Page 67 of Commanding Chaos

“Ginger got what she deserved. She knew too much.” He took two steps into the living room.

I, the rational one, took two steps back. Ember and Chaos moved toward him.

Shade chanted something in Latin and held his hands together, a black ball of smoke gathering between them. I’d never seen him work that kind of magic before, but I didn’t have time to contemplate it. Before we could react, he hurled the smoke bomb toward us.

It hit my shoulder, knocking me back before it exploded, filling the room with darkness. Blinded, I focused on my sense of hearing. Hurried footsteps rushed toward us. My heart shot upward into my throat. The air around me shifted.

A smack like a fist hitting a jaw sounded. A grunt. Someone hit the ground.

The blackness rolled back into Shade. He sat on the floor, clutching his jaw. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.” He shot to his feet and did a spinning jump kick, Jean-Claude Van Damme style, his boot colliding with Chaos’s head.

Whoa. I’d never seen him do that before either.

He landed and threw a punch, hitting me in the stomach. The steel bones in my corset absorbed the brunt of it, but the pain was enough to make me double over. Where the hell was he getting this strength?

My demon growled. Goosebumps pricked his skin, and his fingers lengthened, turning to talons.

“Standing tall or on your knees, in the name of the goddess, I force you to freeze,” I whispered and threw the powder at Shade.

He held out his hand, said something else in Latin, and the granules blew backward, into me.

“What the…?” My muscles tensed. I couldn’t move. If I didn’t get out of this soon, I’d have no memory of what happened next.

Shade whirled toward Ember, an energy ball forming between his hands. She spun and struck out, smacking him in the head with the flat side of her sword. He went down. Chaos’s hands turned full demon, and horns protruded through his hair.

My vision blurred. “Ember…” I ground out.

“I got you, sis.” She grabbed my shoulder and recited the undoing spell, releasing me.

Shade scrambled to his feet and lunged at Chaos, wrapping his arms around him as if trying to tackle him. Chaos stumbled, but he didn’t go down.

“His strength is unnatural.” My demon’s voice grew deeper, more gravelly. He grabbed Shade by the scruff of his neck and jerked him back. Seams ripped. Fabric tore. Chaos morphed into his demon form.

Shade kicked, clawing at Chaos’s talons, but he’d encircled his entire neck. He started to speak in Latin. Chaos tightened his grip, choking off the hex.

Shade’s arms flailed, and my gaze locked on the inside of his forearm. A sigil unlike any I had ever drawn glowed deep purple on his skin. His lips turned blue. His arms and legs stilled.

“Stop.” I clutched my demon’s shoulder. “Put him down. He’s being controlled.”

Chaos’s fiery gaze snapped toward me, malice filling his eyes. His expression softened, and he released his hold. Shade fell to the floor with a thump.

Ember dropped to her knees beside him and rested her ear on his chest. “He’s not breathing.”

“Good,” Chaos said.

“Not good. Look.” I kneeled and lifted his arm, showing him the sigil. “I recognize this part of the mark. It’s used in exorcisms to gain control of the demon.”

Ember bent over and blew a breath into Shade’s mouth. His chest rose and fell. She tried again. And a third time. He coughed, rolling to his side and gasping before sitting up abruptly. His pupils shrank to their normal size for less than a second, long enough for me to see the alarm in his eyes before they bled outward again.

He screamed and launched at me, clutching my shoulders and knocking me onto my back. My breath came out in a woosh. His hands wrapped around my neck.

Chaos yanked him off me and hurled him into the wall. The sheetrock cracked, and he slid to the floor before jumping up again and speaking Latin.

“Stay down, Shade.” Ember smacked him in the back with her sword and brought the pommel down onto his head, knocking him unconscious. She caught him as he fell and dragged him to the couch.

“He will pay for the pain he caused you.” Chaos threw his arms out to his sides, and fire erupted on his skin.

“No! Bad demon.” I stepped in front of him, pressing my palms against his chest. If I wasn’t a fire witch, my hands would have melted. His skin was hot as magma. “We need him alive.”

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