Hunter/Prey.She needed to get the demon off guard.Fergus waylaid Selwig, then paid the price by being tossed across the room.Ruby remained on the floor and tried to look terrified.
Selwig came close, eyeing her throat.“Well, dearie, this has been fun, but it’s time for me to end this dance.”The demon flexed its fingers, readying its sharp claws to finish her off.
“No,” she pleaded.“Please.”
The moment it leaned close, she clamped her mouth around its neck.Her fangs sank through skin, muscle, then crushed bones.Black blood squirted.Selwig screamed in agony.Its body sagged and then it evaporated in a puff of dust.She jerked upright and searched the floor.Nothing remained to reform into anything else.
Fergus jumped up and down and made happy sounds.Before she could even sigh in relief, magick prickled through her.She whipped around to the doorway of her ruined room, feeling the spikes on her back rise.
Cyn stood there, feet spread, body rigid, as though ready to Catalyze.But he was very human.He slowly clapped his hands together.“Very nice.My student has learned well.”
She remained Dragon, adrenaline coursing through her, hoping to use it to send him away.She thrust her head at him, snarling, nudging him hard enough that he had to take a step back to keep his balance.
He didn’t look the least bit intimidated.In fact, he reached out and stroked her cheek, as if she were a horse.Damn it, her Dragon purred, leaning into his touch.
Ruby Catalyzed to human and changed into the first shirt and pants she could find in the debris.“How did you know I wasn’t really injured?”
“I could sense your energy.You looked afraid, but you felt pissed off.”
“It’s disturbing that you can feel me like that.”She narrowed her eyes.“I thought this was over!”
He lifted his hand to the room.“It’s not, as you can see.”
“But why?How?We killed Darren, and Magda can’t summon demons.”
“We assumed Darren was the mastermind.But something didn’t feel right.I went to Fernandez, my former boss, and asked for Mr.Smith’s description.Not Darren.So it appears that we’re stuck with each other for a while longer.”
“But I handled the demon all by myself.”
“You did indeed.It was gratifying to watch.”The embers in his eyes flickered.“Deeply satisfying, in fact.”He blinked, dousing the embers.“Unfortunately, when this one doesn’t report back, Smith may send more.You’re not equipped to handle more than one yet.We do this together, just as Brom’s prophecy says.”
With an impatient huff, she stepped over the broken pieces of her chair and pictures on the way to the living room.The demon had been through her things, moving pillows and even the coffee table.She found Brom’s book in a different place than where she’d left it and opened it to the latest entry.“There’s a new picture.Oh, great, a big monster with three heads.So that part of Mon’s story wasn’t his literary license.”
Cyn leaned over her shoulder.“And both of us fighting it.”
His heat called to her Dragon, drawing her to lean back against him.Stop it!Bad Dragon.
She felt it snort, a really odd sensation.
Want.
The worst part was she wasn’t sure if that last sentiment was hers or her Dragon’s.She snapped the book shut and shoved it into her bag.“What kind of monster is that?Another tulpa?”
He was right behind her, his feet light on the stairs as they went down.“Nothing I’ve ever seen.I suppose a Deuce could make a tulpa that looked like that, though.”
This time she snorted.“Well, yeah, if it made one to look like me, nothing’s off the table.”
He threw a glance at her.“Well, I’m sure it was the cutest tulpa we’ll ever see.”
That weird dichotomy actually made her laugh.
They approached the fence, and Ruby grabbed the lock, which was still intact.“How did you get in?And how did you know a demon was here?”
“I climbed over.”He showed her the scrapes on his hands from the barbed wire coils at the top of the fence.“As soon as I discovered that Mr.Smith is still out there, I knew he’d be targeting you again.”
She relocked the gate once they’d passed through.“Just because I’m going with you doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven you.”
“Understood.”
