“…ago!”
Clap. Clap.
Three things happened in quick succession.
The tissue with Death’s sweat went up in smoke that was a living thing, a skeletal hand reaching up to wrap boney fingers around the Feather, and to curl, like a soft river of mist, around the Heartwood.
Then the smoke created a rope that whip cracked around the demon’s wrist and mine, clicking down like cuffs.
The door burst inward, and a very angry unicorn charged.
“Asshole!” Xtelle yelled. She barreled at a full gallop, head down, horn in ramming position.
Aiming at me.
I made panicked eyes at the demon. If he didn’t let me control my body, I would be gored.
His eyebrows twitched downward, but he did not react nearly quickly enough.
Xtelle shifted the angle of her charge and rammed him in the nearest body part level with her horn—the side of his ass. Sparkles flew everywhere.
“Satan on a saltine!” he yelled.
Xtelle kept pushing, forcing him to take one step, two steps away from me.
His hand dropped away from mine. The spell broke.
No more smoke, no more hold over me.
Sweat covered every inch of my skin, like a fever breaking. I grabbed the Feather and Heartwood and ran to my bedroom where I had stashed my spare gun.
My hands shook as I pulled the weapon out of the safe, loaded it, then put the Feather and Heartwood back in the safe, slamming the door. I couldn’t call for help. My phone was in the Jeep, and I didn’t have a land line.
I glanced out the window, gauging my options. Run for back up? Go out guns a-blazing?
Luckily, I didn’t have to decide. Myra’s cruiser pulled into my driveway. The second it stopped, she was out the door, running up the stairs, her face a panicked white, her eyes blinded by past tragedy.
Oh, Myra.
I’d died here. She’d never forgiven herself for showing up just a second too late to save me.
That did it. I knew what I had to do. First, contain the demon-on-demon situation in my living room. Second, find a way to rent out the house.
I never wanted to see that look on my sister’s face again.
I wiped my arm over my forehead to get the sweat out of my eyes, then strode into the living room. “Freeze,” I yelled. “Police. That means you, Xtelle. And you, whatever your name is.” I trained the gun on the non-unicorn.
He was face first against the wall, spread flat, both hands up.
Xtelle still had her horn in the side of his butt. Blood darkened his trousers. “Oh, he’ll freeze,” she growled. “He’ll be so cold, hell won’t melt him!”
“Stop!” Myra yelled, coming into the room.
“Easy,” I told her. “I’m okay. Everything’s okay.” I didn’t look over at her. I wasn’t stupid enough to take my eyes off the demons.
Myra strode up to the new demon and pulled out cuffs with demon-trapping magic worked into them.
“Hands behind your back. Now.”
