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"You think that would stop us from coming back?" A black mage stepped forward in the morning light. Thank fucking Hades it wasn't the middle of the night when we came acrosshim. Magic snapped off of him, the air had the taste of ozone after a lightning strike moments before electricity shot from his fingertips.
Dodger, the shadow snake, slithered off of me, hiding its long body in the dimness of the dead leaves of the forest floor. He was ready to grow and eat as many of these demons as possible. Silver, my tiger, shifted along my stomach, ready to peel off my skin and into his impressive form. Cerberus didn't wait for a command before he lunged at the mage. Chaos descended on the clearing as some demons ran into the trees, while others attempted to face us. A few disappeared into the portal. I dropped the glamour as Dodger expanded to his full size of over twenty feet long, at least a foot round, and curled around a group of demons, squeezing them together.
I'd never understood how my mother's magic could become corporeal enough to defend me, let alone eat and digest anything. Silver lunged from my skin, his claws leaving scratches behind. He tore into the closest demon. Alastor fought alongside Cerberus as they cut down any of the threats. I entered the fight with the very real blade I had strapped to my side. I sliced through any of the demons that attacked first. Before long, the clearing was empty. More had fled when they realized they were dealing with a God and a demigod, both of whom were known for their cruelty long ago. Not that I was that person anymore. I could be if I needed to be, but it wasn't a default setting.
Alastor headed for the portal, he held out his hand attempting to close it. It shimmered before expanding to its full size again. He tried again, strain written on his face as beads of sweat trickled along his jaw.
"They opened it with blood. It needs to be closed with blood." He stopped trying, dropping his hand and breathing like he just ran a marathon. "We need to go, but now that we know where they are located, we can be better prepared next time."
"Next time?" I asked dryly as Silver trotted back over to me and turned into mist before slipping beneath the collar of my shirt and molding with my skin. Dodger was double the size he normally was as he moved across the dead leaves, more like a worm than a snake. "Eat a little too much? You're a glutton," I said as he reached me.
The heavy weight of his body as he moved along my leg told me he had eaten more than his fair share of demons. His shadow settled on me like an oversized tattoo of a snake. He'd stay that way until he had digested the demons he ate. I hoped I wouldn't need his help because he wouldn’t need another meal for at least a month.
"It doesn't bother you to carry around spies for your mother?" Alastor asked as they disappeared.
With a defiant tilt of my chin, I ignored him and stalked away into the growing light. Dodger and Silver were a part of me, even if my mother gave them to me so that she could keep tabs on me. She was protective, it was the price I paid for the freedom I had. He coughed, covering up a laugh, but it broke through and carried to my ears. I glowered without looking back at him. Prick.
As he stepped next to me, a smile walked up one side of his face and he cocked an eyebrow at me. "We don't have to talk about it. I'm sure Cerberus is the same for my father." His words were a peace offering.
I glanced down at the beast, who appeared satisfied with itself if the three grinning heads were any sign. It loved carnage. It always had.
"What are we going to do about the portal? The demons are going to keep coming. Sam will be in danger if they are working together. We need to tell the dragon, so he is aware. The more protection she has, the better," I said, my mind whirling over the possibilities and defenses that we can put in place.
"I will find the dragon. I think we will need Bellamy to help with the portal. He may help us, I smelled him all over her earlier," Alastor said.
The reminder crashed over me, an incubus had taken advantage of Samantha. "Are you sure that is a good idea?"
"It was mutual," he replied, answering the question I didn't ask.
"There is no way Sam would have sex willingly with a demon. She hunts demons," I said, stepping over a fallen branch before looking over at him.
"Maybe you don't know her as well as you thought you did," Alastor said with a shrug.
CHAPTER 18
Samantha
The portalin the forest was a bust. The city had enough demons in it to keep me busy all night. They were working in pairs sometimes, others traveled in a group, maybe they felt there was safety in numbers. Obviously, they didn't know me. The satisfying thwack of my dagger embedding itself into the tenth chest of the night filled the air, along with her last breath. As the body fell to the ground and burst into flames, I wiped the blade off and shoved it back into its holder.
I was bone tired as I headed back to my dorm. Hell, I wasn’t even sure what time it was. My phone was MIA; I must have lost it somewhere.
When another monster stepped into my path, it took me a second too long to reach for my blade. He hit me with a bolt of magic, knocking me on my ass with a loud thud. I'd be sitting on a pillow for a month with how bruised my tailbone was going to be. With a growl, I launched myself off of the ground and into the large man. It was like hitting a concrete wall as I crashed into his chest. He didn't budge.
Another arrow of power zapped me, stunning me as his massive arms grabbed me. He constricted his grip around me,squeezing the air from my lungs. Spots formed in my vision as I tried to hold onto consciousness. Was some brute with magic really going to be the one to take me down?
Rope secured me to the tree behind me. The smell of burnt and wet undergrowth permeated from the ground as I blinked open my eyes to find a partially cleared space between where they tied me up and a forest that looked like it hadn't fared too well in a fire. Without lifting my head, I raised my gaze to the area, looking for the asshole that was next on my list of demons to kill. I held my breath as my eyes fell on a group of at least fifteen more hellions. A variety of them I had never even noticed sharing the same space or conversing at the club, they weren’t part of the same social groups.
How would I make it out of this one?
"She's awake," one of them said.
I dropped my eyelids shut and feigned unconsciousness as I listened to footfalls approaching. My fingers flexed behind my back as I tried to circulate a little blood back into my digits. It wrenched a sharp gasp from my throat as one of them yanked my head back by my hair. A shit-eating grin spread across the monstrous face. It was a demon I had never seen before. One enormous eye took up the entire space where the nose and eyes would go on a normal human. Its mouth was full of sharp teeth that sent a shiver of fear skating down my spine. This was how I died.
Another stepped forward, my dagger in his hand. He fingered the tip as he watched the realization wash over me. He had my only tool of truly eliminating any of them. Sure, I could knock them out with my bare hands if I was free, but killingthem would only happen with that blade. I struggled against my ropes like I could actually She-Ra myself out of them.
Laughter fell around me, and I growled, the promise of death clear in the almost inaudible sound. If this was how I died, I would go down fighting like the fucking hunter I was.
"Is this yours?" the monster asked. He placed the tip at the edge of my jaw, just below my ear. "I should slice your neck open."
