Page 216 of Bedeviled

The creature crashes into me, knocking me to the ground. I grunt at the impact, hitting the soft floor of the magical road.

I manage to shove my forearm up between us as the demon snaps his teeth at my neck.

“I’m going to eat you, then your soul, and then I’m going to fu⁠—”

With my free hand I slam my fist into his jaw.

Curses! I shake my hand out as my knuckles throb. That hurt.

The demon shakes his head.

Before he has time to recover, my familiar leaps on his back, his claws unsheathed as he tries to drag the demon off me.

“Nero!”

With a growl, the demon reaches around and grabs my familiar by his neck and throws him down the tunnel.

I hear my familiar yelp.

Then it all. Goes. Red.

I dive for the demon, my power exploding out of me, and the two of us roll.

He slashes me across the face once, then twice. I can feel my blood drip down my skin, and it’s rolled into my mouth, but wrathful as I am, I cannot taste it.

“You do not ever fucking touch my familiar.”

I punch the demon—once, twice. Fury the likes of which usually belong to Memnon now rises in me.

The only real magical rule when it comes to demons is that dark magic is useless against them. That, if anything, it can fuel their own power. But there’s nothing against physically maiming a demon, and there are countless spells that don’t utilize dark magic that are still helpful to me.

The demon squeezes my neck, his claws piercing my flesh.

Dark spots cloud my vision.

SELENE!

The two of us roll again, and I’m now beneath the creature.

He laughs a little as he stares down at me, a little black blood dribbling from his lips.

I bring my knee up between us, but my foot is trapped at the wrong angle.

Choked as I am, I cannot voice my incantation, but I can still press my intention into my magic.

I gather the shreds of my power, and I move my hands to the demon’s chest. My mind homes in on the first spell I ever spoke, way back in Rome.

GET OFF ME.

My power leaps from my hands, blowing the demon back.

His body perfectly hits the rift in the ley line, and it’s as though the realm beyond has a magnetic pull. First it drags in his feet, then his torso.

“No,” he growls. He glances behind him, and whatever he sees beyond makes his eyes widen. More desperately, the demon repeats, “No!”

I stand. “Enjoy hell, asshole.” Lifting my boot, I slam it into his face.

The demon loses his grip. I hear his horrible, wrenching scream as he’s sucked in, and then he’s gone.