Demon Dance by Brian Freyermuth

Author:Brian Freyermuth [Freyermuth, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: troll, urban, Seattle, vampires, norse, paranormal, demons, fantasy, Fremont troll, mythology, angels, brian freyermuth, urban fantasy
Publisher: Middark Press
Published: 2013-11-17T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Breaking a demon’s concentration is never a smart or easy task. One, a demon tends to be a little upset when someone disrupts his spell. Two, Shabriri, while not as powerful as the upper echelons of Hell, was no slouch either, as my broken ribs could attest. Getting him to break the spell was going to be on par with peeling someone’s hand away from a frozen swing set. You have to yank real hard and hope it’s not too painful.

Of course then I had the problem of getting the demon inside a building filled with religious icons. As I’d told Beth, the religious exhibit wasn’t St. Paul’s Cathedral, but it was uncomfortable for him. There was no logical reason why the demon wouldn’t burn us all to ash without stepping through the front door.

I also know that pride trumps logic every time.

I stood just inside the front door and took a deep breath. The rain lessened, which meant a downpour instead of a biblical flood. I could see the demon through the glass and had a moment to realize just how beautiful the dance was. Take the best Russian ballet star and place him in a dirty street and he wouldn’t even be good enough to wax the demon’s shoes.

Shabriri still wore the tan long-coat, but the green sweater hung in tatters. While still on two legs, he had shed his human mask, leaving a thin frame and spiky limbs that brought to mind razor blades and jagged glass.

He spun with arms outstretched while pirouetting in the storm. The rain moved around him like a lover, sliding and stretching around an invisible barrier a foot from his skin. It took me a moment to realize the rain had warped into the shape of wings. There was no sound but the steady drumming of water hitting the street. Just the demon’s dance and the rain.

I had to tear my gaze away from him. Some demons were Fallen Angels, with beauty and horror mixed in their natures. I had never believed it until I watched Shabriri dance. The beauty of it could’ve sucked me in, leaving us all to burn.

Part of me wondered what the hell I was doing. I needed to stop him. Me, with my broken ribs and bruises on top of bruises. Doubt wiggled its way into my brain as the demon spun in the rain. If there was any time where I felt like crawling into a corner it was now.

I was also the only one who could do this.

So I brought up little Amanda's face into my mind. Took a deep breath and pushed all doubt aside. It was time to act, but the question was what to do? I needed to break the demon's attention and lure him into the shop. So I did the only thing I could think of.

Shabriri was still dancing when the five-pound metal cross hit him square in the forehead.

The demon howled and released a wave of fire that broke the remaining front windows of the gallery as well as the pizza place next door.

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