Blood Song

My

hands, though, were stil busy. This time I reached into the inside of my jacket, searching for the singleshot water pistol I knew was hidden there. I didn’t have much time. I knew that. His presence was

starting to overwhelm my wil . I couldn’t hurt him. Even if I’d wanted to. And God help me, I didn’t want

to.

He laughed again, and it sighed against my body, bringing a low moan from my lips and an ache to my

loins. Where was everybody? There had to be crews in the trucks and vans. Security should be al

over this.

“Oh, they’re coming,” he answered my thoughts. “But I’ve slowed time. I want to savor this. Savor

you. ”

Oh, shit.

I started trembling in earnest, and almost fumbled the little squirt gun I’d been drawing. Stil , I managed

to hang on to it, pul ing it out in a jerky motion, pul ing awkwardly at the refil plug with my left hand.

“Stop that!” he snarled, and it wasn’t beautiful. His voice and power lashed out at me, strong enough

to make me stumble, spil ing drops of the precious holy water onto the ground. But that was okay. I

wanted it on the ground. The whole idea was to draw a protective circle around the prince and me. I did

just that. As the demon blurred forward across that last bit of distance between us, he slammed hard

against an invisible barrier.

Hissing in frustrated pain and rage, he began pacing around the edge of the circle. “You shouldn’t

have done that, little one. It only bought you a minute or two at best. And when it comes down, I’m going

to make you suffer. ”

“You’d have done that anyway.” Now that the barrier was up I could think clearly, although that was a

mixed blessing. Because while I desperately needed to come up with some sort of a plan, knowing

exactly what I was facing had me just about wetting myself in terror.

“Yes,” he admitted, “but I would’ve let you enjoy it. At least at first. Now I’m not feeling so generous.”

I focused, trying to cal on my newly discovered talent. I really do need a rescue here. The cavalry,

an exorcist, a few militant priests, maybe accompanied by the National Guard?

An exorcist. Oh, crap. I tried to marshal my thoughts, to remember the words Reverend Al had used

successful y just last night. I couldn’t do it. I felt the power of my circle starting to fade and flicker. Saw

the anticipation in the demon’s eyes as he gathered himself to strike the moment it fel .

Pushing my thoughts as hard as I could, I sent out a mental plea, not knowing who, if anyone, would

hear. If there are any telepaths out there, anybody at all who knows the high church exorcism

prayer, please, please tell me now.

And in my mind I heard Kevin’s voice, joined by Bruno’s, Matteo’s, and others’, weak but stil clear,

chanting in perfect unison. I felt a surge of hope, powerful beyond reason. I repeated the words, not

even stumbling over the pronunciation.

The demon began to throw himself bodily against the barrier and the force threw me against the

opposite side to land in a heap. I grunted and missed one of the words being chanted. I opened my

mind to them and felt the words come again—whether by spel or some sort of psychic attachment. My

voice was deeper this time when I chanted, a solid alto.

Again the demon attacked and this time I felt searing pain in my cheek as a claw slipped through a

break in the circle. The wound began to smoke and burn, as though my skin was on fire. Even the

vampire part of me was having a hard time healing a demonic attack. The scent of frying flesh made

my stomach roil and my eyes water. He started to hammer at the weak point with a force that could

probably shatter brick. I pressed myself as tight against the far side as I could, hoping against hope

that this was not a long spel .

I saw a circle of figures began to converge on us across the parking lot. Al of them were chanting the

same words I was using. Each carried a symbol of their faith that shone with a blindingly pure white light

that hurt the eyes. Crosses and stars and crescents and bel s, al glowing brighter with each word.

The demon threw back his head, letting out a harsh bel ow of pain and frustration that was both sound

and more—the power of it washed over me and slammed into the vehicles around us, rocking them on

their wheels, shattering windows, and setting off alarms.

The demon let out a scream that caused fire to spray in a wide arc. The priests scattered, their

concentration broken by the nearly sentient hel fire that began to chase them across the pavement. He

screamed again and I found myself racing around the inside of the barrier, trying to escape the tiny line

of fire that chased me, putting out the flaming bits of brimstone that were landing on my hair and

clothing. Who knew demons could breathe fire? Either that never came up in class or I played hooky

that day. Either way, I was getting an education. I hoped I’d live to share it with El Jefe.

I kept chanting as the demon laughed and began to hammer again at the opening, which was now

large enough to fit his muscular arm through. I was running out of options and the spel didn’t seem to

be working. Soon al I could do was curl up in a fetal position at the very bottom of the barrier, doing my

best to protect Kristoff’s unconscious form, just out of reach of claws that crept closer with each

second that passed. I snapped my jaw at the demon when I could between words. My fangs seemed

longer than I remembered and actual y made him pause. He wasn’t sure what to make of me—but that

didn’t mean he wasn’t going to kil me.

I was so tired. My voice was getting hoarse, cracking over some of the stranger Latin words. The fire

was growing, too, licking at my clothing and skin. If I didn’t pass out from pain, I was going to lose my

voice. His arm was ful y inside now, reaching … pressing … grasping. He caught my hair and yanked

me toward the hole. I screamed the next word, knowing it was going to be my last.

“Amen!” The word startled both of us. The demon’s eyes went wide and he froze—his hand clutched

around my throat. There was a sudden change in pressure inside the circle … a nauseating,

disorienting sucking sensation. My ears popped painful y, and I had to close my eyes to keep my

balance. I threw up. The claws burning into my neck spasmed and then the demon screamed again. It

was a sound I’d hear in my nightmares, worse than the screams of my sister as she died, worse than

anything I’d ever heard. It seemed to last forever, but it was probably only a moment. When it ended, I

opened my eyes.

The demon was gone.

Unfortunately, his claws, with no hand attached, were stil embedded in my neck and were stil on fire.

I final y was able to scream with al the agony I’d been ignoring. As I gathered what might be my last

breath, I spotted the others running my way, Kevin and Bruno battling for the lead.