Monster was fully awake now and sent me flashes of instructions from angles that it, apparently, could see better than me. Slice left, dodge right,it said as the vines circled me. The help made up for the nagging.
I turned a moment too late to avoid one twisting stem, which roped around my left ankle. Even in boots, I could feel its demonic heat. I stepped on the vine with my right foot, brought my blade across the bit in the middle, and ducked just quickly enough to avoid being impaled by a glossy red thorn that had emerged from the tip of one vine. It was nearly a foot long and looked sharp as my katana. It whistled as it flew overhead. I sliced upward, spilling sap through the air. The lacerated portion of the thorn hit the ground.
I looked back. The demon’s mouth was empty, the vines now a bloody mess on the road. But the demon had more tricks.
I turned my body to the side, held up my katana, preparing forthe next strike. And flew through the air when something burst through the street, pushing up asphalt in huge, jagged chunks.
I hit the hood and windshield of a nearby SUV, my bones whimpering at the impact. And it took me a moment to get my breath again. I sat up, glanced back at the windshield, and found two grinning teenagers behind the glass. They gave me simultaneous thumbs-up, but before I could even appreciate the support, I was being pulled back down to the street. I hit the asphalt on my knees, the pain singing through my legs. A thick tree root, red as the thorn had been, was now winding its way up my arm from the rip it had made in the road. I twisted and wrenched my arm free, but another root grabbed me by the foot. Then I was on my back, and it was dragging me toward its portal.
I swore loudly, now fully pissed off. I usually tried to rein in the vampiric reactions around terrified humans, but they shouldn’t be confused about which one of us was the good guy. So I let my fangs descend and my eyes silver, and I didn’t mind when monster added its strength to mine. It might turn my eyes red, and humans—and demon—might see.
Let them. I could just blame it on demon magic.
Unfortunately, the angle was too awkward to use my sword, so I reached up and dug fingers into the root, using vampire strength and everything monster could offer me. That had the root’s grip loosening just enough to let me get purchase. I flipped to my feet, regripped my sword, and used both hands to drive it into the root.
The root writhed; the demon screamed.
So the demon could manifest and control a demonic tree root, but the connection ran both ways. Good to know.
I pulled out the sword, spilling more vegetal blood onto the roadway, and drove the blade into the root again. The demon let out another scream, this one nearly drowned out by the screamof approaching sirens; the CPD had finally arrived. I stabbed the root once more before looking up, and found the demon on his knees, dark tears streaming from his eyes.
I swung the fluid off my sword, stalked toward him, and dodged the blow he aimed at my head as he lurched up and forward.
“You get a choice,” I said, and raised my sword. “You sigil yourself back into the demon dimension”—I lowered my sword, pointed it at his heart—“or I slice off more of you.”
I’d have happily turned him over to the CPD if I thought there was a chance they could safely arrest him. But he’d already hurt people, and even if it managed to knock him out now, there was no guarantee he’d stay that way en route.
Hate boiled in his eyes. “You are no different from us.”
“I don’t hurt innocents,” I said. “And you’re running out of time. I don’t know what the CPD officers will do when they get here.”
I heard footsteps behind me, and held up a hand to hold off the approaching officers. “Stay back,” I called out, and didn’t take my eyes off the demon. “He’s going to do magic.”
“Roger that,” confirmed a familiar voice. Gwen Robinson was a CPD detective who specialized in supernatural issues; we worked with her often. And she was dating Theo. She stepped beside me, her athletic body tucked into a black pants and blazer. Her skin was medium brown, her curly dark hair was pulled into a tidy bun, and her eyes were all cop.
“Injured humans are that way,” I said, gesturing with my free hand.
“We’ve got them,” Gwen said. “And we have the demon obliteration spell ready. I’ve heard it’s…unpleasant.”
I wished that were a real thing, instead of Gwen’s very solid improv.
“You heard the woman,” I told the demon. “Get out or die.”
He bared his teeth, slick and pointed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. The power in those drops of blood, even from a few feet away, was remarkable. Some part of me—ancient and visceral—was tempted by them. But the vile scent of demon magic extinguished that interest.
Stone and concrete made grinding noises as roots slunk back beneath the earth, and gravel scritched as he reeled back in the remaining vines. They wrapped around the demon’s limbs before being subsumed back into his body. Then he drew a symbol on the inside of his forearm, magic glowing a sickly green-gold as his sigil branded itself into his skin. The smell—singed flesh and sour magic—was stomach turning.
That glow spread, became a magical fire that began to consume his body. He began to burn, to drift into fine, dark ash.
“I will make my way back,” he said before disappearing into a column of wispy smoke.
There was a moment of silence, and then the humans who’d stayed to watch—because, again, humans—burst into applause.
I blew out a breath, tossed a handful of salt onto the ground for good measure, and wiped the blade of my sword along my pants leg. It would need a good cleaning, but this would do for now.
Gwen came over, coffee cup in hand, and looked over the mess and destruction. “There’s not enough coffee in Chicago for nonsense like this.” Then she reached over and pulled a leaf from my hair, let it flutter to the ground.
“Thanks,” I said, and watched as CPD units worked through the puzzle of traffic to get vehicles moving again.
