Page 84 of Demon Apathy: Sunderverse

“What is what?!” she demanded as her neck rippled and the carapace disappeared.

“Um, nothing…” I stared at the ceiling.

But it wasn’t nothing. It was another reminder that, with demons, nothing was as it seemed.

She moved closer to the edge of the pentagram, a soft growl in the back of her throat, her slipper testing the chalk line.

“Fuck!” Sage said under his breath. “She’s pissed.”

It was time to dismiss her. I licked my thumb and forefinger and quickly leaned down to put out the north-facing candle.

“Get ready to put out the others,” I instructed.

Jenna and Sage leaned down, ready to extinguish the flames in the eastern and southern candles, but Benjamin stood petrified.

“I’m pretty,” Phenog said between clenched teeth. “My curls are bouncy, my skin is smooth, and look at my pudgy little fingers.” She wiggled them just as claws began sprouting from their tips.

My heart thundered in my ears as I heard myself say, “Youarevery pretty. Very Beautiful.”

“Benjamin!” Sage hissed.

Suddenly, Phenog fell to one knee and pounded her fists on the floor. The entire room shook. Benjamin lost his footing and fell against a footstool. Jenna and Sage swayed on their feet but managed to stay in place. But I wasn’t so lucky and, losing my balance, I lurched forward. The tip of my Converse came within an inch of the pentagram, and I teetered dangerously, on the verge of falling right into Phenog’s waiting arms.

I fought against the inertia that drew me into the pentagram, but I knew all was lost the instant my weight tipped hopelessly in the wrong direction, and I fell.

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Asmybodycrossedthe invisible barrier that separated me from the demon, her cherub’s face morphed into a living nightmare. Her eyes grew to a hundred times their size, turning multifaceted like a fly’s. Her rosebud mouth grew terrible pincers that clicked open and shut, ready to tear me to pieces.

My addled mind registered Benjamin scrambling, moving to put out the candle, but it was too late. I thrust my telekinetic power against the floor, hoping to stop my fall, but it had no effect.

The edge of terror cut into my heart.

I was dead.

There was a loud crash, and I perceived the door to the room bursting.

Drevan was here!

As I fell into Phenog’s suddenly hairy arm, Drevan took in the scene in a split second and acted just as quickly.

With a flick of his hand, the pentagram, the candles, the sigil were swept away, and with them, so was Phenog. The demon let out a shriek of frustration as she disappeared. It echoed in my ears as I fell face-first to the floor, barely having time to lift my hands and brace my fall.

Instinctively, I curled into the fetal position and began to rock.

I’m okay. I’m okay. Okay.

Jenna started to rush to my side.

“Leave her!” Drevan’s voice boomed. “Out of here, the lot of you. Stupid, stupid, reckless humans. Out, OUT!” It sounded as if a thousand Drevans had spoken at once. The eerie quality of his cry made my skin crawl as the vision of a vast hell full of tortured souls flashed before my eyes. A prince of Hell would need a voice like that to be heard over the din of suffering.

My insides trembled. I’d never seen him like this. In fact, he was always gentle and understanding, a paradox.

Jenna and Benjamin huddled together while Sage stepped in front of them. “We’re… we’re not leaving her.”

—Tell them to leave or I’ll…

Trembling, I struggled to all fours, afraid of what Drevan might do to them in his anger. “It’s okay, guys. Wait… for me outside.”