Only three demons remained standing from what he could see.Seymour and Orlando had done a good job, and two demons were down, either unconscious or dead.Two of the remaining ones were slowly backing toward the rear exit.One had light blue hair, the other orange.
“Don’t even think about it,” Orlando warned, moving to block their escape.
Seymour reached down for the demon Tex was sitting on, and Tex moved to allow him to haul the demon to his feet.“How many more are here?”
The purple-haired demon’s jaw set stubbornly.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Seymour said quietly.“But either way, you’re coming with us.”
A door at the back of the bar burst open, and a demon came in with flames already dancing around his hands.
“Down!”Seymour shouted.
Tex threw himself to the side as flames roared through the space where he’d been.The heat was intense, and the flames left burn marks across the floor.Tex snarled at the warmth he could feel through his fur.It had been too close.
Orlando wasn’t fast enough.The flames caught his shoulder, and he screamed, rolling to the floor to extinguish the fire burning his shirt.Seymour shimmered, appearing in front of the fire demon, clearly intent on stopping him.
The fire demon sent another blast of flames directly at Seymour’s face.Seymour twisted out of the way, but Tex smelled burning fabric anyway—or maybe that was Orlando’s shirt, even though he’d already gotten the fire out.
Seymour moved too fast for Tex to track.The fire demon collapsed, flames extinguishing instantly as he fell.When Tex stepped closer, he saw a knife sticking out from the demon’s neck.
Tex shifted back to his human form.“Seymour,” he said quietly.
The Nix straightened, his expression grim.“He was going to kill Orlando.”
He was right, but that didn’t make it any easier.Seymour had left the council assassins because he didn’t want to kill, but he had.
“I know,” Tex told him.He looked at the darkness demon standing by.“Anyone else hiding back there?”
The demon shook his head.
“Orlando?”Seymour was already moving toward him.Orlando was sitting up, a grimace on his face.Seymour dropped to his knees and reached for Orlando’s shoulder, making him wince.
Orlando knew better than to move away, though.They’d all been trained together, so he knew what Seymour could do.Orlando hissed when Seymour’s hands started to glow.“It stings like a bitch.”
“You’ll be fine.”Seymour kept his hands on Orlando’s shoulder for another few seconds, then pulled back.“Minimal scarring, too.”
“Thanks.”Orlando rolled his shoulder without wincing, then turned his attention back to the two demons he’d been guarding.They looked terrified now, probably fearing they’d end up dead, too.“You two want to cooperate, or do you want to end up like your friend?”
They cooperated.
It took another ten minutes to secure all the prisoners.Tex put his clothes back on and pulled out his phone while Orlando kept watch, quickly dialing Gregory’s number.
His boss answered on the second ring.“Tex?”
“Four demons incoming,” Tex said tersely.“One deals with darkness, so be careful.One is dead.Seymour had no choice.”
Gregory was quiet for a moment.“Understood.I’ll have the team ready to receive them.”
“Seymour will shimmer them to the shield now, so it shouldn’t take long.We’ll be out of Starhaven within the hour.”Hopefully.
“Good.”Gregory paused.“All of you?”
Tex knew what he was alluding to.“Hopefully,” Tex said before ending the call.
Seymour made his first trip while Orlando and Tex stayed with the remaining demons.The operation hadn’t gone perfectly, but he’d gotten what he’d been sent here for.Hopefully, Gregory and the people who worked for him would be able to get the information they needed to fully shut down this mess.
Seymour only had to make two trips, thankfully, because he looked tired when he reappeared after the second one.“Gregory’s team has them in custody.”
