attack. We’re on the roof of a hospital. You’ve been in a coma for four days. Demons are attacking. Juni Swan was leading them.”
“I thought I killed her in the cave,” he growls.
“You did. She came back.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.” I gulp. “You didn’t finish her off this time either. I can sense her. She’s wounded but alive.”
“Is she returning for more?” he asks eagerly, fingers twitching, for a moment looking half as crazy as Juni did.
“No,” I answer, tracking her mentally as she slips through the window on the first floor. “You must have hurt her. She’s gone back to the demon universe.”
“Damn.” He stares around, eyes going vague. He looks like he’s about to collapse. I step forward to support him but he comes alert again and waves me away. “We’re exposed. We have to get out of here.”
“There are at least nine demons downstairs,” I tell him. “We could create a barrier, block their route to the roof . . .”
“What if more cross and climb the walls?” he grunts. “No, we have to move.” He takes hold of the bar pinning Sharmila to the door. “Can you make sure she doesn’t feel this?”
“I’ll do my best.” Once I’m focused, I nod and he pulls sharply. The bar rips out of the wood and Sharmila’s flesh. She moans softly, but I use magic to numb the pain, and she falls silent again. Dervish slides around and takes Sharmila on his back, holding her arms crossed around his neck.
“Will you be able to carry her?” I ask. He’s sweating and trembling.
“Only one way to find out,” he mutters, and staggers down the first of the stairs, back into the demon-infested building.
We make our way down through the levels of the hospital. The air throbs with the screams and moans of people who were struck by glass shards when the windows shattered. We spot some of them as we descend. They’re milling around helplessly while nurses and doctors try to calm and help them.
I spy a demon on the fifth floor, chasing a man with a cast on his right leg. I look at Dervish, silently asking if we should help. He shakes his head. “We can’t do anything,” he wheezes. “I’m running out of strength. We need to save our energy — we might have to use it to break free.”
“We weren’t sure you were going to recover,” I tell him as we stumble down the next set of steps.
“Maybe I wouldn’t have. But they made the mistake of opening a window too close to me. The magic flooding through hit me like a wave and revived me.”
“Magic brought you back to life?”
He nods. “And it’s keeping me going. Which is fine. But when the window closes, I’m toast. That’s why we have to get out of here. The demons will have to return to their own universe or perish when the window shuts, but there might be soldiers or werewolves waiting to move in.”
We trudge on in silence, Dervish panting, struggling to support Sharmila. His legs are shaking badly. Even with all the magic in the air, he can’t last very long. He might drop before we make the ground. If he does, I’ll have to leave him. Sharmila too. I’m not a coward, but it would be foolish to stay. In desperate times you have to act clinically. Dervish and Sharmila understand that and would only curse me if I let myself be slain for no good reason.
As we come to the second floor I spot a lizardlike demon slithering through the door from the stairs. I motion for Dervish to stop, and we wait until the creature has passed. As we come abreast of the door, I glance through the circular window. There are two more demons with the lizard. One looks like an anteater, only it’s bulkier and has several long snouts. The other is some sort of demonic insect with a heavy golden shell, the size of a large dog.
As I watch, they kill an elderly woman and a nurse, then claw open a door and slip into a ward out of sight. Dervish has moved on, but I remain where I am, a wretched feeling in my gut.
“Hurry,”
“I thought I killed her in the cave,” he growls.
“You did. She came back.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.” I gulp. “You didn’t finish her off this time either. I can sense her. She’s wounded but alive.”
“Is she returning for more?” he asks eagerly, fingers twitching, for a moment looking half as crazy as Juni did.
“No,” I answer, tracking her mentally as she slips through the window on the first floor. “You must have hurt her. She’s gone back to the demon universe.”
“Damn.” He stares around, eyes going vague. He looks like he’s about to collapse. I step forward to support him but he comes alert again and waves me away. “We’re exposed. We have to get out of here.”
“There are at least nine demons downstairs,” I tell him. “We could create a barrier, block their route to the roof . . .”
“What if more cross and climb the walls?” he grunts. “No, we have to move.” He takes hold of the bar pinning Sharmila to the door. “Can you make sure she doesn’t feel this?”
“I’ll do my best.” Once I’m focused, I nod and he pulls sharply. The bar rips out of the wood and Sharmila’s flesh. She moans softly, but I use magic to numb the pain, and she falls silent again. Dervish slides around and takes Sharmila on his back, holding her arms crossed around his neck.
“Will you be able to carry her?” I ask. He’s sweating and trembling.
“Only one way to find out,” he mutters, and staggers down the first of the stairs, back into the demon-infested building.
We make our way down through the levels of the hospital. The air throbs with the screams and moans of people who were struck by glass shards when the windows shattered. We spot some of them as we descend. They’re milling around helplessly while nurses and doctors try to calm and help them.
I spy a demon on the fifth floor, chasing a man with a cast on his right leg. I look at Dervish, silently asking if we should help. He shakes his head. “We can’t do anything,” he wheezes. “I’m running out of strength. We need to save our energy — we might have to use it to break free.”
“We weren’t sure you were going to recover,” I tell him as we stumble down the next set of steps.
“Maybe I wouldn’t have. But they made the mistake of opening a window too close to me. The magic flooding through hit me like a wave and revived me.”
“Magic brought you back to life?”
He nods. “And it’s keeping me going. Which is fine. But when the window closes, I’m toast. That’s why we have to get out of here. The demons will have to return to their own universe or perish when the window shuts, but there might be soldiers or werewolves waiting to move in.”
We trudge on in silence, Dervish panting, struggling to support Sharmila. His legs are shaking badly. Even with all the magic in the air, he can’t last very long. He might drop before we make the ground. If he does, I’ll have to leave him. Sharmila too. I’m not a coward, but it would be foolish to stay. In desperate times you have to act clinically. Dervish and Sharmila understand that and would only curse me if I let myself be slain for no good reason.
As we come to the second floor I spot a lizardlike demon slithering through the door from the stairs. I motion for Dervish to stop, and we wait until the creature has passed. As we come abreast of the door, I glance through the circular window. There are two more demons with the lizard. One looks like an anteater, only it’s bulkier and has several long snouts. The other is some sort of demonic insect with a heavy golden shell, the size of a large dog.
As I watch, they kill an elderly woman and a nurse, then claw open a door and slip into a ward out of sight. Dervish has moved on, but I remain where I am, a wretched feeling in my gut.
“Hurry,”
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