Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            “Si Peccabus poenam mers!” Lee exuberantly shouted, the force of Cincinnati’s witches behind him as he invoked the magic to bind the demons to the ever-after.

            And as the circle at Fountain Square began to glow with their combined will, from the depths of my mind rose a thunderous roar of denial. Pacta sunt servanda! Dali exclaimed in my thoughts, and I staggered as, with one voice, the demons grabbed the will of an entire city of witches . . . and slowly turned it to the demons’ desires.

            “Trent!” I shouted when the witches’ circle flashed a sudden black. It was the demons’ spell, now twisted to their will and hanging before the witches, as yet uninvoked. As one, the gathered witches gasped—and when the first person broke and ran, the spell engaged.

            “Fire in the hole!” I shouted, relieved when Trent’s protection circle flashed into play an instant before Quen’s.

            The circle at Fountain Square exploded outward with a building-rocking boom. Gasping, I lurched for Elyse, dragging her down and circling us both within a second protective bubble. The woman shrieked, fighting me as I held her tight, almost smothering her as the demon-turned curse burst upon the world, ringing through the planet and setting the atmosphere glowing with a black aurora borealis. My teeth clenched as the curse found me with the sensations of maggoty pinpricks. Not me, I thought, gripping Elyse tighter—and it dissolved and broke up, repelled by my circle.

            It had passed me over.

            With a wondering jolt, it hit me anew that I really was a demon. Whatever had been a witch in me was gone. I blinked fast as the reality soaked in, but when I looked up, the spell exiling the witches to remain within reality still hung in the atmosphere, a shimmering black and gold with the first of the stars peeking through like diamonds. “My God . . . it’s beautiful,” I whispered as it began to fade.

            “Get off!” Elyse shouted, and my hands sprang away at the first hint of tingling ley line energy. Her elbow rammed into my gut, and she spun to a stand. “Drop your circle,” she intoned, and I did. I didn’t need it anymore.

            Elyse turned from me, her face aghast as she stared at the plaza. Cries of dismay and fear echoed as people got to their feet, ashen as they felt the curse settle deep into their souls. Some sobbed, some were angry, but most of them ran, weaving through the holes in the I.S.’s net like fish.

            Lee stood as if in shock, what was left of the coven of moral and ethical standards surrounding him. Pushing past their shouted questions, he stomped over to the thickest gathering of I.S. agents. I felt no victory, only a tired acceptance.

            “You bounced it back,” Elyse said. She wasn’t retching or in shock as were all the other witches, and I wondered if the spell had passed over her, seeing as she’d been under my circle at the time. “You turned it against us and bounced it back,” she said again, staring at her hands. “How? You couldn’t . . . Lee said there were only three hundred of you left.”

            “Thereabouts,” I agreed. I stayed where I sat on the pavement, my knees to my chest and my arms about my shins. It felt good to be doing nothing. But she was still staring at me, and I probably should drop some demon wisdom on her. “Maybe you need to rethink who you’re following if you’re going to be responsible for an entire demographic’s morality.” Yeah, that was good.

            Groaning, I rolled myself over and up. Smacking the dirt off my jeans, I started for Trent, slow until I knew how bad my hip was going to hurt. It seemed to be over, but that’s usually when the rug got pulled out from under me.

            The media had predictably recovered first, loud and disorganized as they struggled to get their equipment linked to the studio again. The sun was down, and I squinted up at Carew Tower, wondering where Bis was. “Thank you, Ivy,” I whispered as the vampiric I.S. agents ignored Lee’s increasingly agitated demands to arrest me. Most had turned their backs to the square, clearly waiting to see who owned the streets before they acted.

            “But you are so few,” Elyse whispered, and I jumped, startled to see her at my elbow. The curse might not have seen her hiding under my circle, but she was still confused. They taught these kids from the time they could walk that they were invincible. And they weren’t. No one was.

            “True.” I paused, one foot on a wide step. “But apart from me, Lee, and the surviving Rosewood babies, every demon in existence is over five thousand years old.” Silent, her gaze went to Lee, and I snickered. “Yep. He’s biologically a demon. But seeing as he’s not in their database, I’d be willing to bet that when the demons twisted the curse and sent it back to you that it fastened on his witch heritage.” Sighing happily, I slumped. “He doesn’t look too happy. Elyse, I think I could like you. Here’s a word of advice I found out the hard way. You need to exhaust all options before trying to curse someone, much less an entire people. Even if it hurts.”