Legacy of the Demon (Kara Gillian 8)

Keeping hold of her mother’s hand, Ashava turned to me, eyes grave in a ten-year-old’s face. “Xharbek is mad,” she said, and I clearly felt the dual meaning of angry and crazy. “You killed the Katashi syraza, his key instrument on Earth. You stole his chance to use Elinor. And Szerain broke the bond.”

One thing was for sure, Ashava was hands down the most well-spoken two-month-old I’d ever met. And the tallest. “We might have twisted his panties kind of tight,” I said with a snort.

“The lords have failed him,” she continued. “They wouldn’t or couldn’t do what he decided was needed to stabilize the demon realm. I’m now his last chance to execute a plan that benefits him more than any other.”

I scowled “Exploiting you against your will in the process.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I wouldn’t be crippled as the lords are, but I’d be enslaved nonetheless.” Her little shoulders squared with determination. “Xharbek’s approach isn’t the only way,” she announced fiercely, as if to make her proclamation known to all. “And he will never have me.”

Her face paled an instant before a strong tremor shook the ground. Beyond her, Pellini and Idris scrambled to their feet and backed away from the valve.

Jill pulled Ashava close as if to shield her. “What’s wrong?”

“Xharbek has washed his hands of the lords,” Ashava whispered. She looked up at her mother then at me, eyes wide. “And of me.”

Chapter 45

The earth shuddered then shrieked as the spongy asphalt by the valve pulled apart in a rift-crack barely ten feet long and no more than a pace across. But instead of the magenta flames I was so accustomed to, luminous red potency roiled from the rift and spread like ground fog in all directions.

My heart began to pound. “He’s ripped the valve open.” Xharbek had tried to accomplish the same thing via Katashi’s arcane bomb, but now he’d given the plan his own crazypants rift-style upgrade. This would be a catastrophic flood of rakkuhr.

Pellini and Idris eased toward the valve-rift, already engaged in the monumental task of rakkuhr containment.

Elinor let out a cry of dismay. “I will assist them.” She took off, with Bryce on her heels.

“It’s too much for us to control!” Ashava said, lower lip quivering ever so briefly. “Xharbek will destroy both worlds.”

Jill jerked her chin up. “Then we’d better stop him.” She took hold of Ashava’s shoulders and gave her a full-strength Listen up, because I mean business glare—one that I’d been on the receiving end of a few times. “Xharbek wanted to use you, but he forgot that you’ve defeated him once already. You saved Earth when you were only a few minutes old. You have power.”

Ashava’s eyes darted to the incapacitated Szerain, then she gulped as it hit her that she was the Big Lord On Campus at the moment.

“Stop that,” Jill ordered, voice rippling with love and tender rebuke at Ashava’s doubt. “You’re more than a demonic lord. More than all of them combined. You are a qaztehl.” She spoke the last word with an intensity that seemed to ripple out from the two of them like shock waves.

Inhuman stillness settled over Ashava. “Thank you, mother,” she said with calm assurance. “I am Ashava, firstborn daughter of Zakaar and Jillian Lenora Faciane. Unfettered qaztehl.”

&n

bsp; Her aura rolled over me like a Louisiana afternoon thunderstorm, magnificent power with the promise of destruction or life-giving mercy.

Holy shit. Mzatal had a powerful and intense aura, but while he was the Sun, Ashava was a SuperGiant star, dazzling all within reach.

Then she smiled brilliantly, shifting from goddess to girl in the blink of an eye. “I’m so glad you’re here!” she cried out and threw her arms around Jill’s waist.

“Ditto that,” Jill said, hugging Ashava close. “Though I shudder to think what kind of turmoil my house will be in when I get back.” She grinned at my questioning look. “After Roper dropped off the makkas, Michael immediately fixated on makkas-collaring the kittens.” She rolled her eyes, but they sparkled with genuine affection. “Unfortunately, Pellini’s dog thought ‘chase the kitty’ was a great game. Michael managed to collar four of them, but by the time I dashed out, two were still in hiding, and Lilith was breaking out the tuna—”

“Incoming!” Bryce shouted, bringing his rifle to bear on a zhurn flying in our direction like a piece of night.

Jill didn’t waste a single instant. Before the ing left Bryce’s mouth, she clutched Ashava close and dropped to the ground, shielding her with arms and legs and body, even as Ashava threw a barrier of potency around them both. Mother and daughter, fiercely protecting each other. Utterly adorable.

The crack-crack-crack of Bravo Squad’s weapons filled the air, but the zhurn made a tough target as it darted from shadow to shadow. Bryce and I drew down on it as it came within range, both of us waiting for a clear shot.

Yet instead of arrowing straight at us, it swooped and snagged the makkas lasso with a claw then hurled it into the rift with the finesse of a Frisbee pro.

Then it let out a screech like tearing metal as two hundred pounds of dog slammed into it. A growl and the snap of teeth, and the screech cut off.

“Yeeehaaaw! Git ’im!”

I stumbled back barely in time to avoid being trampled as a horse galloped past, hooves muffled by the soft ground. The rider let out another whoop as the dog shook the zhurn like a terrier with a rat then flung it aside. The horse reared and came down hard with both hooves on the mangled zhurn. As the demon discorporeated, the horse sidled away, snorting as if satisfied.