Something shiny caught my eye, and I turned my head to see the knife protruding from my shoulder. Bracing myself for the pain, I grasped the handle and yanked it free. Fire lanced through my shoulder, but I ignored it. I wasn’t giving the bastard time to recover. With gritted teeth I lifted my glowing hand from his chest and plunged the silver blade into his heart. He made a sound like air leaking from a balloon, and his eyes grew round in disbelief before he toppled over and was still.

“What have you done?” I turned to see Orias emerging from the hallway. He wore a look of horror mixed with shock. “Do you know who that is?”

“You mean was.” Jordan reached down, pulled her knife free from the vampire’s chest, and wiped it on his shirt. “And it’s nice of you to show up and lend us a hand by the way.”

Orias ignored her. “That was Stefan Price.”

I lifted my uninjured shoulder. “Is that supposed to mean something to us?”

“He was the oldest vampire in these parts, over one hundred and fifty years old, and very strong.” The warlock stepped into the room and stared at the dead vampire. “No one has ever fought him and lived.”

Roland limped over to us and laid an arm across my shoulders. “That’s because old Stefan never met a couple of real warriors before.”

Orias took in the state of his waiting room. “You four are nothing but trouble. You tore up my place and killed one of my clients.”

“That client tried to kill us first. Ask anyone here.” I looked around the room and caught sight of the stunned faces of the other occupants. My gaze met the eyes of the man with the yellow skin, and he jumped up and bolted for the door. Peter moved aside and the man disappeared into the night. He was followed by the two crones, who moved a lot faster than I would have expected them to.

I heard a whimper behind me, and I turned to look at the gray-skinned woman. The woman’s child clung to her neck, her little body trembling. Poor thing. I didn’t blame her for being terrified of that monster.

I walked toward them, intending to reassure the little girl, but her mother shrank away from me, holding her daughter tightly. “Please… my child,” she whispered, her black eyes glistening with tears.

“It’s okay. He’s dead.”

The woman seemed not to have heard me. She raised a hand to ward me off. “Don’t hurt us.”

Her plea stopped me in my tracks. She was afraid of me? “I wouldn’t...” I looked at my friends helplessly, but they were as surprised as I was. Facing the woman again, I took a tentative step. My fingers tingled with power. It took me a few seconds to put it all together. I stopped walking and locked my power away.

“You’re demons,” I said gently, remembering Kelvan’s reaction when he realized what Jordan and I were. Apparently, the Mohiri were known and feared everywhere.

“We’ve never hurt anyone. I promise. Please, don’t kill us.”

“No one is going to hurt you.” I knelt in front of her so she would feel less threatened. This was new territory for me. If they had been animals or some other kind of creature, I could use my power to calm their fear and earn their trust, but my power had the opposite effect on demons. “I give you my word that you and your little one are safe. What kind of demon are you?”

“She is a mox demon,” Orias said when the woman did not reply. “A very passive race, I assure you. She buys my glamour spells for her daughter, so she can attend school.”

I smiled at the woman. She didn’t return it, and I wasn’t surprised considering the situation. “I don’t know what you’ve heard about the Mohiri, but you don’t have to fear us.” I stood and looked around the room, meeting the eyes of the remaining visitors. “My friends and I aren’t here to hurt anyone.” I pointed at the dead vampire. “He was different. We kill vampires, but we don’t hurt innocent people, no matter what they are. That includes demons.”

I looked at Roland. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. What about you? You’re the one who is bleeding.”

My shoulder chose that moment to twitch, and I sucked in a sharp breath at the pain I had forgotten until now. Adrenaline is a great pain buffer, apparently. I put up a hand to cover the wound made by the knife. It didn’t feel like anything major had been hit, and the blood was already beginning to slow. I suddenly felt tired and wanted nothing more than to lie down. It felt like forever since I’d last slept.

“Come on. Let’s get out of here,” Jordan said. “I have something in my bag that will fix you up.”

I scrunched up my nose. “Please don’t say it’s gunna paste.”

Jordan grinned. “What else? I snagged a can before we left. I figured if I didn’t use it, you definitely would.”

I cast one last glance at the demon woman. She was rocking her child gently, and I heard her say softly, “Talael esledur.” Whatever it meant, it worked and the child stopped crying.

“I’m really sorry I frightened her,” I told the woman before I walked out.

Jordan retrieved the dreaded can of gunna paste from her backpack and laughed at my expression as I dutifully swallowed some. The stuff was horrid, but it worked amazingly fast to numb pain and speed healing. She was smart for remembering to take some. It wasn’t as if we could go to a hospital if we got sick or hurt. She got a towel from Orias to staunch the flow of blood until the gunna paste and my accelerated healing kicked in. The warlock happily provided one, and then he politely asked us to leave and never come back because we were bad for business.