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  Temple chuckled, as if hearing a small child make an impressively ridiculous boast. Then he took a step to stand between us. “Probably not the best practice dummy to learn on,” he said to me. “I’ve got this.”

  My nightmare pressed against me, forcing its way to the forefront of my mind, and I struggled against it. The bear snarled at the two of us, but more so at Temple. “I will suck the marrow—”

  “Suck on this, ass-clown.” And Temple lashed out with his whips, scouring the bear across both cheeks with them. The bear howled as he shook his snout, blood and burnt fur marring his face, but he managed to lunge towards Temple. And me.

  I brought up my sticks, but they were suddenly longer, like spears — as if my subconscious mind realized that I didn’t want to get too close to the killing machine. Making my sticks longer didn’t increase the weight. They still felt feather-light in my palms.

  But I remained frozen in place, battling the nightmare, hands shaking with terror. Rain. Darkness. A massive door slowly opening before me…

  Temple flicked his gaze my way, frowned, and then I was suddenly sliding across the floor on my ass, my dress tearing at the sudden motion. Even though I squawked in surprise, I noticed that it hadn’t been an attack, because his blast had gently knocked me on my rear, and then scooted me across the marble floor. I slowed to a stop near the bar, and was cursing under my breath. The swift maneuver had shocked me so much that my nightmare shifted to a faint hum, overclouded by anger. I scrambled to return to the fight when I heard a shriek behind me.

  I whirled, bringing up my spears, ignoring the roars, crashing, and sounds of destruction behind me. I came face to face with the pale man the bear had tossed across the room, the one who had been gnawing on his neck. He was standing behind Claire, somehow none the worse for wear, and gripping her by the throat. Long black claws extended from his fingers to press against her thin flesh, an ounce of pressure away from opening a vein. I slowly lowered my spears, not wanting to startle him. His resulting smile was chilly, revealing a long set of canines. Vampire.

  I had never actually seen one up close before. I had seen a lot of shifters, but vampires had never really been a topic with Roland. Either because they weren’t a big problem here or because he dealt with them before they had a chance to cross my studies. He had told me that someone had come to town a few months ago to shut down the ruling faction, but he hadn’t spared many details beyond that. It had been the same time that a concert had caused much attention in the news. Some kind of terrorist attack or something. For some reason, something about that event tugged at me, but I forcefully banished the thought.

  “There’s a good girl,” the vampire cooed, as if to calm a nervous dog.

  I carefully controlled my breathing, unsure if I was fast enough to stop him before he opened Claire’s neck. I was quickly coming to the realization that I would have to kill someone for the first time in my life. The fact that he was a monster didn’t make a difference to me. I would still be taking a life. Or Claire would lose hers. Or I would lose mine. But someone was likely going to die, no matter how much it made me want to empty my stomach. I had practiced for many years, and was very good at fighting, but that had been practice. No real danger. One wrong move here could get someone killed. Would get someone killed.

  “Get rid of them,” the vampire warned, careful to keep himself hidden behind Claire. Her eyes were wide with horror, and she was panting, standing on her toes as if that would save her. She wasn’t wearing her shoes any longer. The vampire was much taller than her, so he had to crouch down to stay protected. I released my spears, not able to force myself to do anything heroic. Because if I didn’t move fast enough, Claire would die. And I didn’t have the mentality to just take a life. I would hesitate. Falter at the last second. I just knew it. Or I would miss with my attack and accidentally kill her myself. Why did I agree to come here? I’m not ready!

  Just then, I noticed a pair of eyes skulking up behind the unsuspecting vampire, staring from me to his back, licking his lips. He was still a good distance away, but he was stealthy, and drawing closer. I risked a closer look as the vampire averted his eyes from me for a moment. The wolf was the same shifter I had seen last night. He had the same notch in his right ear, and scar on his muzzle. The one that got away. The one who had likely returned to the storage unit to take the piece of the spear. An enemy. He snarled silently as he settled eyes on me, and his intent shot towards the unsuspecting vampire, as if granting me a silent truce. Even though he obviously hated to make the choice. He didn’t want a taste of my sticks, especially with me forewarned. He had seen what they could do with his friend. He would go after the easier meat, his gaze said.

  All this happened in the blink of an eye. I could still hear the sounds of battle behind me, but it sounded distant, as if they had moved into a different room, or one of them was fleeing.

  Either way, I was alone, and Claire was hostage, and I couldn’t be certain the wolf wouldn’t exact his revenge on me, or kill all three of us.

  Chapter 15

  The vampire grinned at me, pushing Claire ahead of him as he made to walk past me, aiming for the auction room. And I suddenly realized that in the chaos, it was likely no one had remained behind to guard the items from the auction. The piece of the spear. I held my hands up, backing away from the vampire, but angling myself to slowly put myself between him and the auction room, as if I thought he had intended to take us both prisoner.

  To add to this illusion, I stopped masking my fears, which wasn’t difficult. “Please, just don’t hurt us… You can take us until you get what you want, but we aren’t even supposed to be here. I’m just a student!” I continued ambling backwards, flicking terrified eyes about the room, even letting myself stumble once I hit the steps, and letting out a startled sob as I made sure to break my heel in the process.

  He took the bait, grinning hungrily, sensing weakened prey. “Keep going,” he hissed, sounding more confident now, and eager to get two for the price of one.

  I nodded quickly. “Our Master will be furious when he finds out we’re here,” I pressed with a genuine sob — not at my lie, but at my true fear that Claire was going to die. She was sobbing openly, supported only by the vampire’s grip on her shoulder, now. Better than her neck.

  It’s okay, Claire, I encouraged in my mind, trying to let her hear me through my eyes. But I didn’t dare let my face show anything but fear for the vampire. She didn’t get it, though, judging by the wild look to her eyes, pure terror. My act was too good.

  We were almost at the doors to the auction room. The wolf was less than ten feet behind the vampire, creeping up the steps, but now almost out of my sight as I had angled myself to keep the vampire between us. I saw only his bushy tail flicking slowly back and forth as he stalked closer, careful not to let his claws betray him. One click of those claws and the vampire would hear, because vampires had incredible hearing.

  “Master?” the vampire asked distractedly, eyes focused over my shoulder through the doors at the top of the stairs to make sure he wasn’t heading into an ambush.

  I nodded eagerly. “Yes.”

  “Who is your master, my sweet?”

  “Master Temple,” I whispered, pointedly jerking my gaze to his right as I let out a squeal.

  He gasped, jerking his head to look as he released Claire. I lashed out with a coil of air to snatch Claire’s ankle and yank her behind me into the auction room. She screamed as she slid by me in a tangle of limbs, but bruises would fade. Death was permanent. She crashed into something, but I didn’t dare risk a look.

  The vampire whirled back to face me with a snarl of fury, but he missed one minor detail. The wolf, sailing at his back, both monsters at the top of the stairs, now. My distraction, and the angle I had guided him to had been silently coordinated to benefit the wolf, like a true member of his pack.

  Right before he hit, the vampire spun, some sixth sense notifying him, but he was too late. Not wanting to
risk the winner coming after us, I clapped my hands together the way Roland had shown me. A glowing cross of pure light erupted before me, the size of my palm. Less than a heartbeat later, it screamed through the air, wailing as it doubled, trebled, and quadrupled in size as it gained speed.

  The wolf hit the vampire in the shoulder, fangs sinking deep.

  The vampire shoved his hand into the wolf’s belly, claws sinking deep into furred flesh.

  And my little cross struck them both.

  The acrid scent of burned flesh and hair filled the air as they both screamed, flying across the room to hammer into the stairs on the opposite side of the atrium, and then tumble up the steps with grunts of pain before they disappeared through the open door leading to the main lobby.

  I didn’t wait to see if either had survived. I kicked off my broken shoes and burst through the doorway on bare feet. Claire was on all fours, shaking her head amidst a tumbled mass of knocked over chairs at the back of the auction room. I used magic to yank her to her feet and support her, checking for injury. She mumbled she was fine, but I could feel the terror still pulsing off of her. I supported her weight, leading us both to the stage at the far end of the room, scanning the treasured items warily, but keeping my eyes to the shadows, hoping no one else was here. I needed that spear.

  A yellow fog slowly drifted across the stage, almost like a malfunctioning smoke machine, but a sudden scent of rotten eggs filled the air, pulling my attention away from the broken theatrical equipment. What was that smell? Was there some other monster here? I flicked my gaze about, even checking behind us as I struggled to support Claire, walking faster now. I saw nothing, but noticed that the roars of fighting had died down. Temple and the bear must be gone.

  I turned back to the stage and halted with a gasp. The yellow fog was much thicker now, and had materialized into a humanoid shape directly in front of the spear.

  I called up my magic on instinct, and then hurled one of my energy spears. Claire squeaked, startled at my sudden attack.

  As if alerted by Claire’s sound, the smoky apparition shifted slightly to the right, its legs not moving, merely leaning its body. An arm darted out to catch my spear, and I felt my stomach cramp in instant pain. The yellow-smoke figure slowly turned to face me, eyes white pits of fire, and mouth a void of darkness. It blinked, which looked odd, eyes simply disappearing for a moment, and the shifting smoke seemed to freeze for a heartbeat, unmoving. Then it began to shift and undulate freely, mouth stretching into a smile. In its other hand, it held the spear piece. My spear should have popped out of existence by now, but it continued to crackle in its fist, as if trying to shock the being holding it. But nothing happened, other than waves of pain crashing through me.

  Though I was gasping, my stomach cramping in agony, I refused to turn away, willing to do whatever I could to protect Claire, if only for a few more moments, even if it meant using my body as a shield. As I stared through tear-filled eyes, I couldn’t tell whether the creature was a man or woman, because it was made of the shifting yellow fog. But twin pinpoints of light flared like tiny suns where nipples would have been, and long hair flowed over its shoulders. Its lower body grew indistinct, just a thicker cloud of the yellow fog below the waist.

  It smiled at me, then squeezed the fist holding my stick. I collapsed, every bone in my body suddenly aching with a pain similar to banging a shin against a table, but it happened in every fiber of my body, simultaneously.

  Claire had fallen with me, no longer supported. As I lay in the middle of the aisle, I managed to swivel my head enough to see the Demon take a step towards us. His next step would carry him off the stage, and a few steps after that would mark our deaths.

  “Hey! Quit grasping my shaft like that,” a bold voice called out from behind me.

  Temple. I recognized his voice. I felt a change in his magic, but without turning to look, I couldn’t tell what it was, and I didn’t dare turn away from the smoky apparition. What I thought to be Nate’s whips hammered into the floor with the ominous, steady drumbeat of a taunt, and it was coming closer. The creature roared defiantly at Temple, but took a step back.

  “Don’t want to play?” Temple chuckled as he drew closer, still cracking his whips in that consistent beat. I could feel the floor shaking with it, and the smell of singed carpet mixed with the nauseating rotten eggs smell.

  The creature snarled, jaws opening wider, and fiery wings exploded out from its back, easily a dozen feet long each, liquid fire dripping from the blazing feathers, burning into the floor of the stage. Then it fled, the thicker cloud below it suddenly carrying it into the wings of the theater.

  Temple cursed, rushing up beside us. “You okay?” he asked, suddenly staring down at me. His eyes flicked from Claire to me quickly, then off to where the creature had fled.

  “Yes,” I whispered, the pain racking me was slowly fading as the Demon drew further away.

  “Okay. Good. Was that you who took care of the other two?” he asked, sounding impressed, even if still glancing back to the stage every second or two. His eyes danced with a wild lust for pursuit. I mumbled a yes, relieved to see Claire breathing deeply, climbing to her knees beside me. “Well done. Sit tight. The bear fled, so you’re safe. I’ll be right back. Don’t leave. I want to make sure the Demon actually left.”

  I could tell that he was torn between going after the creature and staying here, but the fact that so many monsters had so blatantly revealed themselves let him know that his purchase was a lot more important than he had initially thought. After a moment of inner struggle, he left.

  I crawled to all fours, ignoring the pain like Roland had taught me, and tugged Claire the rest of the way to her feet. She had mostly recovered, at least enough to walk. She was still scared, but no longer physically restricted.

  “What are you doing? He told us to wait.”

  “Yeah. I don’t feel like doing that. We’re leaving. Now. I don’t know Temple, and we need to go tell Roland what happened. Maybe he’ll know what to do.”

  Claire studied the look in my eyes for a moment, shivered, and then nodded. Ready to flee, I hesitated at a sudden thought, and slowly turned. Then I dashed up to the stage, and grabbed an item, clutching it to my side. Claire simply shook her head, motioning for me to hurry.

  I didn’t bother with trying to find our jackets. One, because I didn’t want to waste time, but two, because I had left them under the name Church, so I had no fear of the police tracking us down later. We made quick time getting out of the building and to the street, seeing none of the monsters from earlier, but several injured people in torn evening wear huddled against the walls, sobbing and whimpering. Some of the bodies were motionless, severely injured or unconscious. I didn’t look too closely at them, assuming some were likely dead. Sirens blared nearby, no doubt on their way here. Dozens of people stood in the wet streets, staring at the theater in disbelief. Some even in clothes that implied they had been there, but most were the usual foot traffic asking the obvious attendees what the hell had happened. The reporter Nate had pushed was staring at the entrance, as if in shock. Her eyes locked onto us, recognizing us.

  Rather than being scooped up into an interview, I turned right to walk down the sidewalk. I guided Claire down the first alley, and we weakly jogged a couple streets over where Claire had parked her car. No one followed us. The black Jetta was like a breath of fresh air, and I realized I had been fearing to find monsters waiting for us, or cops wanting to ask questions. But, of course, no one knew us from Adam, and no one driving a Jetta could have afforded to go to the auction. Moments later, we were inside the car, Claire shivering in the passenger seat, staring ahead with dead eyes as tears streaked down her face. I hoped she was okay, but I couldn’t worry about her right now. I had to get us to safety first.

  My first day working for the church had been a failure.

  Chapter 16

  Roland listened in disbelief as I told him about the auction. Claire sat on the couch
behind us, rubbing her neck where the vampire had grabbed her, eyes very distant, and she was shivering. I didn’t blame her. It would probably bruise, but the memory alone would be enough for her to shrink in on herself for a good long while. She had done better than she believed, and seeing her strength had allowed me to become stronger, gaining a foothold on my own fears.

  Roland had laughed out loud as I reached the part about my ruthless bidding tactics. He hadn’t been very pleased that Temple outbid me, but hadn’t seemed too surprised to hear that someone had, either. Almost as if to say it had been worth a shot. But the laughter ceased at hearing of the events following the bidding.

  “Who has the relic now?” he asked, snapping me back into the moment. The item I had taken from the stage sat on his lap.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. Either that fire creature or Temple. I didn’t stick around to find out.” I discreetly pointed a thumb at Claire where she wouldn’t notice, and Roland nodded. But I felt guilty doing it, as if encouraging him to believe I would have stayed otherwise. Because that wasn’t true. I had been terrified. Just as terrified as Claire.

  “Even without her, you did right to run. I…” his eyes grew inward, thinking silent thoughts. “I didn’t anticipate an Agent of Hell or another wizard. Although I’m not surprised to hear it. I should have gone with you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “And died. That would have been so helpful.”

  He pinned me to my chair with a look, and although it was intimidating, he knew I was right. Still, I didn’t move from my chair.

  Then the rest of his words hit me. “Wait, an Agent of Hell?” I asked in a low hiss, my scalp tingling with anxiety. “The smoke thing was a Demon?”

  He nodded, face grim. “I shouldn’t have sent you into that. I thought—”

  “That I wouldn’t fuck up so badly,” I finished for him.