Demon Blood

wasn’t what I needed to hear.”
    The demon stopped halfway down the aisle. “And what would you like to hear, Mr. Deacon?”
    “That you’ll leave the vampire communities alone.”
    Malkvial struck quickly. Leaping forward, he swung the rail’s blunt end at Deacon’s head, knocking him sideways. Flipping the wood around, he shoved the point through Deacon’s gut.
    Oh, God. It should have been her. Rosalia clasped her hands together, shaking furiously. It should have been her.
    “I can’t see that happening, Mr. Deacon.” Malkvial twisted the rail and stepped back. “I’ll kill all of you, just like this.”
    Deacon gripped the wooden shaft impaled through his stomach. He yanked out the rail, tossed it aside. “I’ll trade the nephilim. Our lives, for the nephilim.”
    Laughing, Malkvial shook his head. Turning around, he grabbed the end of a pew and swung. The heavy bench hit Deacon in the chest, smashing him back against the stone wall.
    Vin was shouting her name. Dimly, Rosalia realized she was dragging him toward the door.
    “Mama! You’ve got to let him finish, or it’s all for nothing!”
    “Let me go.” She couldn’t bear this. If she had to Fall, so be it. “It should be me.”
    He shook her, hard. “You can’t always protect us. Do you believe he can do this?”
    God, she did. And knowing he could was the only thing that might keep her there. She nodded.
    “Then let him.”

    She’d warned him. Thank God she’d warned him. He didn’t have to prepare himself for the pain—just fight to keep from smashing the demon’s head in.
    His stomach burned. He pushed his fist into the hole in his gut, holding everything in until it healed. The pew had taken out a couple of his ribs. Every breath shot dizzying pain through his lungs. But he could talk.
    “The Guardians are no help to us. Cities of vampires are dead thanks to the nephilim, and the Guardians haven’t stopped them. And London is next.” Deacon paused to spit out his blood, to take another agonizing breath. “I don’t give a fuck about the prophecy or what Belial hopes to take in Hell. I just want to save our asses.”
    “How do you propose to do that?”
    “You break the Rules. You bring those fuckers in one at a time. You kill them.”
    Malkvial blinked. He stared at Deacon for a long moment, before his lips widened in a smile that chilled his blood. “Thank you for the suggestion, Mr. Deacon. We absolutely don’t need vampires for that.”
    A sword appeared in his hand—to kill him this time, Deacon realized. Faster than the demon, he sidestepped to avoid the swinging blade and said, “You need us to get the humans.”
    Malkvial paused with his sword raised over his head.
    “If your demons break the Rules by snatching people, they’ll come at you, one on one, and you’re dead.” Deacon backed up a step to give himself more room if Malkvial jumped him again. “You’ve got to bring the humans in—somewhere closed up, so that when the nephil comes he’s got nowhere to run. And you better have enough of your friends with you that you can take them all out, even if the nephilim manage to kill some of you. And you know they will.”
    His eyes narrowing to crimson slits, Malkvial remained silent. Considering it, Deacon realized. He pushed home, calling in every asshole thing that might appeal to a demon.
    “Hey, I’ll be doing you a favor. You pull this off in front of Belial’s other demons, and the lieutenant position is yours, and Theriault is stuck with his thumb up his ass. And all we vampires want in exchange is to be left the hell alone.”
    “All of us, in a closed area?”
    “However the fuck you want to do it. I’m just thinking that those nephilim are goddamn fast, and you don’t want them to escape and go running to Mommy.” Deacon shrugged. “I won’t be the one trying to kill them. You choose the place. I’ll meet you here in three days, one hour after sunset. You give me the location, and we’ll have the humans there by dawn. Then we clear out. You do your thing.”
    Malkvial cocked his head. “We?”
    “The vampires grabbing the humans.” Deacon wiped his mouth again. The scent of blood around him was overpowering. “My communities will be knee-deep in it, breaking the Rules to help you. Each community leader will deliver a human—and you can bet no one is running to the Guardians.”
    “You’ve thought this through.”
    Deacon’s laugh was short and bitter. “I got fucked