Anya Bast - Witch Heart

Adam brought his sword down fast and hard, but the demon let go of him and rolled to the side. His blade bit soil and dead leaves. From his left, movement caught his eye. The other demon was moving, too.

Damn short comas.

Tires slid on the ground behind him. He whirled to see the back door pop open and Claire, pale-faced, motioning to him. "Come on! Get in!"

His hands tightened on his sword and he looked back toward the creatures. The demon he'd tried to skewer growled and turned his head toward Adam. His eyes were glowing red. That meant the demon was in a killing rage. He remembered that clearly from the last Atrika he'd fought. The other one lurched to stand about four feet away, his lips curled back and fangs extended.

When were demons not in a killing rage?

"Adam!"

Demon One — the blond one — snarled.

Okay , time to go.

Adam lunged for the back seat, careful not to spear Claire with his sword on the way in. Theo gunned the engine and the tires churned up the earth. Magick pulsed and they were out fast. Theo had altered the ground beneath the SUV to make sure they got out of there as soon as possible. Tires hit pavement, squealed, and they were off.

Adam lay crosswise in the seat, draped across Claire's lap. "Damn it!" he threw the sword to the floor of the vehicle. "Fuck!"

"We'll get them, Adam," said Theo. "We have to choose the time and place, though. You remember what the first one was like."

Adam pushed up to a sitting position with Claire's help. He ended up staring straight into her face about a breath's space from her mouth. Her eyes went a little wider and her breath hitched. He levered into a sitting position beside her.

"They were in a killing rage, the both of them," she said quietly. "I suspect strongly they have injected themselves with caplium by now, which protects them against their copper allergy. You could not have won against them alone, Adam. Not even with Theo's help."

"What is caplium anyway?"

"It's a mixture of ingredients, a cooked up potion, essentially. I only know of it, not how to make it. The Ytrayi destroy the copper they find so caplium isn't something they use every day."

Adam stared out the window at the passing scenery. Theo was getting them back on the highway. "How do you kill these things?"

"What Isabelle did was right. Injecting copper straight into their bloodstream works, though it can be slow depending on how much caplium they've taken. Beheading works, blowing them to itty-bitty pieces works."

"Basically, utter destruction. Wounds they can't heal. They're immortal, the fucks. Why couldn't we have gotten a little of that genetic goodness, I ask you?" He rubbed his mouth. "Goddamn it, I need a cigarette." His fingers literally itched for one right now.

She nodded. "There are other defenses, magickal ones." She paused. "I need to get somewhere safe. I need to sift through this new power inside me. After I do that and can be sure how to wield my magick safely, then we will have a defense against them."

He turned his head and studied her in the dark car. "Getting you to a safe place is our top concern."

"Then you did the right thing back there. If you'd stayed to fight, you'd both be dead by now and they would have me."

"They want to extract that magick inside you?"

"You have a thing here, something called a coconut?"

"Yes."

"They want to crack me like a coconut and drink the milk within."

He grimaced. "That's vivid."

She shrugged a shoulder. "That's true. My magick is like the meat of the coconut, but whatever Rue gave me is the milk. The problem is that in places the milk has soaked into the meat. I need to examine those places, try to extract the milk and isolate it."

"They'd kill you trying to get out Rue's magick, wouldn't they?"

She twitched. "They will simply take bites of meat in order to get the milk. Yes, they would kill me." For a moment, she went silent, her head dropping a bit. "I don't know if there's a way to get the foreign magick out of me without killing me anyway."

"The theory of magick isn't really my strong suit, but we have Micah on our side. If anyone can figure out a way to do it, it'll be him."

She said nothing in response, so he reached out and took her fragile, warm hand in his. They sat in silence as Theo hit the highway. From the other direction, police cars and a fire engine zoomed toward the exit, sirens wailing. Someone had reported the fire.

The car they drove was undoubtedly stolen. Adam hadn't had a chance to check the plates, but he'd bet anything they were Illinois. The driver, he'd make a guess, was probably long since dead. They'd have to ditch this car soon and find another one. No way could they make it all the way to Minnesota in this one. Far too risky. Adam didn't say anything to Theo. He already knew what they had to do.

He glanced at Claire. Her fingers were still intertwined with his and their hands lay between them on the seat. "What was it like over there?"

She studied in him the darkness. "Eudae? Different. Less chaotic. Everything here seems big and… unwieldy. It's cold here and all the buildings are sharp." She looked out the window. "The people are sharp here, too, such a mass of emotional contradiction. Some are helpful, like you and Theo. Most…" She shook her head. "I can't generalize. I've only been here a few days."

"So things aren't… sharp on Eudae?"

"The Atrika are a horrid daaeman breed. The worst. They were made to be killing machines, soldiers for the ruling class. You must understand that the Ytrayi are a brutal breed, too, but their world is very ordered, very sane. There are certain protocols that are always followed, behaviors that are expected of them. They have little emotion, unlike the Atrika, so there is little unordered violence."

"TV?"

"I'm sorry but I don't understand."

She blew out a breath. "You know what to expect on Eudae, living with the Ytrayi. There aren't any surprises. When my mother and I came over—" Claire snapped her mouth shut and looked out the window.

Clearly, she didn't want to talk about that, but he wanted to hear more. "So I guess they don't have cars or TV over there."

"No cars. There's no need. They've mastered the art of dimensional travel."

"Ah. Poofing ."

She looked at him. " Poofing ?"

"That's what Isabelle calls it. When they open a mini doorway and travel to another location."

"They jump, yes." She pursed her lips. "We use the word jump, not… poof."

Wow, this woman needed to lighten up.

Claire turned to face forward, drawing her hand from his. "Entertainment isn't something the Ytrayi engage in. It's considered a waste of time and the Ytrayi don't waste time, ever. They do play sports sometimes, though. To hone their battle skills." She shivered. "I don't like to watch that."

Adam immediately remembered something Micah had said once about the Mayans and the ballgame they used to play. The one in which the losers lost their heads… literally. "They almost sound primitive."

She made a scoffing sound. "Hardly. They are farther ahead in terms of technology than you are. They don't believe in frivolous entertainment, but they do appreciate fine art. The Mandari breed creates all sorts of sculptures, things that encompass energy, which make them shift and change periodically. The wall coverings in their homes do the same, change color and texture at their whim."

"Wow. That would make interior design a breeze."

Claire was not amused. "They typically own one outfit at a time. They have no need for more clothing because the fabric adjusts to temperature and need. It's keyed to the the thought process and environment of the daaeman, always changing, always cleaning itself, always protecting with perfection the being within."