Page 182 of Bedeviled

So instead, I angle my broom toward the ribbon of Memnon’s magic, determined to follow it back to him.

The forest speeds by beneath me. Eventually, I’ll have to figure out how to land between the tightly packed evergreens⁠—

BOOM!

My body jerks as pain explodes across my right shoulder.

Goddess on high. I choke on my own cry as my broom and I begin to fall.

There’s pain and pain and more endless pain. I scream as the wind hits my injured flesh, the agony of it causing me to gag. Warm blood pours from the wound as I spiral toward the trees.

Beneath my screams I swear I hear an echoed roar⁠—

BOOM!

A second projectile—what must be a bullet—whizzes by me, so close that I hear the hiss of it.

Someone is shooting at me! Not a spell, but an actual gun.

With my one good hand I jerk on the broom, causing it to right itself just above the tree line, but the action tugs at my wound, causing me to cry out again.

Tremors course through my body, and my grip falters.

BOOM!

I grunt as another bullet tears through my stomach, and unbearable agony flares across my abdomen.

The world tilts, then falls away as I fully lose my hold on the broom.

SELENE! Memnon bellows.

I try to focus on his voice as I plummet from the sky, but I can’t concentrate on anything over the endless, quaking waves of pain.

Suddenly, I collide with what must be a branch. For a moment, there is agony so vibrant it turns my vision white, then there’s nothing at all.

WAKE, SELENE!

I rouse to the bellow of Memnon’s voice in my head. A moment later, there’s the sensation of many hands on me. I can hear low voices, hissing, and the putrid taint of sulfur in the air.

I blink, the dark world slowly coming into focus.

I nearly scream.

All around me are demons. I see slitted pupils and razor-sharp canines, and when they turn their heads just so, their eyes glint red.

One of them roughly grasps my hair and tilts my head back.

The pain returns then, so loud and exquisite I lose focus for a minute. My shoulder throbs, but my gut…it feels like my insides are boiling away.

My eyes roll around, moving from one set of soulless eyes to the next, my mind pulling away from this moment.

HEAL YOURSELF! Memnon’s voice is insistent, and I can all but taste his fear.

My mind sharpens.

Heal—yes, yes, I need to heal, but…I can’t move my arms.

One of the demons leans forward then, his lips peeling back. I see the flash of his fangs an instant before he buries them in my neck.