Infernal Affairs by Jes Battis Read Free Book Online Page A

I could, reaching deep into the earth node. Desperation lent me strength. The power scalded me. It roared its defiance as it moved through my body, electrifying every cell, until I felt like a negative with deadly light pouring through it. I cried out.
    I flung the power in Derrick’s direction, trying to deflect the energy that the demon had summoned.
    It half worked. My attack sideswiped the demon’s, knocking the majority of it off course, but a fragment of the power still slammed into Derrick’s body. That was enough to send him flying backward. He sailed through the air, completely limp, the shock of the power having already knocked him out.
    He bounced off the metal counter. I heard the crunch of bones breaking. Then he crumpled to the floor. His body lay still.
    For a second, I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even breathe.
    Miles, however, didn’t suffer from the same paralysis.
    He drew his gun—which he’d kept in an ankle holster—and fired at the demon’s head. He kept firing, and each bullet ripped into the demon’s face, tearing off chunks of its scalp, lacerating its ear, shattering its jaw. Blood the consistency of coffee grounds coated the walls and floor.
    For all that, the demon barely moved. Its flesh had already begun to regenerate. The bone and muscle flowed back together, and the mushroomed .40-caliber rounds fell to the ground.
    The howler had ceased vibrating as well. Our window had closed, and the demon was back to full form. No diversions left.
    It advanced upon Miles. It gestured with its blood-spattered arm, and Miles cried out as an invisible force swept him into the air. He hung motionless, five feet off the ground, his eyes bulging slightly.
    “That was really quite brave,” it said. “Do you know what happens to brave boys? They get to die slowly.”
    It closed its hand into a fist. Miles choked. His hands trembled at his sides, but he couldn’t move.
    “For instance,” the demon continued, “did you know that the human optic nerve can stretch up to a meter before it snaps? That means I can pull both of your eyes out, and you’ll still be able to watch as I remove your heart. In fact, you’ll get a stereoscopic view of it all. I think that makes you pretty lucky.”
    I saw a flash of green to the left of Miles. At first, I thought it was the demon-boy. Then I looked closer and realized that it was Dr. Rashid. I’d completely forgotten about him until now. He was slowly approaching the equine demon from behind. There was something in his hand.
    A Stryker saw.
    “Of course,” the demon was saying, “we could make this even more interesting. I could start liquefying your organs from the inside. Or I can pull your legs off. How long do you think you’ll survive as just a trunk with arms? I’m betting—”
    His voice was cut off suddenly by the high-pitched buzz of the Stryker saw. Dr. Rashid plunged the spinning blade of the saw into the demon’s naked scalp, using both of his hands to push it forward.
    The demon screamed.
    Blood hit Rashid’s face, but he didn’t even try to shield his eyes. He just kept cutting. The blade whined and groaned as it cut deeper, through flesh and muscle and into bone. It was designed to remove the calvarium of the skull to expose the brain, and it worked on demons as well as humans.
    I didn’t have much time. Keeping a firm grip on my athame, I ran toward the demon, channeling my last reserve of power as I did so. I felt the pins and needles rushing up my arm. This was an old trick that my teacher, Meredith Silver, had taught me long ago. She called it “the Houdini.”
    I let the power flow along the hilt of the athame, skimming along the surface of the earth node to boost my own reserves. The blade grew hot. I concentrated, and the double-edged knife began to tremble. Then it grew, elongating into a saber that gleamed as I raised it above my head.
    The demon managed to turn around, and Rashid’s electric saw cut a deep gouge across its