them civil.”
She felt Holly pulling in earth energy again. Ashe stalled some more, giving her sister more time. “What were you before you were a demon?”
“An estate appraiser. All those lovely things, none of them mine. It was a sad life.” He grabbed the second box the saleslady had brought. “Now I can have whatever I want.”
“Have you noticed that it’s mostly junk?”
He chuckled, opening the box. “Who says it’s about the dollar value? Having things makes me all warm and happy inside.”
Ashe could see Holly now. Her sister had moved up behind where Tony stood. Holly let loose a flash of power. Tony jolted like he’d been electrocuted, smoke seeping from his skin. At the same moment, Alessandro dropped from the ceiling, sword flashing.
“Go!” Ashe screamed at the hostages. They scrambled, but not all of them were quick. She heaved the two older women to their feet, pushing them out of harm’s way.
But not fast enough.
Furious, Tony hurled Alessandro into a rack of cards. The blast of energy knocked three of the fleeing humans to their knees. Reynard was suddenly there, hustling them out the door. Another angry wave of power followed. Ashe staggered back, bruising her shoulder on a shelf bracket. She holstered her useless gun, thinking fast.
The demon’s human form wavered like an underwater image, the colors that made up his clothes, the definition of his features growing dark and indistinct. A second later, he dissolved into a billow of smoke, wings unfurling from his swirling form and filling the width of the store. Ashe got an impression of teeth and beak.
Great Goddess, they had to contain this thing. They had to distract it from the running hostages. She saw the miniature church on the counter and had an idea. Tony’s Easter village wouldn’t be complete without it.
Near the front of the store, Holly dropped her arms, realizing her spell hadn’t been powerful enough. Ashe grabbed the miniature church from the counter and hurled it at her sister. “Catch! Run for the hoard!”
Holly’s eyes went round as she caught the thing, but she obediently bolted. The demon thing whirled, tendrils of smoke seeming to flow around its fluid move. It shrieked its displeasure, hurling mugs and little houses after her.
Reynard used the opportunity to open a portal right on top of it. Enraged, the demon lashed out. Cards exploded into the air. Paperweights and gift boxes flew in crazy figure eights. Something heavy caught Ashe in the back of the head. She stumbled, tripping over the edge of a low display shelf. Once she was down, every airborne object zoomed toward her like hostile snow: envelopes, bows, pens, notebooks, photo frames, and tree ornaments. Ashe rolled facedown and covered her head with her hands, trying to get her knees under her. The flimsy cards felt weirdly heavy, like they were brick instead of paper, and more and more piled on top of her. Ashe tried to thrust out a hand, but the edges of the cards and envelopes seemed stuck together. Light filtered through the curtain of paper, a checkerboard of pink and white and pale green, but she couldn’t poke through the cocoon.
Panic set in. She wriggled, but every movement increased the weight of the trap. Her legs were pinned and she couldn’t kick. Ashe stopped, listening and panting. She was conscious of the worn carpet inches from her nose and mouth, a mashed piece of gum just beyond her cheek. Fake cherry scent didn’t mix well with the reek of demon.
She couldn’t hear a thing. Crushing down on her ribs and spine, the pile of paper was grinding her to the floor. A burn started in her lungs as they struggled to inflate. It felt like every object the demon had ever collected was piled on her back.
Not even her fingers could budge. Every nerve in her body seemed to fire, begging to move her muscles, but all she managed was a shudder. Hot, salty tears of frustration ran over her lips and into the scratchy carpet.
Where is everyone? What’s going on? Why can’t I hear anything?
Whatever air was inside the cocoon, she’d used it up. The edges of her vision were growing dark. She closed her eyes so she couldn’t see the creeping blackness.
Her breath came in thick, wheezing gasps.
And then stopped.
Chapter 23
Reynard’s portal wobbled and slowly began to fold in on itself, the disk of burning energy collapsing like a wilted flower.
Holly caught the church, held it over her head, and danced backward. “Hey, you! Over here!”
But Tony couldn’t be distracted anymore. He was clearly fighting exile to the Castle—fighting and winning. Reynard swore. A portal was hard enough to maintain without a demon trying to slam it shut. He could feel the other guardsmen beyond the opening, doing what they could to help, but Reynard was the strongest.
Not strong enough, at least not this time. The collector demon might not be as powerful as a soul eater or a fire demon, but it was still hellspawn. There would be no quiet surrender.
Reynard let the portal go, dropping his arms as it swirled shut.
They needed to regroup.
He knew from experience that demons were more often caught through persistence than force. Backing off now wasn’t defeat, just the beginning of a testing process. Reynard would find the creature’s weakness. He was the captain of the Castle guard. Fighting monsters was what he did.
He wiped his hands on his jeans, getting ready for the next round. A perverse part of him was enjoying the challenge—but he was tired. Being near the urn wasn’t enough. He needed to find it and get back to the Castle.
That was the last place he wanted to go. Then again, he might not make it there. An end was coming either way, but Reynard couldn’t afford to think about that right now.
The thing that had been Tony the bookseller opened huge, fanged jaws and screeched like a banshee, the sound rattling bones and teeth. The sour stink of demon magic rolled through the store as it stretched nightmare wings.
Huge and dark, the demon swelled to fill the front of the store, its shadow creeping across the ceiling like an advancing tide. The air grew dark, as if the lights were fading. In the false twilight, there seemed to be nothing to breathe, the air itself robbed of vitality.
Holly threw a ball of energy. The dark tide shrank back, but only for a moment. She turned and bolted down the aisle, the miniature church under her arm. With a huge rush of air, the demon flapped its wings and launched into the air, sailing after her like inevitable doom.
Reynard charged forward to intervene, but it was too late. No sooner had Holly’s feet touched the tiles of the main mall than the demon grabbed her shoulder in its beak, plucking her into the air.
Reynard lunged for her. Holly’s hand brushed his, but couldn’t catch hold. The miniature church fell from her grip, exploding into a rain of stinging shards as it smashed to the floor. They scattered with an oddly musical sound.
With a snarl, Alessandro sprang, sword ready for a two-handed blow. The bound took him ten feet in the air, using the vampire’s power of levitation. As the silver blade arced through the air, the demon faded into mist. Holly dropped like a stone, but Alessandro caught her in one arm, holding her as they landed.
Reynard kept his eyes on the demon. It spun, winding itself to a long rope of black mist, and threaded itself between the plain doors across the mall marked, STAIRWAY TO PARKING. His first instinct was to storm after it, but a jolt of panic pushed everything else aside.
Where was Ashe?
Ashe sat bolt upright with a rasping gasp, nearly colliding with Reynard’s concerned face. Someone had rolled her over and pulled the paper off her face. She was mummified in drawings of baskets, chicks, and bunnies. “Get. This. Off of me!”
