Chapter 194

Chapter 194: Chapter 194

Heather

A heavy weight fell on me, drowning me in choking sulfur. I hit the ground, and only just managed to get my hands up before the demon tore out my throat. Its claws flayed my side, and I screamed. The cuts burned like fire licking my skin.

Wolf-Brent rammed it, and suddenly the creature’s weight was gone. The wolves surrounded it, slashing out, but unlike the lesser demon, this one wasn’t taking damage. Any hits the wolves landed just made it more pissed. I couldn’t tell if Claudia’s spell was working because they couldn’t make the thing bleed.

Raphael picked me up off the ground, and it felt like my side was being torn apart. The heat of the pain spread down my leg. We had to end this. Fast.

Claudia and Shane’s hands moved rapidly.

A burst of magic rippled through the air, but whatever it was supposed to do to the demon didn’t work.

Cosette landed a few slashes, and finally a little blood oozed out. It coated her blade like dark sludge. The demon barked something and black flames erupted. She shrieked, dropping the sword as it went up in a puff of ash and smoke. Her fingers were blackened, but she made a motion, conjuring a crossbow. "That one was my favorite."

My vision blurred at the pain in my side, but Brent’s strength rippled through the bond, giving me just enough power to steady myself.

He moved in front of me, protecting me as I grabbed everything I had in the bag. I’d lost potions three and seven when the demon hit me. I still had vials of five and nine.

"With the power of our Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I banish you from this world, and send you back where you belong." I put all the force of my will into the words, believing them to be true. Needing them be true.

When the glass shattered, the spell exploded. I hit the ground hard. The pain from my side stole my breath, but I knew I had to get up. I managed to get to my knees.

The demon’s yellow dress had a blackened hole in the chest. Steam rose from it, but the damage wasn’t enough to slow it down.

The wolves jumped back, but Cosette stayed on her feet, landing bolt after bolt in the demon’s body. Her crossbow reloaded itself and her bolts hummed with magic that made the thing’s skin sizzle and crack. It roared, lunging for her. She danced away, still shooting, but it moved too fast for her to get a kill shot.

"Keep distracting it!" I called. Trying to ignore the pain growing in my side, I hobbled to the other witches.

"Is that all?" Cosette laughed as she fired another bolt.

Shane, Claudia, Raphael, and I brought out every vial we had left. We surrounded the demon as Cosette darted around, keeping it blind. The wolves circled, driving it away from us with flashes of fang and claw.

Brent made sure to stay near me. He swatted the demon any time it got close to me, funneling power to me through our bond.

I met the gaze of the brujos. We’d talked about this in the lab. All of us would say the spell together.

"On zero," I said. "Three. Two. One."

We flung the vials and then said the words as we held out our hands. Magic flared between us, creating a circle of light, and the vial exploded inside. The demon’s shriek held a hint of my voice as it started to turn black. I winced until the sound choked off. Finally it was quiet as the demon turned to ash.

A fathomless hole crackled open, sucking the remains down into the fiery pits below.

I collapsed to the ground, breathing heavy. Blood soaked my shirt, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could stay conscious.

Hang on. Brent yelled through the bond. I felt him running back toward the cars, as I stared up at the night sky.

I smelled lavender just before Mom’s arms wrapped around me. I stifled a gasp at the movement as pain rippled through me. Sweat rolled down my back, and it wasn’t just from exertion.

"You did wonderfully. Your abuela would be so proud."

I closed my eyes and rubbed my cheek against her arm. "I love you."

"I love you, too. So much." She let go. "My God. You’re bleeding."

"I know." Everything looked blurry as she pulled away. "I’m going to need that holy water."

Brent ran back from the car with a gym bag. He ripped the rest of my already shredded shirt off. "Shit. It took me twelve hours to heal the little spot on my back." I didn’t bother looking. I could feel the cuts and whatever poison was in them working into my system. Seeing them would only make it worse.

My mom raced back. Her hands shook as she offered the bottle of holy water to Brent.

He took it, and looked at Raphael. "You’re going to need to hold her down."

Strong hands on my arms legs and shoulders pressed me to the ground, but all I could see was Brent. His eyes glowed bright amber. "Just breathe." And then he poured the bottle.

My back arched off the ground as I screamed. The holy water felt like liquid fire, burning me from the inside out.

I screamed and tried to get away, but the hands held firm.

"It’s still foaming. We need more."

"No," I moaned. "No more." I wasn’t sure I could take it.

"I brought some. One second," Claudia said.

I closed my eyes, and then the hands pressed me down again. I wasn’t sure how long the burning went on. It felt like eons, but was probably only minutes. The sound of the zipper opening startled me. "What now?"

"I’m done." Brent brushed the softest kiss on my forehead. "I’m going to wrap it. It should heal okay now."

I nodded. He was gentle but it still hurt.

When he finished, I was exhausted, dirty, hungry, and thankful to be alive.

Mom’s voice sounded at my side. "Come into the house. We’ll get you something to eat." She started to get up but stopped. Her head bent over as she shuddered.

"Are you okay?"

Tears glistened in her eyes. "I’ve got both my kids here. Healthy and alive. I’ll be okay."

"Okay." I tried to move, but any movement and it felt like I was splitting in two. Brent leaned down, picking me up. Even that had me moaning with pain.

We passed Raphael, Shane, and West, who were already trying to fix the front door. The others had gone to off to shift and put on clothes.

This was a victory. No one was hurt. Except me, and I’d live.

As Brent carried me toward the door, I peeked over his shoulder at my parents’ driveway. A dark spot marred the dirt. We’d only faced one major demon and it’d taken all of us to do it.

How in the hell were we supposed to fight more than one at a time and live?

Cosette stood off to the side, not glowing anymore, but playing with her blackened fingertips. I hoped it wasn’t anything serious, but if she wasn’t making a big deal of it, then I wouldn’t either. She caught me looking and tilted her head at the charred spot. For once I was positive we were on the same page.

If being in that church was inevitable—destiny, like Raphael said—then we were going to need some bigger guns. Because this wasn’t going to cut it.

Brent set me on the kitchen counter, and then went in search of Oreos. Only eating my own bodyweight in cookies was going to help ease this kind of realization.

That and maybe two gallons of ice cream.