Why You Should Never Rescue Stray Demons Chapter 55

**OZ**

I’m in the library café having breakfast with Vidar when we hear a commotion outside the library. We rush to the exit, but Vidar stops, unable to go any further.

I look outside and… It’s her. Of COURSE it’s her. For a moment, all I can do is stare.

Kacia is in the parking lot and she appears to be fighting off a wraith. That’s not even the most shocking part of it—honestly, that’s sort of what I expect at this point. No, the shocking part is that she looks… different. Her hair is loose and wild around her shoulders, a beautiful deep purple with barely a hint of brown. Her eyes are uncovered, bright and unhidden, shining with stubborn life even as the wraith claws at her.

Kacia isn’t hiding anymore.

She looks almost like she’s a different person, but somehow more like herself than I’ve ever seen her. And despite the blood smearing her skin, the tears in her clothes and the pain twisting her features, my chest clenches with something stupid and tender. Because she’s beautiful. Fierce. And terrifyingly breakable.

I want to keep her safe, to protect her. And I want her to be mine. The thought slams through me with such force it steals my breath. Then the scent of her blood hits me.

I’m jerked out of my stunned staring, and I move.

I’m storming across the parking lot before I even realise I’ve started running. I am a little out of control. I don’t care that my glamour is slipping, that horns are breaking through my hair. Let them see. I don’t care if everyone is terrified of me, as long as Kacia is okay.

The wraith lifts its hollow head from her, sensing a new threat. It hisses, thin and sharp, but it doesn’t back away. Of course it doesn’t. It can smell her pain. Her fear. It thinks it’s already won.

“Get away from her!” I yell.

The wraith flinches back, just the tiniest bit. But other than that, it barely reacts to my eyes. What the hell? My nightmare effect isn’t working? I’ve already dropped my glamour but… Shit. Wraiths feed on fear, I don’t think they CAN experience it for themselves. My magic is useless against this creature.

I continue to charge towards it, and thankfully it moves backwards a little bit, although it seems more curious than frightened. I slide between it and Kacia, lowering myself into a crouch. My tail flicks behind me. My claws curl into fists at my sides, itching to rip and tear and destroy.

The wraith screeches, a bone-rattling shriek of offense as I position myself between it and its prey. It’s fury and hunger denied. I only growl back, low and deadly.

“Touch her again, and I will rip your cursed soul into pieces so small that they will never reform.”

It falters, maybe considering if I’m actually capable of following through with my threat. If I’m honest, I don’t know if I am or not, but I refuse to back down.

I risk a glance back at Kacia. Her face is pale, streaked with blood. Her eyes are hazy with pain, but when they meet mine, everything stops. Her lips twitch into a small, shaky smile. There’s blood on her teeth. Her breathing is ragged, wet. Too shallow. Too slow.

“Found you.” she whispers, her voice trembling.

For a moment, I think that my nightmare effect isn’t affecting her at all, that she isn’t feeling the absolute terror that most creatures feel upon seeing my real eyes. Then I realise that’s not it at all. She IS terrified, but she’s also half drained by the wraith. She just straight up doesn’t have the energy to express any more fear.

But it’s still there in her eyes, and mixed with it is… Relief. Even while scared out of her mind—of the wraith, of me—she still has that underlying trust that lets her feel relief when she sees me.

Something in me cracks open. A laugh chokes out, broken and desperate, tangled with something that might be a sob. My chest feels too tight to hold everything inside it: guilt, relief, rage, terror, and this overwhelming, uncontainable love.

Because I AM in love with her. A blind man could see that.

I want to hold her to my chest, and tell her how much I adore her, how sorry I am and that I will never keep secrets from her again. But there’s no time for softness right now.

My gaze snaps back to the wraith. My expression hardens as I rise to my full height, looming over the creature.

“Stay awake for me, sweetheart.” I tell Kacia firmly, keeping my eyes focused on the wraith, my voice pure nightmare as I step forward, forcing the wraith back.

“I need you to stay with me, okay? This won’t take long.”

My tail flicks once, sharp and final, and then I lunge.

I throw myself at the wraith with everything I have. Claws slash through its tattered arms, tearing strips of its shadowy form away. I punch, rake, rip. Pieces fall to the ground like wet ash, curling into nothing before they hit the concrete. But it just keeps coming. Nothing seems to even give it pause.

Because it doesn’t have a body to damage. It’s smoke and malice, bone and magic. My strikes pass through it as much as they connect, landing with half force before slipping through empty air.

Its skeletal face rattles with hollow laughter, and it lashes out again. I twist, blocking with my arm, feeling cold agony slice across my skin. I stagger for a moment and it surges toward Kacia.

NO!

I roar and shove it back, slamming my tail into its centre mass, driving it away from her prone form. She’s so pale. Her chest rises and falls in shallow, painful jerks. I have to keep it away from her.

The wraith hisses and darts sideways, slipping around me. I spin to block it, slamming my fist into its skull. There’s a cracking sound, bone fracturing beneath my blow, but still it reforms. Its empty eye sockets burn with cold hunger.

I fight like a mad thing, slashing, grabbing, tearing—anything to keep it away from her. I can barely see where I’m going. We crash into Kacia’s car with a force that knocks the breath out of my lungs. Glass shatters, metal groans.

I brace myself, shoving the creature back. I can smell fuel and as the wraith attacks again there is a sudden screech of tearing metal. Sparks fly off the car. There’s a moment where I think nothing happened, then it catches.

Flames burst from under the hood, licking up me, smoke curling into the air.

For a moment, I freeze. The wraith freezes too. Then I notice something… It’s backing away. Hissing in agitation. Its shadowy form recoils from the rising flames.

Fire. Of course.

In a single, desperate motion, I reach down and rip a branch from a nearby tree—hopefully this isn’t one of Taryn’s. I shove it into the flame until it catches. Heat sears my palm but I barely feel it. I hold the flaming wood like a sword, stepping between Kacia and the wraith again.

It screeches, a sound of horror, and recoils further. I advance, heart pounding with savage, protective triumph.

“Afraid of a little fire, are you?” I snarl.

The wraith lashes out at me in fury, but I thrust the flame towards it and it skirts back around me. This time, I don’t hesitate.

I rush forward and force the flame into its centre mass. It screeches again, a painful, agonising sound that rattles my teeth and makes my skull vibrate. Its form wavers, flickering like dying embers.

I snarl and shove the flame deeper, twisting it through the empty ribcage and up into its hollow skull. With one final, echoing wail, the wraith’s shadowy form crumples inward. Its darkness burns away, leaving behind nothing but a pile of old, yellowed bones.

The flames dance across them for a moment before dying out. Suddenly, everything is quiet.

I stand over the remains, chest heaving, every muscle trembling with adrenaline. The smell of burning metal, scorched paint, and death hangs around me.

Then I turn back to her.

Kacia lies crumpled against the pavement, her hair splayed around her. Her breathing is still faint and uneven. My heart lurches painfully in my chest.

I drop the burning branch, rush to her side, and gather her up into my arms.

“Stay with me.” I whisper, my voice shaking despite everything.

“Please, Kacia. Just… Stay.”