Page 18 of Bad Demon

Her eyes narrowed on the demon at my feet. “Toss me the rope.”

“Did you find anything out? I was hoping—”

“Toss me the rope, child,” she said again, more sharply.

I did as she’d said, right as the demon gasped in a breath, then slammed himself into the back of my legs, knocking me down. I spun around, diving on top of him, then pulling another dart from my pack, I stabbed it into his thigh. He shrieked, then collapsed back into unconsciousness.

Pushing away from him, I stood, shoving my hair off my face. “So, did you find anything out about this threeling thing—”

“I have no information for you yet. Come back next week, and don’t forget your offering,” she said.

Then, she tugged on the rope, and like the demon weighed nothing, his unconscious body shot across the ground and through the wards, and she dragged him down the path.

I stared after her, stunned.

She had nothing?

She was Agatheena Burnside, one of the most powerful witches in this city—if not the most powerful. And she had nothing at all for me?

My fingers curled into fists. Was this all some elaborate load of crap so I’d bring her demons to harvest? I wouldn’t put it past the old witch. She was my blood, but she felt no loyalty to me. I doubted she felt loyalty to anyone.

Brushing the dirt off my jeans, I cursed under my breath. I had no choice but to head back to my truck.

I needed answers. Maybe Agatheena was full of crap or using me for a steady supply of demon organs, or maybe it was hard for even her to find the information I needed, but in the meantime, demonswerewatching me, and the awful, dark feeling I kept getting—that monsters were coming for me—was real. It was so real.

I hugged myself against the chill and walked faster. The forest was creepy as fuck at night. My potion was starting to wear off, and charm or not, I just wanted to get back to my truck and get out of there.

I was over halfway to the truck when I heard something walking toward me. The trees rustled to my left, then my right. Dread shot through me so hard and fast that my nerve endings spiked as three demons stepped out of the trees. They were big and ugly and smelled worse than whatever Agatheena’s new friend had all over him. The one in the front grinned, flashing slimy, pointed green teeth, while the one beside him sniffed the air.

“She’s unmated.” He sniffed again. “And she’ll be in season soon.”

“I’ve been looking for another breeder,” another said. “I’ll take her.”

“I saw her first,” the third one said.

My hand flew to my chest. The charm was gone.

It must’ve fallen out back at the cottage when that demon knocked me down.

Fuck. I was in serious trouble.

Yanking my blowgun from my pocket, I loaded it with a dart. I couldn’t take them all down at once. Maybe two if I was quick enough, but that would still leave me with the third to deal with. My only option was outrunning him, but a chase like that through this forest would only draw more demons.

One of them charged me. With force, I blew air through the blowgun. The dart got him in the throat. He took two more steps and went down with a ground-shaking thud. The other two roared, then ran at me as well. The closest demon reached out, claws about to swipe across my face—and then he was gone. Something huge and black tore the demon to shreds with only a couple of swipes of its massive claws.

What the hell was that? A wolf?

The second demon tried to run, but the beast jumped on him and wrapped its huge maw around the male’s head. Its vicious fangs crunched through the demon’s skull before its head was torn completely off, leaving only a bloody stump.

The beast spat out the head, and the moment it did, the demon’s remains turned to ash.

Then, the beast turned to me.

Holy fuck.

Its eyes glowed red, and ash coated its mouth. No, not a feral wolf—or any kind of wolf. Running from this beast would be pointless.

“Easy,” I said softly, lifting my hands. “I’m no threat. I’m not—”

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