“Compages!” Ku’Sox shouted, and a shimmering protection bubble flashed into existence, breathtaking in its utter sordidness. This was true smut, making the black shimmer on my own aura look like a drop of oil in the ocean. Pierce’s curse hit Ku’Sox’s protective bubble and bounced right back at Pierce.

It was a beautiful bit of defensive magic, but it cost Ku’Sox his concentration. The pain in my chest vanished. My head came up, and I took in a huge gulp of air. In an instant, I read the strength Pierce’s thrown curse had absorbed from Ku’Sox’s bubble, knowing that the ill-made, green-tinted circle Pierce had taken refuge in wasn’t going to hold against it. The curse had Pierce’s aura and would go right through.

My eyes narrowed, and still on the ground, I whispered, “Rhombus.”

The rusty, broken West Coast ley line limped into me, and I wrestled with it, trying to get some semblance of order, but it was thin, ragged. My circle was huge, me at its center, as all theoretical, undrawn circles are, the edge of it just shy of Pierce and Ivy. They were outside my circle, but Ku’Sox and the deadly curse he had bounced back at Pierce were inside.

I grunted when Pierce’s curse hit the inside of my bubble, absorbing most of the energy from his magic as it tore through my circle and hit Pierce square on, having passed right through his bubble as if it didn’t exist.

“No!” I cried out as the curse struck Pierce and he fell, mouth open in a silent scream. “God, no!” I called again, struggling to get up as the curse spread to Ivy, and they both collapsed under a green-tinted wash of ever-after.

Mouth agape, Ku’Sox spun to me, his shock clear. “You…,” he managed, and then I saw Pierce move, his chest rising and falling as he lay stunned by his own magic. They were alive. They were out cold, but they were alive. Thank you, God, they were alive!

“Clever,” Ku’Sox managed, clearly peeved that I’d managed to save them, and I kicked him with all the force I had.

Yelping, he fell back. I sprang at him, my hands reaching for that doll, but he vanished an instant before I touched him, and I fell right through the space he’d been in, landing hard against the sidewalk, my curled-in fingers taking much of the impact.

“Ow,” I huffed, then rolled, instinct and too many fights telling me to move.

I was too slow to escape everything, and the toe of Ku’Sox’s boot helped me over, bruising my ribs instead of breaking them.

“Mother of a dog whore!” Ku’Sox shouted, following me with his foot swinging, and I rolled the other way, right into him.

He wasn’t expecting that, and he fell forward over me, hitting the sidewalk with an oof of surprise. Immediately I reversed my motion, almost crawling across him as he lay facedown on the sidewalk. Inside, a part of me was shrieking with laughter. Here we were, two demons in the sun, down to kicking and punching.