The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers (31 page)

I stood above the smoking pit of acid that had been Serena, her power
thrumming from my toenails to my fingertips. And that's when a cold realization
struck. Serena might have gotten me after all. I didn't own her energy. It
owned me.

"Lizzie!" Pirate's voice echoed down the hallway. "I'm here
for you, Lizzie!"

Oh no—what was Pirate doing here?

"Stay away!" I leapt over the remains of the demons and slammed
the one and only door to the control room. Fear churned in my stomach. And
worse—rage. My new powers screamed for an outlet. I released a fraction
of it, enough to break the door lock. Instead the keyhole disappeared and the
doorknob melted clean off.

No, no, no.

I folded my arms over my chest and swallowed hard, trying not to panic. So I
wouldn't be leaving this room for a while. At least no one else could get in.
Not until I could get a handle on this.

"What the hell?" Dimitri pounded on the door.

"You're alive." Relief flooded me, followed by a stinging fear.
Holy smokes—was I about to fry everyone I loved?

"Lizzie!" Dimitri hollered, rattling the door down to its hinges.
"What's wrong?"

Thank heaven, he sounded like his old self again.

My entire body shaking, I battled the urge to rip the door open and show him
exactly what was wrong with me.

"I'm compromised," I said, opting for the shorter version of
I
took on demon powers and now I might kill you… and my little dog too
.

Dimitri let out a string of curse words while Pirate scratched frantically
on the other side of the door.

"What'd they do to you?"

I could practically feel his green eyes boring through the door.

"Nothing." I did it to them. "I took Serena's power," I
said, eyes widening as my fingertips began to glow blue. "All of it."

I was answered in the worst possible way—by silence.

Oh no. I couldn't do this by myself.

Who was I kidding?
I had to do this by myself
.

"I think it's getting worse," I told him. My hands took on a
horrible, tingling pallor. Blue bubbles erupted from each of my fingertips.
"Holy shit!"

"What?" Dimitri demanded, smashing into the other side of the
door. He ground something against it. "Pirate, go get Gertie. She's
casting wards down by the intake room."

Sure, they didn't want any more demons down here, but… "Grandma's
wards won't find me, will they?" I'd seen her weave them before—she used
a trajectory that would fling the lesser evils straight back to hell. Of course
it didn't work on demons, but I had no idea what Grandma's wards would do to
me. I couldn't get pitched into hell on the back swing, not like this.

"Lizzie, you're not evil."

I needed to hear that. Even if I wasn't sure I believed it.

"Stand back," Dimitri commanded.

Shaking, I did what he asked. The blue bubbles on my fingertips grew to the
size of softballs. Okay, screw the idea of not needing help. "Hurry!"

The entire door fell from its hinges and smacked into the floor in front of
me.

Dimitri burst into the room, bronze sword in hand. The poor man still hadn't
found time to replace his shirt. He swallowed hard when he saw me. He ripped
the protective rags off of his wrists and clutched my head in his hands.

"Steady, Lizzie," he said, his fingers mashing into my hair and
his breath warm against my face. I couldn't look at him. My hands, they were
getting worse.

He began speaking to me in an ancient language, or maybe it was Greek. His
words took on a lilting, almost hypnotic tone. I didn't know it if it was what
he was saying, or how he said it, but I felt a calm invade my body. I gasped
for breath. God, it felt good to have him here.

"That's it," he said, running his fingers through my hair.

I fought it. I'm not sure if some part of me wanted the power or the anger,
but I couldn't let it go. "I think she might have taken Phil with
her."

His breath hitched, but his stream of comfort remained unbroken. "I'm
not going to lie to you. Your fairy godfather may be gone forever."

Tears clouded my vision.

He made me look at him. The tiny lines around his eyes crinkled as he seemed
to see me straight down to my soul. "It was his choice," he said,
tracing his thumb over my lower jaw, "he's a fighter, Lizzie, like you.
Phil made it possible for you to be standing here right now. Now it's up to you
to take what he's given you. Ask yourself, Lizzie. What are you going to do
with his gift?"

I knew what I should say, but I didn't want to say it. "I don't
know."

His eyes refused to leave mine. "Accept what I'm offering you."

I could barely find my voice. "What is this? Magic?"

He guided a stray lock of hair from my forehead and tucked it behind my ear.
"Some would call it that. I prefer to think of it as a reminder."

The tears flowed freely now. I looked into his beautiful face, so full of
love and understanding. I felt his warm hands, steady on my shoulders and I
knew what I had to do. I closed my eyes and in my mind's eye, I saw my black
anger, my hostility, the frustration I felt at my complete and utter failure to
save the one person in my life who'd always been there for me. I took it and
merged it with the blackness that was Serena's power. But it was too heavy. And
it didn't want to leave.

"Let me in," Dimitri said.

I could feel his unwavering presence in front of me and it took everything I
had not to wrap myself up in it like a warm blanket.

"Lizzie." He folded my hands in his. •

What? "No." I wasn't about to tangle him in this. It was my
mistake and I'd fix it.

"I'm part demon slayer, Lizzie. And a big believer in fate."

Oh my word, his
things happen for a reason
speech flooded my mind.
I couldn't believe how he'd actually forgiven me for tainting his pure griffin
blood and now I was equally speechless that he'd take on vengeful black power
with me.

I rested my forehead on his shoulder "It's—" I began,
desperate for his help, terrified that if I let it loose, it would consume him
in front of me.

"I know." Fingers on my chin, he guided me up to him and kissed
me, warm and deep. The intimacy of that one kiss shocked me. I let it flow over
me, opening myself completely for the second time that night. I shivered as
some of the awful, heavy burden flowed from me into him. He took a sharp breath
when it hit him. I almost panicked. I instinctively tried to pull back, but he
clutched my hands and squeezed.

"Together, now," he whispered against my lips before kissing me
long and hard.

I let him in. As his power surged into me, and mine into him, I let him see
all of me—the good, the bad, everything. I was exhausted from hiding,
from fighting, from doing everything on my own. I let go of the need to keep
control, and from the one thought that had terrified me from the start—that
if he saw everything, he might not want me anymore.

He savored me, pushed me, blanketed me and comforted me in ways I'd never
imagined. If we got through this,
please let us survive this
, I didn't
want to be alone anymore.

"Ready?" he whispered, hot against my ear.

Goose bumps shivered down my arms. "Yes." As long as I had
Dimitri, I'd be ready for anything.

We used the power like an immense blowtorch. I visualized it as clear as if
we stood at the edge of hell itself. We harnessed the power of Serena,
countless succubi and the whole of the energy generated tonight and aimed it
straight at the gates of hell, incinerating countless demons and subdemons on
the surface layer. Then we did our best to seal the whole thing from the outside.
Let the locusts dig their way out. I poured out my entire arsenal until I'd
spent everything.

Dimitri held back. His eyes glowed green, then orange.

Oh no. I couldn't handle it if he'd corrupted himself. "What are you
doing?" I demanded.

He fired backward into the dam. "I'm opening up a pathway for the
ghosts," he said, groaning with the effort.

Dang it, he shouldn't have tried to do that on his own. "I thought
ghosts had to go to the light."

"That's one way," he said, releasing a breath that I hadn't even
realized he was holding. He blinked a few times, recovering, as his eyes went
from orange to a rich chocolate brown. "It's usually the only choice. But
you had a trace of Phil's goodness in that mass of power. I used it to open up
a pathway to help them." He gazed down at me, so warm and sure.
"After all, if one of your preschoolers was afraid to take on a flight of
stairs, would you wait until they found the courage, or would you carry
them?"

Like he carried me—the sheer relief of knowing I wasn't alone was
almost enough to make me want to curl up on the floor and sleep for a year.
Instead, I drew even closer to the man who'd saved me in more ways than one.

I used my thumb to swipe away a trickle of sweat on his neck, marveling that
he'd stuck with me—that he'd chosen me—through everything.
"How do you know so much?" I asked.

He pulled me close. "Stick with me and you'll find out."

I held him, running my hands down his back. Pain shot down my fingertips and
I noticed for the first time that they throbbed. I swallowed hard and risked a
glance. My hands were whole again, except for raw sores on the ends of my
fingers.

Before I could even think of what to say, Dimitri lowered his mouth to mine
and I stopped trying to think. I sank into him and savored his warmth and his
goodness.

The man had saved me in more ways than one.

He pulled back slightly, long before I was ready to let him go. "Now
about that emerald," he whispered.

We found it under a chair near the control board. I dragged it out and
glowed with relief when I felt the heat of the green stone against my fingers.
It shone with life and energy.

Dimitri took it and placed it in the center of my palm. "I offer you
the protection of the Helios clan, freely given, freely taken."

Its energy whispered to me. The familiar warmth rested against my skin where
it belonged.

A thin, bronze chain snaked from the tip of the teardrop and circled my
wrist. "I accept." My body ached from exhaustion, not to mention
sheer relief. Still, I couldn't help but grin. "Freely."

Something hard loosened inside of me as the chain wound up my arm and
circled my chest, until the emerald hung from my neck, where it belonged.

"What did you do to me before?" I asked him.

He kissed me on the forehead. "I helped you find your strength. You had
it all along, Lizzie. We all do. It's just sometimes we forget."

"Yeah," I said, leaning against the rock that was Dimitri, "I
was a little stressed out."

"That's why I'll always be here."

He was right. I could always lean on Dimitri. He brought out the best in me,
whether we were reclaiming my soul, or walking along a moonlit path with
gargoyles circling overhead. He was mine again. And he was whole.

I found my empty utility belt in a pile of filth that was probably a demon
about twenty minutes before. My switch stars were nearby, along with the
powders and crystals I kept in the pouches attached to the belt. I was in the
middle of capturing an entire pile of sandy pink granules when a tiny creature
screeched from under a small mountain of ash.

Soot flying, he burst from the wreckage, a furless hamster-type creature. I
started to reach for him until I saw he had fangs and black dinosaur-type
spikes along his back. "What the… ?" He shrieked and, as fast
as his scrabbly legs would take him, made a beeline for the back pouch of my
utility belt.

The creature burrowed into the belt, his rear end wriggling until there was
no more of him to be seen.

"Mystery solved," Dimitri said.

I glanced up at him. "Hardly." I gathered up the last few crystals.
I'd tackle my powers before worrying about the mysterious creature that lived
in the back of my utility belt.

"You should call him Harry," Dimitri said, giving me a hand and
helping me up.

"Why not?" I said, feeling the little guy settle himself in. It
was better than Fang.

I talked Dimitri into taking back his shirt before we headed up the main
elevator. He carried Phil as the doors closed and the car jerked to a start. I
held Phil's soft, wide hand as the scent of cinnamon filled the small space.
Through my exhaustion, I tried to memorize this moment the best that I could.
It might be the last time I saw Phil. There was no telling what fairies, or
half fairies, did for funerals.

As for how I'd tell Grandma, I didn't know. My emotions were too raw. I
squeezed his hand hard and hoped I'd find the words. I could hardly believe it
myself that he was gone.

The elevator opened up into an art deco foyer that led to the outside.
Finally, we could get Phil out of this place. I forced myself back into warrior
mode, just in case. With a deep breath and switch stars at the ready, I pushed
through a set of brass doors.

I about fell backward as Pirate flung himself into my arms, licking
everywhere he could reach, which would have been really bad had we been under
attack.

"Dang, Lizzie. I leave to get a Twinkie and you disappear on me."

Relief surged through me. "Are you okay, sweetie?" Hands shaking,
I inspected my wriggling dog by the light of a hovering Skeep. "Meko?
What's going on out here?"

The Hoover Dam backed up to Lake Mead and towered over the river on the
other side. Witches lined the sweeping highway at its crest, their Harleys at
the ready behind them.

The Skeep dipped and glowed brighter. "Many apologies. I'm Tiko, an
associate of Meko. We've been called here to fetch supplies for your
rescue."