I squeezed her hand back. “Don’t worry, kitty cat, I got you.”
As if to test my statement, the demon appeared behind us, wrapping long bony arms around Billie’s torso. “Mine!” it shouted in its inhuman, croaking voice.
I kicked it in the hip, swinging Billie around me as the demon stumbled to the side, letting go of her. The demon quickly recovered, and I jumped in front of Billie, catching its claws across my chest. I ignored the burning sting and tackled the creature to the ground. I pounded it in the face, cracking its skeletal-like head, but it did not die. It slashed at my back, struggling beneath me, but I refused to budge.
I opened my mouth and began to shoot out my magic, forcing the creature’s foul life force out of its body into my own. I didn’t want it, but the extra shot of power it would provide couldn’t hurt. Sensing its demise, the creature sent a powerful blow to my side. It felt like a truck had plowed into me, and I toppled to the side, feeling a crack in my ribs.
Each breath in my body felt like a dagger. I couldn’t let this thing get up and grab Billie. Between the slices in my skin and the cracked bones, I was not doing so well. But I was an incubus demon, and I could heal. I just needed to get to my feet and finish that fucker off.
It was already sitting upright, looking in the direction Billie once stood. In my peripheral, I saw Billie run behind the creature. She pushed out her hands and mumbled words I could not hear or understand. The demon’s head became a blaze of fire. It made an ear-splitting screech, grabbing at its neck.
I took that as my opportunity and raced forward, kicking it in the head and breaking its neck. It hung back at an unnatural angle, and I didn’t wait for it to heal. I reached my hands around its fiery head and twisted until more bone cracked. I ignored the pain of the fire roasting my hands and kept turning. Soon the sickening twist of its bones left its body free of its head. I tossed it to the side, and Billie ran toward it, her hands still outward. The flames grew around the head like a bonfire, and she took a step back. We watched until soon there was nothing but a pile of ashes on the ground.
I looked back at the demon’s body, and it too was now a large burnt mass. I grinned, even though my body was still a jumble of pain. It felt good to kill. “I feel sorry for the guy who has to sweep this up.”
Billie glared at me and swore as she placed her hands in front of me. I soon felt every nerve in my body relax, the pain in my ribs no longer present.
I looked down at her with a lopsided grin. “You do good work with your hands.”
She rolled her eyes. “Glad to see you’re in a playful mood. I have never gone through anything like that in my life.”
I raised my hands over my head, stretching. I felt good as new. I had my own healing powers, but Billie’s was much faster. I was glad to have her near me. “You held your own very well out there for someone new to fighting. Tell me, did you hold back?”
She wiggled her brows. “Perhaps.”
I narrowed my eyes, wondering if she was really as much of a novice as she claimed. “Did you fall back to see if I could hold my own?”
She tilted her head, tapping her chin. She didn’t need to think about this, she was messing with me. “A little bit.”
“Well, did I pass?”
She spun around, heading to the store. “Let me think about it. Now let’s get the hell out of this parking lot.”
I wasn’t that proud of my fighting. I felt a little rusty. I was hoping tonight was a fluke, but something told me it wasn’t. If another demon showed up, I’d be better prepared.
CHAPTER9
BILLIE
As a top leader in the coven, my father had been very powerful and, naturally, made many enemies. He had been tasked with keeping the very hard-earned peace our world had struggled for centuries ago. Magic was wonderful, but it was also dangerous. Humans without magic were vulnerable, and our coven had vowed to protect them and stamp out any supernatural evil. We worked alongside world politicians and governments. We thwarted demons, rogue vampires, warlocks and more. We made enemies.
My role had mostly been as a healer, and my dad had kept me out of the fight unless I needed to come in to heal. However, once I came of age, he had begun to share with me the many dangers he faced and I had counted my blessings that my one remaining parent was still alive.
What I experienced that night was very much the type of thing my father had faced throughout his adult life. I recalled one night him coming home late from picking up dinner, covered in blood. He’d said he was attacked by a shapeshifter. He’d tried never to come home like that again, but I’d seen glimpses of him battered and bruised. Now, I suppose, it was my time.
Only, I’d never been heavily active in the coven. Where could I have formed an enemy, and what the hell did that demon mean by ‘ours?’ Crap, I hoped this wasn’t another alpha. That demon didn’t smell like an alpha, but he could have been a part of a pack that had one or more. It wasn’t uncommon for packs to have non-alphas or non-omegas in them.
I paused my thoughts for a moment, looking over to Kai as I drove us to his mansion the evening following the attack. It was entirely possible that hanging out with this demon had made me a target. Could this have been what Chilli was afraid of? Perhaps that demon really had it out for Kai and wanted to snatch me away or kill me like his first omega. Was I up for having to fight off random demons on my way to the grocery store?
Absolutely not.
I also wasn’t sure I was up to meeting a house full of alphas. My stomach already felt like it was bouncing around inside of me like a ball. What the hell was I going to do with all those alphas around me? I could barely concentrate when I first met Kai. Now I was meeting three more at the same time. This could be disastrous.
“Did I lose you?” Kai asked, interrupting my thoughts.
I inhaled, figuring out how to speak when my navigator reminded me to exit the highway. “Did you ever have me?” I asked with a snort, exiting off the interstate. I turned right down a main road flanked by mostly land. We were definitely in the suburbs.
Kai chuckled, staring out the window. “Touché. You like breaking my heart. I was just apologizing again for yesterday.”
