Demons (Darkness #4)(53)

Suddenly our link pulsed, a lot of power on my doorstep, but that was nothing new. The difference was the amount of energy. I felt massive, colossal, more powerful than I could even imagine, able to work an exponential amount of power.

I sucked in the elements. Not opened up to them like usual, sucked at them. Within seconds my body was full to bursting. Hot spikes of pain spread across my limbs.

“Okay, Stefan …”

His special gift worked through me, balancing, moving magic around, leveling everything out.

“Amazing,” Toa breathed to the side.

“Whoa,” one of the twins said.

“Now, go get ‘im!” Birdie pushed.

I shoved my magic toward the circle the creature stepped out of, feeling the magic there, born from blood. Lots of blood, too, woven tightly with intricate detail. I focused, feeling the structure of the spells within the lacy framework until I felt down to the root; that little cord I’d found with that first demon, connecting it from its home to this world. I had no idea how it worked, but I knew that if I segregated the spell connected to that spot, light’s out for Mr. Demon.

“Here we go,” I murmured, focusing.

I picked at it as fast as I could, peeling back one spell and moving aside another, trying to get at that root. Sweat dripped down my face as my body burned through energy.

Stefan worked right along with me, feeding me energy as he tried to not only balance the Merge he was heading, which included Toa, Charles and the witches, but keep my endless stream of power from blasting through the link to him. He managed it, though, as only he could, keeping me balanced, feeding me energy, and keeping my magic from overriding him.

One in a million, as Toa often said.

I felt the whispered sigh as another spell dissolved into elements, returning to nature. The demon’s power dropped a notch. I struggled with the next one, weaves so detailed it could’ve been art, until it, too, bled into the night.

“Almost,” I whispered. “One left.”

As if it heard me, the demon’s head snapped up, noticing its loss of power. It screeched, a disconnected limb waggling in its hand. Blood dripped down its face and body as it honed in on me.

“Hurry,” Toa cried, sinking to his knees with the strain. I wasn’t far behind him.

“Delilah, help,” I murmured, trying to figure out how the spell was put together. Like trying to find the end of clear tape, I couldn’t get a grip. I couldn’t figure out where to pull to unravel it.

Deft magical hands moved over mine. Only a little power, but not needing it, Delilah felt along the spell. Traced it. Learned it.

“Intricate,” she breathed. “Like the one at the park, but more advanced.”

“If you can’t unravel it, you must sever it,” Toa said.

“That will kill those around it,” Stefan argued. “Work at it, Sasha. You can do it.”

I held the power, bleeding it into Delilah slowly as she worked, managing it for her. Power wasn’t the problem, though. It was the energy. The massive amounts of energy it took to unravel this spell. To banish this thing.

“Why is it sucking so much energy?” I pleaded. “We aren’t casting.”

“You are casting,” Toa panting. “You are reversing the spell without the use of sacrifice. Without the power of a life-force.”

“You are the power of the life-force,” Stefan clarified.

Delilah found a small rough patch that let her get in and start to disentangle. “I got it,” she grunted, working at it, leading me, and then helping me; teamwork.

We started to unravel, our magic working around each other, bumping off of each other, but not forcing a link. Unity in like-power.

“I…don’t…” Toa’s head bowed. Stefan bent over at the waist, barely holding me up. Birdie hit the ground, followed by the twins. Charles went to one knee.

“Almost,” I said, feeling the last of it. A couple more fibers, so lacy. So hard to identify.

A bloody glob flew over us, followed by a limp body.

It was one of the magic workers.

My gaze snapped into focus.

Face screwed up in a terrifying mask of rage, the demon ran at us, bodies strewn in its wake.

“Kill them!” Andris shouted somewhere off to the side, as if it needed to be said.

“Oh god!” I breathed, my body shaking.

My magic touch shook as hard as my body. The elements raged at me. Stefan struggled to contain it all.

“Easy does it, love. Easy does it. Focus,” he said in a strained voice.

The wings on the demon snapped out behind it, holey black things with razor sharp edges. Its claws gleamed, dripping with blood. It ran, thirty feet away and running fast.

Panic flooded me.

I started to pant. Four more strings. I’d never make it in time!

“Run, you guys!” I urged. “Run away!”

“Cut it off!” Toa yelled.

Jonas hastened in around it, limping, blood running in deep rivulets down his chest. Jameson joined him a moment later, yanking at the wings to pull it back; to slow it down. They tried to tackle it, razor sharp wings and all.

“Hurry, love!” Stefan said, trying to stand in front of me, his voice rising.

The demon wiped its hand through the air, catching Jameson and flinging his body ten feet. Jonas slashed with his sword, catching the thick hide of the chest but not causing much damage.