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“I didn’t get a mating dance.” I bumped his arm. “I think you’re more the preening type.”
“I have many skills,” he said with that utterly confident drawl of the shifter prince.
I heard a rumble, automatically glanced at the sky. It was clear, the moon an embiggening crescent, and I figured it was just the bikes roaring down the road. For reasons I didn’t understand, louder bikes were better bikes where most shifters were concerned. Thelma had more of a deep purr, which I appreciated.
“Does anyone else smell garlic?” Alexei asked, and his stomach audibly rumbled. Alexei was an omnivore’s omnivore and seemed to find pretty much everything digestible.
“Pizza,” I said. “Or maybe pasta.” Gastronomic obsessions were as immortal as vampires.
“Weird either way,” he said. “Vampires being freaked by garlic is a tradition.”
We reached the gate. A human guard waved me through, and we started down the sidewalk toward the House’s front portico.
“Yikes,” Lulu said, wrinkling her nose. “That’s not garlic.”
A hot breeze stirred, and I could smell smoke... and the sulfurous tang of brimstone. It was like evil had exhaled across the House’s lawn.
I put a hand on the handle of my sword.
“Lis?” Connor said.
“Demon,” I said, and everyone went on alert.
That rumbling sound tumbled across the neighborhood again, and this time the ground shook with it. Light cast from the House’s windows shifted as chandeliers shook inside; Connor took my free hand.
Another rumble. Another vibration, and the House itself seemed to waver, like the image on a screen with a bad connection.
“What the fuck?” Alexei murmured.
There was a crinkle of sound, like crumpling paper. No, I thought with horror—as yellow flames suddenly flared where the House met the ground and began to climb the stone—like the snapping of a fire. In seconds, the forks of fire were crawling upward, more like grasping fingers than actual fire. But there was no heat. Only the smell of char, of sulfur, of demon.
I looked around and didn’t see Rose. Wherever she was working, she was staying hidden this time. But the magic was undeniable. This was demon magic. Not just enhancing chaos, but active and purposeful. But what was she doing?
“Get help!” someone called. Maybe one of the guards. “Call 911!”
I knew that wouldn’t help. The brick wasn’t singed, and the shrubs around the House hadn’t caught. This wasn’t fire—or at least not as we understood it—so water wouldn’t extinguish it. A sword wouldn’t slice this. A shifter couldn’t claw it back. A sorceress might have been able, but Lulu didn’t use her magic.
“Mom!” Lulu screamed, and tried to launch forward as the magic reached the second floor. Alexei grabbed her arm, pulled her back toward him, even as she screamed to be loosed. “Let me go!”
But he held her tightly, bound his arms around her to keep her safe and out of the magic’s reach.
She wouldn’t have made it anyway. In seconds, the House was wrapped in those magical flames, and the entire House flickered again.
For a moment, I’d have sworn there was no House at all.
Then I felt the pull, like something had reached into my body and was trying to draw my bones into the maelstrom of magic. I instinctively braced my knees and sucked in a breath, trying to fight back against the tug of power.
It took a moment to realize the magic wasn’t grasping for me, but for monster. Even though I stood outside the House, themagic somehow sensed monster’s presence and was trying to draw monster into its domain. Maybe because of the connection to my mother’s sword?
Monster had no interest in being dragged. It reeled back inside me, as if trying to squeeze itself into a secure corner. The magic didn’t care about its wishes, or the fact that monster was bound to me. Suddenly, it was yanking my entire body forward, dragging me toward the flame-wrapped House. I bore down, my boots digging furrows in the dirt as I tried to scramble back and out of its grasp.
“Elisa!” Connor yelled my name. He jumped forward, grabbed my arm; Alexei took the other.
“Shit,” I said, kicking against grass and pulling on their arms as we fought—all three of us—against the strength of it. The power of the magic was tremendous; the pressure intense enough to roar in my ears.
“Not a fucking chance you’re getting sucked in there,” Connor said, sweat popping on his forehead as he strained to hold me back.
“Apologies in advance,” Alexei said, and jumped around to straddle my legs, holding me down to keep me stationary. Changing the center of gravity gave Connor a chance to get a better grip.
