Adam came from her left and swung his sword at Tevan, striking his thigh. Tevan howled in pain. Acidic blood sprayed from his wound, which popped and sizzled from the copper exposure. The demon went down on his knees.

Taking advantage, Adam swooped his blade upward, aiming straight for Tevan's throat. At the very last moment, Tevan jumped and disappeared. Adam's blade whooshed through air.

Tevan jumped back into the room right behind Adam.

"Watch out!" Claire yelled, raising air magick and sending a chair careening into the Atrika to knock him off balance.

Adam turned, dropped the sword and tackled the Atrika. Together, they rolled across the floor, punching each other.

To her right, Kai and Theo were locked in a magickal battle. Claire rolled to her feet and sent the couch crashing straight into Kai, giving Theo a chance to regroup.

Then she turned and refocused her attention on the tangle of Adam and Tevan. Tevan pushed his hands into Adam's chest and Claire screamed, knowing what was about to come.

Daaeman magick pulsed, scorching the air with its thick, acrid scent. Adam flew backward. He hit the wall behind him with a sickening thump, collapsed to the floor, and lay still. Cold terror crawled up her throat, but she had no time to dwell on it.

Tevan turned toward her and Claire raised a thread of earth to block and fire to parry with. She used both as soon as she pulled them, preventing Tevan from wrapping her in another tight coil of power. She couldn't allow him to drag her toward him again.

Aeamon magick didn't work very effectively on the daaemon. It worked as a distraction, or as a sideswipe—magick used the way Adam had done in Wisconsin, blowing up a car and managing to get the Atrika in the blast.

But it did work sometimes when you twisted it just right—a thing Theo and Adam had already grown good at and Claire had mastered.

She hit Tevan dead on with her thread of fire—perfectly executed. He blocked the stream, but it still sent him careening backward into a window. Glass shattered. The scent of charred daaeman rose in the air.

The shock of using two separate threads of earth and fire at the same time weakened her knees and sent her collapsing to the floor.

Rue's voice echoed in her mind. You still haven't learned to integrate the elements, Claire. Learn!

She drew a shaking breath, knowing she had no time for rest or recovery. Taking the opportunity to help Theo while Tevan was down, she whirled and drew two more threads.

Kai anticipated her action and shot a massive blast of power at her. She dove to the floor just as it hit. It scorched her back, singeing her clothes and sending a flare of pain through her.

She heard a very human grunt and the sound of fists hitting flesh. Claire army-crawled to the edge of the overturned couch—she'd landed behind it—and peered around to see Theo and Kai rolling on the floor, locked in a fistfight.