Halflings (25 page)

Raven and Vine spread their wings in the living room, leaping out of earth’s realm and into the next. Moments later, they materialized at the battle site. As he touched ground, slowing his descent and tucking his wings, Raven knew even the mid-plane had been too slow.

Two hell hounds encircled Nikki. It looked like she’d been fighting, or at least attempting to keep the hounds at a distance. Her clothes were ripped and a scratch sliced her cheek. A drop of blood slid to her chin.

Raven screamed and leapt atop one of the hounds. Before he could inflict the death the hound deserved, a wraith materialized from the shadows. With twisted fingers, he grabbed Raven by the neck. For a moment, Raven dangled in midair, until he released his wings again, catching the demon off guard.

It tumbled backward, spewing vile words. When it addressed the boys, its voice rose to a painful screech, like bars of raw metal rubbing back and forth. “Ah, sons of God — or should I say runaways. Why do you interfere?” Cold, red eyes shot to Nikki. “She’s nothing to you.”

“And what is she to you?” Vine said.

Raven shot Vine a look.
Way to go, little brother.

The demon’s focus did not waver from Nikki.

Vine repeated the question.

“She’s a promise,” it hissed. “A beautiful promise.” His eyes flashed to Raven. “Now leave,” he commanded, as if desperate to be left alone with Nikki.

Raven laughed. “What? When it’s just getting interesting?” He nodded for Vine to move between Nikki and the demon.

As Vine placed a hand on Nikki’s shoulder and extended the other toward the wraith, it growled. “I’m in no mood to kill Halflings today,” it oozed. “Look.” Holding out an arm, the wraith sliced his wrist with a gnarled black fingernail. His eyes widened wildly at the blood, and Raven felt his stomach tighten as its rotting tongue darted out and licked gray, bleeding lips. “The same blood runs in my veins. We need not quarrel.” The demon’s eyes hardened. “Give me the girl.” It reached out, and Raven knew the cold wind of death clamped onto Nikki.

It was as if icy hands closed on her neck, making it a struggle to breathe. Twenty yards away, the demon laughed, his hand still reaching toward her and strengthening the smoky haze encircling her throat.

She attempted a scream as one hell hound jumped Vine while the other attacked Raven.

Terrified eyes flew to both boys, and her pulse skittered as she realized neither would be able to release her in time. Nikki’s hands rose to her throat, attempting to dislodge the demon’s grip. Straining, she looked up to see Bo leap onto the demon.
This isn’t happening
…

As if the dog were just an annoying burr, the monster’s sharp talons dug into Bo’s hide and flung him away.

The unseen fingers then tightened, cutting her air supply and causing her head to pound as blood pooled below the
cinched vessels. A black veil closed around Nikki’s vision. A tear trickled the length of her cheek — even while asphyxiating, she could feel the cool path it left. She even heard the tear when it dropped to the ground.

“I will not die like this,” she gritted, willing herself to calm, to think. With what little consciousness she had, she imagined the fingers at her throat, pictured where the thumb would be — the most vulnerable digit in a choke — and twisted her fingers around the invisible thumb.

And yanked.

The demon screamed and the pressure immediately lifted. Though his face was contorted in agony, he reached for her again. As Nikki braced herself for another bout with its powerful grip, a white flash hit him square in the chest, driving him back.

She fell to the forest floor, gasping as she took in what had happened. Was that Mace with his hands clasped around the demon’s throat?

Oxygen filled Nikki’s lungs, encouraging consciousness and staving off panic as she lay in a fetal position on the ground. Her hand cupped her throat, which still stung from the remnants of the choke. As the world drifted back into focus, her breath caught. Above and around her, a demon and two hell hounds fought glorious beings so majestic she barely recognized them as her Lost Boys. Raven, Vine, and … yes, Mace. His rage made him even more exquisite. When a hound turned its attention to him and sank its teeth into his back, he seized it with both hands and cast it to the ground.

Perfectly balanced kicks and punches landed again and again while Vine veered his attention to the demon. Their style of fighting was flawless. Each strike hammered its target, powerful as mallets and executed with moves delicate as a ballet.

The boys glistened with sweat, muscles taut with strength and adrenaline as the fight raged on. Despite the demonstration Mace was providing, her eyes were drawn to Vine and the white-blond river of hair that trailed his every move. She’d always viewed him as the tagalong kid-brother type, but now she stared in awe of his ability. Spinning in a perfect arc, his pointed foot connected with the demon’s blistered face.

The thing cried out. Vine tossed loose hair behind him and landed another kick, this one to the throat. The demon and the boys fought with precision, as if able to anticipate each other’s moves. In unison, like a practiced dance they had performed for ages. And she watched it all in slow motion.

When Raven jumped in to help Vine and Mace with the demon, Nikki was so entranced by the battle before her she failed to notice the hell hound turning his full attention to her. When it was only a few feet away, she scooted back, but there was nowhere to go and she lacked the strength to fight. She didn’t have to; yellow fur drifted in front of her and jumped on the hound’s back, biting into its throat.

The monstrous being screeched a horrid sound and expelled a puff of foul air that caused Nikki’s nose to water. She crept closer to the fray, helpless as the hound snagged Bo with matted front paws and threw him into the dirt. As he struggled, Bo’s round, innocent eyes found hers. A moan, something like a whimper but filled with more pain, escaped from her dog, then another.

No, no, no!

With painfully slow movement, the hound ripped into Bo’s back with its razor claws. Finally, the dog lay still, moaning as the hound tore his flesh.

A scream gurgled from Nikki’s scratchy throat. Her eyes
blurred. Silently, she pleaded with Mace to turn around, to notice what was happening behind him. Bo couldn’t last through much more.

Instead Mace held the demon by the shoulders then jumped, planting both feet in the thing’s chest. It fell to the ground and disappeared in a puff of vapor.

Nikki blinked.

As Mace landed, he veered his attention behind him. His eyes flashed horror. In seconds that took far too much time, he flew toward Nikki and hovered near Bo and the hound.

Bo yelped once more as the hound sank his teeth yet deeper.

From above the attack, Mace grabbed the hound and jerked it from her dog.

Though her concern remained on Bo, Nikki’s mind was working to take in the boy before her. Spread from Mace’s shoulders to the small of his back and ten feet to either side were … “Wings,” she muttered. She rubbed her eyes, looked again. Yes, beautiful, creamy gray-white wings flapped up and down gently, causing Mace to float above the chaos. His eyes met hers reluctantly, and she could read the trepidation in his expression. He was afraid. Though he had taken on the hounds and demon with little pause, he feared what she would think of him in his true form. “You’re beautiful,” she mouthed, but he turned before he saw it.

She pushed to her knees, straining to examine him. But darker-gray wings flapped into her face, and she brushed at them to move.
More wings
? And arms that nestled her, folding her into what she realized was Raven’s body. She felt the wind his feathers created as he lifted her off the ground.

Mace grew smaller and smaller below until he finally disappeared in a sea of trees.

When Raven tucked her into the cleft of a high rock, she tried to stand, but faltered. Instead she moved toward the cliff edge on her knees. “Raven, I have to get back to Bo.” Looking down to the ground far below, she grabbed for something to hold as the world spun.

Raven’s eyes were fire on her, as if still wild from the fight. He spread his wings, chest tightening. “What do you think?”

“Raven, they need help,” she pleaded.

He spun from her, scanned the woods below. “It’s all over. We’re better off up here.” His wings rustled loudly as they tucked into his back.

“Are they okay?” she asked. “Is Bo all right?”

He released an angry breath. “They’re fine, Nikki.” Facing her, he snapped his wings out again. “You didn’t answer me. Tell me what you think.”

If they’re okay
… Dragging her attention from the patch of woods beneath, she reached, but stopped just short of touching. Her gaze flashed him the question.

“Go ahead,” he said proudly, and tipped his upper body forward.

Reaching to him, her hand fell to his shoulder. With long, slow movements, she examined the wing. Feathers, and something beneath that felt like bone, but thinner, more pliable. She dug her fingers into the middle of his wing, and he jumped. “Careful,” he said with a half smile. “Ticklish.”

A tiny laugh escaped her lips. Her other hand moved to examine the strange appendage, her fingers brushing and squeezing at various spots. “Why haven’t I seen them before?”

He stepped closer, letting the wings encircle her. “You only saw us in the natural plane. Never in the Spirit. This is what we look like in the supernatural realm.”

“Will I always see you like this now?”

“I don’t know.” He shrank the distance between them yet farther, closing her inside his gray feathers. “Maybe. Is that what you want?”

“I’ve never seen anything more beautiful.”

Raven’s eyes closed, and she felt his breath catch.

The sounds of wind increased around them. Raven’s eyes flew open, and she thought she heard an angry sigh. His wings spread, allowing her to escape. The wind shoved harder against her, accompanied by a noisy
flap, flap, flap
. She turned to the sound, to see Mace and Vine hovering above the rock. Their outstretched wings lifted and lowered them in seamless waves. Against the fading sun, the sight of the two stole her breath.
It’s like a Renaissance painting.
But the awe quickly shifted to panic. Within Mace’s arms, Bo lay motionless.

The police arrived at Nikki’s house just after Bo died.

“And you think a cougar attacked you?” Officer McMillan asked, seeming to gauge her answer and the honesty that lie within.
I should have said wolves. At least that has a slice of truth.
“When your neighbor called us, they said they heard a young woman screaming. You must have had time to get a good look.”

She didn’t make eye contact. “I said I don’t know what it was, sir. It
screamed
like a cougar.”

The heavyset officer turned his attention to Mace, who’d accompanied her and Bo to the house. “Good thing you came along when you did, son. This could have had a terrible outcome.”

Nikki turned on the officer. “My dog is dead!” she hollered. Her dad slid a reassuring arm around her.

Officer McMillan lifted the hat from his head. “Yes, well, he’s a hero. Saved your life, young lady.” Kind eyes seemed determined to apologize for his insensitivity. “We can order a necropsy if you’d like to determine what killed him.”

Her dad shot a look to her mom. Nikki watched the exchange, but was too depressed to analyze it further. All she knew was, dead or not, she didn’t want doctors slicing and dissecting Bo. “No,” she and her dad said simultaneously.

Her dad cleared his throat. “If they determine it’s a cougar, what will they do?”

The officer shrugged. “Not much. Unfortunately, one attack this close to the national forest won’t constitute a search.” He removed his hat. “I’m very sorry for your loss. But your dog died a hero. You can be proud of him.”

“Thank you,” she tried to say, but the words died in her throat.

As soon as the officer left, her dad wrapped a blanket around Bo’s body. Mace hugged her while her parents lifted Bo into the backseat of their car. The entire time, tears slid down Nikki’s face.