City of Spells (Into the Crooked Place #2) - Alexandra Christo Page 0,110
to get in and feast on their flesh.
All except for one.
A single shadow demon kept its focus on Karam, circling her.
It seemed to smile when it saw she was not planning on running under the protection of the shield.
Karam had taken these creatures on before, in the fighting rings and on the Kingpin’s isle.
She could do it again.
Karam grabbed a blade and ran at the demon, sliding along the ground and slicing across its belly.
The creature howled, thick blood like ink spraying across her face.
But the wound wasn’t as big as it should have been, and Karam had only caught half flesh, while the rest was all shadow.
The demon turned to hiss at her.
Karam flipped back to her feet and struck out with her knife again, but she was met with only claws. The shadow demon raised its talons in the air and swiped out, scratching across her chest. She jumped back and the creature pounced, knocking her over.
It was on top of her, its spit and blood coating her face.
Quickly, Karam brought the hilt of her blade up through its neck and into its skull. The demon’s head trembled uncertainly, as though it was trying to shake the blade.
And then Karam reached up through its shadow body and took ahold of its spine.
She grabbed, squeezed, and then snapped it violently in half.
The demon screeched and fell back in a quiver.
Karam knew she hadn’t killed it—not even she was capable of such a feat—and sooner or later the pieces of darkness that made up the creature would merge back together.
But for now it was gone.
For now, she was alive.
One down, five to go.
She turned back to her friends to see the five remaining shadow demons were still clawing against Saxony’s shield and it was barely keeping them at bay.
Karam ran for her friends and the demons that surrounded them, catching Saxony’s wince as her shield began to dwindle.
The shadow demons hungered for flesh.
One of them ripped its hand through Saxony’s magic and grabbed ahold of Wesley’s ankle, pulling half of his body from Saxony’s protection.
It tore at Wesley’s leg, teeth showing no signs of letting up.
He yelled out in pain, while the others tried desperately to pull him back inside the barrier.
Karam felt a burning in her chest.
No, not in her chest. On her chest.
She looked down and her father’s pendant was aglow against her heart, burning into her just like it had done that day on the shores of Tisvgen.
Then, it had warned her of the danger they were in. Now, it felt like something different entirely.
It felt like faith.
Like her father’s spirit whispering to her.
My daughter, it said. Do not lose hope.
Karam touched a hand to the pendant and felt her father’s light.
She felt the force of the Rekhi d’Rihsni.
This was her family’s legacy: to protect the Crafters and bring peace to the realms. Her grandparents had died for it. And Karam would see to it that their dream for the future was fulfilled.
For the first time, Wesley truly needed her help and she wouldn’t let him down, like she had almost let Tavia down.
“The light!” Karam yelled out to Saxony. “Cast a light.”
Saxony held out her other hand and a small yellow orb began to glow in her palm.
It was dimmer than Karam would have liked, but juggling to keep the shield up alongside this new magic must have been draining her.
Still, it was bright enough for the demons to recoil. They flinched back as the light burned their bodies, barking and growling like they were screaming at Saxony to stop.
But the demon with the hold on Wesley’s leg didn’t move away or tear its teeth from its new meal. It persisted, gnawing at the space below Wesley’s knee like Saxony’s light meant nothing to it. Even as her magic burned the bones of its ankle to ash, it refused to let go.
Ashwood, still kneeling on the floor as Tavia continued to squeeze the mirror doll as hard as she could, was yelling.
Yelling at the demon.
“Don’t stop!” he screamed. “Make them pay!”
He’s controlling them, Karam thought.
The creature would risk being burned by the light of Saxony’s magic if it meant obeying its master. It was up to Karam to save Wesley. She was supposed to be his bodyguard after all.
Karam reached for the pouch on her belt. Trick bags weren’t her weapon of choice, but Tavia had taught her how to read charms for a purpose and Karam was not about to waste those lessons.