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Hawk’s smile grew even wider, brightening the gold filaments in his chocolate eyes. “I have a flare for the dramatics. Someone’s got to put a little spice to our duo, Strawberry Shortcake.”
“Don’t call me that.” Being short—barely five-two—and redheaded had earned me plenty of nicknames over the years. I flung demon guts off my sword. “And just because I prefer to get the job done correctly doesn’t mean I lack spice. You’re the one who can’t handle one little jalapeño on your burger.”
“Just admit I was awesome.” The playful hint to his words pulled my attention away from scanning the perimeter. He disengaged the blade on his sword, tucked the hilt into his pocket, and crossed his corded arms against his chest. “Come on, Tate. You’re impressed.”
I scoffed. “You’re an idiot.” Why did he have to show those damn dimples? He knew exactly what they did to the opposite sex. Hell, the guy’s charm worked on anyone. That tight black t-shirt clung to the muscles rippling over his torso, and those pants showed off that quarter-bouncing ass. “But I guess it was kind of cool.”
Hawk pumped his fist. “I knew it. You’re totally jealous of my moves. Maybe when we get back to headquarters—”
Tingles spread over my scalp, my only warning, and I spun just in time to duck the sub-demon’s bite, his teeth grazing my shoulder and ripping my shirt. Luckily, I still had my sword ready and made quick work of the slug, chopping his head off.
He hit the ground with a slimy splat.
“That sucker came out of nowhere,” I breathed. “He moved at warp speed compared to the other two.”
Hawk cursed. “Incoming. And that’snota sub-demon.”
I followed his eyeline, and my heart dropped to the bottom of my boots as a massive dux demon stomped through the cemetery, his heavy feet sinking into the ground with each step.
Sub-demons were animals of the Underworld with primal instincts driving them.
This was no animal.
A bellow burst out of his mouth, flashing a row of sharp, serrated teeth. Onyx horns curled from his forehead, and tiny ones rippled down his neck and shoulders. Large talons, lethal enough to slice me into ribbons, shined in the moonlight.
Since we were still novice ravens, we shouldn’t have seen beyond his glamour, which meant he’d dropped it. And demons didn’t do that around non-nightworlders unless they planned to kill.
The beast moved too fast and grabbed Hawk’s throat before he could activate his sword, slamming him into a long stone slab. Cold panic stole through my veins like ice water as the demon opened his maw to suck out my partner’s soul.
Images hammered against my skull like a storm lashing a house. I’d seen a demon take a soul before. All of it. Gossamer strands of light had drifted out of her little body and into a demon to feed his immortal existence, allowing him to live on Earth.
As if a hot poker jammed into my spine, I snapped out of my daze and bolted toward them. I wouldn’t let Hawk suffer that fate.
Not on my watch. Never again.
I crushed the heel of my boot into the demon’s knee, and he stumbled away from Hawk, breaking the connection on his soul. My partner dragged in a harsh, ragged breath and rolled off the granite slab.
I swung my sword toward the monster’s neck. But a dux demon was a hell of a lot stronger and faster than those putrid slugs.
He batted my blade away, grabbed my arm, and yanked me into his chest as a pair of lime-green eyes bored into mine. “Caught a little human.” His baritone voice rattled my bones and poured frost down my back. Patches of scales ran along his jaw, and tuffs of black hair sprouted from between his sharp horns that could easily impale me.
“Get the fuck off.” My heart tapped out a frantic beat, and I fought in his grasp, thrashing to no avail. I tried to slip my arm out of his hold, my sword barely clutched between my fingers.
The demon ignored my struggling and gripped my ponytail, jerking my head to the side so hard I couldn’t stop the cry from bursting out.
“Such a pretty color.” He wrapped the pinkish-red strands around his knobby, clawed fingers. “Like blood and bubble gum.” His grin had been ripped right out of nightmares. “I bet you taste just as delicious. Tangy and sweet.”
The bastard didn’t just want my soul. He was a flesh eater too.
As his jagged teeth angled toward my neck to take a bite, I twisted and strained my arm to skim my thumb over the rune on my weapon. Tears from the pain turned the cemetery blurry, but I managed to transform the long blade into a knife. And then I dropped it to my other hand.
The prospect of a tasty meal distracted the demon, so when my weapon reverted into a sword and stabbed his chest, it took a moment for him to comprehend the sudden turn of events.
I slipped out of his grasp, pulled the blade out, and sank it into his neck. Black blood gushed down his shoulder, but Death wouldn’t claim him yet. My strike hadn’t been strong enough to sever his head.
A growl so fierce it rattled my eardrums exploded out of him. “When I finish draining your soul and eating your flesh, I will do the same to your boyfriend.”
Fiery rage hemorrhaged through my bloodstream, spreading a crimson cloud over my vision. I didn’t give the demon a chance to retaliate before I lifted the sword, and with a battle cry, carved it clean through his neck. Dark blood splattered my face as his horned head spun in the air and bounced on the ground, followed by the thunderous crash of his body.
