Dweller on the Threshold by Rinda Elliott Page A

the fight adrenaline. My protective mental shields were also down from exhaustion and the shocked souls around me ate into my chest. The grief ate at me . I needed food. I didn’t know how Nikolos knew I did—and well, right now I didn’t really care. I nodded and turned, looked at the damage all over again.
    Fred and Phro stood next to Frida. From his more ghostly than before look, I guessed he’d added his energy to theirs. That would explain the force of the demon hitting the wall. He was an experienced spirit. I smiled my thanks. He tipped his head in reply.
    I didn’t see Blythe and started to panic until I noticed the little woman kneeling over the doctor the demon had thrown at me earlier. Something shiny sparkled around Blythe’s fingers as she moved them over wounds that were obviously fatal. It suddenly felt as if a heavy weight draped over my shoulders. I should have moved faster . If I’d only moved faster . Gotten to the demon before it did all this damage.
    Nikolos touched my back. “There will be many more dead before this is over. Accept it now or go insane.”
    I knew he told the truth. Understanding and accepting were two very different animals, though. Walking to Blythe, I heard her murmuring softly to the doctor. The woman’s eyes were locked on Blythe’s.
    I knelt—my back, leg and arm aching so badly the pain made me sick. I placed my hand on Blythe’s shoulders. Blue eyes, shiny with tears, lifted to mine. “Thank you,” I said.
    Blythe managed a small smile. “I think maybe we’re supposed to work together.”
    “I think you may be right.” I slowly stood. Another doctor yelled, and within seconds people surrounded the fallen woman.
    I stepped back and tugged Blythe with me. “Hey, I think I get why you threw the castor oil on it—that stuff repels demons, right?”
    She nodded, her eyes on the activity in front of them.
    “But what were you yelling?”
    Blythe shrugged. “A mix of Slovak and Czech—mostly gibberish because I couldn’t remember the right words. I do need to work on that as it may come in handy. But I’m pretty sure I got some of them right.”
    We were quiet as the doctor was wheeled away. It was slow going since the hall was still so littered with people.
    “What did you yell?”
    She took a deep breath and raised trembling fingers to pull at the neck of her blood soaked dress. She blinked, looking pale. Shocky. “Did you know that demons are easily confused? You can yell anything and just switch the words around…or you can just give it a confusing order. I just told it to chew on its hand—something like that.”
    “Oh. Well, it worked.” I turned to find Nikolos reaching for me. I lifted an eyebrow. He sure liked to touch.
    The corner of his mouth quirked. “I’ll take you to find food while the witch does her larvae spell.”
    “How about I go with you to find it?”
    He inclined his head. “As you wish.”
    I’d been transported into the Princess Bride. The extra gory version.
    Blythe hurried toward Elsa’s room. I sent my guides with her and forced myself to follow Nikolos into the stairwell. People filled every available space. The scent of their sweat and fear blocked my throat. I swallowed heavily. The sound of police sirens was loud in spite of the crowd. “You know what? I’ll get food later. We need to hurry the witch so we can get out of here.”
    He nodded, chuckling softly as we retraced our steps.
    “What could possibly be funny right now?”  
    “Your witch did yell a lot of nothing. Confused the hell out of the thing. But that last part did the trick.”
    “When she told it to chew its hand?”
    “No. That’s not what she said.” His laugh was deep and it vibrated through my chest like low, rumbling thunder.
    “What did she say then?”
    “She told it to lick its own ass.”

Chapter Five
    “The demons come through the bodies.” It finally hit me.
    Stopping in the middle of the parking lot, I took a deep breath of