“Y-you both see that demon, right?” Jett whispered, as they got out of the car. That Raquel was staring at it, too, her pistol already in hand, killed any hope that he was hallucinating. Being half a block away, the creature seemed far enough that they could talk normally, but he wasn’t willing to risk a reunion with it. It had been their first real demon and if Adena hadn’t shown up when she did, there was a good chance it would have killed them all. Though from a giant man-eating toad to the king himself, they had encountered worse at this point. That’s what he was desperately trying to convince himself of, anyway.

“That thing isn’t a demon,” Adena corrected. “I don’t know the specifics, but it used to be a human, until a necromancer experimented on him. Its lingering memories are probably why it’s been hanging around here since before—”

In one horrifyingly swift motion, the creature spun, hissing at them as it sprang to its full height. Despite herself, Raquel jumped, squeezing the trigger without taking aim, and firing a few rounds off into the snow, burning holes through it.

“Jett, the key’s in the ignition and my wallet’s in the glove box,” Adena said quickly. “Head back to the hospital.”

Regardless that he only had one good hand, and wasn’t even an experienced enough driver with both to have a learner’s permit, Jett had to resist the temptation to thank God and listen. “Uh, why?”

“With your arm, you’re only going to slow us down. Besides, someone should be here for Leila on the off-chance she survives.”

Raquel seemed unsurprised. Did they bring Jett just so he could drive the car back and prevent it from getting stolen or destroyed? Was this why he still knew so few details about the plan? If that was the case, then he couldn’t help thinking the girls were absolutely mental. Adena looked ready to keel over any minute. Back in the hospital, he had seen her drink at least three cups of black coffee. She’d probably been awake for even longer than he had, and he was approaching forty-eight hours.

As the creature launched itself at them, Adena brought her scythe into her hands in a burst of flame. Charging his body up with green electricity, Jett darted ahead of her. He stopped short, sending an electric current at the creature, somewhat paralyzing it.

“Go, you two!” Jett barked in that garbled voice, still foreign to his own ears. “I’ll keep this thing busy.” He regretted the words as soon as they left his lips.

“Don’t play the hero, idiot! You’ll get killed, too!” Raquel yelled.

Jett was grateful for the crackling electricity masking the shame and terror on his face. The same terror that had made him shrug off Adena’s warning about the invasion, and shut down Rodrigo’s suggestion that they, ‘chip in.’ He had been so sure that he was the sensible one of the three. So secure in his belief that nothing severe enough would happen that the military couldn’t contain it, and if it did, it wasn’t his problem. And then, while he was playing some stupid video game, those wolf demons had broken into their home and ripped his mom apart. In those precious few seconds between their howls and her heartbreaking shriek, he had frozen, forfeiting the chance to even try to protect her. To show her he had the power to protect their family.

Jett swallowed the growing lump in his throat and ignored the sting of tears. “Listen, I’m not saying I can win, but you guys have the tougher job. If me playing the decoy saves you some energy, that’s what I’ll do.”

Adena studied him for the briefest moment, then turned on her heel. “Don’t overdo it.”

“Are you serious?” Raquel snapped. “It’s three-on-one!”

“This is his choice. Respect it.” Adena continued toward the arch at the tower’s base. The arch had to be fifty to sixty feet high, and easily wide enough to accommodate even the most massive demons he’d seen so far.

Raquel gritted her teeth and started following Adena, then turned back to face him. Sorrow and rage battled for dominance in her dark brown eyes. “Don’t die, Jett. I’ve...we’ve all lost enough.” Jett was glad she ran off without waiting for any promises, because they would be worthless.

Regaining full control over its muscles, the creature screeched as it sprinted at Jett, faster than he’d ever seen its spindly legs carry it. He thrust a hand out to shock the creature, but it ducked, slashing low and raking its three-inch claws across his left knee. Pain exploded through his leg as he fell into the snow, wailing in agony. He was only saved from a killing blow because the creature shocked itself in the process and staggered away.

“Jett!” Raquel screamed, doubling back, pistol raised.

Adena reached out, grabbing her by the arm, and pulling her along. There was a faint red glow, then the two of them vanished.

Jett wasn’t sure whether Adena knowingly left him there to die, or actually believed he could handle it. Either way, now it was just him and the once human demon. No, that didn’t matter. The person this used to be was gone. All that was left was an abomination, and to grant it death would be a mercy.

Electricity hugging his body, Jett rolled out of the way of a vicious stomp that would have crushed his skull. He stood with a wince. As if his steadily bleeding knee wasn’t bad enough, his sling had come off in all the accelerated movement. If not for the Tylenol a kind nurse had given him earlier, the combined pain of his injuries might have made him faint. Jett knew his wounded knee wouldn’t support him while running, so making a break for it wasn’t an option. But that was fine.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The creature stalked toward Jett, who was hobbling back as quickly as he could.

“Take this!” Jett yelled as he shot a bolt of electricity from his good hand. The creature showed no interest in the electricity that blew past it, raising its claws for the coup de grâce. Then, defying the laws of physics, the bolt reflected off a wall in the distance, boomeranging back, and striking the demon from behind. The creature screeched and scratched its smoking spine hard enough to peel off skin.

Jett knew this would be his only chance before the creature realized how badly it had crippled him. He focused the electricity at the tail-like appendage sprouting from his electric armor’s backside. When he had seen those beasts sinking their fangs into his mom, already dead by the time he managed to get downstairs, as if the tail had fed off his revulsion, it electrocuted the six of them in one fell swoop. The sixth, had been on top of him and slashed his face before being vaporized.

Now, the tail lashed out like a whip, wrapping tightly around the creature’s throat.

“Die,” Jett muttered, as the electric current coursed through the creature and it began convulsing. It had all started with this monster. Seeing its carnage in that damned house, and the way it nearly killed Rodrigo, planted fear in him so deep that he had hesitated when it counted most. And he was sick of living in fear. “Die,” Jett growled, as the tail nourished itself on his hate, increasing the voltage. The creature collapsed to its knees, now at eye level, screeching and clawing at the tail, only speeding up its imminent death as the skin on its gnarled hands charred faster than the rest of it. “Die!” Jett roared, and the surrounding traffic lights flickered, then short-circuited, giving him more energy than he could generate on his own.

But when the creature’s arms drooped to its sides, almost as if resigning itself to its fate, in its bloodshot eyes, there was a flicker of humanity. Like the man it used to be was finally at peace. And for a split-second, Jett paused, relenting. That was all it took for the creature to disregard the danger to itself, and reach up to give the tail a violent yank. Jett lost his footing and went skidding forward.

As exhaustion took hold and his protective layer of electricity deserted him, he could see his knee had been sliced open to the bone. The tiny amount of courage he had drummed up, when he told the others to leave this to him, was gone. All that remained was the hope that if they were still alive, his dad and Geo would forgive him for getting killed over a selfish grudge.

The half-dead creature crawled over to Jett, reeking of burning flesh and hair. On its long, gaunt face, there was none of the amusement, or hunger, from when it had knelt over Rodrigo. Only fury as it aimed its claws at Jett’s throat. In a guttural, broken voice, the creature hissed, “Die!”

As Jett stared up into the hollow-cheeked face of death, he felt strangely at ease. At least now he could finally rest. No more running, fighting, fear...or overwhelming guilt. He would leave this earth knowing he had done his best, and God willing, the girls would be able to save Rodrigo, if nothing else.

Jett blinked against a beam of sunlight, as the creature lurched forward, close enough to bite his throat out. As he felt the warm spray of blood, the pain not even reaching him, he fixed his gaze on the sky above. It seemed brighter this morning than ever before, and he wondered if he’d get the chance to beg his mom for forgiveness in Heaven. Maybe meet the absentee angels. That was assuming he wasn’t turned away at the pearly gates. Intentionally or not, he had done serious harm. In self-defense, sure, but despite Rodrigo’s and even Adena’s clumsy attempts to downplay it, possibly as many as four teenagers had lost their lives when his powers first kicked in. There had to be consequences.

“You still alive, kid?” a gravelly voice asked from behind him. Jett craned his head to look toward its source and saw a tall man with multiple pale scars on his face marching closer. He was wearing winter camouflage, and in his gloved hands was a modern sniper rifle with a white finish.

Too shocked to speak, Jett turned his eyes to the still creature sprawled out on top of him, its head resting in the snow beside his. There was a golf-ball-sized hole in the middle of its forehead. The blood that had splattered on him belonged to it. Jett was a bit disappointed he wasn’t able to put the creature down himself, but he was just glad to see it dead, and even more glad to delay damnation a while longer.

The man stopped in front of Jett, shoving the creature’s electrically burned corpse off him with a hard kick. He cocked his head, staring down at it. “Huh. Ugly bastard almost looks grateful.”

Before Jett could see what the man meant, he pulled the trigger again, and again, and again, sending silent rays of dazzling light ripping through the creature’s skull, one after another. When he stopped at last, the creature’s head was an unrecognizable pulp. Under the man’s pencil-thin mustache, his mouth curled into a small, satisfied smile as he admired his handiwork.

When he noticed Jett watching him, the man wiped it away, slipping on a mask of neutrality, as he slung his rifle over his shoulder. He stretched out a hand to help Jett up. “Always good to make sure with these things.”

Jett grabbed the hand, and as he was pulled onto his feet, the pain in his knee flared up bad enough to make him gasp. The entire leg felt limp, and he had to shift his weight to the other one just to keep upright. He didn’t know how he was going to make it back to the car, let alone to the hospital. “Uh, thanks, sir, you saved my life.”

“No problem. I’d been tracking that thing for a while, but I swear, it hopped around like it had a beehive up its ass. Your distraction kept it still just long enough.”

Did that mean he had seen Jett’s brawl with the creature? “So, if you don’t mind me asking, who are you? Are you a demon hunter or something?”

“Officer Gibson,” the man said absently, frowning at the arch at the Spiral’s base, like he knew exactly where it led. Gun to his head, Jett wouldn’t have guessed the man was a cop, and he wasn’t about to ask to see his badge, either. The man seemed to take a certain pleasure in killing that was scarier than Adena’s indifference. Officer Gibson refocused on Jett, and pointed at his knee, his pant leg soaked with blood. “You should really wrap that up and get it looked at. Filthy as it was, that thing’s claws are almost guaranteed to have infected the wound.”

“For sure,” Jett agreed. He took a few excruciating steps toward his dark blue sling, half-buried in the snow, before his knee gave out completely, and he collapsed. Oh, how he wished he was lucky enough to regenerate like Rodrigo.

“Christ, I didn’t sign up for this,” Officer Gibson grumbled. Jett realized he must have painted a pitiful picture, crawling for the damaged, snow-covered bandage with a broken arm and shredded knee. But he was too exhausted to worry about his dignity. The hardened officer blew out a long breath. “You want some help, kid?”