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"Get the fuck out of there! He's got a stake!"
Menol y didn't respond but instead leapt nimbly up on the railing and then over the side. The demons fol owed her, vaulting over the railing to meet her on the ground. Meanwhile, Smoky had dropped two Tregarts already, but three surrounded him as he fought his way down the front steps. Roz was grappling with a bloatworgle over by Camil e's herb garden.
I waded into the fray, taking a running leap to bound over the railing and land on the ground near Menol y. Before he could turn around, I ran my dagger through the back of the Tregart carrying the wooden stake. He let out a yelp. As I pul ed Lysanthra out, I twisted her, and that did the trick--he dropped the stake and fel to his knees, struggling to get up. Menol y gave him a kick to the jaw, and he went over, moaning. The other demon stared at us, looking for al the world like a Hel s Angel with bad hair, but beneath that leather jacket there beat the heart and the soul of Demonkin.
Camil e disappeared into the house, and I wondered where she was going, but I couldn't focus on what she was doing. There were stil too many demons, too much danger standing beside me.
Smoky took one down, and then Roz final y got on top of his bloatworgle by stuffing one of his magical bombs down the creature's throat when he opened his mouth to breathe fire. The resulting inferno caught a nearby rosebush on fire, and Smoky swung around and let out a long breath, and an icy mist settled down over the flames, calming them.
In the dark of the night, il uminated by the lights from inside the house, al was chaos. I caught my breath and turned to help Menol y with the remaining demon she was facing. Together, we managed to corner him, and she ripped at him with her fangs while I sliced him cleanly between two ribs.
There was another noise, and I turned in time to see Wilbur, racing around the house, chasing two bloatworgles who were running for their lives. Whoa.
Whatever he'd done had put the fear of magic in them--rare, because bloatworgles usual y didn't scare easily--and they raced right toward us, their shouts echoing through the night. Rozurial dove out of their way as Smoky let loose with his talons and Morio engaged the other. They raged away while Menol y and I turned on the last Tregart.
I ducked in back of him, and when Menol y gave him a good kick that sent him flying toward me, I held out Lysanthra, and he landed right on the tip of her blade. His weight sent me reeling, and I landed hard on a rock in the crook of my lower back, with him on top of me. He was stil , and I felt the flow of his blood spil ing over me from the wound.
A moment later, al was quiet. I grunted as Menol y yanked the body off me and helped me up. As I wiped my blade in the grass and turned, I realized our front yard looked like a war zone. It was hard to count how many bodies there were in the dark, but the smel of blood, thick and metal ic, rose to choke my lungs.
"Crap, that was nasty. Iris was right--we have to post guards here now. I hate this, but we can't leave the place unprotected. Speaking of . . ." I stood up and looked around. "Where is Iris?"
"She's not in the house," Camil e said, slowly coming onto the porch. She was holding Maggie, who rested against her shoulder. "I looked everywhere, and she's not in there, guys."
"Fuck--turn on al the outside lights."
"I'l check the studio." Roz raced like Hel herself was on his heels, over to the studio. He adored Iris. We al did.
Tril ian motioned to Morio. "Come with me, and we'l check the wild patch of woods out back." They hurried off.
Smoky said nothing but was away, heading toward the front perimeter of the land. I whirled and grabbed Menol y.
"Come on, let's check the trail down to Birchwater Pond." As we raced toward the tree line, I prayed under my breath that we'd find her. She'd be okay; everything would be fine. "She has to be," I whispered, as I caught a glimpse of Arial, on the astral, running beside us.
"Where could she be hiding?" Menol y stopped at the trail mouth, eyeing the path. "Would she be off path, or on?"
"Off, I guess. Let's just cal her out. It's safe to do so now." I cupped my mouth with my hands like a megaphone and shouted, "Iris! Iris! It's safe to come out! Where are you? Are you okay?"
"Iris!" Menol y started cal ing, too, heading down the path. "You go off path to the left, and I'l head down to the pond. Iris!"
I climbed over the nearest tree trunk that was blocking the path and headed into the woods. A thought crossed my mind, and I pul ed out my phone and cal ed Vanzir's cel we'd bought for him.
"We took them out, but it was tough. You can bring Amber back now." I hung up as something caught my eye. Something sparkling, resting on the ground. I began to smel scorched earth amid the moss and mildew-thick forest. As I hopped over another tree trunk, then ducked under one that rested at neck height, I saw it. On the ground, a wand. Silver, with an Aqualine crystal.
Iris's wand. And what was it doing out here, without her?
CHAPTER 21
"Menol y! Get your ass over here. Now." I knelt by the wand and ran my fingers along the scorched ground next to it. As I brought my fingers to my nose, I could smel Demonkin scent . . . bloatworgles. Had to be. Had they kil ed her? If so, where was her body?
"What did you find--oh fuck." Menol y stared at the wand. "The ground's been charred."
"Go get Camil e and tel her we need her to do a spel of finding right away. And I cal ed Vanzir, told him to bring Amber back." I sat on one of the deadfal s, not caring that my butt was cold and that the continual drip of the boughs was hitting me and running down my col ar.
Where are you, Iris? What happened to you?
This was al turning into one big mess. How the hel were we supposed to deal with everything coming at us? Had this been retaliation for our actions against Jaycee and Van? We'd trashed their lab, trashed their shop, and put an end--at least for the present--to them producing Wolf Briar. As I sat there, staring at the wand, my phone rang. I flipped it open.
"Delilah, get back up here to the house. Carter's here. We have another situation." She hung up.
