Guardian of the Hellmouth (6 page)

Read Guardian of the Hellmouth Online

Authors: A.C. Greenlee

 

shoulder and sending his fist through it’s chest. He pulled back,

 

smirking at the hole he’d left behind. The demon crumbled as he

 

turned on the next one, kicking and punching them to the ground

 

where he lifted a heavy booted foot and crushed their heads and

 

rib cages beneath his weight.

 

Kailani didn’t wait around to watch; instead she dove towards her

 

rented light blue Chevy Camaro, setting a world record as she set

 

about unlocking the door. Before she could slide in she felt

 

something hard hit her chest, throwing her backwards several
feet. She writhed as the air was knocked out of her lungs, her

 

body having hit the ground hard enough to wind her. She

 

watched two of the demons appear before her, one of them

 

landing on the roof of her car, leaving dents like craters as it

 

seemingly dropped out of the sky. Her eyes widened with fear as

 

she crawled backwards, watching their jaws unhinge as they

 

salivated, the yellow liquid so viscous it burned holes in the lawn.

 

Their teeth were jagged and uneven as they advanced on her,

 

roaring their fury. Kai screamed, rolling onto her stomach in an

 

attempt to run but the demons were far too close for her to get a

 

head start. She felt one of their elongated arms wrap around her

 

waist, pulling her back against a sticky gray chest. She watched

 

in horror as it opened its mouth as wide as it could, preparing to

 

swallow her whole, but before it could it was ripped away from

 

her and she was shoved forward into another demon. It shrieked

 

as they both went tumbling to the ground, it’s long arms tangling

 

around her as it tried to get a good grip. Kailani lifted her hands,

 

digging her thumbs into the demons eyes as she kicked and

 

flailed, knowing she had to get away before it could sink those
teeth into her. The demon screamed, an ear piercing sound that

 

made her see stars. She felt something grab the back of her shirt

 

as she and the demon were lifted into the air. Leviathan shifted

 

around her, throwing her backwards as he lunged forward,

 

sinking his teeth into the side of the demons throat. It screamed

 

and struggled, ripping at his face and neck with its claws in an

 

attempt to dislodge him but he wouldn’t be budged. Suddenly it

 

went still, crumbling like all the others. Leviathan wiped the tar

 

like blood from his face, turning to frown at Kailani who could

 

only stare at him in horror. Another shrill cry rent the air and they

 

both whipped towards the house where the demons had gotten

 

inside, sucking up the malevolent energy like water down a drain.

 

They were getting bigger. Sensing the power they’d taken in

 

Leviathan switched tactics, grabbing Kai around the waist and

 

hauling her towards the car. He shoved her through the driver’s

 

door and into the passenger’s side, snatching up the keys from

 

where she’d dropped them on the seat. The demons rushed from

 

the front of the house like a tidal wave, their roars deafening as

 

they descended on the car. Leviathan didn’t miss a beat as he
pushed the key into the ignition, started the Chevy and sped

 

backwards out of the driveway.

 

“You can drive?!” Kai screamed, snatching at her seatbelt to get

 

it safely around her. He chuckled darkly as he maneuvered past

 

parked cars, speeding towards the end of the sleepy little street

 

that opened onto a main road.

 

“I can do many amazing things with my hands, human.” He said,

 

the car roaring as he floored it. The demons still didn’t give up,

 

they were relentless as they dropped to their hands and bounded

 

after them like animals. Leaping on and off of cars, buildings,

 

lamp posts, anything that would get them closer to the escaping

 

Hellmouth and her demon protector. She cursed, watching them

 

draw closer and closer, their speed increasing with each second.

 

“Turn left!” She shouted and Leviathan spun the wheel, the car

 

fishtailing as they burst into traffic, horns blaring and tires

 

squealing as other drivers did their best to avoid them. He

 

wrestled the car under his control again, narrowly missing the
demon that leapt towards them, the creature scraping the top of

 

the vehicle as it slid into oncoming traffic. Kailani grimaced as

 

she watched a large flatbed truck hit its breaks just a second too

 

late, sending the huge steel contraption sliding over the demon

 

that lay crushed beneath it’s tires. “The highway should be

 

coming up soon.” She turned back to face the road, screaming

 

when a demon suddenly appeared before them, its body

 

slamming into the hood and rolling against the windshield as

 

Leviathan kept driving right on through it. “What the fuck are

 

you doing?!”

 

“It seemed like a good idea at the time.” He answered her

 

outraged question, merging off of S King Street and onto

 

Lunalilo Freeway. Leviathan dodged cars like a champion Nascar

 

driver, swerving in and out of traffic as if it were more natural to

 

him than breathing. But just when they thought they’d lost the

 

demons they heard something hard hit the roof of the car. Before

 

either of them could react a long arm punched through the metal,

 

claws slicing as it grabbed Kailani by the shoulder and pulled her
upwards. She screamed and Leviathan cursed, grabbing the

 

demons arm and twisting until a sickening pop rang out around

 

them. It screeched, its hand releasing Kai who fell helplessly

 

back into her seat. Leviathan spun the wheel, sending the car

 

swerving left and right until the demon was thrown from the roof

 

and sent flying into traffic. “Are you injured?” He asked, his eyes

 

alternating from her quickly paling face to the road ahead of him.

 

Kailani clutched her shoulder, shifting it and grunting at the pain

 

that flooded her. When she pulled her hand away to assess the

 

damage it was covered in blood. He cursed again, darkness

 

surrounding them as he sped through a tunnel. “Stay with me,

 

don’t you dare pass out.” He ordered and she glared up at him,

 

her body shaking as she suddenly felt feverish. She’d started to

 

sweat, her dark hair sticking to her face as she trembled.

 

Instinctively she ripped herself out of the seatbelt, stripping her

 

denim jacket off to reveal the black t-shirt underneath. Kailani

 

folded the jacket haphazardly, using it to apply pressure to the

 

wound that bled sluggishly.
“Just get us there alright.” She groaned through her teeth. She felt

 

as if she were going to puke. Just what the hell were in those

 

claws?

 

Minutes seemed to drag into hours as he finally sped into

 

Honolulu International Airport. The car skidded to a halt right in

 

front of the doors, sending pedestrians and security guards

 

scattering to avoid them.

 

“You can’t park here!” Someone yelled but Leviathan didn’t pay

 

attention as he rushed out of the car and over to the passenger

 

side. He nearly ripped the door off its hinges as he pulled her out

 

and into his arms, barely remembering to grab her bag as well.

 

He ran at break neck speeds into the airport, sensing their

 

assailants weren’t too far behind. Dodging person after person

 

and snarling at any security personnel foolish enough to get in his

 

way he finally made it to a women’s bathroom.

 

“If there’s anyone in here I suggest you leave. Immediately!” He

 

barked, his growl echoing off the walls as he moved to lay
Kailani on the counter. Several people moved out of the stalls,

 

and he ignored them, his face grim as he ripped one of the doors

 

off a stall and moved to barricade the main door once they’d all

 

departed. Once he was sure nothing could get through he went

 

back to Kai who was attempting to sit up. She looked like hell.

 

“Where are we?” She asked, a hand pressed against her throbbing

 

head. She began to slide off the counter but Leviathan stopped

 

her, propping her body up against the mirror behind her.

 

“The airport. You need to call your witch.” He set to work

 

ripping her shirt away from her feverish body, frowning at the

 

wound the demons claws had left behind. Black blood oozed

 

from the puncture marks, trickling down her chest and arm.

 

“I can’t. I’m too tired. I need to sleep.” She said sluggishly as her

 

eyes began to shut and he growled, patting her cheek.

 

“You can’t sleep. If you go to sleep you’ll die.” He shook her

 

gently and she groaned. The poison was progressing far too

 

quickly. If it entered her bloodstream and hit her heart it would
kill her. Kailani didn’t seem to care about his warning, her head

 

was swimming and she could barely feel any pain anymore. All

 

that was left behind was a dull pulsating feeling that traveled

 

pleasantly up and down the left side of her body. She felt her

 

head lull back against her shoulder, every inch of her relaxing as

 

her body began to shut down.

 

“Just a cat nap.” She heard herself slur, her eyes closing once

 

again, only to open wide as a scream ripped itself from her throat.

 

She stared in horror as Leviathan pulled her towards him, his lips

 

parting as he sank his canines into her shoulder. She scrambled to

 

pull him off of her, tugging at his shoulders and hair as pain like

 

she had never felt before filled her.

 

Leviathan drank deeply, pulling the toxin from the wound as

 

quickly as he could and hoping it would be enough to stop it from

 

spreading. He ignored her futile attempts to dislodge him,

 

grabbing one of her wrists and pinning it over her head against

 

the mirror. Her screams and struggles soon died into panting and

 

writhing, the thin line between pleasure and pain blurring until
she didn’t know what she was feeling. He released her wrist and

 

grasped her waist, holding her still as he pulled back to lick the

 

wound closed. With his free hand he reached into her pocket and

 

tugged her cellphone free.

 

“Call your witch.” He breathed against her quickly healing flesh,

 

peeling himself off of her and going to fish her another shirt out

 

of her bag. Kailani could only stare at him at first, then down to

 

her pain free shoulder that looked almost as good as new.

 

“What did you do?” She asked but he didn’t answer her, kneeling

 

over her bag and unzipping it quietly instead. Shaking her head to

 

clear it she sat up straight from her drunken position against the

 

mirror, quickly dialing Cassandra who answered on the first ring.

 

Her mind screamed at her to ask questions, to make him explain

 

what just happened to her but the rational part of her knew they

 

had no time for chit chat.

 

“Are you alright?! Jesus Christ Kailani! Everyone’s freaking

 

out!”
“Freaking out? Why?”

 

“Because your demon stalkers are all over the news. They say

 

some kind of meth lab experiment went wrong and released

 

invisible creatures onto the streets of Honolulu, there’s live video

 

footage and everything!” She said and Kai groaned. Just what she

 

needed; casualties.

 

“Did anyone get hurt?”

 

“Only a few minor injuries, luckily they were after only you so

 

they didn’t really stop to prey on the innocent if you catch my

 

drift.” Lucky indeed.

 

“Alright. We made it to the airport. What are we going to do

 

now? They’ll find us eventually and we’ll have to explain the

 

other demons as well as Leviathan.”

 

“I solved that. You’re going to purchase two seats, right after you

 

cast a spell of invisibility over Levi.”
“Say what? I can’t cast spells!” She shrieked, grimacing as her

 

voice echoed back at her.

 

“Oh sure you can, you’re a Hellmouth, you’re a walking spell

 

casting machine! Besides I can’t do it because I’m not there, and

 

Levi is a demon, they can’t use Witch Magic.”

 

“And why not?” She asked as the demon in question turned with

 

another t-shirt in hand. She took it and quickly slipped it on after

 

putting Cassandra on speakerphone.

 

“Because witch magic is light magic and as a demon I can’t cast

 

it.” He answered for her.

 

“Right, but you can because you’re not a demon, you just have

 

access to their power.” She added, flipping pages in one of her

 

spell books until she came upon what she was looking for. “This

 

one’s easy, all you have to do is say the words and poof Levi is

 

invisible and you can both board the plane before the nastiness

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