Demonfire (35 page)

Eddy nodded. Alton didn’t need
to say what he meant—that he hoped it would hold until Dax was gone, because it
wouldn’t matter after that. If they didn’t defeat the demon by tomorrow night,
there was no telling how long the battle would go on.

But it would go on without
Dax. Keeping the invasion of demonkind a secret if they failed wouldn’t change
things or help at all. People were going to find out, eventually, what evil
faced the world. At least while Alton and Dax worked together in secret, they
had some chance of success.

A very slim chance, but still
a chance.

Eddy glanced up as her father
walked slowly into the kitchen. He was using his cane, something he only pulled
out when he absolutely had to. “Hurting pretty bad this morning?”

Ed nodded. “I’ll be better
once I loosen up. Alton insisted I soak in the tub. I have to admit, the hot
bath helped.” He hung the cane over the back of his chair. Eddy jumped up to
get his coffee.

“Sit down, Eddy. I’m sore, but
I’m not a cripple.”

“Sore and stubborn, it appears
to me. Sit.” She glared at him. He sat. She flashed a big grin at Dax. “You’re
right, you know. It’s a bad idea to make me mad.”

She poured coffee for her dad
and set the cup in front of him. “Okay, guys. I’m cooking, so don’t expect
miracles.”

A short time later, Ed pushed his
empty plate away and smiled at Eddy. “I taught you well. Delicious!”

Dax glanced at Alton. “I
though she didn’t like to cook.”

Alton nodded. “She doesn’t.
Doesn’t mean she can’t. Plus, she swings a mean baseball bat. The girl is
definitely multitalented.”

Feeling inordinately proud of
herself, Eddy stood up and began grabbing empty plates. “Woman. I am not a
girl.”

Dax patted her fanny.
“Definitely all woman.”

Ed laughed. “Watch it. That’s
my daughter you’re groping.”

Eddy walked away from the
table with an exaggerated sway of her hips, and the men all laughed. Inside she
felt close to shattering. They’d been laughing and teasing for the past hour,
as if their world didn’t hang in the balance of what they accomplished over the
next couple of days.

They’d laughed as if Dax would
still be around and Alton didn’t have a death threat hanging over his head.
Willow buzzed through the kitchen, and another thought hit Eddy.
Willow!
What would happen to her when Dax was gone? Would
she just disappear? Would she go back to Eden?

She heard the scrape of chairs
as she rinsed the dishes in the sink. Warm hands circled her hips, and she felt
Dax’s broad chest against her back.

“All will be okay, Eddy. I can
practically hear your thoughts, but please don’t worry. Let’s see what today
brings. Tomorrow we’ll see what comes, but only when it’s actually tomorrow. We
don’t need to ask for trouble, but we will win this fight. I have to believe
it.”

She carefully wiped her hands
dry, turned in his warm embrace, and placed her palms against his cheeks. “It’s
not the fight I’m worried about. It’s you, Dax.”

No.
She had to stop lying—to herself and to Dax.

She leaned her head against
his chest. “Oh hell, I’m totally being selfish. You’ll be fine. You’ll be in
Eden, loving your life in Paradise.” She sniffed. “I’m worried about me…about
me missing you.” She laughed, but it broke off in a sob that somehow managed to
escape. “I’m even worried about Willow! What will happen to her when you’re
gone?”

He raised her chin with his
fingertip and looked at her with so much love in his eyes it broke her heart.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I never thought to ask. She’s a creature of Eden, but
for all I know, Willow didn’t exist before. If she was created to be my
companion and my source of energy, she might end when I do.”

Eddy shook her head. “That’s
as wrong as you ending. Willow is a living, thinking creature. She’s got a mind
of her own. She’s compassionate and caring. Just like you, Dax. Just
like
you. No one in Eden could ever love you like I do.”

His arms tightened around her
waist. “I know, Eddy. I know.”

He didn’t say anything else,
but he held her for a long, long time. Eddy listened to the steady sound of his
heart and tucked the memories of his scent, his strength, his love away in her
heart.

They would have to last a
long, long time.

Late Friday afternoon—day six

“Where could he have gone?”
Alton leaned against the cold fireplace. Willow perched on his shoulder, and
Bumper lay at his feet. If he hadn’t been almost seven feet tall with silky
blond hair falling in a straight line to his butt, he might have looked like
any other rangy cowboy in town for the weekend.

“I don’t know, and I don’t like
it. I fully expected he’d be back at the library. That’s been his home base all
week.” Dax sprawled in her dad’s recliner. He, like Alton, was wearing faded
jeans and a worn flannel shirt. They’d both pulled their boots off, and both
men looked frustrated and exhausted.

At least her dad was doing
better this evening, though he’d chosen the couch, where he could stretch out
and rest all his “old man’s aches,” as he referred to the hip that definitely
needed replacement.

“If we don’t find the
gargoyle, I imagine he’ll find us.” Eddy shrugged, but then she smiled at
Alton. “And you got the compulsion reset. Thank goodness! I’m really glad you
managed to get that done.” Now that had been a shock when they’d walked to town
this morning. Total strangers coming up to her, getting in her face, and
complaining about her newspaper articles.

All those stories about the
so-called vandalism, every single one blaming the problems on gangs or, as
she’d alluded to in one story, an unknown cult—except some of the townsfolk
remembered things differently. Remembered, and wanted to talk about them.

One man had said it felt as if
he’d had fog on the brain, but the fog had cleared. Thank goodness Alton had
reset the fog!

As much as she hated writing
lies, Eddy hated getting caught even more, which was a fairly selfish and
dishonorable way to look at things. Discovering that lack in her own ethics
hadn’t been a very pleasant revelation.

She’d just have to keep
reminding herself it was all for the common good, but she was glad her father
had stayed home. She would hate for him to see her defending stories that
weren’t true. Someday, she hoped she could come clean on all this, but she
couldn’t do it yet. Not now.

Damn but it had been a long,
frustrating day. Even more frustrating knowing that Dax only had a little over
twenty-four hours left. She couldn’t dwell on that, though. She just couldn’t.

Willow buzzed through the
room, followed by her usual trail of sparkles, but instead of her usual blue,
they were dark red, almost as if she were angry.

Or frightened. Dax held his
hand out, and she skidded to a halt in his palm. He stared intently at the
little sprite, then practically jumped out of the recliner.

“Close the shades and turn out
the lights,” he said, moving swiftly toward the kitchen and the window that
faced the backyard. “Check the locks on the doors. The gargoyle’s outside.
Willow said he’s flown over Ed’s workshop twice now.”

Ed struggled to his feet.
“How’d it find us?”

Alton turned away from the
front door he’d just secured. “I’m not sure, but this changes things. We’ve
been hunting it. Now it appears the gargoyle is hunting us.”

Eddy helped her dad into the
kitchen and grabbed a straight-backed chair for him. Dax had already turned out
the lights and stood in the darkened window, staring toward the workshop. He
glanced over his shoulder as Eddy slid the chair across the floor and set it
near the window. Ed carefully sat down where he could see outside.

“Look.” Dax pointed at Ed’s
shop.

Eddy felt her blood run cold.
The gargoyle perched on the roof like a huge vulture and stared directly at the
kitchen window where all of them were gathered. It leaned forward, supporting
itself on its hands and feet with its leathery wings folded against its back.

Its eyes glowed with
incandescent fire reflected from the nearby streetlight. It swung its head from
right to left and back again, as if assessing the area in preparation for an
attack.

Bumper growled low in her
throat, but she seemed to know enough to keep it quiet. Dax patted her head,
and she whimpered. It was obvious she knew there was something out there that
she really didn’t like at all. Willow stood on the windowsill with her tiny
hands planted on her hips. Anger absolutely radiated from her little body.

The sun had set, and there was
just enough light left to see the gargoyle’s dark silhouette, but the eyes
seemed to grow larger and brighter as darkness fell.

Eddy was glad they’d turned
off the lights inside. The kitchen was almost entirely dark. She didn’t want to
think the gargoyle was watching them, though she imagined he probably had much
better vision than she did. It gave her the creeps.

Alton slipped his crystal
sword out of the sheath hanging over the back of a kitchen chair. It ignored
Dax. Alton stared at it a moment and then held it down at his side. “I’m going
out the front door. I’ll work my way around behind the shop.”

Dax kept his eye on the sword
as he agreed. “I’ll go with you until I can find a good spot to attack, but
I’ll wait until you’re in position before I show myself. I don’t want him to
see us leaving the house.” He glanced at Eddy. “Is there a backyard light you
can turn on from inside? I have a feeling the gargoyle can see in the dark much
better than me.”

She pointed to the set of
switches by the wall. She realized they were all whispering, and wondered if it
was necessary, but the damned thing had gone from stone to flesh in a matter of
days. For all they knew, it could hear through walls.

She kept her voice low. “A
couple. There’re lights on both the back porch and the door to Dad’s shop, but
nothing that will throw a beam on the roof.”

Ed moved slowly, but he got up
and opened a utility closet by the back door. “I’ve got this.” He held up a
heavy flashlight shaped almost like a handgun with a halogen bulb. “It throws a
pretty good beam a long way.”

“Good.” Dax nodded. Then he
leaned over and kissed Eddy. “Stay out of the creature’s sight, and hang on to
Bumper. I’m taking Willow with me.” He glanced down at the baseball bat she’d
grabbed without even realizing it, and laughed. “It’s good to know you’re
armed.”

“You’re making fun of me, but
I’ll get the last laugh. This is one fine baseball bat.” She kissed him and
stepped back. “Be careful, Dax. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

She wasn’t sure how long they
stood there staring into each other’s eyes, but she didn’t want to turn away.
Dax was the first to break the spell that had so quickly trapped them both.

“Ed, as I recall, there’s a
ladder against the north side of the shop, so Alton will be using that. I want
you to shine the beam directly on the gargoyle—in his eyes if you can—the
minute Alton signals you. That should momentarily blind him and might give us
an advantage. Can you get outside without him seeing you?”

“I’ll use the sliding glass
door from my bedroom. I should be able to flash this at him without leaving the
house.” He held up the flashlight. “It’s really bright. With any luck, he won’t
be able to see me once the light’s in his eyes.”

“Eddy, don’t turn the lights
on until after your dad flashes the spotlight. Then we’ll need both yard
lights. Alton, can you just raise your sword so Ed knows you’re ready? That
crystal should show up just fine. If you’re behind the gargoyle, hopefully he
won’t see it. Ed, watch out you don’t get me or Alton with that beam.”

Ed nodded. “I will. Be
careful, boys. Both of you. And Willow? You be careful, too.” He grabbed his
cane and the spotlight and slowly made his way down the hallway. Dax hid Willow
in his pocket, and he and Alton slipped out the front door. Eddy waited alone
in the kitchen with only Bumper for company. She heard the steady
tick, tick, tick
of the clock over the kitchen sink. The
sound of Bumper panting. A car passed by on the street out in front.

Darkness closed in. The
gargoyle was barely visible now, though its eyes still glowed an unearthly
shade of red. She had no idea where Dax or Alton were. They had to be getting
into position.

Eddy sensed a change in the
pressure inside the house and knew her father had opened the bedroom door.
Bumper whined and stood close beside Eddy in the darkened kitchen. Her curly
blond hackles rose along her spine, and her whine turned to a rather startling
growl that seemed to roll out of her chest.

Eddy kept her gaze on the
gargoyle, though all that really showed right now were the flashing red eyes.
Then Alton’s crystal sword glowed behind the creature’s dark silhouette.
Immediately after, the brilliant beam from Ed’s spotlight caught the gargoyle
directly in the eyes.

It rose up, roaring. Its loud
trumpeting cry echoed throughout the neighborhood. Eddy flipped on the backyard
lights as the gargoyle leapt from the roof and shot directly toward Dax with
leathery wings outspread.

Alton’s sword swept through
the air and severed a large section of the gargoyle’s right wing. The piece
spun off in a shower of dark blood and landed in Ed’s rose garden just outside
the workshop.

Dax stood at the edge of the
yard, partly hidden beneath a sycamore tree. Fire flashed from his hands and
burned away more of the gargoyle’s wing as the creature landed on the ground
just a few yards away from him. It screamed this time, an earsplitting cry of
absolute fury. Then it turned on Dax.

Flames still shot from Dax’s
fingertips. The heat of the fire singed the gargoyle’s chest, but it continued
its awkward walk directly into the flame, drawing closer with each step it
took.

Dax switched from heat to
cold. Icicles formed on the gargoyle’s face and hung from its damaged wing as
well as the good one. Still it moved forward, listing toward the injured wing.
Bumper growled and clawed at the door. Alton was clambering down the ladder and
racing toward the gargoyle with his sword raised.

Dax switched back to flame.
Suddenly his body jerked. The flames died. Alton took another swing with his
crystal sword as Dax went down with both hands pressed to his throat.

The
tattoo!
She’d totally forgotten the damned tattoo! Ignoring danger, Eddy
swung the door wide and raced out into the yard. Snarling and barking, Bumper
went directly for the gargoyle. She sank her teeth into the creature’s one good
wing. It spun around, reaching for the dog, but Bumper managed to hang on and
stay out of reach of the long claws.

Alton raced across the yard
and swung his sword, but he missed as the gargoyle leapt into the air. Bumper
hung on to its wing until only her hind legs raked the ground. Then she let out
a sharp yelp and dropped, rolling and frantically rubbing her face in the damp
grass.

Eddy fell to her knees beside
Dax. His eyes were closed, his mouth open as he gasped for air. The tattoo
rippled and slithered over his skin, but he held on to the head of the snake
with a white-knuckled grasp. The forked tongue whipped between his fingers. He
held the viper’s mouth shut with both hands.

There were two perfectly round
puncture wounds in his throat, just beneath his jaw. Already the skin was beginning
to swell. Alton dropped to his knees beside Eddy. “What happened?”

“The damned snake bit him.”
Her voice cracked with fear as she pressed her hands over Dax’s and forced the
serpent down. Beneath her touch, it slowly lost dimension. Within a very few
seconds, it was nothing more than a tattoo, though pain radiated up Eddy’s arms
all the way to her spine.

She ignored it. “Dax? Can you
hear me? What can I do? How can I help you?”

Ed stood over them, leaning
heavily on his cane. He handed a small plastic box to Eddy. “Snake-bite kit.
It’s old, but the theory’s the same. It might help if you can get the poison
out.”

She tried to open it, but her
hands were shaking too badly. Alton took it from her, flipped open the catch,
and removed a razor blade wrapped in a sterile covering, along with a small
suction cup. Eddy grabbed the packet of disinfectant and tore it open. She
splashed the alcohol over the puncture wounds, took the razor from Alton and,
with surprisingly steady hands, made a quick slash in Dax’s throat to connect
the two holes.

She used the suction cup to
draw blood and venom out of the wound and prayed the creature hadn’t struck a
vein or an artery. Dax’s head lolled to one side as she suctioned blood and
venom and emptied the cup. It was so damned slow!

She shot a quick look at
Alton, but his attention was entirely on Dax. Willow stood on Alton’s shoulder,
but she was sending blue sparkles the length of Dax’s body. Frustrated,
terrified, Eddy finally leaned over and put her mouth to the seeping wound. She
sucked hard, filling her mouth with his blood and something with a vile, bitter
taste that burned her lips and tongue and had to be venom.

Over and over again, she
sucked at the wound on his throat, turned her head and spit, and sucked again
until the taste changed and she knew she drew only pure, clean blood from the
bite. Finally she sat back on her heels. Ed handed her a damp cloth, and she
wiped Dax’s blood from her lips. Then she folded the cloth to a clean side and
pressed it against the slowly seeping wound on his throat. He seemed to breathe
easier, but he was still unconscious.

“Should I carry him inside?”

She blinked and gazed at
Alton. “Can you lift him? He’s awfully big.”

Alton smiled gently. “So am I,
Eddy.” He stood up and handed his sword to Ed. Then he pulled Eddy to her feet.
“Get the bed ready. I’ll carry him into your room.”

She nodded, took one last look
at Dax, and raced toward the sliding door to the master bedroom. Alton followed
a moment later. He carried Dax in his arms like a very large child, through
Ed’s room and down the hall to the room Dax shared with Eddy. There Alton
carefully laid him down on the big bed. Eddy removed his boots while Alton
unbuttoned his shirt. Bumper sat near the foot of the bed with her chin resting
on the edge of the mattress while Alton and Eddy finished undressing Dax.