Darren Shan - Slawter

The bee shakes its head and starts to rise, buzzing angrily. Dervish grabs a wing before it gets out of reach. Yanks it down. The bee lashes out at him with a stinger the size of a large kitchen knife. He ducks. I scream and smash an elbow into the bee’s semi-human face. Its teeth bite deep into my forearm, but I jerk my arm free before it can do serious damage.

As I grab the bee with my uninjured arm, I feel Dervish’s magic burn into the demon. It makes wild buzzing sounds. Thrashes, trying to break free, snapping its teeth, stabbing at him with its stinger. He holds on tight. I do too. I head-butt the bee, letting magic shoot through my forehead, intent on sizzling the demon’s brains.

“Not too much!” Dervish pants as the demon goes slack. “We want it alive.” He stands, sliding both arms around the bee. “Let’s keep it like this and—”

“Monster!” a voice screams and suddenly there’s someone beside us. A hand shoots by my head. A fist buries itself deep in the demon’s chest, then comes ripping out, dragging guts and yellow blood with it. Stunned, I fix on the face of the assailant—and my heart leaps joyfully.

“ Juni!” I yell, releasing the bee’s head, throwing my arms around her.

Juni Swan hugs me hard, then steps away, staring at the demon, then her fist. “How did I do that?” she croaks. “I felt something inside me. It was power, but I don’t know where…”

“Hi,” Dervish says quietly, letting the dead demon drop to the floor. He smiles crookedly, then slips his arms around Juni and buries his face in her neck. “We thought you were dead,” he half sobs.

“I was… dreaming, I think,” she says. “Bill-E was kidnapped. We rescued him. Then we were attacked by ninjas and had to go to a mountain in search of their lair.” She shakes her head. “I woke up in a small room. I came out and saw demons. I fled. Then I saw you. I thought the bee was going to kill you. Something exploded inside me. Before I knew it…”

She stares at her fist again, a look of astonishment on her face.

“Seems you have a talent for magic after all,” Dervish chuckles, then sighs. “But you timed it badly. We wanted this one alive.” He quickly explains his plan to her and the children, who’ve crept across. Bo seems to be less shaken than the others. She’s trembling fiercely and her face is white with fear, but she’s in control of her senses and listens intently.

I use magic to heal my wounded arm and watch Bo cautiously. Her father was one of the collaborators but that’s not her fault. I’m pretty sure she didn’t know about his pact with the Demonata. Bo was never anything worse than a spoilt brat. You don’t deserve to be killed for that.

Dervish finishes outlining his plan. “So Grubbs, Juni and I will pull back, leave you kids here, wait for another demon to come along, then… kablooey!”

“Kablooey?” Juni repeats, raising an eyebrow.

“I liked comics when I was a kid,” Dervish says with a shrug.

“How are we going to get the demon to the barrier?” Bo asks, and though her teeth chatter, her voice sounds normal.

“Grubbs and I will drag it there,” Dervish says. “Juni can help.”

“But—”

“Here she goes,” Bill-E groans. “Always has to have her say!”

“Shut up, shrimp-breath!” Bo snaps, then appeals to Dervish. “I don’t want to be a troublemaker. I just want to get out of this alive. But it’s what you said about how you were going to alert everybody and tell them where to come.” She pauses.

“Go on,” Dervish says kindly, though if I was in charge, I’d tell her to put a sock in it. She’s being a drama queen, trying to grab the attention. Typical Bo.

“Well,” Bo says hesitantly, “if you’re able to use telepathy, I was wondering… can demons do the same?”

Dervish stares at Bo, then nods slowly. “Some can.”

“So,” Bo continues, “if you catch a demon and it realises you’re dragging it off to the edge of town to kill it, won’t it call for help? And bring a load of other demons down on top of us?”

Dervish scowls. “She’s right. It’ll take several minutes to get to the barrier from here. If the demon summoned help, we’d never make it.”

“Can’t we knock it unconscious?” Juni asks.

“Perhaps. But if it gets out a shout…”

He falls silent. Bo looks at me smugly, but I’m too impressed to bear her any ill feelings. She’s not entirely brainless, I’m reluctantly forced to admit.

“I have a suggestion,” Bo says. She’s stopped trembling. Confident. On a roll.

“I’m all ears,” Dervish says with a wry smile.

“Why don’t we lure a demon to the barrier before you go messing with it? Trick it into chasing after us. It wouldn’t call for help if it didn’t know its life was in danger.”

“We have a genius in our midst,” Dervish says, smile widening. Bo beams like an angel. Despite myself, I have to laugh. She’ll be more unbearable than ever after this, but right now that doesn’t seem like such a bad thing.

“There’s only one problem with your proposal,” Dervish says.

“Problem?” Bo frowns.

“Running’s dangerous. If there’s a demon hot on your heels, you can’t concentrate on what lies ahead. Very easy to run into another demon, or a pack of them. We can’t control the situation if we do what you suggest. And control is vital. Grubbs and I must reach the barrier. If we don’t, everybody dies. We can’t risk running into a trap.”

Bo mulls that over, starts to speak, goes silent, then says very quietly, “What if the rest of us did the running? What if you and Grubbs went to the barrier and we tried to lure a demon to you?”

I blink, astonished. I never thought I’d hear the spoilt Bo Kooniart make a suggestion like that. What she’s proposing is close to self-sacrifice. Without us, she and the others won’t stand much of a chance against the demons.

“You know what you’re saying?” Dervish’s voice is grave. “You know the risk you’d be taking?”

“Of course. But it doesn’t seem like we have much of an option, does it?”

“I’m not doing it!” Vanalee protests, bursting into tears. “I want to come with you, Mr. Grady! Please don’t make me go after demons!”

“I won’t make anybody do anything,” Dervish says. He looks at the other children. “Bo’s risking a great deal for us. Will anyone volunteer to help her or does she have to face the demons by herself?”

The three children look at one another. Two raise shaky hands. The third hangs his head.

“OK,” Dervish says. “Now all we have to do is arrange a meeting place, so you know where—”

“I’ll go too,” Bill-E interrupts.

“No!” I yell.

“I have to.” He smiles thinly. “I’m not magical like you and Dervish. There’s no benefit in me coming with you. I can do more good with Bo and the others.”

“But—”

“He’s right,” Dervish says. I look at my uncle, unable to believe he’d let Bill-E go like this. But his eyes are dark and firm. This isn’t easy for him but he’s going to let Bill-E go anyway. I start to protest, but then I realise why Dervish is doing this—it wouldn’t be fair to let Bo and the others volunteer and not put forward one of our own.

“I’ll go,” I whisper. “You take Bill-E.”

“No,” Dervish says. “I need you at the barrier.”

I shake my head. “You can kill a demon without me. And you have Juni to help. The others will stand a better chance if I go with them.”

Dervish hesitates.

“We can both go,” Bill-E says.

“No. You’re sticking with Dervish, no arguing.” I lower my voice so only Bill-E can hear. “I don’t want him to lose us both. And you’re his son—you’re more important to him than I am.” I hate lying to Bill-E, but if it saves his life, it will be worth it.