Gabriel had already turned into the workroom where Greenwitch had taken me on my last visit. “And your point is?” he called back, sounding distracted.
“The point is that she should have had some protective wards or something. We shouldn’t have been able to walk right in. Something isn’t right here.” I rounded the corner after Gabriel and plowed into his back. “Hey.”
“You’re right,” he said, stepping aside so that I could see the room. “Something isn’t right here.”
It looked as though an extremely destructive pack of toddlers had been through the room. The wardrobe where Greenwitch had kept my charm had been broken open and the doors wrenched from their hinges. Charms and herbs were scattered everywhere and the air was redolent with the smell of the crushed leaves. Her worktable had been smashed in half by something very big, very strong, or both.
“Damn,” I said, backing up a little to stand in the doorway as Gabriel picked through the mess. “Who could have done this, and why?”
“I am not sure,” Gabriel said, picking up a silver locket, examining it and discarding it.
“Someone needs their apple juice and cheese crackers,” I said, examining the destruction, and then I smelled it.
The whiff of sulfur came a breath too late. Antares already had his claws around my neck, even as I was turned, even as I tried to tap my magic. He yanked me close to his body and bent his head close to mine.
“Hello again, little sister,” he crooned in my ear. His saliva spattered on my neck and my skin burned where it touched.
“Oh, well, that answers that question,” I said as his claws pressed into my flesh. Warm rivulets of blood flowed into the neckline of my peacoat. At least my stupid half brother was alive, and I definitely would not be tortured for killing him. Of course, he was probably going to kill me momentarily, so it all came out in the wash, I suppose.
“How is it that you managed to survive?” I said calmly. “I was sure I nuked you to bits.”
Antares laughed, and I could feel his chest rumbling against my back. I tried not to show how completely and totally I wanted to pee my pants.
“I have a few tricks up my sleeve,” he said.
“Tricks your mommy left you,” I taunted, and his arm tightened around me. “No tricks of your own.”
Gabriel stood motionless in the middle of the room, watching us. I could see the calculation in his eyes.
“Do not even think about it, outcast,” Antares hissed. “I will have slit her throat before you can conjure a spell.”
“Do it, Gabriel. He’s going to kill me anyway,” I said. I felt strangely calm. “Of course, he’s going to cheat and use one of Mommy’s spells because he’s too weak to produce one of his own, but still. You might as well take him out, too.”
Antares snarled in my ear and then slammed my face against the doorframe—twice. The second time I heard something crack and I felt hot fluid running out of my nose.
The distraction was enough. While Antares was breaking my nose, Gabriel blasted him in the chest with nightfire. Antares screamed and dropped me to the ground, making sure to kick me in the process. Since he was a demon and a hell of a lot stronger than a human, his kick didn’t just crack my ribs. It cracked my ribs and launched me across the room into the wall. I smashed into a framed Ansel Adams photo and fell heavily to the ground, the whole time thinking, Wow, Antares’s control issues are worse than mine. I wonder if that’s a family trait?
Then I saw stars and birdies for a few minutes. The smell of sulfur, sage and apple pie filled the air. I could hear the sounds of Gabriel and Antares grunting and snarling at each other as they dueled. The occasional bolt of magic careened around the room.
The little match flame inside me flickered. I needed to get up and help Gabriel. He wasn’t allowed to kill Antares—the rules about not harming another demon’s thrall still applied no matter what Antares’s crimes—but Antares would have no compunction about harming Gabriel. Antares was already an outcast of Azazel’s court and facing punishment for killing humans. Offing Gabriel would be nothing to the demon.
I wanted to hurry up, to get to my feet, but all the broken things inside me hurt like hell. I pushed myself to a sitting position and hoped that Antares would be too distracted by Gabriel to launch any spells at me.
While I was pulling myself together the battle had moved into the hall. I was amazed that Greenwitch’s upstairs neighbors weren’t banging on the front door. It sounded like Antares and Gabriel were smashing every piece of glass and wood in the place.
I staggered to my feet, sucking in air spasmodically. Beezle and Gabriel had counseled emotional control for my magical abilities. Now I needed to control the pain so that I could focus on my power.
I let my breathing slow and tried not to think about the pain radiating just above my belly. The little match flame surged up suddenly, and the power pushed me upright like a string pulling a marionette. It helped me forget about the pain.
“Now,” I said, fingertips crackling with energy. “You’re mine, little brother.”
I strode into the hallway just as Gabriel blasted Antares into the kitchen, which was across the hall from the workroom. The demon slammed into the refrigerator, leaving an indentation that looked like a mold of his body, like in the cartoons where the coyote gets hit by a train and smashed into a canyon wall.
Gabriel never took his eyes from the demon as he blasted Antares again with blue flames. Antares howled in fury and stumbled away, swiping his hand across the counter and knocking over several vases of wildflowers. He fell to his knees, his back to us.