Page 52 of Claiming Demons

So…thiswas Erini.

And before I could do anything, she unleashed all of her envious, vengeful fury on me.

ANAIS

Erini’s blastof destructive fury never reached me. Fen stepped in front of me and devoured it in one gulp.

“Get out of here!” he shouted at me. “I’ll take care of her!”

My first thought was:like hell, I can fight too!

But then Fen and Erini went at it, full-force and furious. Fen brought forth his beast enough to match Erini blow for destructive blow, but that quickly led to the small room being torn apart. It started to collapse on the two of them

My second thought was:I need to make sure no one else gets hurt, but I can’t get past Erini. She was blocking the only doorway.

Then a stray blast of her fury destroyed a wall nearby making a new exit.

“I’m going to make sure everyone else evacuates, then I’ll come back and help,” I called back to Fen as I climbed through the hole. Fen was too preoccupied to respond.

I bolted for the door of the next room… but with my hand on the knob, I realized I was still buck naked.

I summoned my armor, shimmering around me. It didn’t entirely obscure my form, but it did more than some of the dresses other goddesses had been wearing tonight. It would have to do.

I ran into the hall, but Erini was still in the doorway of the other room. She screeched her hatred and blasted a blazing line of energy at me.

With a yelp, I ducked back into the room I’d just left, then quickly dove back out and rolled across the hall to another door, bursting through it and into the main ballroom.

Some people were already fleeing from the rumbling and blasting nearby, and I shouted, using all the command presence I could summon through my law aspect.

“Get out of here! Two daemons of destruction are going at it, and I don’t know how long things will hold!”

That got their attention and people began running. Most headed for the exits, though a few ran toward the fight or toward me. Ramsey and Harmonia headed in my direction. But even as they did, Erini burst into the large room and let out a terrible bellow of pure fury.

Pain lanced through my skull and I covered my ears, watching as the ceiling and floor both shattered from the sound wave. My pulse racing, I dove for safety, but Ramsey and Harmonia weren’t fast enough and fell through the collapsing floor.

“No!” I shouted, reaching out in vain toward my lover and my friend, but they were gone into the blackness below. Then heavy chunks of the ceiling crashed past me into the hole and on top of them.

Cement dust billowed around me, obscuring my vision and clogging my lungs. I wanted to go after Ramsey and Harmonia… or destroy Erini… but I couldn’t do either at the moment, and right now, I just needed to get somewhere where I could breathe.

I heard more sounds of fighting as I staggered to my feet, coughing. Then the floor dropped out from under me, tilting, and I fell, sliding down a level.

I landed on my feet in a mostly cleared area, and bolted, before more of the floor above me came crashing down.

Frantic, I swept my gaze around trying to find Ramsey or Harmonia, but I couldn’t see anything except rubble.

“Ramsey! Harmonia!” I had to find them.

Concentrating, I reached out through my love aspect, connecting with all three of my guys. Fen was strained and struggling but alive, while Grey was still at his apartment. With Erini here, I knew my kids were safe so I reached out to him quickly.

Erini is here. We need you,I said into his soul.

Coming,he replied, sending a ripple of relief washing through me.

I turned my attention to Ramsey. He was somewhere far below me and I sensed a crushing pain from him.

So far down!

There was no way I could get to them.