He wouldn’t drop the child unless something got him.
“No,” I say out loud and throw out my hands, conjuring a big ball of white light. The power collects in my chest, coming right from my heart, and then erupts into a spectacular rain of magic, lighting up the forest in front of me.
I don’t see anything at first. Just trees and shadows and darkness. Then something moves through the branches, and I throw an energy ball without a second thought. It hits the demon square in the chest, and I fuel the energy ball with white light, bringing it back down to the demon. The same thing happens to this demon as it did with Tina when she was being loaded into the ambulance.
The teenage boy sits up, blinking, and looks at me, as if I know the answers.
“Get to the road,” I tell him. “Don’t stop running until you’re in town.”
His head bobs up and down, and he looks at the demon lying on the ground next to him.
“Go!” I shout. “If you want to live, get the fuck out of here!”
He scrambles away, tripping a few times but making it out of my line of sight. I hurry over to the child and hold my hands over him. I can’t remember exactly what I said to the girl who was possessed before, but it doesn’t matter. Because as soon as I extend my hands and close my eyes, something wraps around my middle, holding tight right above my stomach.
I scream as I’m pulled back, driven over the rough forest floor. Binx is there in an instant, knocking whoever has a hold on me to the side. Freya is right there as well, helping me to my feet. There are too many demons. We’re surrounded, and for every one we take out, another three appear.
Panting, I get to my feet and hold out my hands, blue light glowing around my fingers. Whatever happens, I won’t go down without a fight. These demons know it, and their hesitation to attack gives me confidence, even though I should be scared shitless.
“Come and get it,” I sneer and thrust my hands forward, blinding the demons with white light. Blinking, I look beyond the light for Lucas but don’t see him.
“Where are you?” I cry. “Don’t leave me.”
Gritting my teeth, I magically shove off five demons headed right at me. They’re knocked back by my blast of magic, falling to their asses and rolling along the ground. The landing was rough and would cause a normal human to pause and slowly get up after sustaining several injuries, but these demons don’t care what happens to their human counterparts.
They’ll find another body if they need to so they can continue their attack.
Something crashes through the woods behind me, moving fast. I whirl around, hands in front of me, ready to attack. I almost hit Lucas with a ball of energy. He’s covered in blood, mostly demon blood, but some is his own; I know by the tear in his shirt. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t get angry that I came outside. Instead, he takes my hand and hurries me inside.
“The kid!” I shout. Lucas doesn’t let go of me until I’m on the steps. I grip the railing, going as fast as I can to get inside. Come inside, I call to my familiars. Bring Scarlet. My feet hit the hardwood of the hall, and I turn, heart in my throat. Lucas has the kid in his arms and speeds inside.
“Hecate,” I breath, looking up at the moon. “You helped me before. I could really use some protection right now.” I close my eyes, sensing my familiars getting close. I wait another beat for my familiars and Scarlet to come bounding inside. Then I cast a circle around the house. It’s not specified how my other circles were, and it can be easily broken. Yet it’s better than nothing. “Lunae lucem pariter conglobati circumdabunt nos.” A bright line of yellow light circles the house, fading to black only a second later.
Slamming the door, I run into the family room where Lucas has laid the kid on the couch. The demon inside him wrestles against the spell.
“Is he dead?” I ask, vomit rising in my throat when I look at the kid’s pale cheeks.
“His heart is beating, but it’s erratic,” Lucas tells me, stepping back.
Curling my lips over my teeth, I hold my hands out and summon a ball of white light. I hesitate before I send the magic into the demon.
“What if it’s too much?” I ask, eyeing Lucas. “He’s so small. Should I cut the dosage of magic?”
“Can you?”
I push my hands closer together. The ball gets smaller but glows brighter. “I don’t know how.”
“If it is too much, it’s better than rotting from the inside out while being controlled by a demon.”