Page 235 of Mayhem and Minnie

“There’s a fire alarm in the hallway. Cover for me,” I tell her and run toward the door.

“Marlowe!” Minnie calls out for me, but I ignore her. I run at full speed, avoiding the monster in the middle of the room. Surprisingly, though, it doesn’t even mind me. Its attention is fully on Minnie—almost as if I didn’t exist.

Her eyes widen when the demon doesn’t make an attempt to hurt me, but she follows after me all the same, enlarging her shield to cover me, too.

When she moves, the demon moves too. It releases another roar, this time louder, more powerful.

The entire foundation of the house shakes, mimicking an earthquake of at least seven on the Richter scale.

This demon version might be stronger, but it’s slower, too. Sure, the house quakes with every step it takes, but it’s almost as if watching everything unfold in slow motion.

I reach the hallway and pull on the fire alarm. The sound immediately blasts through the house, and in a matter of seconds, the music from downstairs stops. Cries of panic and confusion reverberate through the hallway as the guests filter out of the room.

Minnie stops in the doorway, turns toward the monster, and creates a blue energy blast that hits it in the chest. Even though the blow makes a dent in its body, the injury quickly closes.

“What now?” I ask, since it doesn’t seem as though anything can harm the demon.

“We need to draw it out in the open so I can summon it out.”

“Summon what?”

“I need to draw out the essence of the demon to the surface to kill it. Until then, he’s going to use the souls he consumed as a shield. So if I attack him now, I’m only going to harm the souls inside of it,” Minnie explains rapidly.

“Use the backyard. I’ll go down and make sure everyone is safely out.”

By that, I mean my mother and Giles. I couldn’t care less about anyone else. Although, for my mother’s sake, I’ll include Cristopher and Irene, too. She’s already lost a child. I don’t want to add more grief on her plate.

Minnie turns to me, her features tight.

“All right. But first,” she says as she backs away toward me, still holding her shield in place. The demon, too, advances.

When she reaches my side, she manifests her ice sword and cuts horizontally across her wrist.

“Drink this,” she says, thrusting her arm in my face.

I frown.

“It will protect you in case you need to heal from an injury.”

Since time is limited, I refrain from commenting or making a joke along the lines of how hot this is. I grab her arm and bring it to my lips, sucking in her blood before the wound closes.

It’s warm. Sweet. Surprisingly tasty. So much so, I wouldn’t mind drinking more of it, and as I greedily suck on the wound, I’m disappointed to realize it’s already closed.

I’ll ask for more later.

Maybe we can make it a game too, and she’ll let me do the cuts then drink her up.

Ah, damn it. Now’s not the time to think of kinky scenarios that I doubt she’ll let me enact without that fucking bond in place.

“Go!” she exclaims as she tries to keep the demon busy so I can make my escape.

I give her a worried glance, somehow unable to move from the spot.

“I can handle myself, Marlowe. Go and take care of the guests.”

“I know you can but?—”

“Go! Now!”

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