Alex dove into the fray, biting legs and taking people out at the knees before grabbing them around the neck. He hit hard and fast, and they barely had time to lift their hands to lay a spell on him.
“Alex, with me!”
He listened, ranging behind me as I cut into the coven members. Though they may have been expecting us, they sure as hell weren’t prepared.
Or so I thought.
The woman in the center arched her back and I dove through the bubble into the center of the pentagram with her. While it would keep me safe for the moment from the witches outside the circle, it brought me face to face with—
“Oh fuck,” I whispered, for the first time really seeing the woman at my feet. Her long blonde hair and tattered blue dress.
I bent and grabbed her arm as the demon started to pull itself through the pentagram.
“Amelia, get up!” I yanked her hard, unable to be kind in that moment.
“Rylee, this is a dream. What’s happening? Don’t touch me!” Her blue eyes were confused, but I didn’t have time to explain anything, certainly not that her world was about to be flipped upside-down.
“Stay back.” I didn’t recognize the demon, but it was ugly, like a hound with three sets of wings sprouting from its back and the jaws of an alligator. Fucking hell.
I stayed between Amelia and the demon, and from the corner of my eye I saw Alex get to those witches with collars. He knocked one down, ripping the collar off. He was thinking about the long term, which was good. If we could get the captive witches un-collared, then they might be able to help. Or at least, they wouldn’t be forced to attack us. Alex was thinking, unlike my idiotic self.
The demon hound lunged at me and I spun to one side, coming down hard with my sword at the base of its neck. The blade dug deep, but the hound just laughed as the sword stuck and ripped from my hand.
“Stupid, stupid, little Tracker. Your hate is sweet on my tongue.” To emphasize, he flicked his tongue out and curled it up and around his nose, dipping it into the oversized nostril.
I didn’t hate my mom. But my mom sure as shit hated me, and that hatred was feeding the demon.
“That’s not me you’re tasting, you fucker.” I pulled a short blade from my lower back and held it out in front of me. “That’s her hatred, and that’s why I can do this.”
I dropped the knife and put my hand out like Erik had done, laying it on the demon’s face. Every good memory I had of my mom, the sweet moments in the past, I relived: baking with her, the feel of her hands on my hair as she braided it, the joy of seeing her smile at something I’d done well.
The demon hound howled and curled back from me, scrambling to get away, but it was too late, the damage was done. He lit up from within, like a lightning bug, going still as a statue and then exploding into nothing more than dust. Red and bone-colored dust, but still just dust.
The bubble around us dissolved and the sounds of fighting beat down on my ears—blood-curdling screams and the groans of the ship as it took stray hits.
“Stay out of the way,” I yelled over my shoulder at Amelia as I bent to scoop up my blade. Or at least, I tried to.
My second sword was jerked out of my grasp, the blade skittering along the floor and into the hands of a witch I didn’t recognize. He was of average height, bald, and he wore a very nice suit. Not Gucci, but nice, the cut flattered his body. A bubble of fear trailed up my throat. The witch didn’t scare me, but the demon possessing said witch, that one I did know all too well, and he was more terrifying than any coven. Of course, that didn’t stop my mouth.
“What the fuck, Orion, you thinking you can speed things up?” Shit, shit, shit. Bert had been wrong, Orion wasn’t going to wait on killing me, and we were going to end up dying because we stupidly believed the gods-be-damned doppelganger demon. I faced him, the chaos raging around us, Amelia cowering behind me.
“No, no, not at all, my dear. Things have changed. I’d like to help you survive a little longer, though you do seem intent on pushing the boundaries of your life at every possible turn. You see, you have something I want very, very badly. Especially since you have spirited away little Zane. He would have been perfect. But I think the irony of what I have planned now is much, much better.” He smiled, perfect white teeth that could only have been gained through expensive dentistry and thousands of dollars flashing at me.
“Go fuck yourself.” My hand gripped my whip and I wished to hell I hadn’t dropped my smaller blade. Sure, it wasn’t much, but it was something. Better than nothing, which at that particular moment I wasn’t far from.
Orion let out a sigh. “I can’t stay long to play, that is the downside of being me, I suppose. But”—he lifted a finger—“I realize this coven is no longer working for me as I wish, and I no longer have a use for them. Too unruly. Unlike our precious Milly.”