Vanzir tightened his grip, and I felt his breath on my ear as he leaned in. “Two of a kind, babe. We’re two of a kind,” he said in a gravelly voice.

I knew he was taunting me, but I didn’t answer. How could I? He was right. How could I argue over something that was so basically true?

Smoky dipped, gliding lower to the ground. Now we could see Rozurial and Camille racing across the mist-shrouded ground. They were single-minded machines, neither noticing us nor looking up. Forward they ran, keeping pace with one another. From here, I could see that Camille had a slightly crazed look on her face. The full Moon was coming up in a couple of days; she was probably already feeling the energy. Hunting prey on the astral must only increase the drive.

The touch of Vanzir’s hands around my waist began to burn, as he pressed against me from behind. I couldn’t help myself. I leaned back, leaned into his embrace as his lips sought my neck, sucking hard, biting, nipping at me.

“Oh Great Mother, this is not the time nor place,” I said, trying to break free of whatever mania was sweeping over us.

“Don’t let the energy worry you,” Smoky’s voice bellowed out. “You’re just feeling the rush of Camille and Rozurial’s hormones. They’re both running so hot and heavy, they’re leaving a trail of pheromones in the astral breeze. The only thing that anybody has to watch out for until we catch up with the Karsetii is if that incubus takes it in mind to play touchy-feely with my wife. Just ride the wave till we get there.”

Dizzy, I tried to pry myself out of Vanzir’s arms, but he gripped me tighter, his lips pressed against my neck, my shoulders, my cheeks. I twisted around, intending to push him away, but the vortex of color swirling in his eyes caught me short. I let out a short bark of surprise as he fastened his lips on mine, lifting me up and turning me around to face him.

As I straddled Smoky’s back, pressing against his sides with my knees to keep my balance, Vanzir leaned forward, backing me up till I lay flush against Smoky’s opalescent scales. Vanzir rested on top of me, his hips pressing against me between my legs, his lips kissing me so deeply that I felt myself falling. The passion built, threatening to engulf me. Suddenly worried, I felt for my fangs with the tip of my tongue, but they stayed retracted.

“They won’t come down unless you want them to,” Vanzir whispered. “When you fuck another demon—a real demon—you’ll find it easier to keep control of your nature. And I won’t automatically try to drain you like I normally would someone who isn’t of demon heritage.”

“You try to drain me, and that collar you wear beneath your neck will kill you immediately,” I said, but he brushed aside my comment as his lips met mine again, and he pressed hard against me, his fingers reaching for my zipper.

I wanted him. I wanted to strip naked and fuck right there on Smoky’s back, but we were headed into battle. We’d need all our energy, all our senses.

“No, we have to be ready for battle. We can’t do this here—now. But later, I want you.” I pushed against his chest, feeling his heartbeat. It wasn’t like a normal pulse. As I gazed into Vanzir’s eyes, his lip twitched, and he slowly extended his tongue and flicked my nose.

“I know,” he said, smirking. “Don’t you ever lie again about how you feel. We’re both demons. Leave falsehoods for those who can’t take what they want, who don’t possess the power to tear life apart at the seams. We can share this together without worrying about stealing life from our partners.”

As he eased up, I pulled away and stared into his eyes. “I thought you weren’t into women,” I said. “You know I’m with Nerissa.”

“I also know you and Rozurial have something going on. As for you and women—so what? I’m like you. I pick my partners based on who I’m attracted to, not what equipment they come with.” A veiled cloud passed over his face. “Karvanak wasn’t my choice. He reamed me repeatedly. But he’s dead now, and I hope he spiraled into oblivion. But just because he abused me, doesn’t mean I don’t fancy a pretty boy now and then.”

And then I understood what he meant. We were two of a kind, on more than one level. We’d both been tortured at the hands of sadistic assholes. I’d probably had it worse—Dredge had forever shifted my nature, but that didn’t mean that Vanzir wasn’t sporting hidden scars. True, he’d been a demon already, but he’d also been trying to sublimate his instincts. Karvanak had used that against him.

I touched his hand gently. “We are alike. And yet . . . remember this: Most of our comrades have been through hell of one sort or another. Delilah didn’t ask to be turned into a Death Maiden. Camille’s always been the anchor for everybody else and their traumas, and one of her oath lovers is missing. Rozurial watched his family get torn apart by Dredge, and then the gods ripped his marriage to shreds. Even Chase—Karvanak gave him a taste of his torturous ways. We aren’t that special, Vanzir. We just understand one another.”

“Heads up!” Smoky’s voice echoed over his shoulder. “Looks like the incubus and Camille found something!”

I swung around, once again straddling Smoky face forward. His sinuous neck bobbed to the side, giving us a bird’s-eye view of something that struck a nasty, nasty chord in my gut.

The Karsetii clones were there, yes, aimed at a black portal that had a series of runes inscribed in blue flame across it. I recognized the runes; they were demonic, and the last place I’d seen them had been on a poster on Larry’s wall.

“Shit—a demonic portal?” Who knew what else could get through that thing.

“Not just a portal,” Vanzir said, his grip around my waist tightening. But the passion of moments before had vanished. He was all business now. “That’s a Demon Gate.”

“What the fuck? Who opened it?” I stared at the runes as they flickered in the astral breeze. Camille and Roz had stopped short and were staring at the thing from a distance as the Karsetii clones headed toward it.

“I don’t know, but it wasn’t cast right,” Vanzir said. “This one . . . the runes are out of sequence. Whoever cast this is a fool. There’s no control attached to it—no method for commanding whatever comes through.”

“Then the Karsetii was summoned. But whoever did the summoning—”

“Whoever did the summoning,” Vanzir said slowly, “has no control over the creatures they’ve commanded in. And the gate’s still active and open.”

“And who knows what’s waiting for us on the other side.”

Smoky grunted as we headed in for a landing. As we touched down, Vanzir and I leapt off and raced over to Camille and Roz. Smoky shimmered, and within a brilliant flash, he was standing there in all his glory. His hair automatically began to braid as we watched the Karsetii clones, who scurried for the Demon Gate. Bright light of any form seemed to bother them.

As they scooted through the gate, I studied the runes, paying particular attention to how a couple of them had been drawn. Whoever set this up had to have drawn them in blood with a quill pen; that’s how a Demon Gate was usually set up. And usually, the canvas for the runes was dried skin from a sentient being—human if we were dealing with human wizards, Fae if we were dealing with Fae sorcerers.

Vanzir cocked his head. “Look. The rune on the left. That one usually calls out to the creatures from the fires, but it’s off, just by a fraction of an inch.”

“What’s that mean?” Camille asked. “Morio and I haven’t gotten far enough into our study of demonic magic for me to read them clearly.”

“The curved line there—it’s supposed to curve in, not out. The shift changes the meaning to creatures from the depths.” Vanzir shook his head. “Sloppy work. Whoever did this is no first-rate wizard, I’ll tell you that much.”

And then I knew. I knew who’d drawn this. “I’ve seen this mistake before. On the poster on Larry’s wall and on Larry’s ankle. He has a tattoo of that rune. Harold and the Dante’s Hellions—they have to be the ones who summoned the Karsetii!”

Camille sputtered. “Dante’s Hellions? So that’s how come they smell of Demonkin! Why the hell are they summoning demons?”

“I don’t know, but we’d better find out. Because even if we shut down this gate, chances are they’ll just open up another one, and who knows what the fuck they’re going to call in next time?”

As we stared at the Demon Gate, a low, rumbling noise filled the mists. My stomach flipped. “We’ve got trouble,” I said. “Can you feel it coming?”

Vanzir and Camille nodded, and we all stepped back from the gate. We were just in time. As the rumbling increased, a huge Karsetii—four times the size of the ones we’d been fighting—appeared through the gate.

“It’s Big Mama, folks. I think she’s come to play ball.”

Camille pulled out her unicorn horn. “Batter up,” she said, just as the Karsetii swiveled her way and began barreling down on her.

CHAPTER 19

“Holy crap!” I leapt toward Camille as she stumbled back. “Move! Now!”

She spun around, racing like the wind away from the demon, which was careening at full tilt toward her. Either it sensed her magical energy or the energy of the horn. Whatever the case, it aimed itself at her, tentacles streaming behind it. No lumbering movements here. The thing sailed through the air like a real squid swimming through water.

Smoky was instantly on its tail, shifting into full dragon form again as he hurled himself at the creature. Rozurial pulled out a long silver sword and headed into the fray, with Vanzir on his heels. I decided to help Camille. She might be able to run faster than me out on the astral, but I was still stronger. I raced to the front of the squid and leapt in between them.

The Karsetii was rumbling at me, full throttle. I waited. It could ram me a good one, but it couldn’t suck out any life energy from me because—guess what?—I didn’t have any.

As it loomed large, slowing by a fraction of a second, I ducked and spun, kicking with every ounce of strength I had as it zoomed overhead. My foot met it square in the eye, and I heard a shriek. Even though the impact jarred me to the core, it wasn’t as rough as hitting its incarnations. It occurred to me that perhaps they were part of the hive mother’s defense; maybe the demon was more vulnerable in person than its “children” were.

The Karsetii let out another shriek. I rolled out from under it, arching my back to leap back to a standing position. Smoky was on it now, and he had the bulbous brain of the demon in his gigantic mouth, shaking it like a dog might shake a rat. I stepped back, both impressed and wary. Smoky in attack mode at any time was impressive, but when he was in full dragon form, whoa Mama, he was a mean sucker.

I heard Camille gasp, then she yelled, “Menolly, run like hell. I’m going to fry this thing with fire.”

I ran. I ran so hard I almost tripped over Roz, who was darting around, looking for an opening in which to attack. Vanzir was just standing there, arms folded across his chest, watching the fight.

I raced past him, and he knocked me to the ground, shielding me with his body. I had the feeling the move wasn’t entirely altruistic, but I wasn’t complaining. Anything to keep me from becoming a crispy critter at the hands of my sister’s wayward magic.

“Smoky—move!” Her voice echoed through the mists as she held up the horn. I gather he moved, because she let out some sort of incantation, and a heat wave ripped through the area. The Karsetii let out a piercing scream and—from my prone position—I saw a flaming ball of demon squid barreling through the Demon Gate. The gate pulsated then fell silent.

As I pushed myself to a sitting position, I saw that Camille was covered with soot and slime. She grimaced, and I realized that not only had she been blasted by fallout, she’d been burnt. I raced over to her, but Smoky was there first. She moaned as he lifted her into his arms.

“She’s got burns on her arms and legs. They don’t look life-threatening, but they probably hurt like hell, and they’re going to need attention before she gets infected,” he said.

“Take her back over. We’re already at the FH-CSI. They’ll be able to treat her right there. Meanwhile,” I glanced back at Roz. “Roz will have to shift me over.”

“No. He’s not that good at shielding. He can take Vanzir but not you. All of you wait here,” Smoky said, then vanished with Camille.

I dropped to the ground. I wasn’t tired, but all of this chaos had left me reeling. “I hate this. We don’t know if the thing’s dead—”

“It’s not,” Vanzir said. “But it’s severely wounded.”

“Great. So we’ve got a wounded demon on our tail. And we’ve got a group of college kids opening Demon Gates. And my sister’s hurt . . . again.” I glanced up at Roz, who held out his hand. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet.

“There’s nothing you can do about it now,” he said, moving closer. Vanzir just watched, a bemused look on his face.

I wasn’t sure what to do. In the course of one day, I’d decided to sleep with both of them, and now what? It wasn’t that I felt any sense of guilt or worry; if they got their noses in a snit, too bad. At this point, my heart belonged to Nerissa, if anybody. But how was I going to work this? Somehow Camille’s bed seemed to expand with every addition of another lover. I wasn’t sure I wanted anybody sharing my bed. I might share theirs, but I didn’t want long commitments or ménages. One partner per session was more than enough for me.