Page 55 of Till Death

Too much ego meant he’d do anything to come out the winner without hesitating to understand the truth of the situation. I only hoped Kay had the stamina to outlast him. She remained there with her eyes focused on the fight to guide her fighter in the right movements.

Playing dirty.

Pride slashed at Lust’s chest and Kay winced, though her concentration remained on them. She held steady. Commanded Lust to move at a feverish pace. We really were down to a single shot at this because if Pride downed Lust before we had a chance to go in for the kill, we were spent.

“We’re getting out of here,” Tamara murmured. She had shifted to my side at some point. “We really are.”

Their screeches threatened to rupture my eardrums.

Then, much to my surprise, Lust grabbed my sword.

“Hey!” I shouted and the stench of burning flesh filled the air.

But he didn’t let go. Instead, he threw the sword toward Pride with such force the blade embedded in his chest before Pride had a chance to move out of the way. Pride fell hard on his side. His jaw dropped open and black smoke poured from inside of him.

No words formed but Pride died with a question on his lips. The moment the second sin demon went down, Kay released her hold on Lust, and the second body thudded to the ground.

“Whoa there. Go easy.” A few steps brought me to her side and I looped an arm underneath her to keep her on her feet. The sooner we got out of here, the better. “Are you okay?”

She managed a tired smile for me. “Yeah, I’m fine. Although it’s a bit different trying to control a demon body than a human one. A lot more complicated.”

“And look at you. You managed it without breaking a sweat.”

“You’re being too kind,” she whispered.

I shook my head. “I only speak the truth. You did great, Kay. I’m proud of you.”

Lisa had her gun in hand and stalked over to shoot both of the sin demons in the head, to keep them down, to make sure they were well and truly gone.

For the longest while, the five of us stood in a half circle.

“Did we seriously just take down two of the baddest demons out there?” Lisa asked, her attempt to break up the crazy amount of nervousness between us. “I just want to make sure I’m actually seeing what I’m seeing. It’s pretty fantastic.”

“Let’s be honest here. You didn’t do much,” Tamara commented.

“I’m not the one with an angel sword, either.” The two of them squared off against each other while Kay let out an exhausted chuckle.

“Just like normal,” she managed to get out. “Someone is always at the other’s throat. It’s almost comforting, in a way. I can’t make sense why, but I guess I’ve gotten used to the sounds of the squabbles.”

I knew the feeling.

“Hey, Tamara, do you think your magic can work to get usoutof Hell, too?” I asked. “Or is the magic a one-way ticket?”

I’d have to make a mental note to look into those ancient power words later. I mean, if they could be used outside of a witch’s normal magic, then they could either be good for us to use, or a threat.

Tamara shrugged. “I can try. I mean, it’s not like we’ve got anything else going on, right?” She brushed a speck of invisible lint off her shirt. “Although we’ll be heading right back into the thick of the fighting. This might actually be the best vacation we’ve got right now.”

Yeah, tell me something I didn’t know. At this point, I pretty much ran on a steady diet of adrenaline and fear. I really dreaded to see what would happen once I stopped. If we ever got to that point. If we stopped, I might just fall into a coma and not get up.

“Try, please.” I walked over to her, helping Kay along and shouldering more of her weight than I probably should have. My leg screamed and the rest of me wanted to collapse. I held out my hand. “You need blood, right? Take mine.”

“Your boy over there might be able to donate if you’re feeling a little too tired.” Tamara used her nose to gesture to Eli.

Who, much to my dissatisfaction, still stared with open malice at Cole.Yikes.

At least Cole had managed to stay out of the fight without using any more of his demon powers. A single mistake and he’d be gone entirely. We hung on by a thread as it was.

“Eli, I hope we’re not going to have a problem,” I called out to him as Tamara used her nail and sliced across my hand. Hard. Wincing, teeth bared, I continued. “Cole is coming with us. I’m not leaving him behind.”

---