ronan scooped her up and set her back on the washer. Unfortunately there was no comfy chair or couch for her to recline on. In fact, there was no furniture down here at all.
“We washed the slime away,” Ronan told Zoe. “It went down the drain. Sierra is afraid it might come back.”
Zoe moved close and studied Sierra’s foot for a moment before saying, “I’m going to do a protection spell for you. Is that okay?”
Hell yes. Sierra’s lips trembled too much for her to speak the words out loud so she nodded instead.
Zoe began reciting the spell.
By forces of day and spirits of night
By solemn vow and powers strong
When evil lurks or harm be in sight
Be you safe from all evil forever long
A puff of sulfur-smelling smoke popped the plug off the drain.
“That’s a good sign,” Zoe said. “It means the spell disarmed the demon power in the sink.”
“What about my foot?” Sierra said, holding it out.
“Give it a minute,” Zoe said.
Sure enough, the moldy darkness disappeared.
“So let me get this straight,” Damon said. “Not only is Hal the ghost after you, but now some demon is as well?”
“Have you heard of invisible demons?” Sierra asked. “It was yanking me into some sort of plasma shit. I couldn’t see anything. Just feel it.” Another thought hit her. “Ronan said you secured this site yet there was some kind of bad stuff in that slime in the sink.”
“You brought the slime in,” Damon explained.
“And I got rid of it,” Zoe said. She slid her arm around Damon’s waist. “We make a good team.”
“Yes, we do.” Damon kissed Zoe briefly but intensely. “And to answer your earlier question, Sierra, there are rare instances of demon plasma consumption, where a demon force tries to suck its victim into a deadly invisible vortex.” He got out his smartphone and texted. “I’m contacting my sire Simon to see if he has more information on this phenomenon. He’s been doing this longer than I have.”