As the demon glared at me, I glanced again at the kids. “Who has holy water?” As I’d hoped, all three of them did.
“Gold stars all around. Splatter them.”
They started to fumble for their holy water, and I made a mental note to add a talk about how to carry your supplies.
“You can kill us, Hunter, but more of our kind will rise.”
“Thank you,” I said to the demon, then turned to the kids. “Forget the holy water. That was the best clue of all. Self-identification.” The demon snarled. “So next question. How can I kill her?”
“Stab through the eye!”
“Beheading?”
“Fire?”
“All good answers. The first two would release the demon, leaving you with a human corpse. Fire would destroy the body, and the demon would most likely leave voluntarily. Excellent work.”
I grinned at them. “You’ve passed the oral exam. Now let’s see how you do on the practical.” I nodded to Allie, and as if we’d planned it, we released the demons together and jumped back. “Time to get busy.”
At first, my three students stood stock-still. Then one of the demons did an about face, and took off running past me toward the far end of the alley.
“Screw that,” Ren said, tearing off after him. Ana was right behind, going after the other one, who had taken the first’s lead.
Bruce took a step forward, then stopped, as if he wasn’t sure who to help. While he stood unsure, the other two nailed the assignment.
Ren knocked his demon completely flat on its back, all the while shouting “dammit, dammit, dammit,” as he tried to free his school-assigned stiletto from his belt.
“Screw it,” he said, then jabbed his finger through the beast’s eye. He scooted backwards as the demon was expelled, muttering, “Gross! Gross! Gross!” even as he shot me an amazed—and proud—glance.
At the same time, Ana had been tossed against the brick wall by her demon. And though I expected Bruce to run in at that point to help her, she managed to push away, using the momentum to leap on the second demon like a toddler running for a parent.
Her legs wrapped around its waist so that they were face to face. She reached around and held its hair to steady herself, then used the stiletto that was already in her free hand to impale the beast. Immediately, the body went limp, and she fell to the ground, a huge grin on her face.
I watched, thrilled not only with their performance, but with the confidence those wins would give Ren and Ana. As for Bruce, I wasn’t sure what held him back, and I walked over to check on him as Allie and Eliza helped the other two up, showering them with praise.
“You okay?”
“I feel like an idiot,” he said, his voice hard. “I couldn’t decide who to help, so I didn’t get into the game at all.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. Hesitation is normal, and this was all over pretty fast. You’ll have plenty of time to get in there. I promise.”
He looked me in the eye and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I know I will.”
11
We returned from our odd hunting session to find Laura waiting for us. “You three are supposed to go train,” she said to the newbies. “And the rest of you … well, just go on into the dining room.”
I expected her to come with us, but it was only me, Allie, and Eliza who went. I understood why when I pulled open one of the ornate double doors to see Father Donnelly seated at the huge table with Eric. That would have completely destroyed my day were it not for the elderly woman sitting with him.
“Signora Micari!”
She stood as Allie, Eliza, and I all rushed to greet her with enthusiastic hugs. The owner of a B&B near the Vatican, she had housed us on our recent trip. But more than that, she used to work as a housekeeper and pseudo-dorm mom when I was inForza.
Most recently, she’d been a key part in helping to locate and lock the gate to hell.
“Ah, you have grown,” she said in her thick Italian accent as she looked Allie up and down. “In both body and skill, I understand.”
Allie grinned, looking pleased as Signora Micari turned to me. “And, Kate. It is most good to see you again.”
