“Observe you and report back everything we saw,” Neva answers in an almost apologetic tone. “Gina was responsible for most of it since she had better access to you.”
Bile climbs up my throat as I recall all the times I felt like I was being watched, and all the times I dismissed Gina’s glares as nothing to worry about because she no longer had any power. I felt the warning signs and ignored them, and now my guys and the whole student body are paying the price.
When we reach my car, I nab my car key out of my bra, unlock the doors, and shove Neva inside. Sliding into the driver’s seat, I grab my phone from the center console and call Mildred.
She picks up on the second ring, worry already invading her words. “Darling, are you okay?”
“No,” I answer truthfully, my voice cracking as what I have to do and whom I must face sinks in. “Demons are attacking the school dance, and we need help.”
“I’m on my way,” she responds immediately, her tone confident and compassionate. Her voice promises I’m not alone, and she’ll protect me, but no one can protect me from this.
“I’ll see you soon,” I lie and hang up before the full truth spills from my lips.
As I start the car and peel out of my parking space, Neva grips her seat and looks at me in confusion. “Why didn’t you tell her about your father?”
The tires chirp as I gun it out of the parking lot. I grip the steering wheel hard enough for my knuckles to turn white. “Because if anyone is killing that bastard, it’s going to be me.”
Chapter 16
Donovan
Waves of demons continue to pour into the auditorium. Some have supernatural host bodies, others are humans from Twin Cedar Pass, and then there are demons who haven’t bothered with hosts at all. Apparently, they don’t fucking care if they go back to hell as long as they can take me with them. It’s like every page of my books on demons have come to life in some bizarre final test—except it isn’t just my life on the line.
Nolan does his best to keep the undead vampires off my back. He doesn’t have the ability to kill them unless he tries to saw off their heads with the dagger I gave him, but he canbe a pest. As the only one of us who can keep up with their super speed, he slashes their hands, arms, legs, backs, and bellies anytime they attempt to attack. With blood splattered all over his expensive suit and dripping down the dagger in his hand, he looks every bit the dark predator that’s part of his nature. The veneer of civility is shattered, and in its place is the reason why vampires are a power to be reckoned with all on their own.
Despite Nolan being the one with super speed, Connor moves like the wind. Multiple demons try to attack him atonce, but their swipes meet air right before they are round housed onto the ground and disemboweled by his sharp claws. There’s a detached sense of calmness to his movements as he systematically flows through each enemy, his alpha powers radiating with each of his practiced strikes. He’s been a wielder of death since adolescence, and this is just another battle for survival.
The members of Connor’s pack who attended the dance are fully shifted, and they have surrounded the remaining survivors in a tight, protective circle in the middle of the auditorium. There are yelps of pain and furious growls as they bite and claw at any demons who try to get through them. The humans are terrified, just as fearful of their protectors as the demons trying to kill them. Rand half shifts to his human form, and what’s left of his formal clothes falls off his body. He tries to reassure the humans that the shifters are here to protect them, not to eat them, but that only leads to more screaming. Wincing, he shifts back to his wolf and launches at another demon.
Flashes of offensive and defensive magic come in surges as young witches do what they can. Individual demons burst into flames under the chants of fire witches standing on top of half closed bleachers. Air witches weave between the wolves, throwing out their arms and catapulting attackers out windows or slamming them into walls. Sharp icicles of frozen punch fly from the snack table with moderate accuracy as water witches try to chant and dodge incoming attacks.
The ground trembles as fissures crack the lacquered wood floors. Whips of tree roots climb up through the gaps, wrapping around various demons’ legs and dragging them back into the earth. Each time one tries to crawl back out, the dirt turns to quicksand, and they sink like stones in water.
“Eat dirt, asshole!” Mei shouts from her position near the main entrance, burying another demon under a mountain of mud.
Clearly not trained for combat, the witches are both the strongest and weakest allies on the battlefield. I spent so many years not giving a damn about a single one of them. As far as I was concerned, every fucking member of that coven was an uncaring asshole who was complicit in Gina’s bullshit. Now every cry of pain from the still living or the empty-eyed stare of the dead feels like a personal failure to protect them.
In the midst of assessing the battlefield and trying not to die, I notice the distinct lack of a particular warrior witch. I’m sure Callie was right behind us, but she’s nowhere to be seen. The night sky, which is visible through the broken skylight, is clear and bright under the full moon, without even a hint of approaching storm clouds or hurricane-grade winds. Not only is Callie not here in the auditorium, but she’s also nowhere near the school. She would never abandon innocent people who need her help, and she damn well wouldn’t abandon us when we’re fighting for our lives, unless…
“Felix!” I shout his name like a curse as I sidestep the taloned strike of a fury demon, quickly dismissing my wings before he can slice through them. Using the blade in my left hand to hook his arm, I drive the enchanted dagger up underneath his ribcage.
Shock, followed by a moment of terror, fills the demon’s burning red eyes. Pure white light shines through hairline cracks in his tough skin, radiating from the puncture of the dagger. As I draw the blade from his gut, the light consumes him until the corrupted soul is wisps of unearthly smoke, leaving nothing left to send back to hell. That makes cleanup much easier.
“What about Felix?” Kaleb shouts from his position behind me, cutting an incubus in half with his broadsword. Both sides burst into blue flames, and like the fury demon, there’s nothing left.
I leap on top of a distracted undead vampire, slamming it into the ground before driving the magic dagger into her heart. “Callie is missing. So is Felix.”
Kaleb grunts as a demon possessing the school coach runs headfirst at him, only to be skewered on his sword. “You think Felix is in trouble, and Callie went to save him?”
Ducking under a flying table that shoves a bunch of demons into a trap of roots and dirt, I spin to slice the Achilles tendons of a kitchen knife-wielding possessed human. “It’s the only reason Callie wouldn’t be here.”
A grim expression pulls at Kaleb’s features as he stabs the wounded demon in the back. Unlike the undead vampires or pure demons, there’s a scream of agony as the possessed soul burns, leaving an empty corpse. Well, that’s going to be harder to cover up.
His blood splatter wings disappear, and he uses the back of his wrist to wipe away more blood from his face before it can drip into his eyes. “Then we’ll keep fighting to save as many people as we can and trust Callie to help Felix.”
“The question is…” I hiss with pain as a clawed demon hand slashes across my ribs, cutting through my suit jacket, dress shirt, and undershirt.
Blood slowly drips from the cuts, but I have no time to worry about it. Stabbing in a sideways arc with the non-magical blade, I catch the demon in the lower back. It roars in pain, taking a step back as it tries to pull the blade free. The moment of distraction is all I need to plunge the magical dagger into itsgrotesque, sinewy chest. I rip the dagger out before it falls to the ground. This way, I’m at least still armed until I can retrieve the non-magical dagger from the demon’s ashes.
