“Fuck,” I hissed, just barely managing to avoid a full-force blow to the side of the head.
But even a partial hit had my brain feel like it was rattling around in my skull.
My vision flashed for a second.
Not long.
But long enough.
Long enough for the demon to turn his attention away from Bolin and focus entirely on me.
The second blow was full-force, colliding with my jaw. I could tell by the taste of blood flooding my mouth that I had another dental implant in my future.
You know, if I lived through it.
I struck out, but my knuckles felt like they collided with a brick wall.
What the hell was he?
My second strike had the little bones in the top of my hand breaking.
“Fuck,” I hissed, vaguely aware of Marsh rushing past me, trying to charge forward again, but getting swatted back like a pesky fly.
I had to watch helplessly as he slammed back against a tree.
Damnit.
“You need to get the hell out of here,” I yelled to the kids, knowing that if two full-fledged demonslayers were struggling, that this was worse than we ever could have imagined.
Fights were always a little challenging, but in a weird way, fun. There was nothing fun about the way the bastard’s fist collided with my ribs, with the pain that exploded through my chest as one or more of my ribs cracked.
“Get Maggie, take the van, and drive like hell back to The Academy.”
It didn’t matter that they were all too young to drive.
If we weren’t going to make it, the only safe thing for them was to get as far away as quickly as possible. Fen and Chen rushed forward, each grabbing under Bolin’s arms, dragging him with them as I took a series of punches so fast to my face that made me wonder if there were boxing matches in hell because I’d never fought with someone so quick before.
A scream escaped me as another series of hits sent me flying to the ground. The impact with the ground made all the various injuries through my body scream in unison.
The pain was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.
It was all-encompassing.
It was so intense that I couldn’t move past it. I couldn’t even think past it.
Not even enough to consider self-preservation.
“Dale!” Marsh yelled, the edge to his voice saying that the demon was coming to finish me off.
And for one short, alarming second, a part of me was okay with that.
Because it would make the pain stop.
“Dale, get up, goddamnit!” Marsh yelled. “You—“ he started before cutting off.
There was a pause that made me think it was the end for me.
Until, suddenly, the demon was flying around away from me.
My first thought was Marsh.
But when my gaze slid in that direction, Marsh was still trying to get up, but making very little progress. He’d probably broken his back.
Confused, my gaze went back.
And there was my savior.
A red-headed, stubborn-ass, initiative-taking child who had no business trying to fight a demon that nearly put two of her teachers in graves.
“Maggie,” I yelled. “No. Run!” I added, watching as she ducked under the swinging arm of the demon.
Even as I said it, though, the demon struck out, the girl went flying.
And when she went down, she didn’t get back up.
“No!”
The scream was something primal, something full of anguish, even though I barely knew the girl.
At the sound of my voice, the demon turned back around, making his way toward me once again.
He got all of one step toward me before he was dragged backward from behind.
Again, my gaze went to Marsh.
He’d made a little progress. He was completely dripping with sweat with the effort, but he’d gotten himself up onto his knees, and was pressing a hand onto the ground to try to push himself up.
But it wasn’t him who saved me.
Or the splayed body of Maggie on the ground.
It wasn’t the boys, either.
No.
My savior took the form of a demon who, at that moment, looked like a dark, avenging angel.
Minos.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Minos
I woke up to a house that was so warm it was almost stifling.
Which meant one thing.
Ace was awake.
I could practically see him emerging in the pre-dawn hours, body wrapped in three of his grandpa sweaters, making his way methodically through the house, lighting fires in every room.
It was why he chose this house, after all.
The fireplaces.
Even though we had forced hot air, he liked the extra source of heat.
We were warm weather creatures, after all.
I often wondered why he chose to stay in this area. Aside from the fact that it was where we’d come up first. Back then, we had all been hopeful that another hellmouth would open up, and we could just jump right back in and go home.
When that didn’t happen, that was when Ace had the plan with the witches.
A sacrifice each generation.