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Shannon saw that Chance had the demon’s attention, dropped her rocks, drew her blade and rushed into battle The Hazo swung by reflex and caught her in the abdoround hard
I abandoned my work on the protections and ran over to see how badly she was hurt “Shan?”
“I’m fine,” she wheezed “Well, maybe not fine But I’ll live Help Chance”
I nodded “Butch, get out of there He can see you now”
The little dog leapt away, bounding in and out of piles of debris I drew on stolen ick to craft a dark, insidious curse The demon queen wouldn’t permit any harm to her beloved; and when Chance took a claw in the side, utter rage filled my head
With a snarl in deue, I unleashed hell upon the Hazo Frorowing hotter and hotter with the fury of hellfire, until steam leaked out its ears, its eyes cooked in its head, and ichor ran out its ursine nostrils The de for the final blow He whirled in a snap kick, followed by a hammer-fist strike so fierce it crushed the demon’s nose back into its skull It fell back with a heavy thud, and clouds of dust swirled around us
“We did it,” Shannon said in a tone etched in disbelief
Chance nodded “Now let’s find the portal and get the hell out of here”
Exit, Stage Death
“First I look at your wound,” I corrected
He grumbled but let me peel away his shirt It was a bloody rake, but not deep The blood had already clotted, leaving a e, but it wasn’t life-threatening
“How am I?”
“Gorgeous A Mine” I raised up on tiptoes to kiss hi new scars”
“You’ve got some too, now”
“Other places besides my hands” I only had the flower pentacle there now “Does that mean I’m a real warrior?”
“A veritable badass”
Yeah, relief was definitelyus loopy I drove back the awareness of the price Greydusk paid to get us this far Ies of the Imaron haunted me He had been a true friend frohtened of hi, he behaved with honor I didn’t deserve his loyalty or his sacrifice Ninlil, the demon queen who abandoned us in our hour of need, deserved it even less
Shannon turned with a worried look “I hear the next wave co for us”
“Right I’m on it” I limped over and closed the door, and then in quick, practiced ick I’d stolen froht We’re all injured and I have no more juice”
“Agreed Which portal do we take?” Chance paced away from the door
From outside came the unmistakable sound of a Hazo troop After four blows, it splintered and they sla fear, I saw there were twenty of theht We had as long asout of here
“Butch!”
The dog popped out of hiding, tail wagging so his whole body looked like it ht tip over He cocked his head Yipped once Yeah?
“Great job”
He lifted his , and his enthusiasious, despite the circumstances I said to the others, “Grab your stuff”
Following ot my purse and put Butch in it He settled in with no protest, so I guess he’d had enough excite the Hazo and all Twenty de for the moment when our time ran out
That’s not happening, bitches
Ninlil directed me to a mirror on the far end of the hall I double-timed it over there with Shannon and Chance close behind It didn’t look like a portal, but I don’t knohat I expected, either A glowing red pool of light? The dee didn’t feel like ap between us, as if ere two separate beings again; she’d crawled into a corner of one ominously silent It was different than it had been
“Is this it?” Shannon asked
“Yeah”
Chance canted his head “How do you activate it?”
“Shh I’”
They both stared at me as if I was crazy Ninlil drove lass That should do it Only nothing happened It reh
“How long is it supposed to take?” Shannon sounded scared
Yeah, twenty Hazo waiting to rehten anyone A thrill of terror wor into my kidneys I repeated her question in my head and received blank puzzlement
“It should work,” I said “It only requires my touch”
Chance made a muffled noise “Oh, God”
“What?” I turned to him