Chapter 13 - Cliff

A wave of nausea clashed with my inner strength as I waltzed up the basement steps with Moe behind me and Larry ahead of me. Curly was waiting for the three of us in the living room, and he promptly went to the front door once we arrived. Out in the windy Bangor morning, I felt the mist of attention coming from the neighboring windows.

Just because I couldn't see anyone watching didn't mean there wasn't anyone watching.

Things around here were worse than I thought if the neighbors were too scared to leave their houses for an Alpha challenge. The air shifted when I stepped into the street. Ahead, I saw the smaller crowd that had gathered, the early attendees who wanted a front-row seat, along with Bill's staunch supporters. Whether they were all possessed wasn't obvious yet. But the truth would reveal itself with time.

Bill came first. Everything and everyone else would fall into place after that.

My thoughts flurried together like a tornado and then settled as I combed through the facts we had discovered last night. Robyn and I found a demonic journal. Though we couldn't understand all of it, we could discern the drawings, and those drawings had given us bold words that I hoped I could pronounce properly once the fight got to a good stopping point.

Moe pushed my shoulder. "Come on, hero. Walk ."

I sneered back at Moe while stepping forward. "Careful there, pal. You wouldn't want to get on my bad side."

"You couldn't kill a fly if you sneezed hard enough."

"And you won't be in that host much longer to find out, Tally Boy."

His eyes grew two sizes. "What the hell did you just say to me?"

Larry intercepted a hand. "Let's move ."

"But he—" Moe pointed at me, showing some of the first signs of humanity in himself since I got here. "He knows ."

My brows twitched with interest. "Knows what?"

Larry shoved me along the street, coaxing me to show him what I had in mind for the fight. I tried to disregard his jabs. Some of them were hard, but most of them were just annoying. I didn't want to stroke his ego by engaging in fight foreplay. I wanted to face Bill, injure him enough to weaken him, and then shout out each of their names.

All the while, Robyn would be helping from the sidelines.

I dodged the last punch Larry attempted and stood solidly in front of Bill with my eyes on him but not really on him. In truth, I was searching the area for that familiar golden gaze with reddish hair.

Bill grinned proudly and adjusted his eerily normal ballcap. He looked like any other guy in his white t-shirt, green letterman jacket, and thick blue jeans. His snow boots were probably overkill, but what did I know about demons and their temperature preferences? For all I knew, this Sostreth guy was freezing his ass off in there.

His black eyes rinsed clear. His features relaxed, the lines fading to three years ago when they were much less intrusive on his eyes. He blinked, swallowed hard, and then gasped as he gaped at me. "Baby Boy Spears."

My heart felt like it caved into the ground. "Oh, you're a jerk."

"You remember that?" Bill stepped forward, shivered, and then took another step. "They called you Baby Boy Spears for damn near four days because they couldn't decide if they wanted to call you Clifford or Clifton." He laughed once, sardonically. "I thought I told you to save yourself, Boy Spears."

This was downright dirty for this demon to do. I clenched my fists at my sides while the crowd around me grew restless. They came for a fight, and they were about to get one as soon as I channeled this rage into the right places.

Bill's right eye twitched as he started to smile. His piercing green eyes lasered back to black. "Been a while since Adrian said hi. You should send him my regards."

Skin ripped down the center of his face. The flesh peeled back in slimy spurts as an earthquaking growl resonated from his throat. Around me, the crowd ruffled with shocked anticipation. It would probably take an extra ten seconds for Bill to shift into his demonic wolf form. That gave me a small window to look for Robyn again.

My eyes flitted worriedly over the crowd, jumping from face to face with unfamiliar alarm. Too many black eyes glistened with the rising sun. Too many smiles were shimmering with murderous glee. Each time made it more difficult to turn to the next face that I knew would frighten me.

And all that was dizzying.

I spun around for a second in a strange haze, trying to sort out why the sky appeared to wear a copper filter. After rubbing my eyes, I checked the crowd again, searching the air for black licorice and pepper…

There!

My eyes snapped to the spot where Robyn stood with Sydney on her hip. She raised her hand high in the air, sending a tuft of sparks into an arch shape that reminded me of fireworks. Crackling energy danced from her side of the street to mine, where the ground solidified beneath my feet.

I focused on Bill with a smirk as my spine crunched. I stumbled forward and landed on my fists, which caused the paved road to crack. Paws soon sprouted in their place. My throat expanded as my mouth widened, my gums gruelingly sore with my newest set of sharpened teeth.

I tried to speak as my tongue lengthened, "Sostr—"

Gag .

Human words tasted like rotten syllables. I grunted and whimpered as I tried to repeat the sound. I had to say it before Robyn started chanting, before anyone caught on to what we had caught on last night.

Before me stood a lanky and sticky gray-blue creature that stood like a hyena with a wolfish face and elongated snout. Tufts of charcoal fur sprouted everywhere as it stomped its two massive forepaws. The audience scampered back toward their patios and porches, giving us a wider berth as the last of my shift concluded.

Shaggy, dirty blond fur covered the entirety of my body as I observed his weak points—his right leg had a limp, and he seemed cold. He nodded his head like he was preparing to start laughing. As I steadied my position, I noticed that the three henchmen of his were moving into a triangular placement around us.

Bill snarled at me with an abysmal maw made of rusty yellow wolf teeth and a thin, flat tongue that hung lazily to one side. When he snapped his jaws, the joints in his face clicked. It sounded like he was about to fall apart. I darted forward and bit his right paw, the weak one, and danced back as he swatted at me with a howl. Seconds after that, I launched for his belly, only to be met by the return swing of his paw.

That one's on me , I thought . I got too cocky with that one.

A flash of movement erupted on my left. Robyn yelled, "Watch your head!"

I ducked in time to avoid another return paw punch. As I galloped past Robyn, I scratched Bill's towering side, getting in as much damage as I could manage without getting swatted again. I glanced at Robyn in time to see her sucker punch Moe in the face and yell, " Talvarok, I banish you from this vessel! Talvarok, leave! "

White light strobed through the neighborhood as Bill roared aggressively. I shielded my face from the light and peeked through my paws to see what was going on—and I was amazed at the sight.

My mate, the most darling diva to have ever existed, was wielding a katana as she slashed Moe across the chest. The light emanated from the wound, spilling out like molten lava the color of a thousand burning suns. So much orange and yellow spun out from the slice that it appeared white.

Another roar came from Bill as Moe fell to his knees and slowly tipped forward. Like a waterfall unleashed, light poured out, sizzling through the tar of the road and into the ground beyond. Nothing else remained of him save for a piece of his pinky, the middle knuckle part. And even that didn't make it past the morning sunlight.

Soon, he was dust.

Bill slammed his paws, each thunderous bang producing a bellicose roar. I returned my attention to him as Robyn chanted in Latin, her voice gaining power and precision with every word as I steadied my position. I lowered my head and focused on Bill like an arrow ready to launch.

All I needed was to be wound up.

" Bigath ," Robyn announced with great authority, "I command you to retreat as the Goddess and God, and the combination of such deities cleanses you."

I snapped at Bill's heels. He didn't budge an inch, slowly stepping to the right to circle me. We turned about for half a second, then advanced simultaneously and latched on, jaw-to-jaw.

My eyes bulged.

His maw could swallow my head , I thought.

Timid sweat sprouted at the back of my neck, joining the adrenaline-fused sweat that had soaked through my fur already. Beyond the circle of awareness around my face, I heard Robyn shout again—then the obvious signs of a demon leaving this plane of existence.

Hopefully forever.

Bill growled, clamping his jaws harder around my snout. The smell of his rotten breath shrouded my senses, making it difficult to focus on my stance. My legs were weak. Every one of my bones burned with the force of my resistance. I dared to bare my teeth and chomped, taking a chunk of his lip with me as I bit his tongue. Howling, he swung his head back, taking me for a ride through the air.

I was disoriented by Bill tossing me like a ragdoll. Once I landed on the ground, I tucked my legs into a roll and kept rolling until I hit something stationary. The crowd murmured as a couple of people shouted out for me to get up. One person clapped. Another member started chanting, coaxing the crowd into a frenzy around me as they yelled for me to get up.

This ended now .

I hopped to my feet, shook off the dirt, and raced back to Bill, who was charging at Robyn. She was fighting off a couple of people who were trying to cover her mouth. Her golden eyes were furious as her mouth twisted in anger. Someone slapped tape over her mouth, flipping a switch inside me that I didn't know existed.

Bill slowed to a trot in front of Robyn. I took one last leap, aiming for his back as I shifted in the middle of the air. As soon as I had human lips, I screamed, " Sostreth , I banish you!"