September Moon (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #8)(2)

The large red-brick building stood ahead in the distance looking a little like Hogwarts. The windows were dark. A fence surrounded the property, but it posed no real obstacle to anyone attempting to enter.

I grew uneasy as we went. Projecting an energy circle around the two of us took effort. The closer we drew to the old school, the stronger my certainty that we were sneaking up on something very evil. We reached the edge of the school property and stopped. Whatever it was, it was in there. Somewhere.

“Well, look on the bright side. At least it’s a break from vampires, right? You could use a break.” Jez didn’t sound convinced.

“Can’t argue there.” We crossed the small soccer field separating us from the front door.

Jez followed close but far enough to watch my back while I checked out the door. The locks were old, and the security system, non-existent. Manipulating the lock was unnecessary; the door swung open with a loud, horror movie-style creak. Fabulous.

Right away the scent of blood slapped me. The smears inside the entryway were fresh. Very fresh.

Together we entered, slowly, wary of making our target aware of our presence. I did my best to cloak our energy, but it was never a guarantee. Still, I preferred to have the element of surprise on my side.

The ceiling was high, filled with shadows that even my wolf eyes couldn’t completely penetrate. Paranoia gripped me. What if something was watching us from up there while we had no idea?

I had to give myself a shake to clear my head of such thoughts. Having little choice but to follow the trail of blood, I proceeded inside with Jez hot on my heels.

“You have to admit,” she whispered, her voice breathy. “This is pretty damn exhilarating.”

“I’ll admit that when we walk out of here alive.”

The trail led us down a long corridor, past classrooms, to a stairway. It smelled funny, kind of musty and dirty with the telltale scent of demon. More sulfur.

My hand automatically went to the cross around my neck. It was silver and very old, a birthday gift from Kale a few months ago. I didn’t like to take it out of my house much, preferring to keep it safe. Still, I had started wearing it on occasion and especially when I knew I’d be seeing Shya. It really pissed him off, and I loved that. It lay beside the black onyx amulet I now wore all the time.

I mouthed the word ‘demon’ to Jez who nodded and twirled her dagger again. This time she fumbled, and it hit the floor with a loud clatter. I sucked in my breath and waited for the target to find us first.

“Shit,” Jez hissed, her face scrunched up in mortification. The sound of the dagger slapping the hard floor had been loud. It had definitely announced our presence to anything that might have not yet been aware of us.

When nothing leaped out of the shadows, I continued on.

We followed the staircase to the second floor, suspicious that nothing had come at us. The thought did cross my mind that perhaps we should turn back. I was a big bad in the world of vamps and shifters, but as far as demons went, I was nothing. Something kept me moving. I’d like to think it was more than sheer morbid curiosity.

The second floor was also composed mostly of classrooms. The scent of blood grew stronger. For just a moment, the bloodlust threatened to rise. I fought it back, refusing to be made a slave when clearly somebody had just been killed here.

That’s when the noise started. A scraping, like a chair across the floor. It came from the far end of the hall.

I drew the Dragon Claw slowly to avoid the lovely metallic sound of a fast draw. It hummed happily in my hand. The large, slightly curved blade shone despite the dim lighting. It was hungry for blood.

We moved a little faster, approaching the noise before I could change my mind. Turning into the last classroom, we came face to face with the creature. A full on shriek spilled from me, echoing in the silence. Jez gasped and gave a shout. Unable to blink or breathe, I stared at the demon, dumbstruck.

It had a humanoid appearance though that was where the similarities ended. The entire body was devoid of hair. Its feet had a cloven appearance, and its spine jutted out at a horribly unnatural angle. Its back was to us, and it busily slurped away at something I couldn’t yet see and was pretty sure I didn’t want to. The thing was either deaf or didn’t give a shit since it had yet to acknowledge us.

“What the f*ck?” Jez put a hand to her mouth as we caught sight of what the demon was doing.

It turned suddenly, a strip of flesh hanging from its mouth. Its face was grotesquely deformed, as if someone had stepped in the center of it. Horns protruded from its forehead. Its eyes were the most frightening, goat-like pupils in a milky white pool. They fixed on us, and the thing snarled.

A mouthful of razor sharp teeth got my pulse pounding faster. The remains of the person it was eating were unidentifiable. Chunks of flesh covered the floor and the demon’s claw-like hands. The coffee and bagel I’d had earlier threatened to make an appearance as I watched it suck in that piece of dangling meat like a spaghetti noodle.

It lunged toward us, flailing like a newborn calf that didn’t yet know how to use its limbs properly. In an uncharacteristic move, I took a step back.

Jez surged forward to bury her dagger in its chest. With a heavy arm, it smacked her, sending her crashing into a desk that overturned. She rolled and got to her feet, pulling another dagger from her boot.

I snapped into action and hit the thing with a psi ball as it lunged for Jez again. My attack threw it back, down beside the mutilated corpse. I swung the Dragon Claw, hoping like hell that Lilah had been telling the truth back when she told me it would kill demons with a physical form as well as vampires. This demon looked pretty damn physical to me.