Finally I could see again, and I let out a little shriek, ducking when a black ball of ever-after arched toward us. Pierce. He’d thrown something.

It struck Ku’Sox right in the head, little pinpricks of his aura hitting me like sleet. Ku’Sox stumbled as if shocked, and I scrabbled for a grip as he began to fall. The curse flashed through Ku’Sox, jerking his muscles stiff, but then it was me screaming when the son of a bitch shoved Pierce’s curse into me instead.

I howled as the arc of electricity jumped from neuron to neuron, burning. I caught a glimpse of Pierce, horrified, and then the pain was gone and I was panting, trying to breathe as I hung limp over Ku’Sox’s shoulder.

“What are you doing?” Vivian shouted from a thousand years away.

“You think your white charms are going to do anything against that?” Pierce yelled back, and the band started to falter—except for the drummer, lost in the throes of his passion.

“Please don’t do that again,” I slurred, head hanging. Conversation hummed in my stunned ears, and I caught a few uneasy whispers. We passed another table, and I started to rally. It was up to Ivy. Magic wouldn’t do it—it had to be physical.

“Thank you, God,” I said as I heard her scream at him. The world spun, and I hit the floor, sprawling and hip bruised. I looked up to see Ivy and Ku’Sox in a tangle on a table. Shouts of protest rose high as glasses and plates hit the floor. My phone was humming, the buzz in my back pocket almost lost in the vertigo that was hitting me. Dizzy, I rolled to get out of the way. People were starting to scatter. We had to do this fast, or the freak would start eating people.

“Jenks!” I shouted, ducking under the table when a chair Ivy had thrown shattered near my elbow. “Get Trent out of here!” I shouted again, thinking that maybe if Trent was gone, the demon might be constrained to follow.

Jenks hesitated in midair, hovering between Ivy and me, clearly torn.

“Tell him to get the car!” I yelled, a little ding from my back pocket telling me whoever it was had left a voice message. “Bring it here!” The demon would follow him or not. Either way, we’d have a quick way out of here when the shit quit hitting the fan.

Leaving a burst of frustrated dust, Jenks darted from Ivy to me, his long hair swinging. His sharply angled face twisted up in indecision, but before he could say anything, Ivy yelled in pain. We both looked to see her slide across the floor on her back until slamming into the bottom of the stage. Blinking, she shook her head, trying to focus. The drummer finally stopped, and in the sudden hush, she slurred, “I’m okay. Get the freak of a demon.”

That did it, and even as Ku’Sox dramatically turned, people surged to the doors in a panic. In seconds, the emergency door began screaming, and the people trying to get out of the jam-packed front surged to the rear. Ku’Sox seemed to be enjoying the chaos, raising his arms in benediction and soaking it all in as the fear rose and the noise grew louder.