“Ezme, Daisy has been attacked by a demon!” I blurted as soon as Ezme answered.
Throwing down the phone, I concentrated on gently pressing against Daisy’s cut cheek while she sobbed. Frantically I checked her all over but couldn’t find any other injuries.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?”
She shook her head and sobbed harder. A tiny flicker of relief flared within me but it was nothing against the icy horror of what I had done. I had allowed a demon in my home. I had left a demon alone with my niece. I had trusted a demon because the sex had been good.
Thoughts of what could have happened spiraled in my mind until I thought I was going to be sick.
A blast of magic and warm air sent my hair fluttering as a portal door opened beside me. They took a shit ton of magic and left the wielder drained for days but I could well understand how Ezme didn’t give a fuck right now.
She stepped through, immediately running up to Daisy and snatching the cloth from my hands so she could tend to her child’s wound herself whilst she also thoroughly examined her as I had just done. She murmured soft reassuring words to her daughter and completely ignored me.
That was fair enough. She probably would never speak to me ever again. I didn’t blame her. I didn’t want to speak to myself ever again. I was an awful person. I definitely didn’t deserve to see Daisy ever again.
“Fucking pishachas! Did you get it?” said Ezme, without taking her eyes off of Daisy.
I blinked in confusion. Why was she talking about pishachas? They were small vicious flesh eating demons that had nothing to do with the awful thing that had just happened.
Dazedly I scanned the destroyed living room wondering what had made Ezme think of those demons. The putrid smell and horrid scent of pishachas suddenly registered in my mind, at almost the same time as I saw a patch of blood on the carpet.
Numbly, I followed the trail to under a tipped over chair. I summoned my magic and yanked back the chair. The twisted corpse of a pishacha greeted me. Claw marks raked across its throat. An image flashed in my mind of Jinx’s blood soaked claws.
I’d forgotten to reset my wards after the enforcers had broken them. Demons were drawn to my family’s magic, to me. Without any protection in place, it was only a matter of time before something attacked.
A wave of horror colder than the abyss washed over me. I turned and leaped over the sofa. Jinx was crumpled motionless on the floor, a dark, angry looking magic burn in the middle of his chest, showing charred flesh through the blackened remnants of his tee shirt.
I scooped him up into my arms. Alarmed at how limp he was. His head lolled as I picked him up. Pushing the sofa aside, I started to head for the bedroom. Ezme looked over, her eyes widening at what she saw.
“You thought your incubus did this?” she asked. “Incubi are mostly harmless.”
“I know that!” I said through gritted teeth.
Striding quickly down the hall, I lay Jinx gently on the bed, grateful when I heard Ezme pick Daisy up and follow us. She had always been better at healing magic than me.
Jinx looked pale, lifeless. He was covered in scratches from the pishacha. My chest felt tight. My throat felt tight. I couldn’t breathe. My head was spinning and my very veins felt cold.
Ezme looked down at Jinx and frowned.
“You are beyond stupid, Seb.”
“I’m realizing that!” I snapped.
Incubi were harmless. Jinx was… images of his goofy grin filled my mind, followed by a picture of him headfirst in the chocolate cake at the restaurant. Someone gave an anguished sob. I dimly realized it was me. How could I have thought he would hurt Daisy? What was wrong with me? He had been protecting her.
“Fix him!” I wailed.
Ezme gave me an alarmed look, but she handed Daisy to me and bent over Jinx to examine him.
“I’m really drained from the portal,” she said.
“Please!” I begged.
She glanced up at me and paled. “Okay, okay.”
She got to work, pouring golden magic into him. I watched intently. It was working, on his flesh at least. The burn was healing before my eyes, but what about him? What if he wasn’t in there anymore, what if I had blasted him so hard I had banished him?
A strange whimpering noise came out of my throat. Daisy gave me a concerned look. I swallowed and tried to pull myself together. She had been through enough today, she didn’t need me scaring her. Frantically I tried to think of a distraction.
