Colorless (Section Thirty-Seven)
We were about halfway to Andy’s house when the demon appeared.
Like all of the demons in town, this one looked human-or at least knew how to make itself that way. But when it took off its sunglasses, it had eyes like burning coals. Shit. We had a serious one on our hands, not like the one Carolyn had sent out for practice. It spoke a word that hurt my ears, and the ground shook. I grabbed Andy’s arm to keep us both from falling; Elly yelled something that nullified the spell. She drew a sharp line in the air, and a bubble of blue light appeared around us.
Andy looked at me, caught between confused and frightened. Shit! We didn’t have time for an explanation. And if he freaked out-“Andy,” I whispered, pressing my palm against his forehead, “Everything’s fine.” He opened his mouth, but I sent a pulse of energy through him-just enough to knock him out. Andy’s eyes rolled into the back of his head. I caught him before he could hit the ground.
I glanced at Elly: she had her hands pressed together, whispering something to keep the barrier up. I caught her eye, and she shot me a “Get on with it!” look. I took that as my cue and sat down, sending my thoughts out into the hum of activity around me. Everything was so loud-but I could hear Elly (Shit shit shit-) and feel the demon’s nasty primal thoughts, and that forced me to focus. I used the people around me as springboards, jumping from mind to mind. Once in a while, I would get a quick glance at where I was so I could find Rain faster. Or Carolyn. Or anyone, really, because Elly wasn’t strong enough to keep this up for long, and once the demon broke her barrier, she’d likely pass out from the shock. And there would be nothing I could do to help her or keep Andy safe if that happened.
My stomach clenching, I sped up, hopping from mind to mind so quickly that the sounds were just a blur. Finally, I found Carolyn. We’re being attacked! I projected an image of the barrier and Elly’s face. Carolyn bolted to her feet. That was enough sign for me; I returned to myself.
Elly had dropped the barrier: she and the demon circled each other, waiting for a chance to attack. I needed to get out of the way-Elly couldn’t afford to be worrying about my skin. Ignoring the pins and needles that always hit after I projected myself, I grabbed Andy under the arms. At least he was skinny. I pulled him into the nearest alley and propped him up against the wall, then sat down next to him.
Now it was time to see if I could help Elly.
I hated the thought of getting inside the demon’s mind-batshit insane doesn’t even come close, even for the ones who don’t want to make trouble-but Carolyn and Rain were on the other end of the city. Elly might’ve been able to hold her own that long, but there was no point in risking it and getting her knocked out or worse. And she was my friend. I couldn’t let her do this alone-I couldn’t believe I’d been letting my friends do this without my help for so long. What gave me the right to sit by the wayside while the people I cared about were in trouble? Sure, I wasn’t any great shakes at mental combat, but I could learn. I could. And then I’d never have to worry about this again.
Anyway, I was done with letting other people control my life.
I closed my eyes. This time, I didn’t have to mind-hop; the demon was there, a jangling, awful chord in the noise. This would be tricky. Demons don’t have mental defenses-they don’t need them. Their minds are totally alien. You can go crazy trying to get in there if you’re not careful. This demon was one of the more feral ones, the kind that wanted to cause trouble but was too weak-at least, compared to other demons-to survive anywhere but here.
I prodded at the corner of its mind; focused on Elly, it didn’t notice. Good. I could feel chinks, places where its mind had grown more human during its time here, but I’d have to be sneaky about it. Pressing myself against one of the chinks, I slowly widened it. I was almost in when something shattered with a terrible sound-it had just broken Elly’s spell. I redoubled my efforts to get inside, and then the world exploded in a flash of white light.
I jolted back to myself-literally. My head slammed back against the wall, and the world went black for a moment. Then a warm body landed in my lap. I opened my eyes a crack-Elly? I couldn’t focus, but the body felt about the right size.
Someone slapped my cheek, just hard enough to hurt. A face appeared in my field of vision. They looked familiar, but I couldn’t think. “Hey,” said the man, his voice gruff but not unkind, “you alive?”
I blinked a few more times, and the world finally stopped spinning. But then I still wasn’t sure what I was seeing because it didn’t make sense. “…Tulio?”
He raised his eyebrows. He was skinny, and his eyes were the same clear blue as Andy’s, but that wasn’t why I couldn’t stop staring: he had a Hunter symbol on a chain around his neck, the kind that only legally registered ones got to wear. But how…? He stood up and pulled on a jacket. “Wake up my cousin, okay? I need to yell at him for hanging with demon bait.”