2

The monster pushed itself off the ground and rammed into a parked car. An alarm wailed upon impact and drowned the distressed shrieks that ran further away from the house. It bounded after the straggler, each powerful step clumsy from dragging every limb at once.

Two of Peter’s friends hid behind a parked truck instead of running. They taunted the thing with some flimsy wood planks they found in the truck’s bed. Idiots. I’d already planned my return to the house, with weighty furniture pieces to barricade the door.

Then I heard the monster reach their car.

The boys hollered like they were watching a sporting event. With one swoop of its arm, the monster rolled the truck. It crushed the car next to it and exposed the guys hiding beneath it.

Time slowed as their impending doom played before my eyes. If I did anything inhuman to stop the monster, someone could report me. I hoped they wouldn’t since I rescued them, but it was still a risk. My aunt’s efforts to keep us hidden would go up in smoke. I’d only met Peter the other day. He could want to report me too. All it took was one human witness against a demon.

I should’ve run and never looked back.

“Hey!”

But I’m an idiot too.

The monster turned at my voice. Oh, gods . So much regret. It all seemed so heroic in my head, but now? Dead. I was dead. If I could hold it off until help arrived, I could save Peter’s obnoxious friends. Hopefully, that didn’t mean giving up my life.

Even as a demon, I couldn’t predict my chances against that thing. I’d never fought anything like it in my life. The dummies in our apartment that my aunt practiced on, or the one time I had to fend off a curious vampire, hardly counted.

The monster’s neck looked too thick for decapitation. Not like I had a weapon, or stomach, to do so. Barbaric, I know, but head removals worked as a universal method of killing. I didn’t make the rules. Life and Death seemed to enjoy brutality.

The boys in the truck began shouting and banging on the turned over car. If they were surprised by my boldness, I felt the same. Their attempt at a distraction worked for maybe a second, but the human spider-monster came at me at a speed I hadn’t expected.

I fled toward the black asphalt just as four of its six arms came down hard. Before I got pounded into wine, I dove to the side. My gloves saved me from shredding my palms. It stumbled around like a toddler before but seemed to have gotten faster.

Small craters imprinted the ground where I’d been standing.

“Call for help!” I snapped at boys and ran.

The monster followed. I could feel its heavy stomps shaking us like an earthquake. Too close. Something hard came swinging at my side. My body flew into someone’s car, and my back cracked their windshield.

“ Fuck …” I rolled off the hood, catching myself before face-planting on the cement. A crippling pain spread around the area of my tailbone. Something cold and wet clung to Peter’s flannel. I must’ve been bleeding.

I needed to heal. Soon . Real soon.

Most supernaturals could cure themselves rapidly, but I’d never endured such injuries before. Only minor cuts and bruises. I had no timeline for reference.

When I stood, a colossal shadow fell over me. The thing gnashed its teeth while strings of drool dripped through the crevices of its chapped lips. It took a wide swipe at me with one of its beefy arms.

The mass hit like a bus. I caught the moving limb with my hands, but my body screamed in pain. My knees buckled under the weight. Using all my strength, I restrained its meaty hand from pulling back for another blow. Sadly, he had more limbs to go around.

It brought up two more, and I just watched. I imagined the pain of broken bones and a crushed skull. Supernatural healing didn’t mean anything if I had no functioning brain left. If reapers were watching, I prayed they’d take my soul quickly so I could avoid the agony.

But I doubted they would take an undying person. So I called internally to any deity that would hear me out. Good or bad.

Something answered.

My blood boiled like I’d summoned Hell in my veins. I looked up into the creature’s gnashing teeth and a second later, a black shroud bursting with golden fire covered me. Each flame tore free from the mass, consuming my vision and eating away at the monster. With no clue where it came from or what, I knew I had to release the erratic power before it consumed me too.

Shrieks, like nails on a chalkboard, scratched my ears, but I couldn’t see beyond the darkness. I blacked out, only for a second, before waking up flat on the cold gravel. Long strands of copper hair spilled across my throbbing head like rivers of blood. Every one of my bones creaked as I sat up.

I had done some strange things in the past, but that ?

That was new.

Had it actually been me? Someone could have cast a spell somewhere nearby. The ghostly, black mist returned to my body, disappearing through my pores. My arms burned red before softening again, taking the heat and chaos with it. Even more concerning were my veins that glowed white beneath the fleshy surface.

When I saw my three-headed attacker at my feet, I gasped.

It didn’t move. Streaks of glowing lights etched a spiderweb into its charred skin. I lifted my ankle and nudged it with the tip of my shoe. One of the three faces crumbled into a dust pile of bones and teeth. I trembled and covered my mouth to avoid inhaling the ash.

What had I done?

I searched for any remnants of the mysterious power. It saved my life, but if it happened again, would I turn into a crisp? The monster had been barbecued. Why had it been there in the first place? Something that hideous had to have a demon or witch nearby calling the shots.

The creature stirred.

My breathing became strangled. The remaining half that hadn’t disintegrated fought to piece itself back together, like two worms wriggling through dirt, except the dirt was ash of its own flesh.

Another set of eyes watched me from across the street. Someone stood in a dark hooded jacket that tapered out like a cloak. He was still, not racing in desperation to get help. Instead, he lifted a pale hand. A black knife extended his reach. He rotated his wrist like opening an invisible door and twisted his weapon into it.

Broken body parts from the creatures reacted to his movements. Its two remaining mouths hissed and groaned as its faces were dragged back toward the stranger’s feet by an invisible force. My ass remained cemented to the spot while I shook like a leaf. The smell of magic in the air became unbearable.

I kept my eyes on the hooded man and slid backward on my palms. His head jerked upward, revealing a pair of eyes that reminded me of orange and red fire. They refused to blink, unsettling me further.

His first steps toward me started slow but when I flipped myself over, the sound of his heavy boots picked up into a sprint across the road. I grasped the side of the car, prepared to use it as a shield. The pain in my side made me think I had a cracked rib, or two, adding to my negative odds.

Was he a powerful sorcerer? A demon? Cultist?

I couldn’t think of a reason why he needed to get to me, ex cept to finish what the monster started. Maybe he didn’t like witnesses. I clutched my side, feeling the soreness of my body trying to heal while I pushed myself forward. Could my power save me a second time? If I even knew how to conjure it again.

The stranger’s hasty movements came to an abrupt halt. I dared to look back, confused by the silence, but he’d vanished. The monster pile had gone as well. I let out a breath that stabbed my lungs. Flashing lights and loud sirens approached from down the street, along with black cars marked with a halo that encapsulated a single angel wing.

Help had finally arrived.

Peacekeepers.