Demon Bound

scraping a rough chalkboard.
    What the flippin’ hell was she doing? Jake tried to stand, whacked his head on the ceiling, and bit back his curse. But he didn’t need to be silent to hear her. She wasn’t flying anymore, but running. Her footsteps would make it stupidly easy for the demons to pinpoint her movements. Crazy.
    And she’d stuck him up here in the corner, useless and—
    On the opposite side of the cavern, a shower of sparks fell. For an instant Jake saw her, the blade of her naginata slashing across the granite wall.
    Not so crazy, after all. Jake settled back down. The demons might not know there were two Guardians. Even if they did, she was forcing them to focus in her direction and making enough noise to cover Jake’s heartbeat. He’d be able to get at least two shots before they located him.
    In the antechamber, a female demon spoke. Another female answered her, then a male. Scarlet light gleamed across the floor before it was extinguished.
    The female demon sang out a melodic stream of words.
    Arabic. Jake didn’t know the language, but the insult was plain enough. He firmed his jaw, waited.
    From the direction of the statue came the Guardian’s derisive snort. Then she was across the cavernous chamber, her steps echoing against the far wall.
    The demon spoke again, in a lower tone. Her voice caught the Guardian mid-swing. The sparks illuminated her shocked expression; her head whipped around as she stared toward the antechamber. Dismay stabbed from her psyche before she blocked it.
    The chamber went dark. Her whispered denial filled the silence. “No.”
    A crimson glow moved through the antechamber, and the first demon stepped through. Wearing robes and—except for her eyes and the batlike wings folded at her back—in her human form.
    Come on, Jake urged the others. There was movement behind her, but he didn’t have a shot yet.
    In the wash of red light, he saw the Guardian standing in the center of the chamber, her arms slack at her sides, the tip of the naginata on the floor.
    The demon smiled. Glowing eyes, leathery wings, and fangs. “And we’ve been charged to take something back to him as proof that you received his message. What shall it be—your hands? Your tongue?”
    Just great. The demon had switched to English in response to the Guardian’s “no,” but Jake still had no idea what had stunned her. It wasn’t the threat; between demons and Guardians, bloodshed was pretty much a given.
    But whatever it’d been, she was coming out of it. A slow smile crept up the sides of her mouth. She no longer held her weapon in a slack grip, but with the loose confidence of a seasoned warrior.
    Who the hell was she?
    “Come, then,” she challenged the demons. “Take them.”
    The male emerged, his unclothed body covered in crimson scales, a sword in each taloned hand.
    Jake fired.
    The bolt flew faster than sound, embedding in the demon’s side before he could react to the snap of the bowstring. He fell to his knees, clawing at the shaft.
    Jake reloaded as the second female burst from the antechamber. The first female dove forward; Jake’s next shot pierced her wing.
    That was all he’d get. Her movements as fluid as a dancer’s, the Guardian slipped around the male. The blade of her naginata flashed. She leapt into the air in pursuit of the second female before his horned head hit the floor.
    The first demon had vanished her injured wings, and a semiautomatic pistol appeared in her grip. She aimed it at the flying Guardian.
    Not in this lifetime. Jake plummeted toward the demon, calling in his sword. She heard him coming, shifted her stance. He looked down the barrel of the gun, saw her finger tighten on the trigger.
    And felt his Gift activate as terror ripped through him. A memory of pain and failure.
    No, goddammit. Can’t leave her alone—
    He jumped, opened his eyes to a giant statue bathed in scarlet light. Gunshots cracked.
    Holy shit. A miracle.
    Jake pivoted, scything his blade through the demon’s neck before she realized that he’d teleported behind her.
    He glanced up, then threw himself to the side as a mass of scales and taloned wings hurtled toward him. The last demon smashed to the floor at his feet, the naginata buried in her heart.
    The crimson glow in the cavern faded. In the darkness, Jake heard the Guardian land, and the wet sound of tearing flesh as she removed her weapon from the demon’s chest—then the thunk as the blade sliced through the