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As soon as it was down, I turned back to the carnage going on with the spellbound members of the Aleksais Psychic Network. Most of them were dead, and we were fighting a bloody and failing battle, just trying to keep the collateral damage as low as we could.
The spirit demons had filled the area, their shadowy figures haunting the lot. I glanced around, panicked. We were too few, and though the others were doing their best, because it took silver weapons to harm them, we couldn’t fight at our best advantage.
But there wasn’t time to focus on the big picture. Another pair of demons came my way. Luckily they were fresh and young. As I backed up, trying to gauge the best way to keep one at bay while I fought the other, the roiling clouds shuddered as a wave of thunder rolled through, rattling the ground. Lightning followed, a fraction of a second afterward—it was right above us, the storm; I’d called it in, perhaps a little too well.
As the afternoon sky shifted, thanks to the rising power of the storm, a jagged shard of lighting crashed to the ground and hit the egg dead-on. Since the lightning itself wasn’t magical, it appeared to do damage rather than help the demons. The remaining shell shattered, sending debris every which way. I was out of reach, but Delilah yelled, and I saw that she had several shards of the orb stuck in her arms. But she yanked them out, tossing them on the ground, and went back to fighting one of the spirit demons.
The smell of ozone trickled through the air, scorching my nose.
I turned back to my own opponents. They were bearing down on me, and I wasn’t sure just how I was going to manage keeping them away.
And then there was a howl from down the street, and the sound of running feet, and before I could react, a group of about twenty-five members of the Supe Community Council came charging in—all big, burly men with silver swords. Bear shifters and werepumas mostly, though I recognized a member of Marion’s coyote shifter clan. They rushed in, sweeping through to help us.
I found myself beside Jonas—a burly hulk of a man—well, werebear—with curly black hair, and a trim, neat goatee. He was an ex–football player, and he looked it. But he was also an ex-Marine, and he fought like it. I had no idea how he’d managed to hide his heritage in the service when the moon went full, but the question vanished as one of the spirit demons launched another attack at me. Jonas shoved me out of the way and lopped the spirit demon in half—right down the center—with a badass silver sword.
It occurred to me that there wouldn’t be any werewolves around—they had a problem with silver just like vampires, but none of the other Weres were allergic to it.
As Jonas finished off my second opponent, I stumbled back, tired from the constant fighting. I was used to battle, but using magic was different from fighting it out hand-to-hand. I was trying to clear my head when Smoky suddenly came rushing past, sweeping me up under one arm. I barely had time to let out a “Huh?” when two more spirit demons descended on the spot where I’d been standing. I hadn’t even noticed them coming.
He pulled me out of the fray, running me across the street. I groaned as he set me down next to another group of perhaps ten Weres. “Watch her. Don’t let her get hurt.” And then he was off.
I turned to find myself staring at Frank Willows, a werewolf who had recently taken on a bigger role in the Supe Community Council. He gave me a slow nod. Frank was an urban farmer and one of the good guys. We bought our pork from him and also some of the blood that Menolly kept around for reserves. Most werewolves didn’t like magic or vampires, and Frank was no exception, but he’d never been anything but polite to Menolly and me, unlike some of the lycanthropes we’d met. We were on friendly terms.
“Frank, what are you doing here? You can’t use silver.” I fretted. He, as well as any other werewolves, wouldn’t be able to defend themselves if the spirit demons crossed the street.
“Plenty of Weres here who can, though. Since Johnson called us up for active duty, and since I’m the leader of the Supe Militia, I felt it was my duty to come. Camille, you need to distance yourself from the battle. It’s not safe for you. Chase said those things eat magic, and you’re…filled with it.”
He was soft-spoken, even though his voice was a little gruff, and his apprehension made me smile. I’d faced, and defeated, worse threats than Frank could imagine. But I didn’t want to bruise his ego, or make him think I wasn’t grateful for his concern.
“I think we’ll be okay here. They seem to be making inroads now that we have your men helping us.” And it was true—the swarm of spirit demons was thinning out. In fact, I was able to count the number left from here, and it looked like only twelve remained. I had no clue how many we’d killed, but it had to be nearly seventy-five, if not more.
After a moment, I cocked my head and glanced back at Frank. “Dude, you said Chase called you?”
“Right. Johnson told me that Smoky said you guys needed fighters who didn’t use magic and who could land a good punch with silver blades. That’s all he knew. So I set the phone tree in motion and we called in all available men who could get here on the fly.” Frank let out a slow breath. “That dragon husband of yours knows how to wield a sword, that’s for sure.” He was staring at Smoky, who—for the first time, I noticed—was carrying a long silver sword. A wickedly nasty long silver sword with one serrated edge and one flat.
“Cripes, I had no idea he owned that.” I blinked. “I wonder if it was his grandfather’s?” Smoky’s grandfather had bequeathed him a great many treasures, and I wondered what else might be hiding, tucked away in Smoky’s treasure trove. But the sword was magnificent. It gleamed, even in the dim light of the storm clouds, and every time it hit against one of the demons, a pale blue glow would flash.
As the men continued mopping up the last of the demons, Delilah came trudging over, looking weary and covered with mud and welts.
“What happened to you?”
“The spirit demons tried to latch onto me, but I guess this is what happens when you don’t have much innate magical power. They left rows of bite marks because they couldn’t damage me on a psychic level. I guess the powers of a Death Maiden aren’t tasty enough for them.”
“Yeah, either that or…perhaps they can’t handle your energy because it’s connected to the Autumn Lord? Maybe that’s an avenue we should explore.”
“You might be right.” She nodded at Frank, an easy shake of the head, and dropped to the grass while we waited. I joined her, resting my head on her shoulder. “You okay?”
“I think so. I got hit a couple of times, and believe me—it’s jarring to have those things trying to suck out my energy.”
“Was it like when Vanzir…” Her voice trailed off and she arched her eyebrows.
I shrugged. Vanzir had tried to feed on me once, though to be fair, it wasn’t really his fault. We’d been under pressure, he’d been using his powers, and I was radiating so much magic that he’d been unable to control himself. I’d ended up fucking him to stop him from invading my mind, and that had led to another can of worms.
“A little…only with Vanzir, I knew he wasn’t doing it deliberately. These things are out to hurt—they’re out to destroy. And though the end result is the same, there’s definitely a different feel to it. I’d never liken Vanzir to the spirit demons.” I plucked a blade of grass and chewed on it.
“You might not want to admit it, but I guarantee you, any other dream-chaser demon wouldn’t show the restraint he does, and I have no doubt that they would be out to feed on you. Deliberately.” She shaded her eyes, trying to see what was going on. “Almost done, it looks like.”
“Maybe so, but Vanzir’s not just any other demon. He’s been a huge help to us, and he didn’t have to stick around once the soul binder vanished.”
