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The demon’s eyes widened. Surprise rolled across his face, followed by a

look of recognition, like he’d fit a few pieces into a puzzle and suddenly knew what picture he was looking at. He reached for me.

Hannon shoved me out of the way with his left hand and swung with his right. The blade of an axe lodged into the demon’s middle. Releasing the handle, Hannon grabbed the demon by the front of his fancy dress shirt and ripped him into the house like he weighed nothing. I grabbed the demon’s flailing hands and wrenched them behind his back, holding his wrists.

“What’s happening?” Sable asked from the edge of the hall as Dash ran out. My father stumbled out last, the wood legs of a chair screeching across the floor as he used it as a walker.

“Shut the door,” I yelled. “Bar it.”

Hannon threw the struggling demon down onto the floor, and I realized he’d already put down some water-resistant bedding. The demon crashed down onto the axe blade, driving it deeper.

“You couldn’t have used the sword?” I asked, jamming my knee on top of the squealing demon before bending over and grabbing the sword from under the couch.

“What is going on?” my father asked in a weak voice. “What is the meaning of this? Finley, your eyes…”

“I don’t know how to wield a sword,” Hannon said, jogging into the kitchen and returning with a carving knife. “But I know how to use an axe and knives.”

“Good gracious, Hannon, and I thought you were the soft touch.” I grabbed the sword hilt with both hands and drove the blade down into the base of the demon’s neck. The demon spasmed and quickly stilled.

“I am, until my family is in danger. Should we cut him up and bury him, or…?”

I tilted my head at him with a small smile. “Who are you?”

He rolled his eyes and shoved me away. “This bedding only works for a while. I don’t want to stain the rug. Let’s get him out of here.”

“There’s the brother I know.”

“Hannon…what…” Father hobbled in our direction. The kids stood at the edges of the room, watching quietly. If they’d had illusions of a cheerful childhood before this, that illusion was now well and truly dried up. I told them to stay in the house.

In the backyard, we dropped the demon onto his side in the dirt by the fence and extracted the weapons. Blood seeped out at first but quickly

stopped. Dead things didn’t bleed much.

“Wrap him up and we’ll throw him over the fence,” I said. “I’ll jump over after him and carry him into the wood—”

Another rap sounded on the front door, barely heard out here in the back. “I’ll get it,” Father called out.

“Of all the times for him to be feeling better,” I said, hopping up and running for the back door. “Father, no—”

The door swung open to reveal a man and woman standing shoulder to shoulder. The woman opened her mouth to ask a question before she spied me at the back door. The man beside her was the first to spot the spray of blood across my shirt. He nudged her. It took all of a few seconds for her to put it together.

They surged through the front door, knocking Father out of the way. A burst of fire fueled me, and I turned and launched down the back steps. Before I reached the fence, I took a quick detour and snatched the sword from the ground. I hop-stepped as I labored to tuck it into its sheath. I’d need to practice that move.

“I’ll take care of it,” I yelled at Hannon as I jumped, grabbed the top of the fence, and hauled myself over. We really needed to think about adding a gate back here.

A hand caught my ankle. A grunt, and the hand released.

As I flung my body over, I caught sight of Hannon with his axe again, readying for another blow. The male demon staggered to the side, howling with agony as he reached over his shoulder to the center of his back.

“Go, Finley!” Hannon yelled.

My feet dropped down, and I hesitated for a moment. No way was I going to go if the demons stayed behind.

A moment later, though, small hands gripped the top of the fence. The female demon planned to pursue.

“I’ll be back,” I yelled, turning to run.

“Don’t come back, Finley. It’s not safe for you here…”

The words drifted into the night as I put on a burst of speed, hearing the lady demon drop down to the ground behind me. Adrenaline surged through me, but my heart caught on Hannon’s words. Don’t come back. But where would I go?

The answer smacked into me, but I didn’t have time to absorb it. I ran through an alley and out onto the lane. I needed speed now, not stealth. The

footsteps of the demon were fast on my heels, gaining.

Go, go, go, I urged my animal, pulling her as close to the surface as possible without letting her take full control. I need more.

This would be a really good time for four legs.

Power thrumming through me, we put on a burst of speed, tearing down the center of the lane. At the end, we turned right and blasted past my reading sycamore. The edge of the wood jiggled in my vision as we sprinted. The demon’s boots behind me ate up the ground, hot on my heels.

Almost there, I said.

I still don’t see why we can’t stop and kill her here.

Because if someone sees me kill her, they will know I killed her. In the wood, any manner of things can happen, like the beast getting both of us. Hannon can say I’ve died, they can pretend to mourn—

Okay, okay. I get it. Almost there. Took you long enough.