I saw them close in on Daemon, their darkness nearly enveloping his light. A ball of bright red flames formed and shot out toward the Arum, but Daemon missed. The ball of fire skidded across the road, fizzing out harmlessly.
One of the Arum flickered out completely, while the other kept throwing oily bombs at Daemon over and over, never slowing down.
Daemon flickered in and out, reappearing a few feet away from each projectile. He was moving so fast, the entire scene started to look like I was watching it unfold under strobe lights.
Daemon was focused on the one Arum lobbing oill bombs and he didn't see the other reappear behind him. The shadowy arms wrapped around what appeared to be Daemon's head, bringing him down to his knees on the side of the road. I cried out, but the sound was lost in the Arum's laugh.
"Ready to beg?" the Arum in front of him taunted, taking human form. "Please do. It would mean a lot to hear the word 'please'
leaking from your lips as I take everything from you."
Daemon didn't respond, but his light was crackling and intense.
"Silence to the end, eh? So be it." The Arum stepped forward, lifting his head. "Baruck, it is time."
Baruck forced Daemon to stand. "Do it now, Sarefeth!"
A part of my brain clicked off. I was moving without thinking, running toward the very thing Daemon had ordered me to run away from. The obsidian grew warm in my hand as I rushed up the gully, burning like coals. A heel on my shoe snapped off when it became tangled in the downed branches, but I kept going.
I wasn't brave. I was desperate.
Sarefeth turned into a shadow, thrusting an arm forward, into the center of Daemon's chest.
Daemon's scream tore through me, heightening the fear, flipping it into anger and desperation.
Daemon's light flared, blinding and concentrated. The ground shook with a giant tremor.
Only a few feet behind Sarafeth now, I threw my arm back, obsidian in hand, and jumped forward and brought it down with every ounce of strength I had. I expected to meet resistance, flesh and bone, but the obsidian cut through the shadow, like Sarefeth was made of nothing more than smoke and air, and I stumbled to my knees.
Sarefeth jerked back, pulling his arm free of Daemon's light. He spun around, his shadowy arms reaching for me. I scrabbled backward, falling down. The obsidian glowed in my hand, humming with energy.
And then Sarefeth stopped. Pieces of him broke free from his form, clumps of darkness drifting into the sky, obscuring the stars until all of him was there one minute and floating away the next.
Baruck released Daemon, taking a step back.
For a moment he was in human form, dark jeans and a jacket, his expression horrified, gaze locked on the glowing obsidian in my grip. His eyes met mine for only a second. Vengeance had been promised in that minute stare. And then he was a shadow, pulling the darkness into him, fleeing toward the other side of the road like a coiled snake and disappearing into the night.
I scuttled over branches and cracked pavement in a mad dash to reach Daemon's side.
He was still nothing more than light, and I had no idea where to touch him or how badly he was hurt.
"Daemon," I whispered, dropping to my bleeding knees in front of him. My lips, hands - everything - trembled. "Daemon, please say something."
His light flared, throwing off a wave of heat, but he made no sound or movement, not even a whisper of words in my thoughts. What if someone came by? How in the world could I explain any of this? And what if he was injured, dying? A sob rose in my throat.
My cell phone! I could call Dee. She'd know what to do. She had to. I started to stand when I felt a hand on my arm.
I whipped around and there was Daemon, in human form, kneeling on the ground, his head bowed but grip strong. "Daemon, oh God, are you okay?" I knelt, placing my hand on his warm cheek. "Please tell me you're okay?
Please!" He slowly lifted his head, placing his other hand on mine. "Remind me," he paused, drawing in a stuttered gasp, "to never piss you off again. Christ, are you secretly a ninja?" I laughed and sobbed in the same breath.
Then I threw my arms around him, almost knocking him flat on his back. I buried my face in his