Sierra could have run. But she didn't even look at the door. We had her brother, so she was staying. Finally, Clay tired of the game, and when she charged him, hands outstretched, he lifted his right arm to block. She grabbed it. Her fingers frosted. He didn't even flinch, probably because an old zombie scratch had left the area insensitive to pain.
With his left hand, he grabbed her around the throat. One good squeeze and she let go of his arm and started kicking and punching and struggling. He carried her by the throat to me, and I used the last piece of rope to bind her hands.
"We want to negotiate," Sierra said once I had her bound beside her brother. "We have answers you'll want."
"Then we'll get them," Clay said. "We'll do it your way, though--the same way you got answers from that
half-demon in Albuquerque. And if you have any idea who I am, then you know that compared to me, you're amateurs."
I got his attention and mouthed, "Keep them alive."
"Course," he said aloud. "Killing them is easy. Real technique is seeing how long you can keep them alive."
He turned to the siblings. "Do you know why mutts don't set foot on Pack territory?"
He told them. By the end of his story, Sierra looked like she was going to puke. Severin just sat there, his head down. Clay grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked his face up.
"Did you hear what I said?"
Severin's eyes glowed orange. "Oh, I heard, wolfman. And I'm impressed. I'll be even more impressed if you can fight your way out of this."
He lifted his hands and snapped the rope as easily as Clay had. As he leapt up, Clay sidestepped, then came back behind Severin and slammed him in the back of the head. Severin dropped, but twisted at the last second, caught Clay by the leg, and threw him into the wall.
"He's a demon," I said. "Possessed."
"News flash about two minutes late," Clay said as he darted out of the demon's way. "The glowing orange eyes were a tip-off."
"It's not a lord demon," I said. "Green is lord. Orange is just a regular demon. If that helps."
He glowered at me. "You know what would really help, Savannah? If you--"
The demon's punch caught Clay in the chin and sent him reeling. The demon glanced at Sierra, and I raced over so he wouldn't free her. He didn't try, though. Just looked at her and went after Clay again.
This time, Clay didn't get distracted. He didn't try to hit the demon either, just kept out of his way, watching him, studying his moves. As moves went, they were simple ones. This was an entity accustomed to relying on brute strength.
Then Clay slipped. As he staggered, the demon swung full-force. Clay spun out of the fake stumble, and kicked the demon in the back of the knees. The demon dropped. Clay grabbed him by the hair.
"We only need one of them alive, right?" he said.
"Right."
Sierra screamed. Clay's free hand grabbed Severin's neck to snap it and--
Severin disappeared. A figure flashed, so fast all I saw was a shape reaching for Sierra. Then she disappeared, too.
Clay raced for the door and threw it open. I followed and caught up to him in the parking lot, looking around.
"They're gone," I said. "Teleportation. Balaam wasn't going to let them get killed. Just enough of a roughing up to teach them to pay more attention."
"Whatever." Clay took out his cell phone and dialed. "Hey, it's me. Got her. I had to take care of a demon infestation first. Seems to be over now, but I'm getting her in the car."
He paused. "I'm fine. She is, too. Can you call--?" Another pause. "Thanks. See you in Miami."
"Was that Elena?" I asked.
I knew it was. You could always tell by his tone. So why did I ask? Because he hadn't looked at me since we'd left the room. With Clay, that meant he was seriously pissed off. I hoped I was wrong, which is why I was trying to get his attention.
"How's she doing?" I asked. "I know she was attacked--"