The Gravedigger's Son - Darynda Jones Page 0,37
Amber realized that Rune was likely trying to talk Quentin into releasing them to the demon. To feed it. Rune knew the demon would kill Quentin to get to them.
Just then, someone shouted from behind it. “Hey!”
The demon turned, and they all saw Kyle standing there, pointing his pen at it.
“Get away from them!”
It was the opening Quentin had been waiting for. He vaulted over Amber, landed on the demon’s head, and used all of his weight to flip it onto its back.
They crushed the prep station and took out half the ceiling in the process. Sheetrock and paint snowed down on them as Quentin jumped on top of the demon and pressed a knee into its throat. But the demon was too strong. With one swipe, it could take Quentin out for good.
Amber reacted without thought. She scrambled to the demon and straightened onto her knees over its head.
It couldn’t help it. It spared her a glance.
It was all she needed. She dove. She let the world fall away around them and dove into its mind, paralyzing it.
“Tra-vel-er,” it croaked, completely helpless. “What are you doing?”
Quentin answered for her. “The compass or the knife?”
She could see in her periphery that he held the dagger perpendicular to the demon’s heart with one hand, and the compass in the other, but he was fading fast. Blood flowed from him in rivers. It pooled onto the demon’s chest, and Amber almost lost her concentration.
“The compass or the knife?” he repeated, his eyes as black as a moonless night.
Amber bounced back and kept it paralyzed as she plundered its memories. Someone, it didn’t know who, had figured out how to summon it. It didn’t want to leave the plane until it found out who, but it would have little choice now.
Quentin sank the knife into its chest just a fraction of an inch, and it screamed again, but only in its mind. Amber had paralyzed its vocal cords. It was so hungry. It just wanted to eat.
“Compass,” it said to her with its mind.
“I am going to release you. If you do anything other than go into the compass, you will die. Painfully. I will see to it myself.”
“Traveler,” it said almost lovingly.
She released it, and it dematerialized just as Quentin opened the compass. He turned the face, and a burst of light exploded from it. He held it steady and waited. Even if the demon had changed its mind, the compass would’ve captured him, and she realized it was another dimension. With four jewels on it, it could actually be four dimensions, probably each inescapable. Hopefully, once there, the demon could no longer be summoned onto this plane.
They would have to figure out who’d started it all before he or she found another demon to do their bidding.
When the blinding light dissipated, Quentin closed the compass and sank to his knees. Amber caught him just in time for them both to faceplant on the floor.
Chapter Thirteen
If you get in my car, then you’ve just
won a free ticket to see me live and in concert.
—True story
“It’s a coffee shop. Talk to Charley. She’ll get you across.”
“Thank you,” Dora said to Amber. Quentin watched them, but they were sitting in front of a window with a large, orange sun behind them. It was so bright he could only see their silhouettes. “I’d like to say goodbye to my family. Would that be possible?”
“She’ll help you with that, too.”
“Thank you for everything, Amber. I wish I could hug you.”
Amber clasped her hands at her chest. “I do, too.”
“Take care of him.” Dora gestured toward Quentin just as he saw the IV and realized where he was.
He bolted upright. He could not be in a hospital. Not with how fast he healed.
“Quentin!” Amber said. Dora disappeared, and Amber lunged at him. “What are you doing? Lay back.”
“I can’t be here,” he said, pushing at the blankets.
“Relax. We’re in my apartment. We have a lovely doctor who’s…friendly to our cause. She came over and got some blood into you since you decided to ditch what you had in Madrid. And now, she’s just trying to rehydrate you.”
He sank back onto the pillows.
“You good, boss?” Kyle asked from the doorway.
“I am. Thank you, Kyle.”
When the man glanced at him, Quentin nodded a greeting. Kyle offered him a sheepish smile and disappeared. The nerd had come through. If not for him, the day could’ve ended badly. Or, well, worse.
“So,” Amber said, tugging her Betty Boop comforter tight again, “the