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The girl spat. Mom pinned one shoulder with her knee instead, and lifted the sword over the girl's head. "You know what this is?"
The girl chortled. "Yes, but you cannot use it, angel, or you will kill the child."
"How did you get inside her? The Berithian Treaty forbids demonic possession of children--"
"Treaties are for cowards. The Tengu are not cowards."
"How did you possess humans at all?" I said. "Only full demons can possess living--"
"Nothing is as it was. Everything is as it should be. Or soon will be."
"Forget the how," Mom said. "We want Jaime Vegas. The woman you were chasing."
"We know who we chase. Tengu are not fools. While the others pursue chances, we wait and we watch for opportunity. Then we strike."
She lunged, teeth sinking into my arm. Mom hit her with an energy bolt. She let go and fell back, screaming.
"You hurt the child," the girl whispered. "You hurt the child."
"Yeah, well, you know what would really hurt the child?" Mom put her other knee on the girl's shoulder, then wrapped both hands around the sword and leveled it over the girl's chest.
"You will not," the girl chortled. "I know you will not. It is
forbidden for your kind to kill an innocent."
"Who said anything about killing?" Mom lowered the sword to the stomach and used the tip to pluck up her shirt. Then she lowered it within an inch of the girl's bare skin. "All I need to do is cut a hole big enough to rip you out of there. Skewer you on my sword and you're trapped."
The girl closed her eyes. When she reopened them, they were blue again. She looked up at Mom.
"Wha--what? Wh-who are you?" She saw the sword and screamed.
"Nice try," Mom said.
She lowered the tip until it brushed the girl's skin. The girl let out a howl of pain and terror as the skin blistered.
"Pl-please," she sobbed, looking at me. "Don't let her hurt me."
I hesitated and my grip loosened. The girl pulled one hand free and I lunged to grab it, but she only clasped my arm, fingers shaking as tears streamed down her thin face.
"Please," she said. "I don't know what I did wrong, but I'm sorry. I'll be good. Just don't let her hurt me anymore."
"Mom?" I said. "What if--?"
"Cast your spell again, baby."
I did. The girl squeezed her eyes shut and tried to hold in her shriek as the reveal burned through her.
"Like I said," Mom muttered, "nice try, demon."
She touched the sword to the girl's stomach. It blistered on contact, a fiery red splotch that made my stomach churn. Yes, blisters, a burn, maybe a cut--it would all heal. I'd think nothing of doing it to an adult. Only this wasn't an adult, and even if the child couldn't feel it now, she would once the demon left.
Mom caught my attention and cast a privacy spell so the demon wouldn't overhear.
"That's why they possessed children. I know this isn't easy, baby. It's not supposed to be. That's the point."
I nodded. My mother dragged the sword tip along the girl's stomach. No pressure applied, but the skin broke anyway, blood oozing up.
"You hurt the child!" the demon shrieked. "You must not hurt the child!"
