Page 30 of Demon Demands

“Why don’t you sniff around and see if you can find out where Sloane and Palmer have gone?” I said to Briggs as he wiped the blood off of his face with the bottom of his shirt. “I’m going to go outside and see how Jack is doing.”

Briggs grunted in reply, bending slightly to look at me through narrowed eyes. “You okay, Fae?”

I sighed, digging my fingers into my right shoulder to ease some of the tension I felt. “Yeah. Just tired and hungry.”

Glancing around, I noticed a dark container that appeared to hold liquid, and I felt my thirst grow.

“Do you think it would be unwise to take water from a dead man? Uhm, water from a dead horde of demons?” I murmured to Stone.

Stone gazed thoughtfully around the room before answering. “The water should be safe. Just don’t drink the-”

I groaned, interrupting him. “Green beer, I know.”

As Stone walked away, I wiped the opening of the bottle with my shirt and placed it against my lips. The cool liquid was sweet, but it had a bitter aftertaste, and the more I drank the more I wanted.

I was feeling oddly dehydrated, draining the entirety of its contents before placing it back on the table and strolling out of the community room.

By the time I had made it to the top of the stairs, I could hear shouting from outside the tiny shack. Great. Hopefully it wasn’t more chaos. Maybe it was just an argument. Sloane and Jack fighting would be the lesser of two evils. I couldn’t handle any more physical fighting. I was as dead on my feet as Novak. The thought made me smile as I pulled the door open.

Chaos. Pure and simple chaos met me. Five giant scorpions surrounded the hellhounds. My mate and our friends were at the center of the pack.

I wasn’t in the mood for more bullshit, but my stomach felt warm and energy began to buzz through my body. Adrenaline made my heart beat faster.

Ice was a weakness for demons, and I could feel my energy reserves replenishing with my second wind. Careful to only hit the scorpions, I started slinging icy stakes from my palms.

The frigid pressure in my hands built and built until the frost from my power crawled up my arms to my shoulders. My eyeballs felt frozen, my breath fogged in front of my face.

Reaching over my shoulder for my new weapon, a thought occurred to me. I didn’t need to actually use it, I just needed to replicate it with ice. It took twice as long as making the icicles, but it looked so much cooler.

The ice trident grew in my hand, reaching seven or maybe eight feet before I cut off the flow of power and decided to use the weapon.

Taking aim, I threw my trident at the closest scorpion. It had a slow motion effect that caused me to watch my weapon sail through the air in snapshots.

My hands had tracers as I moved them around, slinging more icy stakes at the beady eyes of the scorpions.

The colors grew more vivid, making my eyes go wide with wonder. I wanted to close them, but I couldn’t look away from all the double images chasing the originals.

The scorpions were no longer just black. Like a 3D movie without the special effects glasses, multiple scorpions followed in a variety of colors.

The sky winked at me as the charcoal clouds shifted, creating stories that felt so meaningful, but the morals eluded me.

“Vaughn,” Sloane yelled, gaining my attention as she climbed to stand on Helios’ back. “Toss me one of those icicles!”

“I don’t have any popsicles.” I could have sworn Helios licked his lips. “All I’ve got is unflavored icicles, but you can have one.”

“What?” She looked so confused as she tilted her head like a cute little puppy. I could even see floppy ivory ears drooping down from under her silver mane. I wanted to rub my face on her hair. It was so soft, like silk sliding between my fingers. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fucking great. Just stay right there looking adorable and let me kill this purple scorpion thing.”

“The fuck is he talking about?” my beautiful mate asked Palmer. His facial hair looked inviting too. I'd bet it would feel like gentle prickles under my fingers. His magic was so awesome, mesmerizing me with all bright oranges and yellows as it shot out of his hands.

Sloane, Palmer, and Dolyn fought two scorpions as the hellhound pack split apart, half protecting Grim and an unconscious Jack. The other half circled another giant scorpion.

I’d already managed to kill one, but I couldn’t recall how it happened. Blood oozed from the monstrous arachnid, flowing across the ground in a myriad of bright colors. So odd.

I watched, fascinated, as the colors dripped right off the creature and mixed with the sand.

A breeze whispered against my face, humming a sweet lullaby that soothed my soul. I wanted to sing along, but there were no words. I glanced at the scorpion in front of me — the alive one — making eye contact.