OhmiGod! OhmiGod!
“Put them out! Put them out!” she cried, waving her arms frantically. One glowing orb broke free, slamming into a bush near the river. The bush erupted in blue flames, and another orb quickly reformed to take its place in her hand.
Gideon flew across the distance between them. He grabbed her wrists and slapped her hands together. “Breathe! Calm down.”
The energy balls flashed and sizzled out.
“It’s okay,” he murmured against her hair as he dragged her into his arms, squeezing her tight. His heart thudded beneath her ear, keeping time with her own. “You’re okay. They’re out. Shhh. Shhh. You’re okay.”
He sounded as if he wasn’t sure whom he was trying to convince. Her, or himself? Honestly, after that startling development, she didn’t care. Maggie melted into him. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she buried her face in the soft fabric of his T-shirt and greedily sucked in the scent of him. She gratefully absorbed the protective warmth surrounding her.
What was that? What just happened?
“Is she okay?” Kyanna asked.
Gideon snarled. “What the hell do you think? She damned near set herself on fire. What the hell was that anyway?”
Slowly, Maggie eased back in Gideon’s arms, though he wouldn’t let her go completely. That was fine by her. Her legs were still shaking.
“I’ve never been able to do that before,” she told the group, her voice little more than a whisper. “What was that?”
“I have no idea,” Kyanna said, her eyes wide with wonder, her tone shocked.
“Angelfire,” Xander rasped.
“Angelfire?” Gideon repeated, turning slightly to face Xander. He looked more than a little green around the gills. “Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure. I’ve only seen it once before. During the Great Fall. And it had been aimed at you, right before Mikhail deflected it.”
A look of shock swept over Gideon’s face, one that was quickly replaced by dawning understanding. And horror. Gideon’s face lost all color before turning a sickly shade of gray. “After the Fall, Mikhail disappeared for decades,” Gideon whispered, as if speaking to himself. He had to clear his throat before he could speak. “Mikhail didn’t get the scars on his face from Ralsha venom, did he?”
Xander held his gaze, but remained grim and silent.
Gideon swore.
Confused, glancing between the two towering demons, Maggie demanded, “What?”
“Your father can call forth Angelfire, Maggie,” Xander said when Gideon looked incapable of speech. “And now, apparently, so can you.”
“Angelfire.” She whispered the foreign-sounding word, testing it on her tongue. “What exactly is it?”
“A select few demons, Xander included, can summon Hellfire,” Gideon said, finding his voice at last. “Or, at least, Xander used to be able to. It’s basically a superheated compound that will destroy anything. Anything.” Gideon grimaced then, as if remembering something particularly unpleasant. His focus shot to Xander. “Mortika? can summon Hellfire. He melted the Amulet of the Gods.”
Maggie recalled the book shoved beneath Gideon’s bed, and his fixation on the amulet. Was that what he’d been hoping to find? Had he been hoping to use it to break his curse?
Xander’s brow furrowed, but before he could reply, Kyanna piped in, beating Maggie to the punch. “Yes, well, that’s all very interesting. But what about Angelfire? I’ve never heard of it.”
“That’s because it’s even more of an anomaly than Hellfire,” Xander said, coming to stand behind Kyanna. He slipped his arms around her waist, drawing her back against his chest. “Angelfire works much the same as Hellfire. It’s capable of destroying anything.”
Maggie shook her head. She rested her fists against Gideon’s chest, afraid to open them and lay them flat lest she accidently destroy him. “But I’ve never been able to do this before. Why now?”
Kyanna peered over her shoulder at Xander. “Do you think it has anything to do with the pregnancy?”
“Possibly. Could be she’s channeling the babe’s powers. Could be she just unlocked another of her own powers.” Xander smirked. “Could be Gideon just pissed her off more than anyone else ever has.”
Maggie shuddered, imagining a two-year-old capable of tossing about energy balls—Angelfire, she corrected—whenever he had a temper tantrum. Gideon smoothed a hand down her back, murmuring against her hair. As if sensing the direction of her thoughts, he leaned back, nudging her until she looked at him.
“We’ll figure this out, Maggie. Together.”
The look in his eye promised something far deeper, something she prayed she wasn’t just imagining due to wishful thinking.
“Enough training for today,” he said again, implacable this time. His focus skated to Xander. “I need you or Niklas to stay with Maggie for a few hours.”