At first, they only watched us, some growling, others scenting the air as if to confirm what they already knew from the internal connection we shared. That I was there. That I wasn’t running. That my soul—the only one they could sense, thanks to my transitional state—was up for grabs.

Then one of them lurched forward and his movement triggered the rest. The demons launched into motion almost as one, and I stood steady between Finn and Reese, determined—if not truly prepared—to face the wave of violence about to crash over us.

Chapter Eleven

“Keep track of your stats, people,” Reese called as the monsters ran, leapt, and raced on all fours, barreling through the glow of the streetlights, bearing down on us so fast they looked like a storm of shadows closing in. “He with the highest body count claims the first shower.”

“Or she,” Devi said from his right. “Don’t get cocky.”

“It’s only cocky if you talk a better game than you play.”

“My point exactly,” she shot back, but Reese only laughed, and I realized this was their routine—a way to make light of the death and violence that defined their existence.

The first degenerate hit the fence with the crashclink of chain-link, and my nerves crested in a burst of destructive energy like nothing I’d ever felt. Finn let go of my hand and moved over to give us more room. Reese charged forward with a growl of his own as the first monster landed on our side of the fence in an impossibly deep squat, and in my peripheral vision, Devi tensed, silently preparing for battle.

Reese grabbed that first degenerate by her ripped shirt, and while they struggled, the second and third demons launched themselves at the fence. The second cleared the metal entirely and landed on the ground in front of Devi. The third perched near the top of the fence, his long, bare toes curled around metal wire while his deformed and knobby hands gripped the metal rod defining the top edge.

Finn lunged forward and I followed, my pulse racing so hard I could near nothing as loud as my own heartbeat. He grabbed the degenerate’s wrist and pulled with a low grunt. The monster screeched and fell end over end to land on his back in the dirt. Finn was on him in an instant, his hand already glowing, and when I looked up, I saw that the front of the junkyard was alive with light now.

A glow faded from Reese’s palm as another built around Devi’s, and while I stood there like an idiot, Reese rose from the degenerate he’d just exorcised. “One!” he half shouted, and before the word had even faded from my ears, he’d pulled another demon from the fence.