We need more time, I thought desperately. If it’s First Tier maybe I can banish it.
I stopped running and ducked down as the Wendigo leapt over me.
“What are you doing?” Elena screamed.
I flung the athame until it buried itself in the Wendigo’s back. The demon howled in agony and tumbled to the side, colliding with a concrete wall. Dark blood oozed from the wound, staining the ground.
I bounded forward and raised my hands, Pushing the Wendigo until it slammed against the concrete. The building shook, and the demon growled in anger. I Pushed again, but something stopped me. My arms shook, and I clenched my teeth, thrusting my magic forward. But the Wendigo wouldn’t budge.
It righted itself and roared at me, spit flying from its face. It advanced toward me with slow, unencumbered steps as if my athame wasn’t still embedded in its back.
My magic still coursed through me, but as I lifted my arms again, nothing happened. It was like the creature was immune.
Elena grunted and flung her own daggers at the Wendigo. It stiffened and howled but continued stalking toward me. Mist pooled onto the street, covering the ground like a layer of snow.
My hands shook as I aimed my palms at the Wendigo.
“Vile demon of unholy crimes,
I banish you ‘til the end of time!”
Faint, blue halos surrounded my hands, but the light flickered and died like someone had cut the power.
The Wendigo’s lips pulled open wide, revealing more jagged and bloody teeth.
“Why won’t it die?” I shrieked to Elena.
“It must be Second Tier, but—that’s impossible!” Elena cried, bounding forward.
She tackled the Wendigo, and they tumbled to the ground together, a blur of fur, claws, and Elena’s dark hair. Elena screamed, the beast howled, and dark blood spattered against the ground—but I couldn’t tell whose.
A putrid, fishy stench stung my nostrils. I recognize that smell.
“Desi!”
I turned to find Elena hurrying down the opposite side of the street toward me. I stiffened and glanced behind me, where another Elena still fought the Wendigo.
Two Elenas?
A chill swept down my spine. I whirled around as the first Elena’s eyes glowed a sickening gray. Then her body morphed, her skin darkening and sprouting scales. The shapeshifter appeared in her place. A wide grin stretched across its gray, scaly face. Its webbed fingers pushed against my throat—slamming my head into the concrete wall behind me. Pain sliced through my head and my throat.
The demon’s hand pushed harder and harder until my vision darkened. My lungs screamed for air, but nothing came. My fingers clawed at the shapeshifter’s arms as I tried to push it away, but its slimy hand was unyielding.
The shapeshifter leaned closer, its dark eyes angry and triumphant. A weak moan escaped my lips—a last, desperate attempt to breathe air that wouldn’t come. Lights danced in my eyes. My arms stiffened and slackened, dropping to my side.
Suddenly, something sliced through the shapeshifter, and warm blood sprayed onto my dress. The demon screamed and released me.
I collapsed to the ground, heaving rattling breaths through my burning throat. The lights still flickered in my eyes, blinding me from my rescuer.
“Are you all right?”
It wasn’t Elena. It was a man.
Oliver?
A warm hand found mine and hoisted me to my feet. I coughed, sputtered, and rubbed my throbbing throat. Gradually, my vision returned to normal, and I found Manuel holding a bloody sword, his eyes concerned and his jaw hardened with determination.
A tiny sliver of disappointment wriggled through my stomach. It wasn’t Oliver.
I shoved the thought away and nodded. “Thank you,” I said hoarsely.
I gazed down at the shapeshifter, which bled from a deep gash in its side. It writhed on the ground, its screams piercing the air.
“Where’s Elena?” I asked, looking around.
Elena cried out from the other end of the street. The Wendigo’s jaws opened wide and clamped down on her forearm. Elena’s shriek tore through the air.
Manuel hurried forward, and I followed. Manuel shouted in anger and slashed at the Wendigo. Blood dripped profusely from its multiple wounds, but it was undeterred, almost like it was immortal.
How? How could it be Second Tier? It couldn’t even speak the incantation to Ascend.
Unless someone had spoken for it.
Someone like El Diablo.
The Wendigo tossed its head back and forth as if trying to completely tear off Elena’s arm.
I raised my hands and Pushed the Wendigo. It flinched and shuddered, but it didn’t move. I shouted,
“Magic within me, strengthen my arms,
Move this creature before it does more harm!”
I thrust my hands forward again.
Blue jets of light poured from my hands like water from a hose and wrapped around the Wendigo, cutting the demon off from its feast. The rope-like tendrils of my magic pulled and tugged, and as the monster drew back, my energy waned and faded. I sank to my knees but kept my arms outstretched, carrying the Wendigo farther and farther away from Elena.
My arms shook from exhaustion. My breaths came fast and hard, my throat still burning. I held the Wendigo in the air several feet away from Elena and shouted, “Now, Manuel!”
Manuel swung the sword down, severing the Wendigo’s head from its body. A final groan escaped the Wendigo’s jaws, and its body convulsed and shuddered before it stilled.
A heavy wind blew down the street, sweeping the mist into a large funnel cloud. The cloud spun and twisted, whipping my hair over my face and stinging my eyes.
As the small storm faded, my eyes widened in shock.
The Wendigo had been a Second Tier demon.
Killing him provided power—the same kind of power used in the time travel spell.
I touched the vial on my neck, but by the time realization hit me, the wind and mist had vanished.
It was too late.
Fatigue clouded my head, and I swayed. I dropped my arms and fell to the ground. I squinted and blinked, trying to clear my head to see if Elena was all right. Her labored breaths were loud but coherent. Her strangled grunts and groans
