Dax raised his head from the low berm where he and Eddy waited near the cemetery. There was no wind. The waning moon cast a silver glow across the stone monuments and statues, though much of what he wished he could see lay in darkness. It was difficult to define what was shape and what was shadow, what moved and what merely appeared to shift in and out of the bands of light that stretched between the trees.

Still, the constant screams and howls of demons fighting amongst themselves hinted at the vast numbers gathered here tonight. Demons were not known for cooperation, but it appeared one among them was attempting to organize the ungodly host.

Eddy’s heat bled through Dax’s jeans and flannel shirt. He felt the soft rise and fall of her body with each breath she took, sensed the curiosity that overpowered her fear. She’d not hesitated tonight to stand beside Dax when they’d run across demons during their patrol of the city streets. She’d found a crowbar alongside the road, something that must have fallen off a workman’s truck, and while it wasn’t her requested baseball bat, she’d swung it with enough power to crush any number of demon-powered avatars.

His own powers had returned. As long as he used them sparingly, he’d had enough to destroy all the demons Eddy had set free. They’d left a trail of shattered stone and cracked ceramic from the center of town to the cemetery. Eddy had the clawed weapon in her hand right now, ready to use it against their enemies. Dax leaned close and kissed her cheek. He wasn’t sure why, only that he knew he had to touch her.

She turned, smiled at him, and whispered, “What was that for?”

He shook his head. “I’m not sure, but I know I want to do it again, when we’re someplace a little more private.”

“Your timing sucks. You know that, don’t you?” She covered her mouth with her hand to muffle her laugh and bumped him with her shoulder. Dax bumped her back; then he raised up on one elbow, turned his head, and looked down the dark road leading to town. A pale glow shimmered in the distance.

Alton’s sword. “I see your dad and Alton,” he said, lying back down beside Eddy. A stone angel circled nearby, screaming in an unholy voice. Another joined in, circling beside the first. They might have been placed beside graves representing holy messengers, but now they flew with powerful beats of marble wings and their eyes glowed either yellow or red in the night.

Dax and Eddy both ducked their heads. Bumper whimpered and shivered beside him. Even her tail had quit wagging. Willow hadn’t left Dax’s pocket since they’d nestled down into their hiding place.

“We’re awfully close, here,” Dax said. “I suggest we go back up the road to meet your dad and Alton. I think I’d rather decide our next move a bit farther from the action.”

“Agreed.” Eddy slithered backward on her belly until she was below the top of the berm, out of sight of the demons massing in the cemetery and the hellish angels flying overhead.

Dax was right beside her. He stood first and grabbed her hand, pulling Eddy to her feet. She stumbled when Bumper nudged her leg. Dax held even tighter to her hand and tugged her along beside him.

Willow popped out of Dax’s pocket and flew toward Alton and Ed. They all met at a point a few hundred yards from the cemetery, under the protection of a huge cedar. Alton sheathed his sword as they drew close. He and Ed remained clearly visible in the pale moonlight.

Eddy gave her father a quick hug and got a kiss on the cheek, but Dax noticed how quickly she returned to his side. He wrapped an arm over her shoulders.

“What’s going on? We could hear the noise all the way from town.” Alton held his palm out for Willow. Once she landed, he set her on his shoulder. “Any idea how many there are?”

“It’s hard to tell,” Dax said. “Have you noticed the demons teaming up? We’ve destroyed a number of large avatars powered by two demons working together.”

Ed nodded. “Alton had quite a fight with the bear statue from the nursery. That big grizzly? It put up one hell of a fight, but when Alton finally beheaded the damned thing, it had four demons inside. It almost got Ginny Jones over near the minimart on North Mount Lassen.”

“Is Ginny okay?” Eddy’s fingers tightened on Dax’s. “What happened?”

Alton shrugged. “We’re not sure, but we heard a scream and found her trapped behind a Dumpster, putting up a good fight with a wooden slat. The bear had his shoulders wedged between the Dumpster and the wall, trying to shove the container aside using brute strength. We stopped it before it got to her, so she’s okay. Shaken, but I made her forget the attack. As far as she and the people who saw it know, she got too close to some people fighting.”

“How’d you manage that?” Dax pulled Eddy close and wrapped his arm around her.

Ed laughed. “Alton used his power of suggestion to start a street brawl. When the police arrived, there were at least twenty men and women fighting in the middle of the street.”

Alton shrugged again. He actually looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry. It was the best I could come up with in a hurry.”

“As long as it worked…” Dax paused. “Get back. Quick” He grabbed Eddy and dragged her and the dog close to the thick tree trunk. Alton and Ed moved with them, until they were all pressed up against the rough bark.

“Listen.” Dax held a finger to his lips. “Do you hear that?”

Bumper whined. Eddy wrapped her fingers around Bumper’s muzzle and gazed up at Dax. “What’s that noise?”

“More demons. It’s too dark to see them, but I can hear them. I sense them, too, moving along the road. They’re coming this way.”

Alton rested his fingers on Dax’s shoulder. “Look toward the freeway. Where the glow from the overhead light hits the frontage road. There are hundreds more of them.”

“I see them now.” Ed wrapped his fingers around his iron pry bar. “Eddy, when they get close, why don’t you turn Bumper loose? That way she can get away if she has to.”

Eddy glanced at Dax. He nodded. Ed’s suggestion was a good one. As far as they knew, no humans had actually been harmed by the demon-powered avatars, but a number of pets had fallen victim. The demons appeared to be gaining strength and mobility within their chosen creatures. Dax hated to think of harm coming to any of his little band, including Bumper. She’d proven to be a loyal beast.

“She’s a good fighter with the little ones,” he said, running his fingers through Bumper’s curly blond topknot.

“That’s because she thinks they’re chew toys.” Eddy smiled when she said it, but she quickly released the snap on the leash and held on to the dog’s collar.

Willow zipped off Alton’s shoulder, shimmering in a whirlwind of blue sparkles. Dax inhaled the energy she pulled out of the air for him. He felt it pulse along his spine and the length of the snake tattoo, which had remained somewhat quiet for the past hour or so. He wondered if it was merely biding its time, preparing to attack.

It was definitely affecting his powers. The first time, when he’d called on the fire and flame in Eddy’s little house, he’d felt as if he could throw bolts of either for as long as he needed to fight. This evening, though, he’d discovered there was a limit to his strength. It appeared the cursed serpent had the ability to siphon off the energy Willow sent him. After killing just a handful of demons, he’d had to stop and allow Eddy to use her healing powers to control the pain.

The last time, he was certain she’d felt the snake’s fangs beneath her palm. The thing was growing stronger. He feared it was becoming sentient, that soon it would turn on him. Would he have the strength to fight a battle against a creature that was literally part of his own flesh and blood?

The demons coming up the road drew closer. Alton was right—there must be hundreds of statues. Moonlight illuminated all kinds of garden critters: pot-bellied gnomes and concrete benches that looked like pigs and cows, metallic hummingbirds flittering overhead, and stone cats, squirrels, and antlered deer creeping along the ground. They all moved with obvious intent and purpose, somehow drawn to the cemetery.

The screaming and banshee howls seemed to have settled a bit. Then a loud, familiar wail split the night. Eddy grabbed Dax’s hand. “The gargoyle. Look!” She pointed at the creature flying low over the berm where they’d been lying. It followed the road and swooped over the advancing horde of stone and ceramic creatures.

Dax raised his hands as the gargoyle drew close and shot a bitter-cold blast of icy wind at the creature. It encased the gargoyle in solid ice. The creature dropped to the ground, bounced once, and lay still. Bumper tore loose from Eddy’s grasp and raced toward it. The crowd of demons marching closer paused in the middle of the road.

Then they began to mill about in confusion. Dax thought of the way an anthill looked if you disturbed it. The demons seemed to lose their focus, to wander without leadership now that the gargoyle was down.

A banshee wail cut through the clattering and banging of stone creatures in turmoil, and the gargoyle raised its head. It swung one huge, clawed paw at Bumper and sent the dog tumbling and yelping. Dax hit the gargoyle with a blast of freezing air.

The stone should have shattered, but instead the creature rose slowly on awkwardly shaped hind legs and stared directly at the little band of warriors hiding beneath the branches of the cedar. It hissed what sounded like a curse between long, curved teeth and mimicked Dax—holding its clawed hands out toward him as it called out in an unknown language.

An invisible blade slammed into him. Dax felt hot steel pierce his chest. Crying out, he slapped his hand over the snake tattoo and stumbled to his knees. Blinded by pain, he raised his hands and sent another blast of ice in the gargoyle’s direction.

The creature hissed, but the sound died in the frozen air, and it toppled over on its back. Dax ran his hand across his chest, searching for the blade that struck him, but there was nothing there. The tattoo burned as if acid had been poured along its length, writhing from his knee, across his groin to his heart. He bit back a cry as agony seared his body. The strength went out of his legs. Shaking uncontrollably, Dax fell, collapsing face-first into the dirt as his world went dark.

 

Eddy screamed. She leaned over, grabbed Dax’s shoulders, and somehow found the strength to roll him over to his back. His eyes were closed, his lips twisted in agony. He gasped for air through slightly parted lips. Her hands shook as she ripped his shirt open. The snake tattoo hissed and undulated across his chest. The eyes sparkled with life, and its long tongue flickered away from Dax’s flesh.

Eddy slammed her hands down on the tattoo and sent every good, healing thought she could muster straight from her heart and down through her palms. The tongue flickered between her fingers, a living entity empowered with whatever curse the demon had fired at Dax.

Eddy’s arms quivered with the strength it took to hold the snake in place. It shuddered and pulsed beneath her hands, burning her flesh with its hot scales and hotter tongue. Once again the forked tongue flickered between her fingers, and she felt the slick length of curved fangs beneath her palm. When the broad head pushed against her hands, Eddy pushed back.

She refused to think of the fangs, whether they were venomous or not. Refused to consider the fact she might not be strong enough, her questionable abilities not powerful enough to hold the filthy thing at bay. She wondered if the tail of the serpent moved with the same alacrity as the head, but she couldn’t worry about that, not now. She had to hold it back. Had to keep it from growing any stronger.

Dax shivered, and his body jerked as convulsions wracked his powerful frame. Eddy wasn’t sure if it was from the pain or her touch or the internal battle he was having with the curse. His breath still huffed in and out in short, sharp bursts, and Eddy felt the pain rising through her hands, up her wrists to her forearms as the snake fought her.

As she fought the curse.

“Go!” she screamed, glancing over her shoulder at Alton and Ed. “Don’t let them get away!”

Ed touched her shoulder. “Is he…?”

“Just go. He’s alive. There’s nothing you can do for Dax, but you have to stop them.”

Cursing furiously, Alton took off running, pulling his sword from the scabbard as soon as he was out of striking distance from Dax. Ed ran with him, swinging his metal bar like a long golf club, crushing the stone and ceramic creatures.

Alton’s sword flashed, destroying demon after demon in bright bursts of sulfuric flame. Eddy heard Bumper barking with a sense of relief. If she could make that kind of noise, she couldn’t be too badly hurt. Eddy glanced up to see where the dog was and realized Bumper had begun working the huge group of avatars like a herd of sheep, circling from the rear and herding them toward Ed and Alton.

Her dad marched through the middle of the throng of avatars, swinging his big iron bar and leaving shattered stone and pottery in his wake.

Alton fought like a berserker. His sword flashed overhead, striking the demons as Ed destroyed their avatars. The snap and pop of demon mist bursting into flame filled the night.

The scent of sulfur drifted their way. It made Eddy’s eyes burn, but she took it as a good sign. Alton’s sword must be killing the demons, not just sending them back to Abyss. The sparking fires, the stink of burnt demon—it was exactly what happened when Dax struck them with his fire.

Willow stayed close to Eddy, hovering overhead and sending energy through her. Eddy felt it racing along her arms, through her fingertips, and into Dax, dulling the pain in her arms, strengthening her sense of control over the cursed serpent.

The sounds of battle, the acrid stink of sulfur, and the screams and wails of many demons dying faded away as she held her hands to Dax, as she willed him to be strong, for the curse to sleep once more. She didn’t turn around, didn’t allow her concentration to waver. She was vaguely aware of her father’s shouts, of Alton’s battle cries.

Bumper’s barking was a thing of joy, as if she’d finally found her true calling in life: herding demons.

Dax’s eyes opened, clear now, and focused. He reached up and grasped Eddy’s wrist. “What happened? The gargoyle…?”

Eddy glanced to her right, to the point where the gargoyle had fallen. It was gone. There was no rubble, no sign it had died. “It got away, I think. That last curse it sent might have weakened it. Are you okay?”

He took a few deep breaths, closed his eyes, and exhaled. “The pain is gone. Unfortunately, so is my strength. Thank you, Eddy. I’ve never experienced anything like that, even when I was a demon.” Dax tried to sit up. Eddy pulled her hands away from his chest. She noticed with relief that the tattoo was once again merely colored art on Dax’s chest. The eyes were flat, the tongue no longer flickering. Her hands still burned, though, and she felt the shape of the fangs against her palms.

She rose shakily to her feet and offered Dax her hand. He took it and slowly stood. Willow hovered, flitting about them until Dax finally held out his hand. She landed in his palm and glared at him with her tiny hands fisted against her hips. It was obvious she was reading him the riot act.

Then, when she was done, Willow buzzed away in a flurry of blue sparkles.

Dax raised his head and gazed at Eddy with horror. “Willow says the snake came alive, that you had to hold it with both hands to keep it from crawling off my body.” He grabbed her hands with both of his and turned them palms up.

The skin was blistered but not broken. “Did it bite you?”

She shook her head. “No, but I felt the fangs. The serpent’s tongue actually slithered between my fingers. It acts as if it’s trying to crawl away. Dax, what happens if it does? What if I can’t hold it in place?”

He lowered his lips to her hands and kissed one palm, then the other. When he raised his head, Eddy was positive there were tears in his eyes. “I can’t let you do that anymore.”

“What happens if it crawls away?” She tugged her hands free of his. “Answer me, Dax. I deserve the truth.”

“I will die.” He gazed toward the sounds of battle, where Ed and Alton, with Bumper’s assistance, had destroyed almost all of the avatars and their sulfuric demons. The gargoyle was nowhere to be seen. The cemetery had grown silent.

“I don’t understand. I thought the tattoo only held your demon powers.”

Dax turned back to her. He looked defeated, as if he’d reached the end of his strength. He spoke in a monotone. “I’m a demon, Eddy. My demon powers are who and what I am. If the tattoo succeeds in gaining sentience and crawling off my body, it will take my powers with it. Those powers are all that keep this body alive. I’ll be just another demon, a black smudge of sulfuric stink. Something for Alton’s sword to destroy.”

Eddy shook her head. “No, you won’t. I’m not leaving your side. If I could hold the snake back tonight, as powerful as it was after the demon cursed you again, I can control it for as long as I have to.” She grabbed his hands and held on. “You’re mine for three and a half more days, Dax. Don’t forget that.”

She heard the crunch of boots on gravel and turned around. Alton and her dad were walking toward them. Bumper bounded alongside, obviously delighted with the battle they’d just fought. From the silence and the grins on the men’s faces, it appeared it was a battle they’d won.

“Dax? Are you okay?” Alton sheathed his sword as he drew near. His concern was obvious as he stepped up close to Dax.

“Good to see you standing, son.” Ed wiped his hand across his forehead. “Whatever that damned thing hit you with sure knocked your pins out from under you.”

“I’m fine, thanks to Eddy….”

Dax turned and stared at her, and once again, Eddy wished she could read his mind.

“Did you get all of them?” She tore her gaze from Dax’s face and looked beyond the two men, but it was too dark to tell if anything moved.

“We did.” Alton frowned and gazed toward the cemetery. “It’s gone quiet. What’s happened to the demons that were gathering over there?”

“I don’t know.” Eddy turned toward the now silent cemetery. “I can’t tell from here. We’re too far away.”

They walked toward the silent memorial park, following the beam from Dax’s flashlight. When they reached the berm, he swung the beam across the parklike grounds.

Eddy ran to the top of the low rise. “Look! The statues are back in place!”

Angels stood guard by the mausoleum door, and cherubs rested upon headstones. Everything appeared as it should.

There was no sign of the gargoyle.

Standing on top of the berm, she planted her fists on her hips and shook her head in disbelief. “We’ve been here for almost an hour watching them. Every single one of those statues was animated. Could the demons still be in them, waiting?”

“There’s one way to find out.” Alton strode forward, far enough away that he could safely unsheathe his sword. He held it aloft and crossed over the berm. When he reached the first stone angel that stood beside a grave, he swung his sword in a shimmering arc that decapitated the angel.

The head landed on the grass and rolled to one side. Blank eyes stared blindly toward Eddy and Dax. Nothing flew forth from the hollow body. There was no scent of sulfur, no black mist.

Nothing.

Eddy clung to Dax’s hand. “Where’d they go? I remember that angel. It flew overhead, and the eyes were glowing red.” She turned and gazed up at Dax.

He shook his head. “No idea, but the gargoyle is gone as well. Somehow, it has to be the key. We have to kill the damned thing, but I have no idea how to defeat it.” He held up his free hand and stared at his fingertips. “I gave it everything I had, tonight. It wasn’t enough.”

Eddy glanced at Alton. He shook his head, answering her question before she even had a chance to ask. “I don’t know.” He reached over his shoulder and lovingly caressed the hilt of his sword. “It’s a powerful weapon, but I’m not even sure if it’s killing the demons I strike, or merely sending them back to Abyss. If only it would speak…”

“I’m convinced they’re dying, Alton.” Eddy looked to Dax for confirmation. “Aren’t they going back to the void? They flame out when he hits them. The smell of burned demon and sulfur is the same as when you hit them, Dax. The sword has to be destroying them.”

Dax shook his head. “There’s no way to prove it. Even if they’re not destroyed, they’re gone. Into the void, back to Abyss…it’s not important. With the portal closed, either works. We can only do our best and hope it’s good enough.”

They all looked at one another, but there were no firm answers. Ed yawned, and it was obvious he’d reached the end of his strength. Willow perched on Alton’s shoulder. Dax turned and began walking back toward town. Eddy grabbed his hand and walked beside him. Ed and Alton followed, while Bumper, still unleashed, bounded and bounced around them as if this was the greatest event in her life.

“Eddy, will this road take us through town, near the library building?”

“It can.” Eddy glanced at Dax. The sparkle was back in his eyes.

“I want to see if the gargoyle is back in its place where we saw it today. If it returns there to rest…”

“You’re thinking maybe you can sneak up on it?” Ed moved up beside them. “Maybe if we went after it during daylight hours…”

Dax nodded. “That’s what I’m thinking. Alton with his sword, me nearby with whatever powers I can muster.” He squeezed Eddy’s hand. “I’m sorry. I’m not proving to be a very powerful DemonSlayer, am I?”

“I disagree.” She squeezed back, wrapping her fingers tightly around his. She didn’t say any more. As far as Eddy was concerned, there was no room to argue.

 

Ed was practically asleep on his feet when they finally reached the library building. “Eddy? Stay with your father, please?” Dax glanced at Ed and back to Eddy, hoping she’d understand.

She nodded. “We’ll wait here.” She called Bumper to her and put the leash back on the dog. “C’mon, Dad. I’m beat. Will you sit with me?”

Ed didn’t say a word, but he didn’t complain when she sat down on a park bench in front of the old library and patted the spot beside her. Eddy set her crowbar on the ground by her feet. Ed leaned his iron pry bar against the seat and sat heavily on the wooden bench.

Eddy glanced over her shoulder and mouthed something to Dax. He wasn’t sure what she said, but the look in her eyes gave him a fresh burst of strength. He realized she’d quickly become the most important thing in his life. The reason he fought. The reason he would continue to fight, no matter how hopeless the battle might seem.

His gaze lingered on Eddy, on the curve of her lips, the line of her jaw, the long sweep of her throat. It required a conscious act of will to turn away, but somehow he found the strength to focus on the job.

How had she become so important to him in such a short time? He shook his head. It didn’t really matter how, only that she had. He realized he was smiling when he and Alton walked across the worn patch of lawn to the front steps of the library.

Dax flashed the beam from the flashlight across the corner pieces. Both platforms were empty. The gargoyle had not yet returned to its resting place. Disappointed but not entirely surprised, Dax flipped the flashlight off. The soft glow of a nearby street lamp illuminated the sidewalk well enough to see.

“What now?” He spoke quietly. There was no need to worry Eddy any further.

Alton stared toward the bench where Eddy and Ed waited. Then he turned and quirked one eyebrow at Dax. “Now I think we go back to Ed’s and rest,” he said. “Tomorrow we need to see where the gargoyle is hiding out when he’s not where he belongs. You said he was here this morning, right?”

“He was, but in daylight the streets are busy, people are around. I couldn’t very well climb up there and engage him in a fight.”

Alton smiled his agreement. “True, but if I’m with you to do a little manipulation of what people see and remember…”

Bumper growled.

“Dax?”

Eddy? Dax turned and raced across the lawn with Alton right behind. Eddy held on to her father’s arm. Both of them stared at a grotesque figure standing not twenty feet away, staring right back at them. It stood perfectly still for a moment longer. Then it seemed to straighten up on bowed legs and made a low, keening sound that raised the hairs on Dax’s arms.

He’d seen the creature in flight and this morning when it was sitting in place on the corner of the library building. He’d seen it lying on the ground after he’d hit it with his freezing mist, but he’d never seen it stalking its prey on the ground.

The gargoyle turned its head and surveyed the area around them. Then it began to move slowly toward the park bench. It walked awkwardly, dragging its stone wings, using its front legs or arms or whatever they were to pull itself forward while the hind legs hopped more than walked. Its eyes glowed an unholy shade of red, and saliva dripped from a gaping mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth.

It stopped when Dax and Alton moved into position, one on either side of the bench. “Eddy? Can you and your dad slip over the back of the bench and get out of our way? Alton and I will have a better chance with just the two of us.”

He heard movement, but didn’t want to take his eyes off the creature staring so steadily at him. He felt the snake writhing across his chest. The pain seemed to grow with each beat of his heart. He forced it down. Buried it, for now.

Alton moved farther to his right. “I’m going to see if I can get around behind it,” he said. After a few more steps that took him away from Dax, he drew his sword. It pointed toward the gargoyle, not toward Dax, and Alton breathed an audible sigh of relief.

Bumper whimpered. Dax heard Eddy whisper quietly to the dog. Willow buzzed close by and settled on his shoulder. He felt the pulse of energy as she drew all she could out of the air and sent it into his body.

And still the gargoyle sat and stared. It seemed larger on the ground than it had looked flying overhead, at least six feet tall when it stood, with wings that spanned more than twice that distance when it stretched them out to either side.

Dax wished he could search its mind, but he sensed only hatred. There was no real intelligence, as far as he could tell, but that didn’t feel right. There had to be intelligence in some form directing the attacks, yet the gargoyle appeared oblivious to Dax. It ignored Alton’s cautious movements as he circled around behind the thing.

Dax set the flashlight on the park bench with the light still pointing toward the gargoyle. When the beam moved, he knew Eddy had picked it up.

“Keep the light on him,” he said. Slowly, Dax shifted his position to the left, almost preternaturally aware of the way the creature’s eyes followed him. At least now it wasn’t looking toward Eddy and her father.

“Dax?” Alton’s calm voice carried softly in the stillness. “If you can freeze him, I can probably get close enough to try and decapitate the thing. That’s worked with the others.”

Dax nodded. Pain rippled over his thigh, across his chest. The tattoo was moving. He felt the life pulse of a separate entity, the struggle of its body as it tried to slither away from the cells that locked it, ink to skin.

Was the gargoyle calling it? Was that hideous creature hoping to steal Dax’s demon powers for himself? He hadn’t thought it capable of such a thing, but now, with the serpent beginning to move, almost as if the gargoyle directed it through the curse…

No! He couldn’t allow himself to fear worries of his own creation. He had more than enough to keep him awake for the rest of the week allotted to him. Dax focused on the gargoyle. He ignored the sense of life, the power of the demon’s curse as it fought to free itself in the guise of the snake. As it struggled to tear away from his body. He raised his hands, spread his fingers wide, called on his demon powers.

Nothing!

Stunned, Dax stared at his outstretched fingers. Stared even harder at the gargoyle. Was the damned thing smirking? Did it mock him?

Was it stealing his powers even now?

Dax kept his eyes on the gargoyle as he called out to the sprite. Willow? I need more energy. All you can give me!

She buzzed into the air and circled him, drawing energy, sending more to Dax than he’d ever needed before. The pain spiked, as if the tattoo ink turned to boiling lava searing a diagonal line of fire across his body.

He bit back a scream of agony and focused on the pain. Instead of trying to stop it, Dax called it forth, drawing the pain as power from the snake, calling it to him, owning it. He teetered on the edge of consciousness, certain that flames would burst from his body, consuming him.

He hung there, aware of the snake writhing and twisting in place, sensing Alton’s concern, Eddy’s love, Ed’s confidence he would succeed. And then he felt it, his demon powers bursting to life—serving him, not the snake; following his direction, not the gargoyle’s—and racing down his arms to the tips of his fingers.

Power. Familiar, steady…his.

He held it there.

Allowed it to build.

His torment grew stronger, intensified. He should have been unconscious, or at the very least, on his knees. He should have been screaming in agony, but he was using it, owning it, working the pain as if pain were a power entirely its own.

The snake trembled against his skin, and the tongue lashed his throat. Fire burned along the tattoo, and he was almost certain he smelled the acrid scent of burning flesh, but he held his hands high, spread his fingers wide, and sent a blast of fire, instead of ice, fire to engulf the gargoyle.

The creature howled and raised up on its misshapen legs. Dax followed his fire with a freezing blast that should have cracked the aging stone.

Should have, but didn’t.

Screaming, eyes flashing red and filled with hatred, the gargoyle launched itself into the air just ahead of the mighty swing of Alton’s sword. With the ragged screech of stone wings flapping, it disappeared over the treetops.

All that remained was a scorched circle on the asphalt.

Dax stared down at his hands. He’d never felt so much power coursing through his body, had never sent so much energy at any creature during an attack, yet the gargoyle still lived. He gazed in the direction it had flown. It might have been a little pissed off, but the creature hadn’t shown any sign of injury.

Dax’s body throbbed with a combination of pain and adrenaline overload. He swayed on his feet. Then Eddy was in front of him, touching the side of his face with her cool fingers, tearing his shirt open. From the look of horror on her face, Dax knew it was bad, but she slapped her hands against his burning skin and held them close over his heart.

Immediately he felt the cool strength in her, the healing power that calmed the snake and doused the fire burning him from the inside out. Thank goodness he managed to keep his legs under him this time while Eddy worked her magic. Barely.

Long minutes later, when she took her hands away, the pain was gone, as if it had never been there at all. She leaned her forehead against his chest and sighed. Her entire body trembled from her efforts, even as his own trembling eased. Dax wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Ed stepped up beside his daughter and patted her shoulder.

“I don’t know how you do that, honey, but it’s an amazing thing to see.” He raised his head and looked at Dax. “That tattoo on your chest’s alive, Dax. I saw its eyes. It’s got fangs that were almost entirely free of your body. The tongue’s a good two inches long, whipping out of the snake’s mouth. It slid between Eddy’s fingers, but she didn’t flinch. Not a bit.”

He kissed Eddy’s cheek, but his eyes were focused on Dax. “How long do you think Eddy will be able to stop the damned thing without it turning on her?”

Dax shook his head. Speech was beyond him right now, but even if he could speak, he didn’t know how to answer Ed. He had no idea how long Eddy could continue to help him until the risk to her became too great. But he had to wonder, what was risk when so many lives were at stake?

What was the safety of a town when Eddy’s life was at risk?

There was no answer. They had a war to win, no matter what it took.

He had to see the positive. Something good had come of the night. He’d managed to use the pain. He’d drawn on it, worked with it. He hadn’t been strong enough to defeat the gargoyle, but it hadn’t gotten him. It hadn’t hurt the ones he loved.

Neither had the snake.

In the overall scheme of things, he had to see this in a positive light. It was a good thing. Unfortunately, if they were going to defeat the demons, Dax was positive it wasn’t good enough.