“That’s a long time to wait.” I walked toward the tree where Tyler had staked the winged devil. “Now all we have to do is figure out how to get past these evil things. If Selene knows you’re leading us, which she undoubtedly does”—every Sect had well-placed spies, and if Selene knew the Queen had her trinket, she would have people she bribed on the inside—“she will anticipate you’ve brought her prized possession and she will be awaiting her own revenge. It could have been her motivation to sell part of her soul for more protection and increase her boundary line, which will cost her in both energy and power reserves. She wants what you have.”
Naomi followed me to the tree, while Eamon stayed rooted where he was, still glowering. “This place in the mountains is new to us,” she said. “We have never visited here before. But her habits will be hard ones to break. We will expect some of her favorite defenses. Her mind is twisted, but she has likely convinced herself you are not stronger than she is, yet she is betting you will succeed in making it to her lair. She is always at war with herself. Killing your mate, however, will not be as satisfactory if you are not there to witness it.”
I gave Naomi an appraising look. “Cocky, deranged, overly self-assured, and masochistic all make her weak, and give us a definite advantage. But there’s no way we can get to her if we don’t get rid of these little freaks.” I peered at the squirming devil. Tyler had pinned it by the wings. It struggled sluggishly, its beady eyes glowing like a banked fire. But the worst was its gaping snout, filled with hundreds of needlelike teeth, which were currently dripping yellow goo all over the ground. Very slowly it lifted its talons and flexed them at me. It had one long thumb and one larger appendage, like the last three fingers of a hand, only melded together. Each of the fingery things boasted long nasty-looking blades. Like Eamon had said, they resembled thin razors for easy slicing. “How did Eamon know they had razor blades for fingers?”
“Selene has always coveted them,” Naomi answered. “She had statues and carvings of them adorning her walls. She called them her pets, all while lamenting the cost of ownership was too high. She vowed she would own them someday.”
“No pet I know costs a chunk of your soul.”
“True,” Naomi said. “But when you are as powerful as she, one covets what they can’t have. Selene convinced herself if she could raise an army of them, she would rule the supernatural world. There are not many things that can bring us down as easily or as quickly as these.” She shuddered, rubbing her arms. “They are vile creatures.”
“They multiplied,” Tyler said, coming over to join us. His tone was even, the fight gone. “When Danny killed a few, more popped up in their place.” I smiled at my brother as he ran a tired hand over his face. I knew it took a lot for him to back off, and I was grateful he was willing.
Naomi nodded gamely. “Only the amount negotiated can be summoned from the Underworld at one time. When one is killed in this world, another materializes to take its place. It goes back to the Underworld to regenerate. They cannot find true death on this plane.”
“If Selene wanted to amass a huge army of these things”—I stifled a gag thinking about how awful that would be—“how much would she have to pay?”
“She would belong to the Underworld for all eternity. If she did that, she would control an untold amount of them and the world would be a very bleak place.”
I blew out a frustrated breath. “It’s a good thing she’s too narcissistic to give up her life in total. What do you think her payment is for this many?” I asked curiously.
“I would expect it to be a millennium of servitude; nothing less,” Naomi said. “Payable once she perishes on this plane.”
“So if we can kill her body long enough, the demons will come pick her up? It’s not a perfect plan, but it makes her disappear for a mighty long time.”
Naomi bit her lip. Her fangs were retracted so all that showed were straight, white teeth. “Yes, true death would be optimal, of course, but I would be satisfied seeing her in the demons’ hands for a millennia. They will undoubtedly torture her repeatedly and painfully, as she will do nothing for them willingly. It would be just punishment.”
“So how do we get by the devils?” I asked. We needed to start moving or nobody was going to get to do anything to Selene. My wolf gnashed her teeth. I agreed. This was taking too long.
Naomi shook her head. “It will be difficult.”
“Can they attack during daylight?” Tyler asked.
She shrugged. “I would assume so.”
“It seems they work properly only inside Selene’s boundary,” Tyler said. “Here they seem… off. This one is still moving slowly and it can’t possibly be affected by the spell any longer.”
“Boundaries would be in their agreement.” Naomi nodded. “Demons have very strict rules they must abide by on this plane, and a group such as this could kill a human town in a blink of an eye. They need bite a human only once to make them die in unspeakable ways. There would be precautions put in place.” Naomi peered closely at the devil. “I am surprised she did not save these until last, but likely she has trouble controlling them.” The thing hissed at her, its eyes flaming violent orange for a moment.