Devil's Punch

he shared my curiosity but didn’t have the answer.

“Troop movements, then?” I prompted.

“Oh. Well, the Hazo have been divided up. They were stationed in the throne room, but now he’s got them patrolling. The Xaraz are in the kitchens. I don’t think they were ordered to do that, but they’re scavengers at heart. They’re just looking for stuff to eat and steal. I don’t imagine they’ll fight very hard.”

Remembering the rabble in the courtyard, I agreed. “And your cohorts?”

“We have orders to find and slay you.”

I sensed that was all I’d learn. A nod at Greydusk conveyed my intent, and the Saremon panicked. She fumbled for a spell, any spell, but fear made her clumsy. The Imaron moved on her—and when I gave the order for her execution, I wasn’t the queen of Xibalba. I was only Corine Solomon, making another bad choice for the greater good. Yet when Grey broke the mage’s neck, it didn’t feel good at all.

“We have Hazo after us,” I said, ignoring the awful weight in my stomach. “I blocked them, but I can only do that two or three more times before I’m done.”

“Then we’ll be fast.” Chance took my hand.

Shannon was already moving. “Let’s go. I don’t much care where, but we can’t stand around.”

Butch yapped in agreement. Mostly he cowered in my purse on the demon’s shoulder, but he agreed we had to put some pep in our step. Then he went back into hiding. I hoped he wasn’t permanently traumatized, but at the moment I was more worried about finding our escape hatch than about my dog’s mental health.

The Imaron closed his eyes, as if visualizing the castle layout. Too bad Shannon couldn’t get on her netbook and call up Google Maps. The absurd thought put a desperate, exhausted smile on my face. I hadn’t thought of such a thing—a human thing—since we arrived at the palace. With effort, I set it aside. Later, I’d deal with the weirdness of having someone else drive my body around like a smart car.

“Hurry,” Chance urged.

Greydusk opened his black eyes and flashed a look that said he wasn’t helping, but he set off nonetheless. Behind us, the shield I’d set flickered and went down. It didn’t have the power or lasting potential of a permanent ward. I could throw blocks in their way—that was all.

Hope it slows them down long enough.

The Hazo couldn’t know the castle as well as Greydusk did. Hopefully that would work to our advantage. Shouts echoed through the corridors, most useless and faraway. The next one made me think the warrior caste had closed enough that they might have gotten behind us again. I had to keep them there.

“I’ll catch up,” I called.

I didn’t know if they heard me. Doesn’t matter. While the others kept moving, I stopped to drop another block. Another slash to my fingertips for extra power; the other cuts had coagulated, and they burned like hell when I sliced them open again. These scars weren’t like the ones I gained handling charged objects.

Set, shape, strength. I worked as fast as I could, my heart hammering in my ears, and then I saw ten Hazo thundering down the hall at me. The wall went up just as they charged it. One popped through, a second split in half in a grotesque explosion of guts, neatly sheared by my magical barrier. Demon innards splattered all over me, and I almost puked, except I had bigger problems.

Namely this giant, enraged demon whose pal I just tore in two.

Its ursine features twisted with rage, the tusks rising and falling with each breath as if anticipating how good I’d taste. “You killed Caim.”

No disputing that.

“He accepted my judgment,” I said quietly. “You dishonor his bravery with such betrayal.”

“Do not speak to me of honor, half-breed filth. You are no true queen, and we will cleanse your stain from this land.”

While he spoke, I shook with exhaustion and backed up. This confrontation flashed me back to Peru and how helpless I had felt with Caim. Only this demon didn’t have a harness for me to read. And I certainly couldn’t beat the Hazo in hand to hand.

Its great size telegraphed its attack. I stumbled back another step, intending to run, but my feet slipped in the demon guts, and that mishap saved me. The brute aimed a vicious blow at my head; since I was already falling, I took only part of the hit to my face, hard enough to slam me back five feet into the opposite wall, where the hall bent left. Blood spurted from my nose. If I’d taken the whole force, it would’ve snapped my neck.

As it was, I landed hard, ears ringing. The Hazo charged. Instead of beating me to death, as I expected, it lifted me by the throat. Its giant fist tightened, cutting off my oxygen. Fruitlessly, I kicked, but I couldn’t connect. My motions grew jerky, spasmodic, like death throes I had seen in so many other creatures.

So sorry, I thought. About everything.

My vision went black-speckled, and the pain seared me from the inside out. I lost consciousness for a few seconds and woke when the pressure eased off my neck. I fell then, and the Hazo roared—because it had a sword sticking out of its thigh. Shannon removed it with a jerk and used the wall to propel herself out of range.

I lay dazed, unable to process anything for precious seconds. The gulps of air I drew into my tortured lungs felt like the whole world. Beside me, Chance came in low and hard, his strikes lightning fast, a maddening flurry of fire. With each blow, the Hazo moaned its anguish as the flames licked over its hide. The stink of live, burning meat filled my nostrils, and then Shannon sliced it from behind.

A clever stroke. With its spinal column severed, the Hazo fell. Not dead but dying, and in absolute agony. These weren’t invulnerable like the summoned knight had been. We were on its home ground and it lacked the magickal protection Caim had owned in Peru.

But there were so many more hunting us. It had taken two on one to bring this Hazo down. Too many more fights like this one, and— No. Best not to consider the worst, even in my head.

My arms felt like cooked noodles. I tried to push away from the wall, but I couldn’t get up. No strength. Chance lifted me, wanting to shake me, no doubt, but my cheek was so swollen I couldn’t see out of that eye; I looked too pathetic for his wrath. Instead he cradled me against his chest and beckoned to Shannon.

As he ran, he demanded, “What the hell did you think you were doing?”

My bruised throat felt as though speaking would kill me. I forced the words out anyway in a hoarse rasp. “Slowing them down. Watching our backs.”

“Yeah? And who had yours?”

“You and Shan,” I whispered. “Like always.”

He held any further castigation because Greydusk met us halfway. His sharkish features drew tight with worry. “How badly are you hurt, my queen?”

“Please don’t call me that. It’s Corine.” Such an effort to push the sounds out. “You should go. Save yourself.”

The demon shook his head. “You may not be their queen, but you are mine. I will never forsake you.”

“Tell me it’s not far,” Shannon said. “This is fun and all, but I’d like to make our big exit now.”

“One more room, I think. Possibly two.” Grey sounded unsure—just what we needed to bolster morale.

I touched Chance on the shoulder. “I can walk now. My legs are fine.”

Overstatement. The bite where the Gorder sank its teeth in to save me from falling throbbed like fire. Might be infected, but it wouldn’t help to whine. My face and throat were fucked up beyond all recognition; I turned my head in order to see the left side of the hallway.

“Are you positive?” Chance asked.

“Yep.”

As he set me on my feet, the rest of the Hazo troop found us. Nine of them. Four of us—and a terrified dog. I’d faced some shitty odds in my life, but this—this was something else entirely.

What spells do I remember? I had a big blank spot in my head. I didn’t remember my mother’s magick. I had relied on Ninlil for so much, gotten comfortable with her natural knowledge, and now I was fucking helpless. Dead weight.

“Shannon, stay back,” I begged.

She gave a nervous laugh, holding her sword in a defensive stance. “I’m not charging them. I’m not crazy.”