“‘Present company excluded’ might’ve been a nice ending to that sentence. Just saying.”

The rocks had become taller again, though every so often we could see the top of a hovel peeking out over them. We had returned to some sort of alleyway, traveling behind the huts where the demons were wheeling and dealing. It was the first stroke of luck we’d gotten.

Incoming.

I saw them as Darius’s thought registered. A group of four creatures walking toward us. Probably all demons (though I was no expert), with thick cords of muscle on powerful frames. Most were shorter than me, and only one might’ve reached my height.

Darius drifted to the side, back to his role as the lurker, which would hopefully turn into a silent killer should I need him.

I didn’t alter coarse or drift with him, choosing instead to own my space and wrap myself in confidence. I knew not all demons were brutal, but the ones in this cesspool seemed to be, and I needed to keep my brazenness front and center or risk getting pushed around.

They noticed me, and their scratching, grating voices fell silent. Their group, previously taking up three-quarters of the path, spread out to fill the whole thing. A blockade.

The rage surged up again, hot and heady.

Don’t be stupid, demons, I thought desperately, staring straight ahead. Don’t pick a fight with me. I’m barely hanging on to control.

“You are far from home,” the demon walking straight at me rasped. They all slowed, ready for a confrontation.

I ground my teeth as a molten wave of wrath ate at my gut. Something else appeared on the path behind the demons.

They have all come from the river, Darius thought, slowing with me. We are almost there.

“That’s super, but I’m about to go crazy.” I rolled my head then shoulders, trying to loosen up. “And there are witnesses.”

I cannot understand you.

Oh good. I was talking the demonic language that I had never learned. It was like waking up in a foreign place with no idea how you’d gotten there.

“We don’t tolerate human spawn, maggot,” the one in front of me, Mr. Chatty, said, clearly thinking I was the product of an incubus or something similar, a demon who seduced humans and begot a child. It spat to the side. The spit sizzled on the rock.

“Acidic spit. That must really kill your love life.” Flame licked at my fingers, begging to be set free. My magic flowered. I spread my hands and grinned as my control slipped. “But, as you see, I made it through the gate. I have a right to be down here.”

“You only have the rights I say you do.” The demons stopped, challenging me.

I kept walking, closing the distance. “You’ll want to step aside,” I said in an easy-breezy tone at complete odds with the inferno raging within. “Or I’ll be forced to yank off your arm and beat you with it.”

Mr. Chatty laughed. The others joined in.

“Wrong answer.” Aching cold slid down my arms and pounded inside me. The fire swirled around it. The desire to maim, kill, destroy! thudded in time to my heart. “I shouldn’t have come down here,” I said, breathing heavily.

“You are just now realizing that?” Mr. Chatty asked.

I stopped two feet in front of it, red tinging the edges of my vision. The desire to blow this whole place up was so strong that my limbs shook. “That thought is on a loop. I think it every few minutes. Regardless, you’ll want to move. Now.”

Though it didn’t show in my voice, I was begging it. What did show in my voice was that part of me—the crazy-powerful part—hoped the demon would force me to retaliate.

I didn’t know much about split personalities, but I knew they weren’t good. And my power was forcing me to develop one. This was the start of the breakdown, I was sure of it.

“I will move…right after I kill you,” Mr. Chatty growled.

The ice magic overcame me, and before I knew it, air had solidified in front of the demon. Barely realizing that it was me working the magic, I grabbed the demon’s arm with the air, yanked it off, and slapped the creature across the face with it.

“I did promise to do that,” I said with a grimace.

The others started and about-faced. They took off as one.

I sent a fireball over the first demon and rolling after the rest, ending their ability to tattle. The weave was different than the straightforward flame I usually used. I’d picked up a little something from the demon we’d summoned in the Brink.

Silence drifted down onto the newly stilled path.

“I should go home and lock myself up. This can’t be good. I think I have a rage problem.” I wiped my sweating forehead, then clutched at my hammering heart. “A very bad rage problem. The cure is probably yoga. Yoga seems to cure everything. Maybe I should head back and enroll in some yoga classes.”

That was…effective. Not low profile, but effective.

This time the pride rang through his thoughts loud and clear. Also giddiness. The vampire part of him had loved the show of force and violence.

“I don’t know if I’m happy that you can understand me again, or severely worried that my ethics committee is a creature distinctly known for a lack of ethics.”

Both, I should think.

“Yes. Probably. Let’s find that freaking river before we meet any more bullies. I don’t want to know what I’m going to do next. It’ll probably make me faint. Or worse, make me giddy like you.”

Both, judging by the display a moment ago.

“Do me a favor. Stop thinking.”

I didn’t like his soft chuckle. He was getting way too much enjoyment out of my newfound talent for savagery.

The problem was, like them or not, I’d need a bigger dose of these new talents soon enough. The demons I’d just gone up against were probably level twos or threes, creatures that could readily be summoned to the Brink. Even the tough one earlier had only been a level four or so, even though he’d clearly had some special powers. These were the flunkies. The hacks. The ones who couldn’t make it in the big leagues. Except for a couple of new magical traits I hadn’t seen before, they were nothing.

Anxiety made my stomach churn.

If these were the lackeys, what would I find across the river?

Chapter Fifteen

We passed the charred remains of the demon that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. All it had probably wanted to do was trade a trinket or something, and instead it had witnessed a psycho thumping demons with their own extremities.

“You’re just relaxing and taking it easy, huh?” I asked Darius quietly as we made our way. A pair of growls sounded somewhere to the left beyond the rock, followed by snarling and hollering. A fight had started. “Letting the girl take care of everything.”

You are doing a wonderful job. I would hate to get in your way and prevent you from kicking heads.

“Super. I can see that you’ll forever remind me of that. In my defense, it was a tense situation and I wasn’t thinking. Or in control.”

Yes. It pulled at my primal side in…pleasant ways. Almost as alluring as ripping off arms and chasing demons around with them…

“Oh good. I needed to know that, thanks,” I grumbled. “And it was just the one arm.”

I slowed when the path opened up in front of us. My heart, which had nearly returned to normal speed, started to thump faster again. We were coming on an intersection. I worried I’d see demons in it.

“The good news is…” I said as I stalked forward, my power throbbing. I felt the earlier demon chant vibrating through me. Blood! Blood! Blood! “At this rate, no one will try to present me to my dad. They’ll ship me back to the surface as quickly as possible for fear I’ll kill them all.”

Or want to fight you in a show of bravado.

“Don’t help, please.” I gingerly touched the rock wall and felt a prick on my palm. Too sharp to flatten against—not that doing so would really help me.

Figuring I just had to go for it, I summoned all my power and stalked out into the space with a confident swagger. My sword pushed against my back, wanting to be taken out and swung around. The weight of my gun reminded me that demons could also be shot.

Stillness greeted me.