Page 42 of My Demon Manny

"Want me to give it a shot?" Star asked, his dark eyes flicking to me, and I nodded.

Out of the twenty-four demons who currently existed, three of them were older—and a lot more powerful—than the rest of us. Star, Kor, and Mammon. They'd been created at the same time, and I truly believed that having Nico and Ryk in his life was the only reason Star hadn't lost his way like Mammon or turned into a recluse like Kor.

We were currently in an abandoned building at the edge of town that I'd tracked the dark soul to, and Star glanced around the place, then took a few steps away from us.

"Stay back," he warned, then exhaled deeply.

Between one moment and the next, Star...exploded. Instead of the 6'3" man, there now stood an eight-foot-tall demon made out of dark stone, with bright white fire seeping out of the cracks. His eyes were red like molten lava, and I imagined he was the kind of demon humans wrote about, at least physically.

All three of the older demons had forms like this, but I imagined Mammon had lost his connection to the Chasm's firethat seemed to burn inside Star, or he never would've turned dark.

Star took a few steps forward, and the ground under our feet seemed to tremble with each step. Fuck, he was powerful.

"Mammon was here," Star said, glancing around and seeing something the rest of us couldn't. "Around twenty hours ago. They're long gone now."

Maximus swore under his breath, and I agreed with his sentiment. We always seemed to be a step behind those guys, and it was starting to get old.

Star shifted back, and then stumbled a step as Ryk rushed to his side, grabbing him around the waist.

Glancing between them, I frowned. "Is he okay?"

Ryk made a face, and I realized he was supporting most of Star's weight. "Not really. The older demons are more powerful, and it's harder for them to keep their true form locked inside their human one, so when they do shift into it, turning back to and then staying in their human form takes a lot of effort. He'll be okay after a long nap."

I nodded, and Ryk bit his lip, glancing from Maximus to me. "If you don't need us..."

"Of course, take him home."

"I'll text Nico," I promised him, and he smiled before they both disappeared.

"Fuck!" Maximus looked ready to blow something up—probably the building—and I searched for something to say to keep him from doing just that.

"We should look around. Maybe we'll find out why they were here," I said, and Maximus nodded, not looking very enthused by the idea.

We scanned the building floor by floor, finding nothing but a few abandoned blankets where people must've been squatting.

Passing a closed door, I almost ignored it before I caught the scent of blood. Warily, I jerked the door open, and then swore loudly.

"What is it?" Maximus appeared at my side. He took one look at the massacre inside and let out a string of swear words even I was stunned by.

"Why would they kill so many vampires?"

"I had my doubts when I saw the shifter pack they slaughtered in the last town they passed through, but now I'm sure. They're trying to recreate a dark magic potion. A witch tried to use it before, but we saved the infected people before they could be possessed."

"Possessed?" I asked, making a face, and Maximus nodded, a grim look on his face.

"The dark souls are trying to acquire physical bodies for themselves."

That wasn't good. Without bodies, the dark souls were limited in the havoc they could cause, even with Mammon's assistance. But if they got physical forms... yeah, it would be bad.

"We can't let them reach their goal."

Maximus nodded, agreeing with my declaration, then sighed, rubbing his palm over his face. "I'll need to get this taken care of," he said, waving at the bodies stacked on top of each other inside the small storage room. "You should head on home."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Just stay alert and let me know if you sense anything."

"I will," I promised, my eyes sliding back to the dead vampires.

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