He advanced it a frame at a time until the image of the forest bordered the black. As the rat's view shifted, it angled up for a brief instant, showing a face. I didn't recognize the man whose face it was, but I most definitely recognized his attire.

"That's not a gray man or Lornicus," I said.

"Holy crap," Shelton added.

Lornicus hadn't sent these rats. The Black Robe Brotherhood had.

Chapter 36

"They found us," Elyssa said.

A tremendous boom sounded and the floor shook. Glass rattled and the table jumped, sending ASEs scattering like marbles. Everyone exchanged shocked looks before running into the hallway and into the den. I saw three-clawed foot attached to a flaming leg slam the ground outside. Looking up through the windows in the vaulted ceiling I saw something out of nightmares open its mouth and roar. Two horns the size and shape of mammoth tusks jutted from the sides of the creature's reptilian head. Its arm swung forward and a colossal fist smashed into the window.

"Holy infernal bat crap, it's a demon!" Shelton shouted.

The window bent inward, stretched and repelled the thrust. The creature roared again and slammed the side of the house. Chandeliers clattered, and a bookshelf teetered precariously before falling over with a crash.

I stood stunned, unable to move at the sight of the monster. What in the hell could we do against something like that? It looked at least as tall as the mansion, flames licking from between the cracks in its rocky volcanic flesh. I'd seen a demon when I was little. Scary as it was, it had looked nothing like this. A crude iron chain encircled the monster's neck, the end hanging loose across its chest.

"What do we do against that thing?" Shelton said.

I had no answer.

Another thud rocked the house. The place had to be enchanted to hold up against the pounding, because I didn't think for a minute a normal house would remain standing from such a beating. The house had once belonged to Ezzek Moore and the Arcane Council long ago. They must have prepared it to withstand attacks, but against something like this?

I looked at Elyssa. She looked as out of ideas as I was.

You're part demon. Think of something!

Demons didn't just come knocking. They had to be summoned. That meant there must be a summoning rune nearby. When I'd seen a demon as a child, I'd somehow spoken to it. That one had been summoned using a piece of plywood studded with nails and patterned with wire. An aether generator had activated it. Turning off the power had closed the summoning portal and sent it home. I doubted the brotherhood used such a thing. They'd probably spent time crafting the rune, maybe in the earth outside. If we could close it, we could banish the demon. But how could we accomplish that with battle mages waiting outside?

I took a quick headcount as the floor shook again. We didn't have nearly enough people to handle this thing. The best bet would be a hasty retreat through the portal downstairs. I sucked in a breath as an idea came to me.

"Elyssa, how fast can your father assemble a team?"

"Immediately," she said.

"Shelton, open the portal to the Templar compound. Elyssa, call your father. Tell him we need reinforcements. Bring them through the portal to the mansion then open the portal behind the attackers so the Templars can flank them."

Elyssa whipped out her phone and dialed. Shelton gave me a look as if he thought I was out of my mind. I probably was, but this place was home now, dammit, and I wasn't going to stand for this.

"Go!" I roared at Shelton.

He and Elyssa booked it out of there, heading to the cellar stairs.

I turned to Stacey. "Do you think we could get some moggies to help us?" She could turn ordinary felines into monstrous cats, but I didn't know how long it would take.

"I already have several here in the wine cellar," she said. "I thought they might be useful considering how much trouble you attract."

"How many?"

"A dozen. I can ask for volunteers, and morph perhaps two or three more, but it will take at least twenty minutes for each one, and all my effort." Her gaze settled on me. "I will be unable to fight."

"Do it. Ask your moggies to clear the area behind the mansion first."

Woods surrounded the house, and I had no doubt the battle mages were waiting for us to emerge. Dusk loomed outside, making the monstrosity slamming the house glow like a bonfire.

Stacey blurred from the room, taking the other staircase down to the wine cellar beneath the kitchen.

"Bella, if I wipe out the summoning rune, will that banish the demon?"

"No, it will unleash the demon from its controllers. You need the name to banish it." She bit her lip, apparently thinking hard. "However, a demon like this won't be able to keep its corporeal form for long before returning back to the demon realm. It requires the summoners to constantly fuel it with aether to remain. If we disrupt them, it will only be a matter of time before its body disintegrates, and its spirit returns."

"Does the summoning rune need to be near the demon?"

"It must be close. They probably used an area nearby in the woods. The demon is chained to its proximity."

"A tether?"

She nodded.

I flicked into incubus sight, extending my senses. Against my better judgment, I went closer to the window, and saw aether pouring into the giant creature. I followed the funnel of energy with my eyes, spotting an area behind splintered trees where the ground glowed a sullen red. The summoning rune.

My phone rang. I answered.

"Justin, we have a squad of thirty arriving in five minutes," Elyssa said. "My father said he has demon specialists on the way, but it could be ten minutes or more."

"Get the first wave through, and send them into flanking positions outside," I said.

"Got it." She disconnected.

How had Kassus gotten beneath our guard? What had happened with Lornicus's early warning system? There was no time to think about it. I had to do something. Reaching inside, I lowered the barrier between me and the demon half of my soul. It rushed out. I felt its senses perk and alight on the creature outside. A feeling of sheer rage suffused me.

How dare you invade!

Apparently, my demon half wasn't pleased at all. For once, I agreed. My body surged, muscles coiling around my arms and legs. My jeans stretched and tore. I felt my tail lash behind me like a whip, and horns burst from my forehead. My t-shirt ripped as chest and back muscles swelled. The ground fell beneath me, beast mode stretching my frame over a foot taller. My body stabilized. By the reflection of a broken wall mirror, I saw blue flames ignite in my eyes.

Kick ass.

I might not be as big as the thing outside, but I might be able to distract it. Turning, I dashed upstairs, simultaneously slamming shut the barrier between me and my demonic side, preventing it from consuming my remaining control. Even in such an emergency, I didn't want that to happen. I would grow even larger, berserk, and attack friend and enemy alike.

I ran out to the balcony where Elyssa and I had enjoyed our breakfast, and stood nearly eye-to-eye with the infernal beast. Unfamiliar words tore from my throat in the guttural language of the demons. I understood them, even if I couldn't repeat them. You face your destroyer!

That got the demon's attention. Eyes like burning meteors focused on me. A giant, clawed fist the size of my body raked at me. I blurred to the side. The patio furniture splintered. A wave of heat rushed past my face. I picked up a large potted tree in the corner and flung it at the demon. The clay pot shattered. Dirt rained down the creature's face. The poor tree burst into flame and fell to the ground.

It struck again. I dodged to the side. Heat washed against my body, singing my clothes, but not affecting my skin. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a second set of claws sweep toward me from the left. I tried to jump too late. The impact crushed the air from my lungs. I flew sideways. I felt branches raking my body. My hand snatched the top of a pine tree. The thin bough cracked and broke from the strain.

My clawed toenails dug into the trunk, and my tail wrapped around the tree on pure instinct. I sucked in a breath. The odor of brimstone filled my nostrils. The creature lumbered toward me, straining before jerking to a halt at the edge of the house and roaring displeasure. Its claws splintered nearby trees, narrowly missing me. The thing must have reached the end of its tether.

"Suck it!" I yelled in my deep demon voice.

A bolt of light speared past, narrowly missing my shoulder. I looked down to see a battle mage aiming his staff. Something swift, large, and studded with bony spines leapt from the shadows. The man screamed as a moggie the size of a grizzly bear took him in the throat, the cat's jaws crunching on flesh and bone.

I winced.

I felt another wave of heat as the demon swiped at me again. I had it distracted for now, but would it be long enough? I looked at the ground for more danger and spotted two men in an area of the woods cleared of brush. A complex pattern glowed against the bedrock. The men held up staffs, slammed them into the ground. The pattern burst into blue flame. A basso roar detonated the air. I slammed hands over my ears as the sound assaulted my super hearing.

A brilliant light flashed, and a creature spun in a vortex from the ground, icy blue fire flickering like lightning. Its torso looked almost human but everything below the waist swirled like a tornado. Icy claws gleamed. Heavily muscled arms tensed. Three glowing eyes regarded me from an otherwise perfectly smooth and featureless face.

I am so screwed.

My demon half seemed to agree.

The monster made a sound like a deep sad sigh. Its hands rushed together to crush me between them. I leaned back hard, pulling the limber tree back away as the hands clapped together. The shockwave propelled the tree toward the house. I leapt just as the fire demon surged for me. Its talons grazed my leg and I spun out of control, crashing hard on the roof, skidding along the top and to the crest.

My claws scraped the surface and caught on the peak of the house. The ice demon loosed a deep undulating sigh at its fiery sibling and slashed at it. I saw the summoners struggling, eyes squeezed shut as they seemed to pull on an invisible chain. The ice demon flinched, bellowed at the sky. I had to stop those men. Against one demon, it was all I could do to evade death. Against two—well I had better odds beating Bella at Scrabble.