Up ahead, something stirred. In the gloom, two sulphur-bright eyes blinked open.
Demon.
My breath stuttered. I froze, halfway up the alleyway.
We stared at each other. The moment was breathless, stretched thin.
I readjusted my grip on the hilt of my knife, a thin sliver of light flashing along the blade.
It was enough.
The demon erupted from its hiding spot, knocking over a stack of crates and boxes. I dodged as they flew past me, hitting the pavement with a crash I knew could be heard from the street.
Not good.
I lunged, slicing upward at billowing blackness. Tendrils of black reared away from the blade, collapsing down into a hound-sized creature. It walked on four shadow-dark legs with a thick, furred body. The black fur gave way to smooth bone, its head a horned skull. Sulphur-yellow eyes gleamed at me from the bone sockets, and it opened its jaw to let out a piercing shriek.
I lunged again, slicing upward with the blade. The demon turned aside from the blow, long, wicked-looking obsidian claws sliding from its hands with a snick. I cursed and brought my arm up to protect my face. I felt my sleeve tear, the claws ripping into the fabric.
I pivoted aside as the claws slashed down again, sparking against the cobbles where I'd been. It shrieked again, muscles bunching under its shadow coat. I saw the leap coming and turned clumsily aside, almost tripping over the fallen crates. The creature crashed into the wall, claws gripping the stone, and rotated its head almost a hundred and eighty degrees to look at me.
I bared my teeth at it, and struck again. It scuttled away, up the wall, stone dust raining down as it used its claws to get a grip.
It was getting away.
I looked round, frantic. Breakable crates and rain-soaked wooden boxes, nothing to get me up there fast enough. Think, think, think.
There was a sound above.
I jerked my head up. A pointed face appeared over the edge of the roof. Dark hair caught the wind in an eye-catching banner. The fingers that gripped the edge of the roof were sepia-toned, stark black bands of tattoos standing out stark against the warmth of her skin.
The woman spared me a single glance, turning to face the demon crawling up the roof toward her. She grinned, a flash of white teeth, and threw herself off the roof.
She thrust a hand out as she fell, a knife biting into the stone wall with a shriek of metal. The demon looked up, too slow. As she plunged past I saw her other hand move, a knife appearing as if by magic. She stabbed down into the beast, leaving her blade behind as she plunged past. She dropped the last few feet to the cobbles and rolled, rising gracefully to her feet.
Fae. I didn't need to see her ears under that mane of hair to know it.
"You're welcome." she said, her voice rich. Amber eyes danced with amusement. "You can thank me for saving you life later."
The demon dropped to the ground behind her.
I sighed and rolled my shoulders. "Amateur."
Her brows drew together. "Excuse me?"
I jerked my chin in the direction of the wall. She turned in time to find the demon rising to its feet, its shadowy body working to expel the knife from its back. Smoking tendrils lashed the air, its jaws opening in an ear-splitting screech.
The fae lunged for it again, preternaturally fast, getting in under its flashing claws and slicing a silvery line across its upper body. The shadow stuff healed with barely a ripple, and the demon turned toward the open end of the alleyway, scuttling away on clawed feet.
I dived round it, putting myself between the alleyway entrance and the creature. It slashed long claws at me, but I was ready, catching them with my blade and turning it into an upward sweep that sliced a deep, jagged hole into the bone of its skull.
It shrieked and backed up, but the woman was waiting behind it. She slashed at its back, narrowly dodging the raking claws.
"Get out of here!" I stabbed downward, but the demon caught my blade in its claws, pinning it against the floor.
"Not a chance." She stabbed down, through the creature's back leg, trapping it in place. "Who the hell are you?"
The shadow stuff of the creature began to work its way off the blade, but it was distracted enough that I could yank my knife free and back up a step. "Your blade," I said, swinging at the creature and slicing into its shoulder, "won't kill it."
"Seems to be bothering it." She grinned and pulled another knife from somewhere on her person. "Not that I'd mind finding out a bit more about yours."
I scowled. The demon took my one moment of inattention and rotated its head almost completely around, biting down and sinking its teeth into the woman's leg.
"No!" I jerked forward, but it was too late.
She grimaced and slashed at the creature's skull, her blade kicking up sparks but doing little else. I lunged forward and sank my knife into the creature's thick, muscled chest. It released its grip on her leg, opening its bone jaws in a scream. Shadows peeled away from the silvered edge of my blade, bleeding away in whisps and tatters as the creature dissolved to the cobbles.
"Well," the woman said, sitting back on the damp cobbles, "that worked."
I heard sirens in the distance, getting closer. The racket we'd made had probably sent the whole street into panic. Time to get out of here.
But the fae woman hissed out a breath, wrapping white-knuckled hands around her upper thigh. Cursing, I took two strides to her and dropped to my knees, pulling her hands away from the bite. They came away bloody.
"It's not that bad." she said, but the bite was already black-edged, spiderwebs of darkness stretching under the smooth skin exposed by the rip in her trousers.
"Demon bites are venomous." I cursed and dragged my mop of hair off my face. "Is there a healer near by?"
"Not close." Her lips pursed. "Your sure know a lot about demons."
I cursed again. If there wasn't a healer close, then I had no choice. Even as I watched, the black veining under her skin was getting even darker, the wound turning. She'd be dead in minutes if I left it.
"I don't want to do this." I said honestly, holding both hands palm-up over her leg.
"What do you mean? What are you doing?" Her eyes fixed on my hands. "Are you a healer?"
"Not really, no," I said, and plunged into my magic. It was like a fast river, roaring as it shot past. I braced myself and gripped it, channelling it down my arms, into my hands. They warmed like they were being held over an open fire. Magic fell onto her skin like rain onto parched ground. I kept at it, sweat beading my upper lip until the shadows under the skin began to recede, the edges of the wound inching closed. I blinked, and there was nothing but smooth, sepia-toned skin and the paleness of two half-moon scars.
I sat back on my heels and wiped a shaking hand over my face. Damn it, damn it. Months without having to use a drop of magic, and now this. I rubbed a hand over my abdomen, feeling the skin split and shift under my fingers. It felt like this one had cost me. Fuck.
"Not the neatest job I've ever seen." She examined her leg critically, head tilting like a bird.
"Sorry," I said, wiping a hand over my face, "I don't get a lot of practice."
Amber eyes flashed up to mine. "Mmm," she said, "and what line of work are you in, exactly?"
I waved a hand over her leg, feeling for any slivers of darkness that may have gotten away. "If you notice this turning in the next few days, seek a healer immediately."
"You didn't answer my question."
"Immediately, do you understand?"
She frowned at me. "You're a healer who doesn't practice his gift often, carrying a magical demon-killing knife, who just happened to be in the right place at the right time." Those eyes raked my face, studying me. "I was hunting this thing. But who are you?"
Hunting it? Well, that was a new one. Carmarthen was definitely turning out to be more of a hellscape than I'd expected. "Just someone passing through." Not untrue.
There were sirens echoing all around us now. I scooped up my knife from the cobbles and slotted it back into its sheath strapped across my back, under my shirt.
"I'm Nimuё."
No way out from the back of the alleyway. I took two steps towards the street entrance and jerked to a stop as flashing blue lights filled the air.
Shit. A quick glance to my left and right told me what I already knew. There were no ladders up to the roof, no back stairs to get me out of here.
"Stop there!" Someone yelled from behind the protection offered by the hover-car.
Nimuё got to her feet, rolling her eyes. "Don't worry, we killed the demon!" she said, cupping her hands round her mouth. "You can thank me later!" She winked at me, amber eyes sparkling with amusement.
"Yes, poke the city guard a little more, why don't you." This was turning out to be a shit day. One day in a new city, and I was already getting arrested.
"Don't think it'll matter much either way." She shrugged, matter-of-fact, and widened her stance, flexing her hands.
"Are you going to fight them?"
She snorted. "Don't be stupid. I'm getting ready to be wrestled to the ground."
"But..."
"You can get seriously hurt if you don't prepare properly."
I blinked at her. This fae was insane. "It sounds like you get arrested a lot."
The city guard were forming lines up behind the shelter of the hover-cars. Shoulder to shoulder, they started to advance up the alley. Stun-sticks sparked at their sides. Great.
Nimuё canted her head, as if she were considering it. "I wouldn't say a lot. It's a perspective thing."
"What?"
"Hands where we can see them!" the lead guard yelled.
I raked my hands over my face and held them up, shaking my head. "I don't know what the hell happened to today."
Nimuё stepped forward, so she was next to me, her hands also raised. She grinned. "Bad day?"
I glared. "We're currently getting arrested. What do you think?"
"You know, you still haven't told me your name."
I sighed. No point hiding it now – I was about to get a criminal record. "It's Merlin."
And then the guard were right in front of us, and a stun stick jabbed into my side. Blinding pain licked through me. Someone smashed a stun stick into my shoulder, driving me to the ground. I grunted as my knees barked against the hard cobblestones, the guard driving me flat onto my front. My arms were twisted up behind me, cold metal cuffs biting into my skin.
I looked round to see them drag Nimuё up, her feet kicking air for a moment before they set on her on her feet and shoved her toward the cars. "You're going to regret this." she promised, but they shoved her into the back of one of the cars.
It took two of them to lift me to my feet, shoving me toward the other car. I slid into the dark interior, blue flashing lights filling the air, and grimaced. My fresh start had turned rotten pretty fast.
I was so screwed.