Magic Trials (Half-Blood Academy #1)(4)

The sensation was so unfamiliar and terrifying that for a moment, I almost thought I had magic.

The stench of brimstone, sulfur, and acid hit my nostrils. Jasper stared at me with a question. Then next, he tensed, his light amber eyes turning dark.

Something was hunting us.

I straightened slowly, my eyes searching the dark. Even though I was a human, I seemed to have better night vision than average.

I met a pair of red eyes between the brown trees.

Darkness whirled in the demon’s eyes, hungry to devour every light and possess every bit of soul until the monster had drained his victim completely.

I swallowed with difficulty.

I’d survived the streets on my own until I was ten, when Vi took me in and trained me to be a hunter. She’d drilled the necessity of staying the hell away from both demons and gods and never ever letting either one get close.

I’d never questioned her edict. What Vi had warned me was common sense—even a fool would avoid this planet’s two top predators.

Thinking of Vi brought a sharp pain and longing to my chest. She’d given me, a stranded street rat, a home. But after four years, she’d disappeared without a word, leaving no trace. I’d searched the entire Crack for her and almost hadn’t made it out when I’d then scoured the forest.

Gradually I’d accepted that I’d been dumped again, just as my parents had abandoned me to the streets before I was old enough to remember them.

I’d inherited Vi’s old library since then, and her ward had prevented anyone or any creature from getting into it except the ones invited by me. After living and hunting alone for two years, I’d rescued Jasper and Circe from a brutal criminal lord, who no longer breathed, and they’d become my people ever since.

I dragged my memory away from my old guardian and the aching sense of loss she’d left behind. Across the dark space, I stared at the demon.

He had long, dark horns, black eyes, and red lips.

This was a grade three demon in their power hierarchy. The highest rank was ten, and that would be Lucifer. I blinked, not sure why suddenly I had this knowledge, since it was the first time I’d seen a demon so close.

His obsidian gaze met mine, and shock flitted by his eyes.

He sniffed the air, and a dark mass swirled out of the pits of his eyes, hunger and craving sparking like hellfire in them.

He fixated only on me, not bothering to even glance at Circe or Jasper.

They’d both spotted the demon and frozen in fear.

“Retreat slowly,” I whispered and led by example as I backed toward a tree.

Circe blinked, as if waking up from a trance at my order.

“Conceal. Uttar Sloan Samish Rota conceal,” Circe murmured her chant frantically, trying to get us to melt into the trees and thus avoid the demon’s detection.

The demon grinned at me and uttered a demonic word, which blurred into the black wind. It sounded familiar, but any chance at comprehension was drowned out by the pounding rhythm of my frenetic heartbeat in my ears.

Circe’s concealing spell evidently had no effect on the creature since he kept stalking toward me, sniffing the air as if it was filled with nectar.

Stop! Demon, stop! I hissed silently.

The demon halted for a second, as if confused or uncertain.

Circe repeated her chanting and tossed out a few spells, which appeared around us in the shapes of balls and stars. The demon shrugged them off and flicked his claws to show us what he had.

A demonic power, also familiar, like something once featured in my nightmares, exuded from him. Its dark force drew us toward him, like a spider that intends to numb its victims before consuming them.

If a third degree demon could do this, what chance did we have to fight a full-blown demon? Horror flickered through my mind. Vi hadn’t been wrong to warn me to stay clear of Lucifer’s pawns.

Circe and Jasper now both glided toward the demon as if in a dream. The Hell-creature widened his grin.

“What on Earth are you two doing?” I yelled at them. Our cover was blown anyway. I pinched Circe on the arm and swatted Jasper’s snout. “Run! Like your asses are on fire.”

If the demon possessed any one of us, all three of us would be done for.

I dragged Circe and kicked Jasper. Relief wound through me as they returned to their senses, and three of us darted away between the trees in a mad dash.

The demon gave chase, giggling.

He zoomed in on us.

Jasper raced beside me, keeping up, but then we both realized that Circe had lagged behind. Terror hit me, and I turned just in time to see the demon rake his claws toward Circe’s neck.

“You won’t hurt her!” I screamed in rage and flung up my hands toward the demon, even though I was ten yards away and had no magic.

It was an instinct, a reflex. I reacted in panic.

I’d lost Vi. I couldn’t lose either Circe or Jasper. They were all I had.

A blast of dark flame materialized above the demon, descending upon him before he could flee. The fire engulfed the creature.

It shrieked, and I clenched my teeth as his screams beat into my eardrums.

“Shut the fuck up and die!” I yelled.

The blaze plunged to the ground, sinking under and dragging the demon with it. Or maybe the flame actually burned the demon to ashes.

I didn’t see a pile of cinders on the forest floor, though there was a circle burned into the ground, indicating where the magical conflagration had taken down a demon.