“Spar,” Artemis says bleakly, gesturing to her knee.
“No. We kill the demon. Save the world. Protect the Slayers, even if they don’t know we’re doing it. Even if they don’t care. Eve’s not touching any more of us.” I pause. “Them, I mean.”
The rest of the ride is silent.
• • •
Imogen makes it to Naked Grains in record time. I hope we’ve beaten Eve, until I see a familiar matching Range Rover parked next to the motorcycle my mother must have ridden here.
They’re both inside.
We hurry through the parking lot, vacant this long before the store opens. The front door has been smashed in. Glass glitters in the morning light as we step gingerly over it. The rest of the store is untouched. Waiting.
I take them through the tea aisle. “Hold up,” Imogen says, studying the labels. She grabs a fistful of “Dreams of My Enemy’s Weakness” and shoves it in her pocket, then another fistful of something called “Sleep like Death.” That, she keeps clutched in her hand.
We continue on. The employee room door handle has been shot off. I push it open. No one is inside. The door to downstairs is open as well.
We creep down the spiral staircase and into the big room of demons. They’re agitated. Some are moaning, some growling, some pacing back and forth in the tiny confines of their cages.
I hear a voice, too far to make out the words. But close enough to know the tone. “Eve’s here,” I whisper. “And we don’t have any weapons.”
“Actually.” Rhys stares in wonder throughout the room. He gestures to the rows and rows of cages. “We do. Imogen, come with me. Let’s figure out how to open these up.”
“All of them?” She leans close to the nearest cage. A snakelike demon slithers to the bars, sticking out a purple tongue.
Rhys tugs her backward. “That one eats bone marrow. Children’s bone marrow. It will stay in its cage. But some of these are relatively benign breeds. I suspect they’ll help us in exchange for their freedom.” Rhys beams at me, pushing his glasses into place. “I told you my demon encyclopedia was going to come in handy someday.”
“I never doubted you.”
“What are you doing here?” Sean stalks up to us. “Did you do that damage upstairs?”
I shake my head. “No, that would be the succubus here to end the world. Or it might have been my mom. I’m not actually sure who broke the doors.”
“We need to release some of the demons,” Rhys says.
“Like hell you do!” Sean glares. “I was generous last time. You’ll not find me so kind this—”
I punch him in the face.
“Ouch,” I hiss, mindful we need to keep our voices down. “That really hurt!”
“It hurt him more.” Artemis gestures to Sean, slumped unconscious on the floor. She sounds . . . impressed. I try not to let it go to my head.
Rhys reaches into Sean’s slick suit jacket, pulling out a master key. “Bingo. Come on, Imogen. I’ll tell you which ones we need.” They hurry off in the opposite direction of the voices. Artemis and I head toward Eve.
We’re nearly to Sean’s office when Honora slides backward along the floor, slamming into a cage and slumping brokenly to the ground.
“No!” Artemis limps to her.
“Nina, Artemis! Run!” Our mother gestures with her gun back toward where we came from. A shadowy form grabs her by the waist and throws her against the wall. The form sharpens, and suddenly Eve is standing in front of us.
“Did you not understand my generosity in leaving you alive?” she asks me, incredulous. “I did it for Leo’s sake. I do try to be a good mother. But you’re making it difficult.”
Honora presses something into Artemis’s palm. Artemis pops it in her mouth and stands, cracking her
neck and flexing her fingers. She rips off the splint, taking a stake in either hand. Then she launches herself at Eve. She’s a flurry of fists and kicks. Eve shifts and moves like smoke, but Artemis moves just as fast. Not knowing what Artemis took worries me, but right now we need every advantage.
I hurry to our mother. She presses the address book into my hands. “We’ll keep her busy. Get out of here.”