Alice in Demonland

6. Death and Envy

The menials followed and continued to attack my cobalt shield without regard for their own lives. I hoped my powers would hold until I reached the others.

Pushing faster, I ran down the alley, past the grocery store and the bus stop. The guy who'd been in my car was in the middle of at least twenty menials, battling for his life. But it looked like he had the upper hand. He held a sword in each hand, mowing through them like they weren't there. Demon blood spattered against everything, soaking it in freckled goo.

The guy's eyes found mine and he smirked before refocusing on the menials. It looked like the guy was having fun. Crazy. I shook my head, moving past him and into the parking garage. If he were a Dark Moth warrior he would know where the entrance was and how to get himself to safety, and if he wasn't it didn't matter if he knew or not. No one but a Dark Moth who'd been deemed worthy could enter.

The elevator was on the bottom level. I scampered to the edge of the concrete wall and peered over as shouts and screams reached my ears from below. Those were my people and they were losing. Flinging my legs over the edge, I jumped off and sailed down the five floors. My feet struck the floor with a heavy thud and I felt my bones jar a moment.

"Alice." Leif noticed me first. He was covered in ash and had a huge scratch on one cheek. "It's here," was all he said, but I knew who he meant.

The Envy demon. I saw it at once as well as a few dozen menials. There were also six other demons, bigger than the menials, but not as big as the royal. By the looks of them and the instruction I'd received during training, they were trackers or mid-level demons.

Each stood four feet tall with skin that glistened like oily green snakes. Their eyes were small and beady. They had two slits for a nose, and a large mouth full of black, razor sharp teeth. Their tails were lined with spikes, like thorns on the stem of a rose.

Peter fought with two of them while Steven, Leif, and the others battled the menials.

Except for Wendy. The Envy demon had Eric cornered and she was fighting four trackers on her own, slashing through them, trying to reach her boyfriend. The markings on her hands were lit up bright red.

Wrath, I thought, impressed by her ferocity.

I realized as I watched the scene unfold that the only Moths in real peril were Peter and Eric. The menials and mid-level demons weren't delivering lethal blows. It looked more like they were toying with them, keeping the trainees occupied while the Envy demon went after Eric.

A quick appraisal told me Peter had his demons under control, but Eric had suddenly vanished. I ran over, using my shield to get past the trackers. They shrieked as my shield fried their skin.

"Alice," Wendy cried, sounding relieved I was there to help.

The Envy demon turned when Wendy spoke my name. His face changed into something not at all human. He had the same sharp black teeth, like the trackers, but they were much larger. His mouth took up most of his face.

It was with shocked sadness that I saw a hand dangling from the demon's teeth. "Alice Blackburn," it hissed, pitching the rest of Eric's appendage into his mouth. It crunched down, grinding the bones as he chewed.

Wendy screamed from behind me and I guessed she'd seen what I had.

The remains of Eric sagged in the demons clawed hands. His head was still intact and his eyes were open but lifeless. It looked like Eric had died in the middle of a scream.

"No," I whispered, unable to believe what I was seeing. It wasn't that the rest of the trainees and I were close, but they were all the family I had. Seeing Eric killed in such a gruesome way infuriated me. I ran forward my power still burning around me and dove for the demon's neck.

The Envy demon dropped Eric and tried to swat me aside, but I grabbed hold of his fingers and twisted, listening to the bones break. At the same time I sent my elbow into his windpipe. He gasped as I spun in the air, moving my hands to his mouth where I took hold of his upper and lower jaws, ripping them apart. There was no pain when his teeth dug into my fingers. I felt nothing but white-hot rage as I tore him apart.

My demon power was doing its work as well and the smell of sizzling demon flesh filled my nose. Green blood covered me like I'd bathed in it. As the demon went down, his voice hissed inside my head: You're stronger than the others. Seven times seven. But that means when your sire comes after you, the pain you'll endure will be seven times seven. Remember that, Alice Blackburn.

"Who is my sire?" I shook at how close I was to the answer. The demon's body turned to ash. With the Envy demon gone, the lower demons vanished as well. I guessed they'd gone back to the Demon Realm where they'd come from.

"How did she do that?" Leif asked, his voice filled with awe. He was breathing heavily and appeared to be in shock.

"I thought Dark Moths could only kill a greater demon after they'd killed their sire," Steven added. One of his arms dangled at an odd angle. It would heal on its own though.

"Does that mean the Envy demon was her dear old dad as well as Eric's?" Pam asked. A gash in her thigh soaked her pantleg in red.

"Did you see that shield around her?" Georgia wiped some blood from her eye on her shirt. "It was incredible."

I didn't want to listen to anymore. Killing the Envy demon felt good, right, but that didn't mean he'd been my sire. The demon had said seven times seven. Which demon was that?

I didn't have the answers, but at least my years of training had finally come to mean something. I'd experienced what destroying an upper-level demon felt like. And I knew without question my destiny. I would rid the world of every last demon.

Armed with that knowledge, I turned my attention to Wendy, worried about what she might do. She'd gone over to what was left of Eric and had his head in her hands. Sobs tore through her.

"I'm so sorry, Wendy," I murmured. For some reason I felt responsible for his death.

She shook her head. "I can't believe it. He's gone. No. No. No." She was on the verge of a breakdown. I didn't know what to do.

Thankfully Peter took over as my powers subsided and finally vanished, leaving me tired.