Jaxson. Ready.
On a three count, Jaxson and Amal swung into the room, claws out. I
followed behind, pistol raised to cover them.
No one was there.
My heartbeat drowned out all sound as they rushed along the sides of
cases. There wasn’t enough cover to conceal a blood demon, but I could
smell it.
Where is—
The breath exploded from my lungs, and my pistol flew from my grasp as
a brutal force ripped me up into the air. Suddenly, I was face to face with a
blood demon, suspended from the ceiling. My heart clenched with terror as
the demon lurched along the roof of the gallery, holding me dangling from its
claws.
In a blur of motion, Jaxson leapt to the wall and climbed. He was on us in
seconds, and he sunk his claws into the thing’s leg and pulled. The demon
lost its grip on the ceiling, and we dropped.
Agony ripped through my shoulder as I slammed into the ground. I rolled
over to get away from the sinuous monster, but the demon lashed out with its
sickly green talons and dug them into my leg. Searing pain tore through me,
and I screamed.
Jaxson jumped to my side and wrenched the demon’s grasping hands
away. It howled and roared, but the unearthly sound was cut short as Jaxson
tore through its throat.
Blood sprayed over me as I scrambled forward on my knees, searching
for my gun.
Wolf time?
No, I thought, my hands shaking from shock and pain.
Blasts of wicked green flames roared around us, and I
scampered behind
a display case just in time to see Kahanov spider-climb across the ceiling and