Tianna and Cass faced off with one of the other Akuma demons, while Brock and Molly took on the third. Where was the fourth? The fire was spreading; the thickening smoke and flames made it hard to see. I spun around in the water. Haru and Reo were missing too … somewhere among the flames with the fourth demon.
With a start, I remembered that none of us were going to be able to go anywhere until this sword was fixed. We were trapped here fighting the Akuma and couldn’t even retreat. With shaking hands, I brought the two broken pieces together again so the water could do its thing. The lilac glow surged around the severed edges of the sword again.
Come on, come on.
“They’re trying to burn our cove!” the selkie leader howled, prompting the last few seals to leave the safety of the water and fight with them.
I felt so helpless, it was like the pool scene with the siren all over again. My hands were vibrating as the blade stitched itself together. Purple shafts of light bounced off the sharp edge as the metal fused. It was incredible, and in any other situation I would’ve enjoyed the marvel of the water’s magic. But not right now.
Impatience flared through me while I desperately kicked my legs to keep myself floating. Cries, snarls, and gunshots circled the cove. The fire roared and crackled as if it too were alive, making my nerves twitch. It was hard to keep track of my friends, and beyond the one Akuma the selkies were working on devouring. Were the other three still on their feet? I spotted one, black veins bulging beneath its skin, its black eyes merciless, lit only by fury as it charged at Cass and Tianna, who held it back with flashes of their magic.
Suddenly, Haru burst through the wall of fire with Reo right behind him. Black blood dripped all over them as they searched for me with desperate eyes. They looked like they’d been through hell.
I brought the blade up toward the surface of the water, careful to keep it fully submerged, and inspected the seam that was melding to make it one again. It appeared almost fully stitched together. The purple glow was diminishing, fading along my arms too.
The instant this thing was fixed, I was jumping out of the water and slaying some Akuma ass.
“Kitsune!” the female Akuma Brock had been fighting hissed from in front of a wall of crackling fire. I whipped my head around. Brock wasn’t there anymore. Maybe she’d thrown him. Oh God. He’d better be okay. I couldn’t see him anywhere.
Extending her left hand, the demon overlord pointed it toward me. A razor-sharp black talon tore through the flesh, extending from the middle of her palm in a deadly curve. Then she ran right for me.
Fuck.
“Molly, no!” Cass shouted, before I’d even registered the streak of purple hair.
Molly leapt in front of me, across the edge of the pool, and blocked the female Akuma’s attack. The demon’s black talon stabbed Molly instead of me. It plunged into her gut, cutting all the way through to her back. The blade-like tip emerged at the back of Molly’s shirt in a spreading circle of crimson blood.
No! I choked on a sob as rage filled my every pore. Molly was the most treasured person in our little group, young and eager to take on the supernatural world. As the only human among us, she alone couldn’t regenerate.
I would fucking kill all of them.
As the Akuma pulled out the talon, Molly collapsed to the ground. Before I realized what I was doing, I launched myself out of the water—my blade was whole again, shining purple, and ready to cut this bitch’s heart out.
With a battle cry that was equal parts sorrow and rage, I jumped onto the bank and slashed into the black-veined bitch. I planned to carve her up like a fucking Thanksgiving turkey for what she did to Molly.
Molly who was limp at my feet in a puddle of red blood.
So much blood.
The Akuma tried to stab me in the neck with her creepy palm talon, striking at my carotid with a fancy martial arts move, but I’d already positioned the tip of my sword over her heart. With a satisfying crack, the sharp tip of my katana sliced into her chest.
The demon bitch gasped as my purple glowing magic lit up her face like the Fourth of July. Up close she was even more hideous. Her black veins bulged beneath her skin like worms trying to break free through her flesh. Her eyes were dead, even while life continued to thump through her.
“You … can’t stop … it,” she mumbled, before going deadly silent. The air whooshed from her body and she sank to the ground. With a kick to her gut, I slid my sword from her body as she exploded into demon jelly.
Ewwww. Shit had to stop blowing up all over me.
I flicked demon gunk off of me as I spun to check on Molly.
Oh no.
A sob lodged in my throat. She was lifeless, drained of color, cradled in Brock’s arms.
“No,” I croaked. Brock met my eyes with a look that said there was nothing we could do.
Molly was dying.
A quick scan revealed that the other Akuma were dead too, and the selkies were working to put out the fire by wetting their seal skins and draping them over certain spots. With how moist this area was, they should be able to put it out with all of them working together.
