Oh, dear God. Please don't tell me he's past the point of getting us back. "Maybe we need to connect again like we did here. Maybe that's the problem."
The noise is increasing, and they are almost on us.
Not even concerned with hurting him, I grab his free hand and pull him hard toward me. "Let's do this or we won't be making it home." I push the image of the last room we were in with Luke project it to Dax with a little magic.
He lets out a deep guttural groan but soon the ground drops from underneath us. The air around us turns into a blur of swirling wind and we are leaving Hell behind us.
It's crazy, because even though we left it behind, I can still hear the shrieking laughter of the demons. This just proves I'm losing my damn mind. We just need to hurry back and get Dax mended before it's too late.
It takes seconds, but it seems like hours until we land back in the mansion we left behind. The air around us begins to settle and I'm surprised to find Luke sitting at the table looking through some papers.
When our feet hit the floor, Dax crumbles to the ground.
"What the..." Luke turns and jumps from the chair. "What happened?"
Loud chuckles surround me. "Did you really think you could escape me?" One of the demons appears in front of me and hovers. His black shadowy claws stretching out.
Shit, that's why I heard laughter the entire way here. It somehow caught a ride back with us. At least my sanity is still in check... maybe. I bend down and help Dax to his feet, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "Luke, he needs help. He's severely injured." I move him over to the side, so he won't get in our way.
When I stand back up, the demon charges me, diggings his claws into my arm. I throw him off me and use some power to slam him into the wall, causing it to crack.
Dammit that hurt. I'm too tired from the angel to have to fight him, but I have no other choice. Blood drips down my arm, but I ignore it. I've got to get past it.
I glance over to find Luke hovering over Dax and tying something around his waist to stop the wound from bleeding. Thank goodness. He lost too much blood down there and the heat didn't help.
Screeching, the demon grabs my leg and pulls me up causing me to fall on my back. It hovers over me and opens its mouth revealing razor like teeth.
My breath is knocked out of me, but my angel breath's power begins pulsing through me helping me. I can't imagine where I would be if I didn't have these artifacts at my disposal. I gather some of the power and push it out of me toward it.
It hits him square in the chest and he flies backward, just on his feet.
Something needs to give. I don't know how much longer I can do this. Pushing through the pain, I stand and get in the fighting stance. I rear back and punch him on the face. As usual, the coldness encompasses my skin. Why do these things from Hell always feel so dang cold? You'd think they would be hot.
Crying out, it's head snaps to the side. "You stupid, girl." He attacks me using his claws once again, swiping at my stomach.
At the last second, I jump back and dodge any physical damage even though my tank top gets ripped. Crap, I've got to be careful. I don't want him to know about my knife yet. I've got to get him in a situation where I can use it and know it'll work.
I spin around and hit him in the back of the head causing him to move forward and then swipe my feet from underneath, so it falls to the ground. When he lands with a thud, I jump on top and try to ignore the icy coldness between my thighs.
Not wasting a second, I grab the knife hidden and pull it out and swing it down across his throat. That's the only way I know of to kill a demon. They have no hearts.
He gurgles and jerks as his existence begins to vanish. Before long, the coldness begins to turn warm and he disappears beneath me.
My first instinct is to fall forward, but my throbbing arm keeps me somewhat coherent. I take a deep, ragged breathe and stand. I turn to find Dax passed out on the floor, but the sweat has already disappeared from his face.
Forcing myself not to stumble, I make my way to a chair and sit. I lean back in the chair and find Luke. He's standing at the table watching me with some strange expression on his face.
"So..." He makes his way to me and stands a few feet away. "How did it go?"
Yeah, I bet he's dying to know. If his sorry ass came, he'd wouldn't have to ask that. It's kind of funny, I'm important enough to be on the council and can still go, but he's not able to attend this adventure with me. Convenient much. "Not great."
"Where you able to..." He bites his lips and taps his foot.
The prick wants to know if I got the artifact. "No, I didn't get the flame. Couldn't find it. Dax thinks I was too tired, and it didn't help we weren't prepared for what was down there." I motion to the room that is now a complete disaster. "We need to regroup and try again."
His shoulders slump, but he catches them and straightens back up. "Well, you can't go again until Dax is healed. I'm going to call the healer so he'll be seen tonight. So that'll give you time to get rested and for us to come up with a
