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)
“And by any other chance, would you want to switch shoes with me?”
She lifts one foot, revealing a dirty, worn ivory-colored Croc.
“Your shoes look designer,” she says, wrinkling her nose in confusion.
“My feet are killing me. These are brand-new Valentino heels that I’ve worn for, like, two hours. Please trade me.” The other waitress looks at her with pure jealousy. We quickly swap shoes, and I flip the Croc strap around my ankle. “They’re in sport mode,” I say as I start walking again. “We’re good.”
“I’m thinking we keep a change of shoes for you in the car at all times,” Xavier says, the slightest hint of amusement in his voice.
“That would be smart. Also, at this point, I feel like I’m cursing us every time I wear heels and a dress because we always end up chasing demons.”
“If that’s what’s causing all these demons, we’ll throw away every pair of heels you own.” We hurry toward the empty building, and the dark energy in the air grows stronger with every step.
We’re definitely on the right track. Xavier grabs the door and pulls it open like it’s nothing. Actually, he doesn’t just break the deadbolt. He pulls the entire door off its hinges. Is it wrong to get turned on by him at a time like this? I wouldn’t act on it now, obviously.
Leo pulls a flashlight from his pocket and clicks it on. I conjure an energy ball and toss it into the air, slowly feeding it more power until it glows brightly enough to illuminate the room.
“Whoa, sis, that’s pretty fucking cool.”
“I know, right?” I say, probably a little too excited. We slowly make our way deeper into the building while I hold my hands slightly in front of me, trying to read the energy in the air.
“It’s here,” I whisper, my voice barely audible. “I get the sense it’s hiding. But I don’t think it’ll run once it realizes we’re here.”
I hand my knife to Devon. “It knows I can see it, and last time it made me weirdly disoriented without even touching me. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get close enough to kill it, so I might have to direct you guys.” I turn toward Leo. “Which means you’re vulnerable to whatever it can do too.”
“What about them?” he asks, jerking his thumb toward the vampires. “I thought necromancy was Vaelric’s specialty.”
“Vaelric,” I correct. “Not necessarily this demon. And if it could control Xavier, it would’ve done it onstage. That would’ve caused way more damage.” I shudder at the thought of the demon making Xavier publicly lose control. What happened with Governor Richards is bad enough. We already have enough political and public fallout to deal with once we’re safe.
My heartbeat picks up the deeper we go into the building. Then the demon’s laugh echoes from somewhere above us, making my skin prickle.
“You know,” I start, feeding a little more energy into the glowing ball above me, “I really wish you guys could hear this demon. It’s not fair that I’m the only one who has to put up with how annoying it is.”
“You can hear it right now?” Xavier asks.
“Yeah. I think it’s upstairs.”
“Should we taunt it?” Leo suggests.
I look at him. “That could actually work. Demons, much like short men suffering from small-dick energy, are incredibly easy to anger and goad into confrontation.”
“How exactly do you taunt a demon?” Devon asks, tightening his grip on the knife.
“Surprisingly easy. Watch.” I take a deep breath. “Hey, loser!” I shout. “I see you’re too scared to come face us. Is it because you know you can’t handle us? You know we’re gonna kick your ass, don’t you?” Something shuffles overhead. We all freeze.
“Is it really that easy?” Devon asks.
“Demons are used to humans avoiding them,” Leo explains. “The energy they give off causes that instinctive I need to get the fuck out of here feeling. So when you challenge them instead, you’re basically challenging everything they believe about themselves.”
“They’re egotistical evil assholes,” I sum up with a shrug. “Just because they’re easy to taunt doesn’t mean they’re easy to kill.”
We continue down the hallway. Suddenly, Xavier speeds in front of us and catches a stack of two-by-fours seconds before they come crashing down on top of us.
“Nice try,” Leo says. “You’re gonna have to put in a little more effort than that, dumbass.”
Xavier throws the boards aside. They hit the floor with a loud clatter. And the demon appears.
“He’s there!” I shout, pointing. Xavier swings his knife. He misses by inches. The demon shimmers out of view, and this time I see him lift a hand and snap his fingers.
A thin thread of electricity shoots through the air.
I duck behind Devon. It hits him instead. He jerks backward, blinking.
“Oh, shit.” A second later, he recovers and turns toward me.