D.L.
Zoe crawled away, sobbing, struggling to cover herself. Aiden, tending to Snake, shrugged out of his shirt and tossed it to Jenny, who ran to Zoe, covering her.
Troy darted close, punched Ellison as the Lupine rose and went after him, his bloody mouth grinning. Ellison didn’t even flinch.
“She’s mine, and no one will ever have her. I marked her for my master and Zoe will turn, just as my master turned me months ago.” Ellison’s smile was filled with contempt. “You can’t stop us. No one can. Our numbers are growing.”
Troy tried again, using his super speed, but even his charging kick and punches did nothing.
Not a Lupine. Demon. Whatever mortality inside of Ellison had faded long ago when he started drinking the cattle blood.
“Thank you for saving Zoe, Troy. Please step aside,” Tristan ordered, flexing his hands. “I do not wish you to get hurt.”
Not needing an engraved invitation, Troy put several feet between himself and Ellison . Tristan stretched out a hand glowing with power. He aimed the power at Ellison, who dropped to the ground unconscious from the energy bolt slamming into him.
Tristan blew at his finger. “That will suffice for now. When he awakens, Jenny will be ready for her first lesson from her father. First, we must see to Snake and Zoe’s safety.”
Gideon knelt at Snake’s side, touching his head. The shifter sat up, rubbing his temples. Seeing Ellison, Snake growled and lunged to his feet.
“Easy,” the Crimson Wizard murmured. “That was a blow from a demon. You need to rest.”
“Rest my ass. Let me at him.” Snake fisted his hands. “He hurt Zoe.”
Tristan pulled the shifter away and gentled his voice. “Zoe is fine, but she is shaken. Go to her. See to her needs. Let us handle this.”
Now Troy understood Snake’s dislike for him and his change of attitude after meeting Jenny. The Lupine had thought Troy and Zoe were involved.
“She needs you,” Troy told Snake. “Only you. Get her out of here and back home.”
Snake threw him a grateful look, and walked off, picking Zoe in his arms. Sobbing, she curled against him as Snake jogged to his pickup truck.
Jenny looked after them anxiously as they drove off. “Will Zoe be all right?”
“She’s got the best medicine, sweetheart. She has someone who cares,” Troy said somberly. He glanced at Tristan. “D.L. He branded her. What does that stand for?”
“Dark Lord,” the Silver Wizard said grimly. “Ellison has been the one breaking the warding on the land. He invited Perry and the cult onto Aiden’s ranch.”
“And you kept this information to yourself? Damnit Tristan, you should have told me!” Aiden took off his Stetson and threw it to the ground. “I could have saved her.”
“No one could have.” Tristan looked solemn. “He’s a rare morphing demon, a shifter turned to evil who does the explicit bidding of the Dark Lord and thrives on drinking blood. This particular demon blends easily. Even I, with all my powers and my advanced magick, could not detect he had turned to darkness until Perry and his cult were nearby.”
“That burns my biscuit,” Aiden growled. “You’re more than a thousand years old and hell, if you can’t tell these morphing demons apart from regular Others, who can?”
Tristan, Drust, Gideon and Xavier turned to Caderyn.
“I can. I fought these demons centuries ago and vanquished them. Now that we know they walk among us, I can teach my fellow wizards, and I will teach my daughter as well,” Caderyn said slowly. “I have a particular talent for seeing their true guise. True evil bears a death’s head skull beneath their face.”
He looked down at Jenny. “A talent I passed onto my daughter, it seems.”
Jenny shook her head. “I could see it with Perry, but not with Ellison.”
“It is easier to detect with Skins. I will show you how to do it with morphing demons like Ellison,” Caderyn said. “A little practice and you will be as skilled as I am.”
Suddenly Troy knew Jenny did have a greater purpose. She wasn’t merely different and possessed power beyond that of an ordinary Lupine, but a skill at seeing through to the soul.
He touched her face, marveling at her uniqueness. “Always knew you were special, sweetheart. You were born to vanquish darkness.”
“Now, Jenny will receive her first lesson in how to use her powers on how to kill a demon.” Caderyn flexed his fingers. “Without using a sword.”
Aiden threw the unconscious demon a disgusted look. “I’d love to wring his neck with my bare hands, but I’ll let you take care of this situation. I’m going back to my ranch to have a talk with the pack. Tristan, after, I want you or someone to go through every single member and make sure there’s no more of these bastards among us.”
“I will do it,” Caderyn said. “My fellow wizards will accompany me and I shall teach them.”
“One question before I go.” Aiden picked up his Stetson, clapped it back on his head. “How the hell did a Skin professor from a college turn into a demon?”
“He wrote a book,” Tristan said, sighing. “The wrong kind of book that required research. Perry was always fascinated with the occult as an adult. He found an ancient manuscript with a chant to call up evil and summoned the Dark Lord, who promised power and immortality if Perry turned his soul over to him and became a demon.”
Xavier’s handsome face tightened. “Perry is only one Skin masquerading as human while concealed his demon self. We destroyed the ancient manuscript, but there are more Skins like Perry who will do the Dark Lord’s bidding in the coming days when mortals and immortals must battle evil for their survival.”
Aiden shook his head. “If it’s a war we must prepare for, then we will. I’m not afraid to fight and neither is my pack.”
The alpha headed for his pick-up truck and drove off.
