Page 86 of Death Wish

Forgetting about everything else, I sprinted to the bathroom and grabbed the doorknob. Shaking it multiple times revealed it was locked.

“Kay! Kay!” I screamed over and over before stepping back, ready to kick the door down with my boot.

Laurence was beside me suddenly, whispering words in an old language and gesturing toward the lock. A spell.

There was a soft click, and I shouldered the door open just in time to see Kay cowering in the bathtub with a towel clutched to her nakedness, the water from the showerhead spraying all over, and the small window busted open with the huge red-eyed demon Xaver trying to squeeze inside. He growled ferociously, his clawed hand swiping for Kay who was just out of reach.

Laurence started muttering more spells frantically, but I didn’t want to stand around and see if any of them worked. I threw myself at Kay and tried to tug her out of the tub. Xaver swiped and his talon met my upper arm, slicing through the flesh like it was paper. Blood bubbled up instantly.

For a minor wound, it stung like hell. Like a giant papercut.

Xaver’s smile was all toothy and monstrous. “She bleeds.” He seemed too excited to have found this out.

Without Cole and his backpack of tricks, the only weapons I had were my hands. The white light and the death touch.

I quickly pulled off my glove and snatched Xaver’s arm. His boney fingers wrapped completely around my wrist, his claws biting down. Pain sliced through me, more blood springing up.

My death touch wasn’t working on him.

Guess that made sense. I couldn’t kill a demon. He was already sort of dead, wasn’t he? Demons didn’t have souls, either.

“I was mistaken,” Xaver drawled, his voice grating across every nerve. “Not only a reaper, but something more.”

His gaze fell on the tattoo on my chest, and for the first time, fear flashed in his eyes. “I never thought I’d see one of you again.”

I needed to summon the white light. That was the only thing that had worked on him last time.

But before I could reach down and pull the power out, the demon used our grip on each other to throw me across the small bathroom. The back of my head slammed against the mirror, shattering it, and the motion flipped me over the vanity sink. My vision blurred, and every bone in my body spiked with agony. I landed in a puddle on the floor.

So much pain. Even with all the fights I had been in these last few days, I still wasn’t used to the shock pain brought me. After a year of feeling almost nothing at all, it was crippling. But I couldn’t stay down. Not when Xaver was so close and Kay was in danger.

I pushed myself up on shaky elbows, my stomach retching from the movement.

“Stop muttering your nonsense, sorcerer!” Xaver shouted at Laurence. “You’re not strong enough to do anything. Your silly little protection spells couldn’t even keep me out.”

Suddenly a small fire ball shot across the room, hitting Xaver square in the face. He screamed and fell back, disappearing from the window.

I glanced at Laurence, who still had his hands up, breathing heavily. He looked as shocked as I was that whatever he had done had worked.

“Awesome work,” I said, pushing myself to my feet. Touching the back of my head made me wince, and when I looked at my fingers, more blood glistened there. Damn. Xaver had got me good.

“I-I didn’t know I could do that.” Laurence gasped. “That’s a level two spell!” He laughed and punched the air. “Yes! Take that, demon scum!”

I turned to Kay, who was ghostly pale and shaking.

“Are you okay?” I asked her, which in hindsight, was a stupid question. Of course she wasn’t okay. She had just been ambushed by a demon. Again. This time in her own home.

Despite all that, she nodded. “He didn’t touch me,” she whispered. “You guys came just in time.”

I helped her stand up with my gloved hand and shut off the shower’s water with the other.

Clutching her towel, Kay turned to Laurence. “I didn’t know you surrounded my apartment with protection spells. When did you do that?”

Laurence’s cheeks reddened. “The moment I realized I loved you. After our lunch date at the harbor. I reinforced them again before you guys found me on the steps.”

“Not to be a downer, but why didn’t they work?” I asked.

“The best protection spells fortify the structure they’re placed on, but it has to be an enclosed structure. Closed doors. Windows. That’s what keeps the spell at its strongest.”

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