The Last of the Demon Slayers (21 page)

BOOK: The Last of the Demon Slayers
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She took a ragged breath and nodded.

I grabbed two of my grandma’s all-purpose spell jars. She’d never miss them.

“Come on,” I said, brushing past Roxie, “let’s go find Zatar.”

 

***

Instead we found Dimitri. And I was right – he was hacked off. He stood at the door of the bus. Shadows played over his wide shoulders and a fine sheen of sweat coated his chest. He’d found his jeans. I still had his shirt. Two other griffins flanked him, wearing equally pissy expressions.

I paused at the top step, not exactly thrilled to have my back to Roxie. “What is this, the greeting committee?”

“Fuck yeah.” Dimitri rushed to me, kissing the living daylights out of me as he pulled me from the bus. Gee, I hoped his friends had my back because whoo-ya, the man could kiss. I gave in for a moment, just a moment and sank into the pleasure of it.

I arched beneath his mouth, reveling in his strength and how easy it was to get to him. I slid my fingernails up his back and felt him shiver.

Dimitri pulled away far too soon. “My god, Lizzie, I thought I lost you.”

He was looking down at me as if I was the most precious thing he’d ever found and it took everything I had to remember that we were standing in a hippie field full of curious biker witches, not to mention Dimitri’s two new friends.

“I’m fine.” I glanced behind me. “Roxie’s fine.” For now. “What’s going on?”

He kept me close, which felt good. Frankly, I was still a little shaky from the kiss.

The griffin at the right gave a short bow. It was then I noticed he had a golden wreath woven through his thick black hair. “I am Thereos, Prince of the Aries Clan.”

“Say!” Neal sidled up next to him. “We could use some crop dusters.”

The prince balked. “I am here to bring tribute. Weapons. Please, Dimitri of Helios,” he said, eyes on my man, “we must speak alone. I will not negotiate here.”

Tension rippled through Dimitri as his arm tightened around me. He gave a slight bow. “I understand, Prince Thereos. I look forward to our meeting. However, we are in the middle of a crisis right now.”

“So am I!” The other griffin nearly shouted. His companion drew a bronze sword.

Sweet mother. What did these two need?

      
“Your meeting is important as well,” I said more to Dimitri than to anyone else.

      
He nodded, angry, tired and torn.

      
“Do it,” I said, slipping away. “If you need to convene with these griffins, do it now. I’ll wait for you.”

      
Roxie’s hand twitched over the switch star at her belt.

      
She didn’t have much time. “Go,” I said to Dimitri. “I’ll be here.”

      
What I said was mostly true. If it was meant to be, I’d be here. If not, I’d return to him.

There was no way I was taking him on a mission to find Zatar if it would cost him with the griffins. These people were seeking him out. They were talking about negotiations, weapons, war.

      
Yes, Dimitri loved me, and I loved him too but I wasn’t about to let him lose everything he’d spent a lifetime building just to stand outside my dad’s house while Roxie and I tried to find a way to beat Zatar.

Dimitri couldn’t enter. He couldn’t help me with this. Rather, I could help him. I’d give him his old life back.

      
And then, soon, he could choose.

      
“I’ll make it fast,” he said, his expression softening as he bent to kiss me on the forehead. He brushed a lock of hair away from my forehead and tucked it behind my ear. “You are everything to me,” he said, with a ferocity that shot straight to my toes.

      
“I know.” I hoped he could read on my face that he was my world too. “I love you,” I said, hoping he could forgive me for what I was about to do.

      

Chapter Sixteen

I found my last switch star – the only one that wasn’t ruined – gleaming next to the pink bus. I sheathed it, bracing myself as the emerald necklace began the slow transformation back into jewelry.

Groups of biker witches wandered the battle site, murmuring over the destruction. Grandma hunched over her ruined fire, working up another spell. And Pirate? Well, he was teaching Flappy how to fetch grasshoppers. Naturally, Flappy was doing more eating than fetching.

Guilt clawed at me as I watched Dimitri walk out into the scrub forest with the griffins. He’d gone with them because he trusted me to wait. I chewed at my lip, holding back until I was sure they’d begun their business. Then, I left.

Roxie followed in my wake. “You’re cold,” she chuckled as I motioned for Pirate and Flappy.

“You don’t know a thing about me.”

“Back at you,” she said, bringing her fingers up to her mouth and letting out a shrill whistle. As if on command, a huge white horse trotted out from the shadows near the front gate. Big as a Clydesdale, it whinnied and pranced, stomping the ground with saucer-like hooves.

What the… “I’m not getting on that thing.”

“I didn’t ask you.” She climbed onto its bare back.

”Right.” And while I had her, “you’re not human, are you?”

She gave me a superior look.

“Yeah, okay,” I said, wishing I could hop on my Harley. “I don’t want to know.”

My bike was too loud for sneaking out of the compound.

Flappy tottered up to me, two tons of power with a lolling tongue and bad breath.

“Hey buddy,” I rubbed him under the chin, “you think you can help me out?”

“Snarfle!” He licked at me like an overly friendly Labrador. I managed to dodge his first swipe, only to be caught on the bicep by the sideways-lick.

Ew. I tried to ignore the warm dragon spit on my arm and the fact that he’d just been eating grasshoppers. I took hold of his neck ridges and hoisted myself up on his back.

Pirate tried to jump up after me. “You said no riding the dragon.”

“It’s an emergency.” No way I’d be doing it otherwise.

Flappy smelled like a lizard and he would not stop dancing around. It was like a herky-jerky carnival ride. I was going to get dragon-sick in a second.

Roxie sat on her glorious steed, gloating.

“Wait!” Neal dashed toward us, skinny legs pumping, his ponytail flying out behind him.

Oh lord. Flappy began beating his wings, itching to go. I knew the feeling.

“Here.” Neal shoved a pair of hippie-looking cork-soled Birkenstocks at me.

What was this? Some sort of a joke? I held the shoes by their buckled sandal straps. “You can tell Grandma -”

Neal seemed way too pleased with himself. “She’s going to find you if you don’t go now.” He winked. “I don’t even need to open the gate, do I?”

“You mean you’re just going to let me sneak out of here.”

“Everybody’s gotta wander,” he called. “Just remember to eat organic and take care of your feet.”

Hands down this was the weirdest place I’d ever been.

“Ready?” I asked Roxie. She’d donned a steel battle helmet that covered her head and the entire top of her face. A golden eye plate formed a medieval-style Batman mask, and wound around the side of the helmet to form stiff gold wings.

Okay, then.

I slipped on the Birkenstocks and – other than looking completely ridiculous next to my black leather pants – they did feel good. “Try to keep up.” I nudged Flappy with my heels and he started running, his head bobbing up and down like a giant bird.

Roxie galloped past us on her white stallion. It had to be enchanted or mythical or – oh my. The beast lifted up into the air and began to fly.

Impossible. It had no wings.

Then again, who was I to judge?

It let out a satisfied burst of flame from its nose as it climbed higher and higher.

My dragon was still running like an overgrown ostrich. “Flappy, fly! Up!” I hoped I wasn’t too heavy for him. “Fly!”

With a stumble, a bump and a small burst of flame, Flappy took to the sky.

“G-g-g-ood dragon!” It felt like we were riding on rails.

“Snurgle!” Flappy wriggled and tried to lick me.

“Eyes on the s-s-sky!” I begged as he started to veer sideways.

I set Flappy on a course for my dad’s house. This was nothing like riding a griffin. In fact, it was the difference between hitching myself to a rocket versus a souped up go-kart with four flat tires.

Where Dimitri’s massive wings would beat in a steady rhythm of cool air on my legs, Flappy’s veiny wings fluttered hummingbird-style.

At least we were airborne.

I resisted the urge to pat the dragon on the neck, lest he try to kiss me again.

Instead, I kept my eyes on the city below and wondered what had happened to my dad since our last visit, and what we would find when we visited him this time.

Roxie kept pace next to us, following my lead. Her horse galloped on air as if it were dashing head long across a prairie. It snorted fire every few minutes.

And I still couldn’t get over Roxie’s Norse battle helmet.

What was she?

Besides trouble.

***

My dad’s house looked even more desolate at night. His bare front lawn hung in shadows. The windows lay dark. A lone streetlight sputtered. The other two on the block had burned out entirely.

      
Just a little creepy.

      
I tried to shake it off but couldn’t. A sense of foreboding clung to me.

      
Flappy skidded to a stop, clipping several streetlamps and a fire hydrant. Roxie landed in the middle of the street.

      
I slid off the dragon, my stomach flip-flopping. “Good job, Flappy.” I forgot to duck and he caught me with a lick upside the head.

      
Great.

      
For kicks and grins, I said, “sit.”

      
The dragon flapped its wings and yowled.

      
That’s what I thought.

      
Roxie stared at the wreck of a house as she tied her horse to one of the broken street lights. “I wonder what the neighbors think.”

      
I ran my hand along Flappy’s snout, trying to avoid his sharp snaggletooth as well as his tongue. “I don’t think anybody sees this place anymore.”

She winced. “Your dad must be a piece of work.”

Her comment pricked at me. As far as I could tell, my dad wasn’t guilty of anything worse than some bad decisions. Roxie should know better than anyone how a demon could take over.

“Nobody chooses to be this way,” I reminded her.

Her hand wandered to the switch star at her belt. “I just hope to hell it lets me in.”

      
I ignored the growing lump in my throat. “It will,” I said, loosening my utility belt.

      
Last time, I was the only one who could make it past the wards. One look at my dad told me he’d been too weak to maintain them, so someone else wanted me in there. I was betting on Zatar.

      
The demon would love it if I brought another slayer to the party.

      
I walked up to where the wards began. Eyes half closed, I stuck my hand in. Heat seared my arm as the ward threw me backward. I could feel every molar in my mouth as I landed hard on the ground.

Roxie stood over me, not bothering to help me up. “You said you could get in.”

“I can,” I said, climbing to my feet. “The wards won’t open for demon slayer weapons.” I stood for a moment, gathering the scattered bits of my brain. “I had to try. You’d better as well.”

Sometimes wards weakened. Too bad this one had gotten stronger, at least when it came to me.

Roxie hesitated on the sidewalk. Smart girl. Still, I knew she’d try the wards. She wasn’t a coward. I looped my switch star belt around Flappy’s neck and shoved my Maglite and GPS into my back pocket.

When the wards blew Roxie back onto her Capri-covered tush, I held out my hand for her weapon. She stalked over to me, shaky on her feet, not happy about giving up her last switch star.

“If I can’t recover, I have to end it. I don’t know how I’m going to kill myself without switch stars,” she seethed.

“Would it make you feel better if I told you I was getting closer and closer to wanting to kill you myself?”

She gave me a look that could have peeled paint.

“I brought some magic for you,” I said, handing her an all- purpose jar. They wouldn’t slow down a demon, but they could come in handy.

      
She held it with two fingers. “What kind of a demon slayer are you?”

      
Wasn’t that the million-dollar question? “I’m the kind who’s going to get us out of this alive.”

      
By skill, luck or unusual weapons.

“This is a disaster,” she said, still coming to grips with the biker-witch way of doing things.

“It’s the best we can do.” I checked one last time to make sure my utility belt was firmly looped over Flappy and then dug into a side pocket for a pinch of Grandma’s locking powder. “This won’t hurt, Flappy,” I said, sprinkling it over my belt and his neck. “It just keeps it on tighter.”

Flappy sneezed.

Roxie gripped her switch star belt, not ready to give it up. “I don’t want to be taken by a demon. Do you know what they do to slayers?”

      
“No,” I said. “Keep it to yourself.” I couldn’t afford to lose my nerve. “This brand of magic has saved my skin more than once. Besides, if there was a demon in that house, we’d feel it.”

“Zatar could appear in an instant.”

Didn’t I know it.

      
I kept my mouth closed as I walked through the thick, warm ward. It tasted like rot and death, as it had before. Only this time, I detected a faint trace of sulfur as well.

      
Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the mule. I cringed. Something nasty had been this way.

      
Roxie held back.

“Come on,” I said, making my way up the twisting front walk, keeping an eye out for zombie doormats.

Tension rolled off my reluctant partner. Finally, she looped her belt over her horse.

BOOK: The Last of the Demon Slayers
7.69Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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