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As we walked inside the restaurant, I felt a buzzing in my ears. Then my skin began to crawl. Donna looked at me in question; she’d noticed it too. We sat down, and the waiter brought us menus. I looked outside and saw Sacha and Lilah pretending to study the menu in the window.
“Diane,” I whispered as she read the menu. “Don’t look up, but I think there’s a demon close by. Carry on as normal.”
She nodded almost imperceptibly. I observed the waiter who’d brought us our menus. Something wasn’t quite right about him. His eyes were glazed, and he had a vacant expression. Familiar. There were two other waiters, and they too looked more like zombies.
“Are these the normal staff, Diane?” Donna asked, still under the guise of looking at the menu.
“No. I’ve never seen them before.”
Sacha and Lilah entered the bistro and took the table next to ours. The waiters didn’t appear to realise what we were. Demons must have been close, though. Familiars couldn’t function without their masters being nearby.
“Guys. We have a little familiar problem.”
Salvatore responded right away. “We’re on our way. Are Sacha and Lilah with you?”
“Yes.”
“Be with you in a minute or two.”
Suddenly, the door blew inwards. The other diners didn’t appear to have noticed and carried on eating. It was exactly the same as when I’d been in The Abyss. I found this surreal, but then the demons had blocked their ability to see anything other than the norm. We stood, Lilah and Sacha at the front of us. Donna and I were on either side of Diane. Four demons walked in, hissing, and growling as their familiars came at us from behind.
“What, no Viktor?” I asked.
One of the demons threw back its head and howled with laughter. “We don’t need him, Hybrid bitch. You and your pathetic human can be easily destroyed by us.”
“The hell we can. You’re just stupid lesser demons. Not even fully grown. Your balls probably haven’t even dropped yet,” growled Donna.
I felt my fangs lengthen, and a feral sound rumbled from deep inside. Donna and I stood back-to-back, with Diane sandwiched in the middle of us while the familiars circled us. They made the most horrendous noises. A sound between a whine and a growl. It was close to the call of a hyena.
Sacha and Lilah had already engaged the demons. They moved with grace and slashed at the demons with their talons. I didn’t have time to keep watching as the familiars attacked our little party. They were attempting to get at Diane. That wasn’t going to happen. One leapt at Donna; she snapped its neck and threw it to the floor like a rag doll, already attacking familiar number two.
The other one stumbled towards me, its hands outstretched and holding a large knife. Its eyes were bloodshot, and saliva dripped from the side of its mouth. With lightning speed, it launched itself at me. Acting on instinct, I picked Diane up and placed her over the other side of the bar. These Hybrid powers were going to take a little getting used to. The familiar followed. I launched myself at it and kicked the knife from its hand. It howled with frustration, and I took the opportunity to slash at its chest and sink my fangs into its arm, unleashing my venom.
It screamed in utter terror as my toxins moved around its system. Familiars could be killed by one person, there was no need for the mate of the Hybrid to bite it too. I watched in fascination as it shrivelled into nothing. A scream from Diane caught my attention. Another familiar had appeared from the kitchen. I went to attack when something shot past me. Luca and Salvatore tore the monster to pieces after filling it with their venom.
I turned to see Antoine had also arrived, helping Donna, Sacha, and Lilah to finish off the other demons. I ran to assist when Luca pulled me back.
“They’ve got this, bella,” he assured me as the final lesser demon dissolved into dust.
Salvatore was holding a shaken-up Diane. Her face was white, and she was trembling. I pushed away from Luca and took her into my arms.
“It’s okay. They’ve gone now.” I held her close until her tremors subsided.
“You… you were so brave. You saved my life, Angelina.” Her tone was awed.
“I wasn’t about to let anyone hurt you.” I smiled.
“Looks like the women were doing pretty well without us.” Antoine grinned.
Sacha and Lilah rolled their eyes.
“We’ve been around longer than you, little boys. We know how to handle ourselves.”
Lilah’s tone was teasing, but she seemed sad to me. I wondered just how much older they were. Did this mean their lives would end soon if they didn’t find a mate? I didn’t know them very well, but I liked them both.
“They will find their mates. Don’t be sad.” Salvatore’s words were soft and soothing.
“We’d better get out of here before the diners see us. Now the demons have gone, their spell will soon wear off,” Sacha warned.
“I’m happy to make everyone lunch back home,” Diane offered.
Sacha and Lilah declined, heading back to their own territories.
“We’ll take a rain check. Too much excitement for one day. We’ll see you on Saturday,” said Donna as she picked up her purchases.
* * *
