Tartarus.
Just the name and the malevolence in him stirred like chittering beetles scurrying all over him, claws digging, looking for ways to escape their prison. Escape him.
Yeah, safer for everyone if he kept his distance.
After a minute, he murmured, “You ever think this is why the Arc kept us crazies isolated in Romania?”
“You mean you, Race, and me?” Dagan asked wryly. “I guess we are the riskier ones.”
Nik didn’t respond, his attention fixed on the ghostly shapes—shadow demons—lurking in the gloom of the building, drawn to the churning darkness in him. Like he didn’t have enough shit to deal with.
“I got your back,” Dagan said quietly. “You’ve always had mine. And so do the others.” He rose, stepped into the shadows, and dematerialized.
Yells erupted a short distance up the alley. A herd of humans kitted out in leather, metal, and spiky hair congregated just past a bikers’ den. Goths.
Someone threw a punch, and a scuffle started, the shouting and snarling spiking.
Nik pushed to his feet and leaned against the building behind him, arms folded over his chest, watching the idiots battle it out. He could leave, but he cooled his heels and waited, knowing what would soon stalk these idiotic mortals. The supernatural bane to humanity would be drawn to the vicious fighting, then his fun would begin.
A ginger, scraggly, one-eyed feline sidled alongside the grimy wall opposite Nik, its attention on the dumpster farther down the alley. The cat suddenly froze, staring at something it sensed, but Nik already felt. The familiar icy prickles scraped along his spine, and the mystical, Gaian sword tattoo imprinted on his biceps stirred. Demoniis. Damn soul suckers were right on track, slithering toward the tussling humans.
Nik straightened, tracking the vibe halfway down the dead-end alley. Three of them. About to flash and deal with the fuckers, movement flickered atop a looming warehouse farther down the alley, and Nik paused.
A hooded figure lowered to a crouch on the roof, staring into the alley, then he sprang up and jumped easily to the next building and then the next, getting closer…to the demoniis?
Eyes narrowed, Nik watched the dark figure scale down the drainpipe like a spider monkey and suddenly appeared behind a demonii. Daggers in both hands flashed dully under the silver moonlight. The hooded form moved incredibly fast, one blade slicing across the carotid, the other ramming straight in the heart.
The demonii gurgled and collapsed to the ground, rapidly disintegrating into dust. The other one growled, rushing for the crusader who sidestepped as if he’d woven tai chi into his tae-kwon-do attacks, ending the soul sucker in the same seamless fashion with blades flashing.
Human. His aura glowed like a damn light bulb.
As the mortal chased after the final fleeing demonii, heading away from Nik, the night air serrated into an agitating portal at the dead-end alley. Massive reddish-black demons poured out. Nik stilled.
He’d never seen shitheads like these before. Their dense sulfuric odor roiled even his iron-clad stomach. What the fuck were they doing on this domain, besides destroying the mystical veils guarding the mortal world with their forbidden entrance?
He had to deal with this before shit flew.
Aethan,he telepathed the warrior he sensed closest to him.Get the others here. We have a situation!While he could probably take them all, there were humans in this vicinity. It wouldn’t do to draw attention to this horror or accidentally kill the mortals in the fracas that would arise.
A scaly demon lumbered forward, swiping at Nik with its huge fist, and he jumped back, narrowly missing having his face slashed open from lethal black talons. The thing spat. Dammit! He hastily ducked, avoiding the spittle attack, and shot up into the air. He grabbed the eight-foot-tall scourge’s head, ramming him face-first into the brick wall. Bones crunched. Growls erupted. As Nik landed on his feet, he summoned an ice lance and hurled it at the demon barging toward him, nailing him in the chest.
A feminine curse exploded nearby.
What the fuck?
Nik spun around. With shit flying all around them, he couldn’t find the human.
Dammit. Before the female got hurt, he shot out several ice arrows with a flash of his hand, freezing the menaces. The humid air displaced. Aethan and Dagan took form. They flew into the melee, their black Gaian swords swinging.
Nik barely evaded a swipe of talons to the head, searching the ruckus for the woman.
“Where in Ater’s Hell did these fuckers come from?” Aethan growled, plunging his weapon deep into a demon’s belly.
“No idea. Gotta go!” Nik shot back. “A human saw the entire damn thing.” He had to do a mind scrub.
He scanned the area for movements. There, up the alley, a figure bolted.
Surprise rocked him. The fighter in the hoodie wasfemale?
