I headed back toward the bathroom, determined to take a quick shower and get a tiny bit of sleep.
A noise from the window made me jump. I turned, ice racing over my skin.
The window swung open, and an enormous man slipped into the room. I opened my mouth to scream, but he flicked his hand, and my throat closed tight. He approached quickly.
Panic flared.
Where was my dagger bracelet?
The other side of the room.
A weapon. I needed a weapon.
He was on me before I could move, as swift as the Devil had been back in the bar. Except he wasn’t fighting to protect me.
The intruder’s hand closed around my throat. “You’ve been poking into things that are better left alone.” His eyes gleamed with a cold, demonic darkness.
I kicked out at him, but we were too close. He tightened his grip.
The wine glass.
I smashed it against the wall and stabbed him in the neck with the broken stem. His eyes bulged. Blood bubbled up around the wound, but he didn’t let go.
I struggled kicking and hitting, but he didn't so much as budge. Even the glass shoved into his throat didn’t slow him.
My vision faded at the edges. Fear sliced through me, and my lungs burned. I kicked the wall behind me, hoping to alert the Devil, and clawed at the man’s cheeks, raking gouges into the skin that made him grin eerily.
His face shifted, transforming into something rougher, with horns protruding from his head. Blood dripped from his neck wound, and his breath gurgled around it, but his grip on my throat didn’t loosen.
Tears pricked my eyes.
Cordelia appeared out of the corner of my vision, and hope collided with fear. The little raccoon was no match for this monster.
She raced toward him anyway. She’d nearly reached him when the Devil slammed into the room.
“Release her!” The Devil charged the monster who had me pinned.
Cordelia veered out of the way, and the Devil jerked the bastard off me. I coughed and went to my knees, sucking air through my burning throat. My hair fell over my face as I tried to catch my breath.
Through the strands, I saw a massive spray of blood paint the floor. Shocked, I looked up. The Devil held the monster’s head in his hands.
The body lay on the floor.
Holy crap.
On the other side of the room, Cordelia disappeared, as if it were just too much for her.
Hell, it was too much for me. I might have magic, but I wasn’t used to this magical world of vampires tearing off monster heads.
Throat still burning, I scrambled back against the wall.
Something strange flashed across the Devil’s face, almost like shock or regret, and he tossed the demon head aside. It thudded to the ground.
Oh God, Police College had not prepared me for this.
“Are you all right?” He fell to his knees beside me, eyes dark with worry and lips tight.
I gasped, my lungs struggling to feed oxygen to my starved body. “Yeah. Thanks.”