dirt as it tried to escape. It didn’t get very far. Ben was there in an instant, pouncing on the creature and ripping out its throat in a single fluid movement, rolling off the body with the momentum of his attack. Dead leaves kicked up in a dervish then drifted gently to the ground. One caught on Ben’s ear and he shook it loose before trotting back into the shadows.
Christian gave a short nod and bent in the saddle to cut through the spinal cord of the trampled demon now trying to rise to its feet. His Skimstrok blade glowed faintly, sharper than steel. With the power seeping over from Asgard tonight, feeding the runes carved into the precious metal, it would cut through solid flesh and bone like butter.
This was hardly battle. Only the lowest level of demons swarmed from the split Lois was trying to seal. Slavering, barely intelligent creatures of instinct and fury. This was the fourth time this month he’d been called to hunt and he was sick of it. He swiped his forearm across his forehead and glanced around. Lois seemed to have gotten control of the portal and was wrestling it closed. No more demons were coming across, at least for now, and there were only about a dozen left. Maybe an hour’s work, then he could go find Raquel and ask her to explain what the hell Fen was talking about.
He was looking directly at Lois when she suddenly grabbed her head in both hands and let out a piercing scream. Her eyes flashed with a blinding white light for an instant before going black, and she crumpled to the ground. He pushed his horse forward, shouting for help, but it would be too late. Lois had been standing almost directly on the fault when she fell and even now he could feel the split widening again. As he watched, a demon emerged from the portal and Christian knew he wouldn’t make it in time to save her.
A flash of black fur flew over Lois’s limp body and slammed into the demon with an impact Christian could hear above the sounds of the fight. The pair rolled once, twice, and the hound came out on top. He dipped his head, fangs bared, and tore out the thing’s throat. Skidding to a stop, Christian threw himself off his horse to gather up Lois.
He felt another demon cross before he saw it loom up and swat the hound away with its great clawed hand. The hound yelped in pain and the pack responded instantly, converging on the threat. Aiden was there too, cutting his way through a pair of demons and facing down another larger one that forced his way through the failing portal.
Christian tried to rouse Lois. She moaned faintly but didn’t look good. In the dark, illuminated by the glow from his blade, she appeared ghostly pale. Her eyes were slit, but he could only see whites. Her breath came in pained pants. The demon had never reached her. He’d seen it happen...
“What’s wrong with her?” Aiden stood above him coated in drying demon blood, guarding Christian’s back.
“I don’t—” he began, but broke off when Lois stirred.
“Raquel,” she whispered, eyes snapping open to focus on him. Panic and pain swirled in their depths. “You have to stop her. She’ll split open the fault if she doesn’t stop. Kill her if she can’t pull it back.”
Christian shook his head and opened his mouth to argue or at least demand more information, but she was fading again.
“Give her to me. I’ll take Lois back to the house and find Raquel,” Aiden said.
Aiden would kill Raquel if it was between her and the clan. Christian stood, hefting Lois into his arms. “I’ll do it.”
Aiden paused as if he might argue but then gave a short nod. “Call Kathy on your way. She’ll come. Tell Grace we need everyone ready to evacuate. She knows the emergency plan.”
Christian turned from the fight, taking one last glimpse with him—the icy threat in Aiden’s eyes and the hounds guarding their fallen brother. He wouldn’t kill Raquel. It wouldn’t come to that.
He left Lois at Aiden’s house with Grace, who was already on the phone with Kathy when he left. By the time he climbed into his car and tore out of the driveway heading for town, he’d had time to consider Lois’s words. If Raquel had somehow caused the rift and Lois so much pain from a distance, what state was she in now?
It took less than five minutes for him to arrive at her house, but he tried calling Audrey on the way. He got voice mail twice and tossed his phone onto the seat with a curse. She’d mentioned something about going shopping with her mom. They were planning a bridal shower for Raquel in a few days. They’d already had one back in Colorado but thought this would be a nice way for her to get to know more people from the community. It was a surprise, which meant Raquel would be alone tonight.
The house was dark when he threw the car into park. Taking the stairs two at a time, he walked into the house without knocking and paused inside the door. The house was far too quiet, but there was something strange...a throbbing sensation like he sometimes felt when standing directly above the fault. He wasn’t particularly sensitive to magic so if he could feel it pressing on him here, like a weight against his skin, something was very wrong. Instinctively, he reached for his sword, but he’d left it in the sheath attached to Skadi’s saddle.
“Raquel?”
No answer. Quickly, he passed down the hall to her bedroom. The light was on and she was curled in a ball on the floor. No blood. Her leg twitched as he stood frozen in the door—she was still alive. She’d created a warded circle and it made him pause for a moment. He didn’t know if she’d meant to keep something in or out, but either way, he couldn’t wait. He broke it, stepping across the invisible line. Like crossing to Asgard, the same cobweb feeling on his skin iced his blood. Nothing exploded or attacked and he didn’t waste any more time worrying about what he might have loosed by breaking that circle.
Raquel...he crouched beside her, almost afraid to touch her. The magic was stronger inside the circle and seemed to be coming directly from her. As gently as he could manage it, he turned her rigid body. Her eyes were open but blind and unfocused. She breathed in tight gasps and seemed to be having some sort of a seizure.
“Raquel. Come on, baby. Snap out of it.”
She wasn’t blinking. Her mouth moved, forming words, but no sound came out. He slapped her face. Nothing. He considered trying to knock her out, wondering if rendering her unconscious would break the magic’s hold on her. Aiden would kill her to keep the clan safe. Aiden was a good man, but for him the clan always came first.
Christian could smell burnt flesh, possibly hair. He knew that was often an ingredient in Lois’s spells. But it didn’t... His gaze swept over Raquel’s body and caught on the burnt patch on her leg. Her nightgown covered most of her thigh but when he shoved the fabric aside, he saw the runes. Fen’s sketchbook was pinned beneath her leg and a marker had rolled halfway across the room.
But Crayola sure as hell hadn’t done
The burns were still smoking as if they’d been etched into her skin with acid. Her leg twitched again, and she moaned.
He grabbed the damp washcloth and pressed it to the wound. A door crashed open from the rear of the house and he yelled, “In here.”
Hopefully, it was someone who knew what needed to be done because he sure as hell hadn’t a clue. Digging his phone out of his pocket, he hit Grace’s number. She answered as the door behind him opened.
He glanced back. Only Julian. The teenage boy lived across the street and had some magical ability. He’d have felt the disturbance. His eyes were red rimmed, the pupils contracted to tiny specks. He seemed to be having a mild but similar reaction to Lois’s.
“Hello?”
Christian turned his head. “Raquel is causing this, but I don’t know how to stop it. She’s having some sort of seizure and she’s not responding—”
Julian broke through the circle before Christian thought to warn him. A shudder passed through his skinny body and he dropped to his knees. Christian didn’t have time to stop him, didn’t even see the knife in Julian’s hand until it was on the down stroke inches from Raquel’s heart. By then it was too late.
Dropping the phone, he tackled Julian to the ground, both of them landing across Raquel’s legs. He rolled, dragging the boy with him and pinning his shoulders to the carpet. “What the fuck are you doing?”
Julian was shaking, skin cold to the touch. “Had to stop it.”
“Stay down,” Christian growled, positioning himself so he could examine Raquel and still keep an eye on the boy. He’d missed the heart, thank God. The strike had gone wide and hit her rib, leaving a bloody gash in her side.
