Angie Fox - ADS 01 - The Accidental Demon Slayer

Oh, now he had no idea…

The crowd hollered until the trailer shook and I could no longer hear what anybody said.

Curse it all. We didn’t need this. The hospitality of the pack was the one thing standing between us and Vald. And now Rex just had to use my little run-in with Ant Eater to stir up trouble. I’d bet my last switch star he was behind the sick werewolves. It would be the perfect way to cast doubt on Fang’s leadership and seize control of the pack. And what would happen to us then?

“The spell caused gagging, weakness, shortness of breath…” Rex bellowed. Testosterone hung thick in the air. Fang looked ready to snap.

Ant Eater gripped the sick girl’s hands and dragged her up.

“Let go of her!” Fang ordered.

I watched in horror as Rex’s hands split into massive, furry, skeletal things . He drew his razor-sharp claws back, ready to rip Ant Eater open.

“Hold it!” Fang commanded.

Rex wasn’t going to listen. Oh my God. He was going to kill her. And challenge Fang’s authority. And start a bloodbath.

Rex sliced his hand through the air in frustration.

For a split second, nobody moved.

Ant Eater blinked twice before hauling the sick girl over her shoulder. Call it bravery or sheer cussed stubbornness. She bent under the weight, keeping an eye on Fang the whole time. “No more using your people like party props,” she said. “She needs a doctor. Not this shit.”

Oh yeah, way to piss them both off. Problem was, Ant Eater was right.

Frieda moved forward, scared silly but prepared to take the girl. The werewolf with the nose ring stepped in and, more gently than I would have thought, he lifted her into his arms. They passed her back through the crowd, hopefully to someone who would actually take care of her.

Andrea shook with anger, her blonde hair falling into her eyes, her boobs practically popping out of her corset top. “You live and breathe by our good graces and you gutter rats have the nerve to insult us. Our leader”—she said the word with distaste— “might not be willing to hold you to the fire, but the rest of us are.”

Fang looked ready to rip her a new one. He dragged her backward by her neck and threw her to the floor. She yelped in pain and scurried behind Rex. Fang’s face twisted into a mask of rage. “Our pack had none of these problems before we took in you witches and your corrupt spells.”

Ant Eater rested her hand on her revolver. “Hold up, asshole. That was a personal thing between the brat and me. We ended it this afternoon. None of you were invited as far as I can tell. And the anaconda spell doesn’t make you sick. It makes you dead.”

Right on, sister.

Rex seethed. “Of course the witch will claim this isn’t her fault. We should eliminate them now before they can cast any more of their death spells. I know a demon who is willing to pay big.”

Vald? He wanted to hand the whole coven over to a fifth-level demon?

So much for rescuing Grandma. I’d be joining her if Rex had his way.

The werewolves erupted, pelting the witches with beer cans and bottles. A window shattered.

“Halt!” Fang ordered. “What I say goes, and I haven’t made my decision yet.” While the crowd quieted down, he kept an eye on Rex and said, “The debt I owed to Dimitri is paid and then some. You witches are a menace.”

Andrea curled herself around Rex like a python. She snarled at Fang, showing as much disrespect as she dared. “For all you know, these witches killed your son,” she spat. Then to the group, she announced, “JR is missing. There is no second-in-command.”

Fang launched himself at her, ready to tear her throat out. Rex met him halfway, luring the pack master into a face-off.

Ant Eater let out a string of curses that would make your hair curl. “Why does everything have to be a goddamned pissing match?”

Like she was one to talk.

Violence could erupt at any second. The werewolves held the whole coven hostage. Any show of weakness could tip the balance.

I held my head high. Fake it ’til you make it .

Sidecar Bob rolled haphazardly in the melee. He covered his head with his hands as pack members surged around him. Rex descended on Bob like a pit bull on a pork chop. He grabbed Bob by the ponytail and lifted him until his neck arched forward, open and exposed. The crowd jeered their approval.

Did I tell you I can’t stand bullies?

I started in for Rex, but before I could make it, the bulldozing took a deadly turn. I caught a glimpse of a dagger in Rex’s right hand.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no .

I plucked a switch star from my belt and let it fly. It whistled through the air and sliced clear through Bob’s hair. Rex leapt backward holding a shaking dagger and the remains of Bob’s ponytail.

The crowd hushed and dropped back. Rex didn’t know what to do.

“Well that sure shut ’em up,” Ant Eater said behind me.

The switch star flew back to me and I let it spin on my finger for an extra second or two, enjoying the reaction. I figured the universe could grant me a moment of indulgence.

“We’ll get your son back,” I told Fang. “And I’ll do what I promised about the black souls.”

Rex stood defiantly in the corner. He recovered from his defeat a little too quickly for my taste. I strolled deliberately toward him. I had a pretty strong hunch he was behind the poisonings. I stopped in front of him, tilting my chin up as I addressed the room. “I’ll get to the bottom of this, too.”

Rex snarled at me.

Fang, the ungrateful beast, was beyond ticked. He glowered at both of us, growling low in his throat. “I’d hate to have to kill you, Lizzie.”

I’ll bet.

“What in blazes is going on?” I struggled to keep up with Ant Eater as she banged out of the trailer and practically sprinted across the field. Not smart with all the—“Ouch!”—holes littering the ground. I rubbed at the ankle I’d nearly twisted, but gave it up almost as soon as I’d started. We didn’t have time and, frankly, nobody cared but me.

Still, I couldn’t resist asking her, “Did you see me throw that switch star? Whammo! I think I finally got it. I let go of myself and—urgle!” Ant Eater dragged me into a VW bus, abandoned near the edge of the woods. Even in the dark, I found the brightly painted peace signs and stars obnoxious. And, phew, the thing smelled like weed and Big Macs.

“Rex has to be behind the sick wolves,” I said, crouching to fit as she slammed the back door behind us. I sat back and felt the beaded seat covers dig into my rear. It was a simple process of elimination. We didn’t do it. Fang had no reason to upset his power base. “Rex will benefit most.” And he sure didn’t waste any time making a run for the alpha position.

“Nice job, Nancy Drew.” Ant Eater stumbled over an aluminum ice chest and the whole bus lurched. “Shut up and listen,” she said, pulling me close. “Fang’s son was the original second-in-command here. He was no daisy ass, but he was a lot better than Rex. Now that he’s gone, Rex is going to make our lives hell.”

Ant Eater’s WWE style of diplomacy didn’t help any either. I’d met four-year-olds with more finesse. But now was not the time to discuss it.

“How do we even know JR is gone?” I asked her. I didn’t trust a word that came out of Andrea’s mouth. “Rex just wants to blame everything on us.”

“Yes and no.”

She knew more than she was telling me. Naturally. “Answer me straight or you don’t want to know where my next switch star is going.” I held her gaze, daring her to test me. “Are we behind any of this?”

“Yes.”