Page 29 of Demon Hunger
The demons would not wait to hurt, kill, or possess someone. I had to help.
11
Quellerraised,Ichargedinto the fray, running in the opposite direction of everyone else. Past a popcorn stand, I spotted a tentacled creature that reminded me of Jell-O Boy, except it wasn’t him. This creature’s body was not gelatinous. It was brown and leathery, oozing a foul-smelling crimson liquid through the many suckers in its many extremities. The demon had a huge, bulbous head just like an octopus, except it also had a humanoid body and way more than just eight tentacles. A ridge of spikes ran down the middle of its head, and a mouth with rows of teeth arranged in concentric circles took up most of its horrible face.
I searched for an opening to charge in and plunge my Queller into the creature and quickly found one, so when it turned its two glowing eyes away from my general vicinity, I went for the kill.
An arm hooked around my waist and stopped me. “No!” It was Drevan, holding me tightly against his body and pulling me back.
“What are you doing?!” I demanded. “I had it.”
“No, you didn’t. That’s not a demon. Let’s get out of here.”
Not a demon? What was he talking about?
He pushed me behind the popcorn stand and scanned the area. “Where are the others?”
“I don’t know. I left Jenna behind.” Which now I regretted.
“Duck!”
Drevan forced me down just as a huge tentacle swung overhead, splitting the stand in two and sending popcorn flying in every direction.
Wrapping a hand tightly around my wrist, Drevan dragged me away from the demon, or whatever it was, guiding me back toward the stage, where I’d left Jenna. To my relief, we found her there with Benjamin and Sage.
“Where is a Queller when you need one?” Sage was saying, looking ready for a fight while Benjamin held back.
“Don’t be stupid. Drevan’s here. He’ll take care of it,” Benjamin shot back.
“No, I won’t,” Drevan informed him as we rushed past. “Run! Get the hell out of here,” he urged.
“What?” Sage looked as confused as a preschooler hearing about quantum physics for the first time, but Benjamin pushed him along, too smart to question a direct order from the Prince of Hell.
“What about Kody?” I asked.
“Khargon will make sure he’s safe,” Drevan assured me.
“Why are we running?!” Sage demanded, quickly catching up with us.
Drevan didn’t answer. He just kept pulling me along toward the exit, cursing under his breath at the crowd obstructing our path.
A slithering, meaty sound caught my attention. I glanced back over my shoulder to find the huge creature moving in our direction, its slimy tentacles gliding over any obstacles they found in their path and covering everything in their putrid red drip.
“It’s headed our way,” Jenna exclaimed. “And fast.”
A little boy no older than four was on the ground, huddled into a tight cocoon, arms over his head. People were rushing past, barely missing him. I yanked my hand free from Drevan’s and pushed a grown-ass man as he almost trampled the kid.
“Lucia!” Drevan shouted in frustration.
Swiftly, I sheathed Blazebringer, picked up the little boy—who thankfully was small and slight—and kept going. The kid’s arms wrapped tightly around my neck as he sobbed and called for his mommy, who heard him, snatched him away, and kept going.
Drevan joined me, his gaze reproachful. But could he blame me for saving an innocent kid? Of course, he couldn’t, so he just wrapped a hand around my back and urged me on.
“Let’s fly out of here,” he said.
“No, we can’t leave Jenna and the others behind.”
By his resigned expression, I knew he understood there was no way we could leave our friends behind.
