She’s not safe now, but having her out of the room gives me a small measure of peace. If that monster wants her, he’s going to have to go through me to get her.
I’m not going to let that happen.
I’ve only just laid my hand on the hilt of a dagger when another bang sounds and the door behind me bursts open.
I flip around, letting the dagger loose without warning. It sails end over end and embeds in the demon’s shoulder. But she doesn’t even flinch.
Like some sort of unfeeling cyborg, she reaches up and yanks the blade out. A spurt of blood shoots from the wound, pulsing once before slowing to a steady flow down her arm, telling me I must have at least nicked an artery or vein.
Guilt hits me hard, cold and immediate. The humans this demon keeps possessing are innocent. A wound like that could very well kill her within minutes if the blood isn’t stopped. But the demon doesn’t care about its vessel and allows the blood to run freely.
“Where’s the girl?” the possessed woman says, her voice low and distorted.
“I already told you, you have the wrong room,” I say, even as fire coats my fists.
The woman’s head jerks in the direction of the bathroom. A smile twists her features as her gaze locks on the door separating her from Haven.
Anger, and a wave of possessiveness shoots through me and I rush her, determined not to let her get a single step closer to Haven.
We collide and I take her to the floor. But almost as soon as her back hits the carpet, she throws me off with inhuman strength. I fly across the room, smashing into the dresser, breaking it into pieces. I’m stunned for a moment, but lumber to my feet in time to see her reach the bathroom door.
Panic shoots through me and I throw out my hands. A stream of fire erupts from my palms, hitting her in her good shoulder hard enough to make her stumble.
I’m there in only a few short steps. Grabbing her, I fling her across the room, away from Haven.
She hits the wall and crumples to the floor. Her ankle is bent at a ninety-degree angle and there’s a gash on her forehead that’s leaking blood down her face.
“Becks?” Haven calls, and the bathroom handle starts to turn.
“Stay there,” I order, not taking my eyes off the demon-possessed woman.
She doesn’t stir, but that doesn’t mean much. If she were merely a human, I’d think she was down for the count, but she’s not.
There’s a demon fueling her.
Sure enough, her eyes pop open. Orbs of black seated in a red-painted face stare back at me as she gets to her feet.
The sound of bones cracking as she puts weight on her broken ankle makes me wince, but she doesn’t show any signs of pain as she limps forward, her face and one whole side of her body drenched in her own blood.
I’m making a plan as she nears, stoking my magic for one powerful blast. I’m not supposed to shift near humans; it’s the one rule the Order is fastidious about enforcing—keeping the existence of creatures a secret—but I don’t care anymore. I need to keep this monster away from Haven.
I’d shift right now, but the room is too small, so I get ready to hit the woman with a blast of my fire and air magic, and send her through the window. I’ll follow after in my dragon form and finish her off, but suddenly the woman wobbles, and then falls to her knees.
A look of pure rage distorts her features as she tries to struggle to her feet again, but her human body finally starts to give out.
The demon might have supernatural strength, but the human is clearly near death.
I feel a pang of remorse for the woman. She doesn’t deserve this. But the wave of anger toward the demon controlling her swallows the sadness.
The human’s body finally gives out and she collapses, falling to her back.
I inch forward, keeping my magic close to the surface. I’ve seen enough horror movies to know about the double-tap.
From the ground, the demon looks up at me through the woman’s black-shrouded eyes, hate radiating from them. “She’ll be mine one way or another. You’re only prolonging the inevitable.”
Those words bind around my heart and squeeze, causing pain to shoot through me.
“She’ll never be yours,” I growl.
