Minotaur had only been distracted for a moment, and its steps trembling through the ground in pursuit. Even though it couldn't see him, he knew minotaurs had an excellent sense of smell and would be able to find him that way.
Her body shook as he ran, trembling from exhaustion and lack of sleep. She wouldn't be able to stand much more.
The wail of sirens broke through the crackle and pop of the blaze around him. He closed her eyes and said a silent prayer. They'd seen the fire and were coming for her. All he had to do was keep her alive until they arrived.
Filled with renewed hope, he ran faster, the jerking motion of her body settling into something like a trot as he fled from the Minotaur, guiding himself by the position of the moon. If the other Keepers were going to come in, they'd do it through there.
You know, if it wasn't on fire.
Jason barely managed to stop in time to keep Rebekah's body from running straight into a line of burning hedge. He turned to the left and hurried down the row, but it ended in fire. There wasn't any escape, not unless he was willing to risk giving her second or third degree burns, which he wasn't. Not until he didn't have a choice.
“Your fear is deepening. Ripening.” The Minotaur walked through the burning, hedge, flames curling up and around his body as if giving him a caress. A wave of heat blasted Jason in the face, and he stumbled back a step. The demon didn't stop. “And your friends are too far away to help you. You love this girl, don’t you?”
Did he? No. Not yet. But he thought he might one day.
Demons, especially first and second order ones, were difficult to kill. Able to survive maiming and wounds that would otherwise kill normal humans, demons could only reliably be dispatched back to the Red by removing their heads, stopping their hearts if they had them, or injuring what passed for a brain.
He had to find a way to sever a minotaur’s head with his bare hands using the strength of a human woman.
Oh, and if she died while he was in possession of her body, her departing spirit would latch onto his and take it with her to whatever waited next.
They were both fucked.
The demon stopped a foot away and grinned. “All my favorite meals have been sacrificed by those who loved them most.”
Shrugging, he crossed his arms and ignored the flames that tried to leap off the demon and onto what remained of Rebekah's clothing. “I’m surprised that a demon of your rank would allow himself to be chained to a human witch. Seems…beneath you.” He cocked her head to the side and winked. “You could do better.”
“You seek to stall me, human, in the hopes that your Keeper friends will save this girl.” The Minotaur reached out faster than Jason could react with Rebekah's body and grabbed them by the throat. Jason clawed and punched and pulled at the demon's hand as it slowly lifted him off his feet. “There is no hope. No one can save you now.”
Jason could have left then. He could have fled Rebekah's doomed body and returned to his own before she pulled him to the next life with her, but he didn't. Maybe he really did love her. Maybe the thought of returning Rebekah to consciousness just to experience her own death seemed unusually cruel. Maybe he was more afraid of what her mom would do to him if he didn't give his life to protect her daughter. Maybe he was just a masochist.
Whatever the case, he stayed and fought with all the strength left in her fragile body, kicking and hitting and trying to pull those massive claws out from around her neck.
The Minotaur laughed and squeezed even tighter.
His vision darkened until he could only see flashes of light, see bits of silhouettes in front of the firelight. Dimly, as though hearing with someone else's ears, he heard a discordant sound. It wasn't an explosion exactly or a bomb but more like a concussion of sound. Like hearing soundwaves instead of the sounds themselves.
This was it. He was
Her body shook as he ran, trembling from exhaustion and lack of sleep. She wouldn't be able to stand much more.
The wail of sirens broke through the crackle and pop of the blaze around him. He closed her eyes and said a silent prayer. They'd seen the fire and were coming for her. All he had to do was keep her alive until they arrived.
Filled with renewed hope, he ran faster, the jerking motion of her body settling into something like a trot as he fled from the Minotaur, guiding himself by the position of the moon. If the other Keepers were going to come in, they'd do it through there.
You know, if it wasn't on fire.
Jason barely managed to stop in time to keep Rebekah's body from running straight into a line of burning hedge. He turned to the left and hurried down the row, but it ended in fire. There wasn't any escape, not unless he was willing to risk giving her second or third degree burns, which he wasn't. Not until he didn't have a choice.
“Your fear is deepening. Ripening.” The Minotaur walked through the burning, hedge, flames curling up and around his body as if giving him a caress. A wave of heat blasted Jason in the face, and he stumbled back a step. The demon didn't stop. “And your friends are too far away to help you. You love this girl, don’t you?”
Did he? No. Not yet. But he thought he might one day.
Demons, especially first and second order ones, were difficult to kill. Able to survive maiming and wounds that would otherwise kill normal humans, demons could only reliably be dispatched back to the Red by removing their heads, stopping their hearts if they had them, or injuring what passed for a brain.
He had to find a way to sever a minotaur’s head with his bare hands using the strength of a human woman.
Oh, and if she died while he was in possession of her body, her departing spirit would latch onto his and take it with her to whatever waited next.
They were both fucked.
The demon stopped a foot away and grinned. “All my favorite meals have been sacrificed by those who loved them most.”
Shrugging, he crossed his arms and ignored the flames that tried to leap off the demon and onto what remained of Rebekah's clothing. “I’m surprised that a demon of your rank would allow himself to be chained to a human witch. Seems…beneath you.” He cocked her head to the side and winked. “You could do better.”
“You seek to stall me, human, in the hopes that your Keeper friends will save this girl.” The Minotaur reached out faster than Jason could react with Rebekah's body and grabbed them by the throat. Jason clawed and punched and pulled at the demon's hand as it slowly lifted him off his feet. “There is no hope. No one can save you now.”
Jason could have left then. He could have fled Rebekah's doomed body and returned to his own before she pulled him to the next life with her, but he didn't. Maybe he really did love her. Maybe the thought of returning Rebekah to consciousness just to experience her own death seemed unusually cruel. Maybe he was more afraid of what her mom would do to him if he didn't give his life to protect her daughter. Maybe he was just a masochist.
Whatever the case, he stayed and fought with all the strength left in her fragile body, kicking and hitting and trying to pull those massive claws out from around her neck.
The Minotaur laughed and squeezed even tighter.
His vision darkened until he could only see flashes of light, see bits of silhouettes in front of the firelight. Dimly, as though hearing with someone else's ears, he heard a discordant sound. It wasn't an explosion exactly or a bomb but more like a concussion of sound. Like hearing soundwaves instead of the sounds themselves.
This was it. He was
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