Between the sounds, the demi-demon I was fighting, and my fascination with my newly discovered power, I didn’t sense the person behind me until it was too late. They wrapped their arms around me in a bear hug, pinning my arms to my body. I stomped on his ankle, and his grip released long enough for me to wriggle free, only to be hit hard across the jaw, sending me backward into the second demi-demon’s grasp. My concentration on my power slipped and time jumped back to normal speed, jolting me like I’d been in a speeding car and someone slammed on the brakes.
The demi-demon lifted me off the ground and carried me to the center of the yard. The earth started shaking, a mound grew until the dirt gave way, and the pit opened up.
Oh, shit. Again? Really?
But instead of throwing me down into the abyss, which they could have easily done, they held me beside the hole, pressing down on my shoulders and forcing me to my knees.
I felt nauseous. I knew what was at the bottom of that pit. And I knew my time was running short. I wasn’t a cat. I didn’t have nine lives, and I was kind of fond of the one I had. I tried to work up enough spit to swallow and ease the burning in the back of my throat, and I screamed for someone to help me, but they were all involved in their own fights. I saw Chay glancing at me before he took a hard blow to the side of his head.
I knew no one was going to come to my rescue. I was on my own. I took a deep breath and remembered what one of my many self-defense teachers once told me.
“Being scared is a powerful emotion. It is only crippling if you let it be. Channel it. Rewire your brain to read being scared as being pissed the hell off. It’s okay to be scared, Milayna. It’s normal. It doesn’t make you weak. You can use it to make yourself stronger,” he said, and then he worked me over on the mats, teaching me move after move until they came naturally to me. And he taught me something else—there was no such thing as fighting dirty when your life was at stake. Use what you could, do what you could to survive.
I closed my eyes for a minute and pictured myself in that gym with my teacher, hearing him tell me to do whatever it took to survive, and the butterflies in my stomach and the hollowness in my chest abated just a little.
The first thing I saw was the glowing, yellowish-orange light coming from the bottom of the hole. Then I saw them. Gray arms dusted in a fine sheen of ash. They reached out and planted themselves on the ground, hefting the demon halfway out of the hole. He had two horns, curled like ram’s horns. They looked like wood that had its bark scraped off.
Its black fingernails dug into the ground as it pulled itself up and halfway out of the hole. It pinned me with its black-eyed stare.
“You can’t trust humans to do a demon’s job, even if they are half demon,” it hissed through needle-like teeth that gleamed white.
It pulled itself further out of the hole, and I knew if I was going to survive the night, I’d better do something. Fast.
Do whatever it takes to survive. There’s no such thing as fighting dirty when your life is at stake.
I turned my head and bit the arm of the demi-demon holding my arms against my body. I clamped down and didn’t let go until I tasted his sickening thick, warm blood. He screamed in pain and let go of my arms.
I landed a palm-heel strike in the middle of the demon’s face. Its head bounced backward, its black eyes registering surprise. Swinging my legs around, I scrambled up from the ground. I gave the demon a roundhouse kick to the side of the head. It grabbed my ankle, and I fell on my side with a cry.
“Tsk, tsk. We know all about your little fighting games. We’re prepared.” The demon shook his head at me like he was disappointed. “I thought you’d be more of a challenge.”
I pulled back my free leg and jammed my foot into the demon’s arm. It bent downward at an odd angle, and he lost his grip on me. I scrambled out of his reach. I feigned a right, but jabbed a left. The demon pulled himself out of the hole further to hit me behind the knees and I went down again, but not before I gave him an okay kick to the head. He slid down the hole until just his head and shoulders were above ground, his arms still reaching out. I rolled to my back and gave him a quick kick to the forehead. His head snapped back. He lost his grip and slid down the side of the pit with a shriek of profanities.
Thank God I didn’t take piano lessons.
Turning, I helped my dad with the demi-demon cornering him between the house and the porch. I jabbed him in the side, grabbed the back of his hair, and yanked his head back. Raising my knee between his legs, I nudged him.
“Apologize to my dad.”
He didn’t acknowledge me. I rammed my bent leg upward. He shrieked in pain. I let go and he fell to the ground, curled around himself.
“You should respect your elders,” I said and walked away, looking for a place I could help.
Someone touched me lightly on the arm. I turned quickly, ready to defend myself. Chay grabbed my wrist as my fist flew toward him.
“Milayna, it’s over,” he said quietly and kissed my fist.
I looked around. The demi-demons and Evils were running in all directions. The dirt was shifting and filling the pit. The only evidence that anything had happened was a mound where the pit had been.
I could hear the wail of a siren in the distance