Page 58 of Huntress

“They want the blue-haired bitch in particular, and we aren’t going to disappoint them,” one of the rats said, pointing at Elsie. They’d crowded closer while her attention had been turned away. “Walk away, mutt. You aren’t our enemy yet, and you don’t have to be.”

Elsie clenched her teeth at the name. No one else was allowed to torment him with it. “Fuck off,” she spat, and Mutt sighed.

“Idiot, can you even fight?” Reaching down, he grabbed her uninjured arm with a gloved hand and hauled her to her feet. His hand splayed across her stomach, his claws resting against the tattered remains of her shirt, then he pulled her against his chest. Leaning close, he spoke into her ear.

“Stay out of my way, I’ll take care of this.” Dropping his hand, he pushed her behind him. Mutt grew and kept growing. His face elongated, and his muscular forearms dropped to the ground, covered in wiry, deep-gray fur. He’d changed his form so fast, she’d hardly had time to see it happening.

Elsie stepped closer to him. The rat demons had completely surrounded them, and now the biggest, scariest demon here was her best bet for survival.

Mutt launched himself forward, grasping hold of one of the rat’s arms and wrenching it off with a savage snarl. The others retaliated immediately, some changing into their full demon forms to fight back with even more power.

Whenever a demon got too close, Elsie lashed out with her dagger, causing as much damage as possible with her limited range. The snapping, growling, hissing, and screeching made it impossible to hear anything else.

Whenever she had a free second, she pooled magic to heal her shoulder. Elsie didn’t have Marley’s talent. She couldn’t mend bones or knit muscle back together, but she could stop the bleeding most of the time.

A commotion caught her eye as a group of eight or so rat demons peeled away from the rest, giving Elsie and Mutt half a second’s reprieve. She risked a glance in the direction they were running and let out a ‘whoop!’

Trenton and Steve were in the distance, and they had Perrie with them. She craned her neck around the hound’s chest. Perrie had taken down the entire barrier to let them through, exposing the humans to any nearby demon or monster. The stakes had never been higher, but the tide of this fight was about to change in their favor.

1. Help them, mother. Protect them as you failed to protect me!

Chapter fourteen

Chapter 14

Trenton’s group fanned out and met the rats surging toward the downed barrier head-on. The assassin flowed from one attack to the next, smoothly moving on to his next opponent before the first one hit the ground.

“Hahahaha!” Steve roared, his two-handed broadsword flashing in the sun before he buried it in a rat’s throat. “Next!”

Shrieks came from Perrie’s direction as the witch darted in and out of view. Elsie spotted her as she popped in close to a running rat demon, blew powder in its face, and vanished seconds before the demon keeled over, clutching its chest. She had to learn the contents of that powder for herself one of these days.

Several rats lunged for Mutt at once. Sharp teeth clamped down on his throat, and he cut off a whine of distress. The rat grasped hold of his spiky, pronged collar and twisted, dragging him down to his knees. A rough, choked breath forced its way out of his throat.

Three more demons pounced, two going for his unprotected underside, the other lunging at his face with claws and teeth bared. They were no match for him one on one, so they worked as a group.

Elsie dragged herself forward, and his huge dark eye slid in her direction. He growled, warning her not to get involved. Too fucking bad. Holding her dagger between her teeth, she reached up with her still-working arm and grasped a prong of the collar.

“¡Madre Santa Muerta, deja que esto funcione!”1 Elsie cried out while desperately trying to access her ethereal magic. The seal markings lit up an otherworldly blue and burned like the day they’d formed.

Elsie bit down hard on the dagger and reached deep into the center of her magic, searching for the ethereal she’d once used freely. A magic of time and space, a magic that couldn’t be contained by the spells woven into that damned collar. The magic didn’t come.

“No,” she breathed, gripping the prong even harder. “Let him go!”

Elsie pushed light moon magic into the collar, sending it hurtling through the metal and into the mouth of the rat pinning Mutt down. The magic rocketed through the rat, and it released the hound with a squeal of pain and outrage. A shard of crystal smashed into his mouth and exited through his skull.

The rat fell, and the demon hound stood, shaking his head. He whirled and attacked the rats attempting to disembowel him. Lifting one within his jaws, he gave it a savage shake and let it drop lifelessly to the ground. Rats scattered as he charged forward to take on the next, leaving Elsie behind in his rage.

She tried to follow, but four rats cut her off. Three males, including that horny bastard from earlier, and a female.

“Alone again.” The filthy-mouthed male’s grin returned.

“Take the bitch, Uro,” the female cackled. “I wanna watch.”

Elsie’s spine straightened from pride and pure disgust. One of the other males tilted his head, looking over at Uro.

“We’re supposed to catch them, not kill them,” he said in a disapproving tone. “This one’s already half dead.”

“She brought it on herself. Her kind heals fast, she’ll be fine by the time he gets here.” Uro shrugged.