The Shadow Crosser (The Storm Runner 3)

Iktan was nowhere to be seen.

I stood in the center of a wide lane, catching my breath, scanning the dark. Where had Ik gone? Where was Adrik?

“I know the godborn’s here,” Ik said. Her disembodied voice seemed to come at me from all directions. “Give the godborn to me if you want to live.”

“Not happening,” I said. At least she thought there was only one. Pish. And she claimed demons were superior!

“You can’t beat me,” Ik said. Then, in a huskier voice, she added, “How many will have to die tonight, Fire Boy?”

I clutched Fuego, ready to fight. “I’m thinking one more demon.”

“Don’t you mean four?” Ik and two more demons materialized fifteen feet in front of me. Their silver braids hung to their ankles and were pulled so tight, I thought their faces might crack open if they flared a single nostril.

I hurled Fuego, but my spear met only black mist. The demons were an illusion.

An identical trio appeared on the roof of a car. Then another on the fence. They were replicating themselves over and over, and I had no idea which ones were real.

I felt the rush of Brooks’s wings nearby, but even with my night vision, I couldn’t see her. At the same moment, an engine turned over. Tires peeled out with a hair-raising squeal as a red sports car barreled toward the demons standing in front of me.

The car smashed into the beasts—or I should say through them, since they evaporated into thin air. The vehicle screeched to a halt a few feet from me.

Adrik was in the driver’s seat.

He jumped out of the car, wild-eyed and panting. “Where’d they go?”

A deadly growl emerged from the dark. Seconds ticked by.

One. Two. Three.

I death-gripped Fuego.

Out of nowhere, a demon flew at me, tackling me to the ground. It buried its teeth in my neck, sending venom into my blood. But this time I was ready. Fire charged through me. I became a lethal inferno that had the demon screaming in agony as it vanished.

I whirled toward Adrik. He was wrapped in a demon’s arms, thrashing and grunting uselessly.

“One move and I slash his neck,” the monster croaked.

“Your smell could kill me!” Adrik shouted.

I froze just as Brooks appeared behind the demon. I blinked. She was still a hawk, but instead of brown and white, she was entirely black, blending into the inky night.

While I was distracted, Ik emerged from behind a car and leaped toward Adrik. But Brooks was faster. She slashed Adrik’s captor across its spine with her talons, bringing the demon to its knees before Brooks hauled Adrik up and out of reach.

Ik raised her blowgun toward the hawk. I released a single stream of fire toward her, and the weapon burst into flame. Meanwhile, another demon flew at me. I quickly ducked out of claws’ reach and scrambled onto the roof of a sedan. Two more demons rushed me, launching themselves onto the car. I fled, carefully jumping from roof to roof with Fuego’s help. But the predators were agile and gaining.

Brooks circled back, invisible against the black sky except for Adrik dangling from one of her claws. “Grab the other leg!” he shouted.

Brooks hovered only a few feet ahead.

One more jump.

Using the last car roof as a launching pad, I leaped through the air, instantly vanishing Fuego to free my hands as I gripped Brooks’s available claw.

Darts whizzed by, missing us by inches.

Crap! I threw up a wall of thick smoke to camouflage us.

The darts kept coming. Adrik looked at me wide-eyed. “Blast the filthy b—” I heard him shout before I released a stream of raging fire.