Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 73252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73252 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Delphi and I pause on the sidewalk, looking in both directions. I don’t see anything. Then suddenly, a group of people standing outside a bar starts yelling and fighting.
“Guess that’s where he went.” We take off, running several blocks down the street chasing the demon. I don’t know if it realizes we can see it yet, but it’s going to catch on pretty fast.
“Every fucking time I wear heels, I end up chasing demons,” I mutter when we slow to a stop in front of a piano bar. It’s packed tonight, apparently because some popular headliner is supposed to perform. The bouncer outside suddenly shoves his podium over and makes a move to run into the street. I see the demon slipping inside the bar. I have to make a split-second decision.
Go after the demon or save the bouncer.
“Somnum,” I say, casting the sleeping spell. He collapses to the ground, and people scream. “Having people run into traffic is really getting old too,” I say.
Antonio gives me a confused look. “I’ll explain later.” Risking looking like complete assholes for leaving the bouncer unconscious on the ground, we rush inside. Delphi points down the hall. The place is cool and definitely somewhere Mabel would want to come back to so she could film content for her TikTok account. It has a dark, Gothic vibe with just a touch of Victorian flair. And, of course, it’s packed. I lose sight of the demon as it weaves through the crowded seating area.
“Shit. I lost it.”
“Me too.”
Delphi comes up beside me and links her arm through mine as she scans the crowd. “Of course it picked this place. It’s packed.”
“That’s exactly why it picked this place,” Antonio says.
I catch the way Delphi looks at him, her eyes lingering on him for just a moment too long. Mabel notices it too. A huge grin spreads over her face as she looks at me. I just shake my head. I do not have time for her to play matchmaker tonight.
“Okay. You and Mabel go toward the back. Antonio, come with me.” I try to come up with a plan on the fly.
“If Delphi sees it, direct Mabel toward it. I don’t know—grab it and drag it toward the back, maybe? Hopefully by then the others will be back with the weapons and I can stab it.”
“Stab it with what?” Delphi asks, her face paling.
“A knife soaked in a vanquishing potion,” I tell her. “We all have a little salad dressing container of it. Though injuring it in any way will probably slow it down. Decapitation is always an option.” I tip my head to the side, making a face. “But swinging an ax at something you can’t see isn’t going to be easy.”
“What if I throw a blanket over it?” Mabel asks. “Would that reveal its form?”
“I’m going to guess so. It has a physical body. I think it’s cloaking itself somehow.”
I look between Delphi and Mabel. “Delphi and I must be able to see through it because we’re supernatural. You are too,” I tell Mabel, “but biologically, your body was born human.”
We all exchange glances and silently decide this is not a topic we want to get into right now. Because if whatever cloaking spell the demon uses specifically targets humans, that means vampires have more humanity left in them than anyone ever thought.
“Okay. We’ll sweep the back,” Mabel says, holding out her hand for Delphi to take. Antonio and I start toward the front. Then I catch a glimpse of the demon sitting in an empty chair at someone’s table.
“It’s right there,” I tell Antonio, motioning for him to follow my line of sight. “There’s an empty chair between those two women in the sparkly black dresses.” He looks over. Several round tables sit near the front of the stage with reserved signs in the middle. Almost every chair is full except for that one.
“What’s it doing?” he asks.
“Eating their French fries.” I blink several times to make sure I’m actually seeing this correctly. The demon reaches across the table and knocks over a wine glass. Red liquid splashes down the front of another woman’s ivory dress. She looks up angrily at the woman two seats away. The loud music drowns out their argument, and I watch the demon lean back and chuckle at the mess he created.
“He’s just warming up,” I say. “Creating enough little arguments that eventually someone is going to explode.” I swallow. “Soon these pranks are going to turn deadly.”
All of a sudden, a rush of people floods inside, filling the already cramped space. Probably because there’s no bouncer out front anymore.
“Oh, shit.” People crowd in front of me, blocking my view. “I’m going up on the stage to get a better look around,” I tell Antonio.
“I’ll let Leo know we’re here so they can bring the weapons,” Antonio says, stopping at the bottom of the stairs. I quickly rush onto the stage. But as soon as I get up there, someone steps out from behind a thick black curtain.