Immortals After Dark 10 - Demon From the Dark

surrounded.
    I can't draw them over here, can't risk Ruby. "Stay here!" Carrow ordered her as she unsheathed her sword.
    One of the beasts twisted its head toward them. It loped forward, fangs dripping. Twenty feet away, ten...
    When it launched itself at Carrow, she ducked and sidestepped, swinging for the back of its neck. She beheaded it, but more turned toward them.
    "No!" Malkom yelled. "No, here!" He provoked them to attack only him, yet still half the tide veered in Carrow's direction.
    "You stay behind me, Ruby! If I get into trouble, run for the calm beach and get into the water. Do you hear me?" Carrow glanced back when the girl didn't answer. Ruby was slack-jawed.
    A vampire had appeared behind Carrow--one with red eyes. Reeling in shock, she raised her sword. Just as she was about to swing, she realized he looked familiar. But she couldn't tell when he was shading his face, recoiling from the intense sunlight.
    "Mariketa sent me to retrieve you. I am Conrad Wroth," he grated as his skin began to blister. "For hours, I've searched this island." He looked it, was sweating and dirty as though he'd traveled for miles. "I'm to tell you about the Mardi Gras float you hijacked?"
    "Ah, Hekate, you're legit."
    "Who is he, Crow?"
    "He's been sent by Mari!"
    The vampire's fangs had lengthened, his eyes darting. He hissed in pain as more blistering appeared. "I can't ... stay much longer, witch. And the beasts near."
    "We can't leave without that demon over there!" Carrow pointed, but Malkom was so overrun they could barely see him. "Just bring him to us, vampire! Please." When he shook his head in a twisting, deranged kind of way, Carrow screamed, " Malkom!"
    "Demon, over here!" Ruby cried.
    As more Wendigos neared, Carrow raised her bloodied sword again, glancing over her shoulder. "Vampire, take the girl back to Mari! Send help to us if you can."
    Another twist of his head. "I'm to return with you ." Conrad snagged Carrow around the waist, picking up Ruby with his other arm.
    At that moment, Malkom turned, caught sight of them. His eyes went wide, and he bellowed, "No, no!" He plowed toward them, but he was besieged....
    "Malkom!" both she and Ruby cried.
    Carrow reached for him, yet Conrad held her tight. When he tried to trace, she resisted him. "Malkom, hurry!"
    The vampire's skin smoked, then caught fire completely.
    Mariketa glanced around at the crowd that had gathered in the meeting hall at Andoain--a collection of factions from the fey to the Valkyrie, from the Lykae to the nymphs and more. Just about every species from the Vertas side was represented.
    In the three hours since Mari had dispatched Conrad to retrieve Carrow, all these beings had heard about it. News traveling at a supernatural speed. Now anyone with friends or family thought to have been abducted had teleported, portaled, or driven here.
    The gathering reminded her of a Super Friends meeting, except instead of the Hall of Justice, they'd descended on Andoain, with its ornate old couches, altars for tables, giant hearth, and even bigger karaoke stage. Nothing matched except for the coven's four professional-grade poker tables--and the spoof cauldrons.
    This was the first time in ages they'd used the hall for anything but girls' night out.
    Dozens of beings lined the walls or sat stiffly on the antiquated settees. One couple sat atop a woofer.
    With so many different creatures here rubbing together--some allied only through ties with another common faction--Mari was pleasantly surprised at how well everyone was behaving. So far only a few nut up or shut up -type ultimatums had been issued.
    Of course, she'd taken precautions in case things got ugly.
    "How much longer until the vampire is expected to return, witch?" Sabine, the Queen of Illusions, demanded imperiously, every inch the sorceress, from her crimson mask and elaborate crown to her claw-tipped gauntlets. Her husband, Rydstrom--another of Mari's good friends--had his big hand splayed possessively over her hip.
    People quieted to hear Mari's answer, gazing at her. Among them were Bowen's cousin Garreth and his Valkyrie wife, Lucia the Huntress, both looking exhausted. Mari knew they'd been searching nonstop for Regin all over the world. Garreth was also here because his cousin Uilleam was missing.
    Myst the Coveted and several other Valkyrie sat on the settees, awaiting news of Regin the Radiant as well.
    The demons, the Lykae, the Valkyrie ... all of them were expecting Mari's magic