The demon flew up and out, snarling in the air, arms and feet trailing uselessly. He crashed into the fence and I stood just in time to see Devi grab his shirt and shove him face-first into the ground. “Four!” she shouted, slamming her palm down on the degenerate’s back. The glow in her hand consumed the demon.

“Hey! That one was mine!” I yelled, and Reese laughed.

Devi shrugged. “Then next time exorcise it instead of playing with it.”

“I wasn’t…It nearly pulled my arm off!” I did fast math in my head, still trying to catch my breath. Three for Reese, four for Devi and two for Finn. “Wait, that should still leave—”

Something slammed into my back, and the earth flew up to meet me. My face hit the dirt, and air was driven from my lungs, through my throat.

“Nina!” Finn shouted. Footsteps pounded toward me, then stopped abruptly.

“She wanted a kill, Finn,” Devi said. “Let her have one.”

Something hot and wet dripped on the back of my neck, and I sucked in a desperate breath, forcing my lungs to expand in spite of the weight pressing me into the ground. Claws raked through my hair, and I felt as much as heard a dozen tiny pops as individual strands were ripped from my scalp.

The monster growled, and hot, unspeakably foul breath washed over me as it sniffed near my ear. It seemed to be looking for my face. My skin crawled and my pulse raced.

“Nina, do something!” Devi shouted, and footsteps pounded toward me again, but stopped when the degenerate screeched in warning. Exorcists were fast, but so were demons. They couldn’t get to me before the monster ripped my head off and slurped out my brains.

The degenerate clawed at my coat, and pain ripped through my back as he shredded both cloth and flesh. And that was when anger started to rival my pain and fear.

If I was about to die, I wasn’t going to go out facedown in the dirt.

I reached up and back, fumbling for a grip on anything, and my fingers closed over cool, taut skin. Ignoring another wave of revulsion, I pulled as hard as I could. The degenerate shrieked, and his claws ripped into my flesh again as I pulled him off me with a primal grunt of effort. I was stronger now, but the angle was awkward. Nearly impossible.

As soon as I was free, I scrambled to my feet. The degenerate squatted a foot away, hissing, and my hand started to burn. So I threw myself at him.

We crashed to the ground and I sat on his stomach, then pressed my glowing left hand against his chest. The demon screamed like a wounded cat, and my hand burned and burned and burned.