Page 38 of Unbound

“Is it really that easy?” Devon asks.

“Demons are used to humans avoiding them,” Leo explains. “The energy they give off causes that instinctive I need to get the fuck out of here feeling. So when you challenge them instead, you’re basically challenging everything they believe about themselves.”

“They’re egotistical evil assholes,” I sum up with a shrug. “Just because they’re easy to taunt doesn’t mean they’re easy to kill.”

We continue down the hallway. Suddenly, Xavier speeds in front of us and catches a stack of two-by-fours seconds before they come crashing down on top of us.

“Nice try,” Leo says. “You’re gonna have to put in a little more effort than that, dumbass.”

Xavier throws the boards aside. They hit the floor with a loud clatter. And the demon appears.

“He’s there!” I shout, pointing. Xavier swings his knife. He misses by inches. The demon shimmers out of view, and this time I see him lift a hand and snap his fingers.

A thin thread of electricity shoots through the air.

I duck behind Devon. It hits him instead. He jerks backward, blinking.

“Oh, shit.” A second later, he recovers and turns toward me.

“Yeah, that was the demon,” I say. “He was trying to cast some sort of confusion spell on me, but he hit you instead.”

“I feel fine.”

“Stay in front of her,” Xavier commands, continuing to slash his knife through the air.

“Leo, behind you!” I shout and my brother spins, brandishing his knife. The demon jerks backward and smacks his head against the wall. The hallway is under construction. It looks like they’re moving a door several feet down the hall, and drywall panels and other construction materials are piled everywhere. The demon deliberately crashes into them, sending everything tumbling into the narrow hallway and making it even harder for us to fight.

The demon grabs a tub of spackle and throws it straight at Leo. I telekinetically stop it in midair and send it flying back. It hits the demon square in the face with a satisfying thunk that echoes through the otherwise empty hallway. Xavier follows the sound and swings. His knife catches the demon’s arm.

Thick, black, gooey blood drips onto the floor. The demon hisses and scurries away.

“I think I got him,” Xavier says, uncertainty in his voice.

“You did. In the arm.” I point. “He went that way.” We take off after him. This time, we have more to follow than negative energy. Thick drops of blood, almost the consistency of molasses, trail down the hallway like a grotesque line of breadcrumbs. We follow it into a large open area that looks like it was meant to become some sort of conference room.

“What were you going to buy this building for?” I wonder out loud. Then I shake my head. “That is so not important right now.” I spread my fingers and raise my hand, feeding more energy into the floating ball of light until it rises higher and brightens the room.

Forcing myself to take a slow, steady breath, I look around. Several tables are folded against one wall. I drop my mental shields completely and try to narrow in on the demon’s energy. I turn just as he pops out from underneath one of the tables and hurls something toward us. I throw out my hand on instinct. Except I accidentally pull the energy ball with me.

It slams into the demon’s chest. Fiery light consumes his entire body. Xavier doesn’t waste a second. He speeds over and drives the knife into the demon’s chest. The demon lets out a high-pitched screech. But he stays standing.

“Try the head!” I shout. By the time Xavier pulls the knife free, the energy surrounding the demon has extinguished itself. He disappears from view again. “He moved!” I watch the demon dart to the side. “To your right!”

Xavier slashes through the air. The tip of the knife barely catches the demon’s forehead.

“Like a foot in front of you!”

The demon has figured out our strategy now. I summon another ball of energy so I can see. The dim construction lights in here aren’t giving us nearly enough visibility. Devon speeds forward beside Xavier, his knife held out in front of him.

“He’s in the corner!”

Devon rushes over. He drives the knife forward. This time, he actually pins the demon’s hand against the wall. Black blood runs down his wrist. And judging by everyone’s faces, something has changed. They can see the blood outlining the demon’s hand.

“You got his hand! Don’t let go!”

The demon swings his free arm and clocks Devon across the face. Devon jerks backward, not so much from pain as surprise at being hit by something he can’t see. The demon drops low, ripping his hand free and tearing the knife through his own flesh.

“He got out! He’s on the ground!”