Seeker: Demon Killers [Fantasy/Action | Complete]

Chapter 25: Against Her Odds

Sounding the fire alarm cleared the shopping centre within ten minutes. Tora and Markl watched from the top floor the trickling of the last of the security guards and staff. The four floors below each had one Ross standing there, scanning the area. Damien appeared on the second floor, turning his face upwards.

The fire service is ten minutes away. I can probably stall them a little more before they come in, but we'd better get this over with quickly.

Let's hope we can afford that, Tora thought to herself, mentally edging away from the pot of golden liquid swirling enticingly in the corner of her mind. Even if it meant coming home in three separate bags, she sure as hell wasn't touching that thing again.

Markl disappeared with Damien to close the portal, located somewhere in one of the card shops' storage areas. Carlos followed Tora as bid; both swept the second floor in the sports and sports car areas.

"Man, some of these rides are swe-e-e-et!" Carlos said, whistling and eyeing a silver Mercedes revolving slowly on display. "I always fancied myself some flash cars when I'm old enough."

Annoying as he was, his voice was soothing – the one thing that maintained some kind of normality. That was what life was like, filled with Carlos's mundane observations, without Damien's wariness, Markl being unavailable, and Ross wanting to kill her all the time. And without Cyrus and these goddamn demons.

"Hmm, this style is very trendy right now, you know?" He paused to peer at the display glass of another shop, rubbing his chin as he surveyed the hooded sweatshirt. "The brand, the cutting, the colour – so hip right now."

Tora laughed. It was amazing how nothing changed despite all the stuff that had gone to hell. Her heart swelled. The worries she had seemed like yesterday's. She wished this moment could last forever, just her and her friends joking about, taking life not too seriously, enjoying themselves.

Maybe there is hope, after all.

"Tor!"

Tora came to just a little late. With a bellow, a four-legged demon slammed into her side, sending her tumbling sideways and skidding onto the floor. It didn't even hurt; the surprise made it difficult to sink in. Her brain rattled against her skull when she banged against the wall. The surroundings flickered into blackness for a brief moment. As she came to a rest, she looked up, incredulous.

Five demons came cantering round the corner, long-legged, ending in claws, and hairy all over. They were little more than warped furry versions of deer, with horns that grew haphazardly; some skewed to the side, branching without pattern or grace and others corkscrewed almost back into the head from which they grew. Bloodlust burned in their black eyes.

The one that had slammed into Tora, thankfully, didn't have horns that curved forward; otherwise she might have found herself disembowelled before any fighting started.

Carlos wasn't so lucky.

"You ugly mother—" His words were swallowed into a grunt when his assailant thrust its head further, closing the distance between its twisted horns and Carlos's chest. Tora jumped to her feet and swung her leg at it. Her knee crackled. Pain shot up her calf; her ankle spasmed, her toes curling.

The demon stumbled aside far enough for Carlos to deliver several punches to its chest before a powerful kick sent it skidding into oncoming monsters.

"Hell, these things are stupid heavy."

Her right knee throbbed. Tora hoped she hadn't tore a ligament or something ridiculous so early in the game. She hobbled on the spot. The demons surveyed them. Several more were coming down the back stairs.