Angie Fox - The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers

And that’s when things went to hell.

Serena’s fiery red eyes caught mine. Holy Hades—she could see me. I stared at the demon, my unmarked hand, the demon. Shock darted across her features before she grabbed me by the soul.

I tumbled through cold, wet air. Winds crashed into me from every direction. My lungs screamed as they fought to breathe. I couldn’t see up, down. The whole time, Serena’s fingers dug into my chest, pulled me through the freezing, churning void. I grabbed for my switch stars, but couldn’t get a handle on them in the whirlwind.

Warm air smacked me in the face like a wave as I crash-landed on something cold and hard. I gasped for breath, planted my numb fingers on the slick surface and fought to get my bearings. My head swam, my neck burned and my mouth tasted like I’d been chewing tinfoil.

White boots strolled into my line of vision. “I’ll give you one thing,” said a voice dripping with sex. “Your family is certainly original.”

Serena.

I struggled to stand, did a bad impression of a baby deer and flopped butt first back onto the floor. Yeah, well the she-demon had made a big mistake. I dug for a switch star, ready to end this debacle for good when I came up empty. My chest constricted. My utility belt was gone.

Serena shot out a laugh. “Oh please, I’m certainly not going to suck you through the eleventh dimension so you can put a switch star through my forehead.”

I shoved my tangled hair aside and peered up at her. Serena had tossed my utility belt over her shoulder, a single claw looped through the buckle. The roughened black talons crackled under leathery skin. She’d hidden the rest of her demonic nature behind her petite body and Barbara Feldon good looks.

She seemed relaxed, too relaxed, for a demon standing in an art deco hallway under Hoover Dam. “Good to see you didn’t blow town.” She tilted her head, showing off a long neck. “When I stopped sensing you, well, let’s say I was ready to send out an entire army.” Her predatory smile told me she wasn’t kidding.

I flexed my hand, wishing I had something to zap her with. Amazing. I’d given up the dark mark as easily as I’d gotten it. Both times had been a disaster. I planted my hands on the floor in front of me, gathering strength.

Rage churned inside me. She didn’t think I could fight back. If I wanted the dark mark, I’d bet I could have it again. I could shove her, push her, destroy her. My strength surged just thinking about it.

I made a running leap for her, snagged the belt and went for my switch stars. Holy Hades! The belt was empty. I dug through the pockets. Everything was gone—even the creature who lived in the back.

Serena crushed me to the floor. I was too shocked to scream when my left hand sunk into the pink marble. H-e-double-hockey-sticks. I grabbed for the belt with my free hand, only to watch in horror as both of my hands sank up to the wrists.

Serena’s two-way phone crackled and beeped, echoing down the hall. “Hell Fire Three reporting.”

“Go ahead,” Serena said.

“Lover boy is blowing out the turbines. Zarro is on stage.” She talked like she was reading from a to-do list, like she wasn’t about to unleash hell on Earth. “Do you have the demon slayer secured?”

She grinned, showing very un-Barbara Feldon-like double row of jagged teeth. “Affirmative.”

“We’ll commence as soon as the turbines blow.”

“Thanks, babe,” Serena chirped sweetly.

“What?” I struggled to stand. The end, the concert, the demolition of the power system—that was supposed to happen tomorrow night. Even then, I didn’t know how we were going to stop it, but now? I needed more time. And how could they possibly move up a complete takeover of the North American airwaves?

“You can’t,” I insisted. Because, they couldn’t, they simply couldn’t. “It’s impossible to move up a concert by a day.”

Her brows knit. “This is Saturday,” she shoved me with her toe. “Your fault,” she added, as I lunged back at her.

Hell and damnation. Had I really been hurtling through that pathway for nearly a day?

Serena sighed. “I’d have been up there twenty-one hours ago if I hadn’t been busy dragging your stubborn butt through the eleventh dimension. Broke a nail too.” She flexed her talons. “Oh wait,” she said, as it grew back, long and sharp. “One problem down. One to go.”

I struggled against whatever hold she had on me. I used every ounce of my demon slayer mojo, but my hands didn’t budge.

“You stay put. I’ll come get you when it’s time for the end of the world.”

I stiffened.

“Kidding,” she added. “That’ll take at least another week. I’ll come get you once we ax North America, give or take Panama.”

“Panama is in Central America,” I said, my voice raising two octaves at the end. Call it the natural response of a teacher, or more likely, the only thing my brain could grasp at that moment. I felt bad enough about Phil and Dimitri. I couldn’t be responsible for the end of North America. And Central America. And… oh geez. How many billions of people were we talking about?

Damn the creature, she beamed—proud of what she was about to do. “You stay here,” she said, stepping past me, her ankle sideswiping my nose on her way down the hall. “Oh, who am I kidding? Where else are you going to go?”

“What are you going to do to Phil?” Not that there’d be much of a world left for him, but there were worse things to take than someone’s life.

She barked out a laugh. “Phil’s soul is mine as soon as the turbines shut down. Phil is a pain in the ass. Always resisting.” She surveyed me, cold and calculating, as if wondering if there was more to me than what she saw. “The guy almost threw himself over the dam when I told him I needed him to lure you here.”

Phil was bait?

The pieces fell together with gut-wrenching clarity. I’d been so proud. So determined to be some great demon slayer—so convinced this whole thing had been about everyone needing my help. It was never about the kick-butt demon slayer blazing into town to ride to the rescue of good ol’ Phil. He’d been trying to save me .

Shock froze my brain. “You needed him to sabotage the dam,” I said, almost to myself.

“Oh come on. Axing a dam is nothing compared to capturing demon slayer power. We need six hundred sixty-six she-demons—and you—in order to open the gates of Hell.”

My jaw locked as I stared at her, not wanting to comprehend.

It really was about my power. Dimitri hadn’t needed to flee Vegas. I did.

“And now I’ll take this little number.” I winced as she ripped Dimitri’s protective necklace from my throat. He’d used it to find me before. Now if he tracked the necklace, he’d find… her.

“Pretty,” she said, twirling it around her finger. “And it’d be almost impossible to remove if your big lug of a griffin wasn’t almost dry. Pity. He was tasty.” She sighed, remembering, before turning her icy blue eyes back on me. “I’ll be back for your power soon.”

I battled to free my hands as Serena’s boots clattered down the hallway and up a metal staircase. I had to get out of here. At least my friends would have missed me by now. And Dimitri. I cringed to think of what he was going through right now. They wouldn’t know what had happened to me—or where on Earth or in the underworld to look.

Meanwhile, there was no way to stop the concert or the blackout—not in the next twenty minutes. Phil was completely brainwashed and overloading the turbine timing systems, blowing power to the dam. And Serena, well, she was about to get everything she wanted.