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burn, the metal in her weapons ate away at the flesh. The creature spun, scratching frantically at the wound, ripping into its own flesh as the injury burned through its body.
    The skin turned gray. The metal poisoning spread, drying out the flesh until only powder remained. With another thrust to its throat, Caly put the beast out of its misery, unable to stand for any creature to be tortured.
    “We have to incinerate the bodies. They can’t reach their skeletons and take physical form.”
    Three more demons rushed out of the darkness. Placing pressure on the heel of her boot, Caly twisted and a blade snapped out from the tip. She ran, spun mid-air and kicked out, laying open the scalp and half of the demon’s face. The blade retracted when she landed. A howl rang out, echoing along sharply against the stones. Caly threw her knife, and the steel caught him high in the chest.
    A killing blow. The caustic sound ended in a gurgle.
    Not as strong as her opponents without tapping into her darker side, the most danger for her came from getting too close to the creatures. She was an equal to most humans in strength. Unfortunately, demons did not have the same weaknesses as humans.
    It would be so easy to win if she gave into the urgings, the ugly need in her gut to lay waste to them. She refused to access that part of herself, the part that thrilled at the hunt and kill, compliments of the infection that had ravaged her body since she’d been a child. There would be no guarantee she could come back from the edge if she stepped over the line.
    The last two demons disappeared in two bright flares, reduced to stains.
    “Keep them busy. I’ll set the charges. We’ll have fifteen minutes to fight our way past the demons.” The old man hurried to the right side of the entrance, his limp more pronounced.
    “Set. Caly!”
    “Got it.” She moved on the other side of the entryway and deftly caught the bag he tossed. The device she pulled out was small, able to be worked by an idiot. It had only a digital readout, three buttons and two wires. With sweaty palms, she set the timer and nestled the bomb near the base of the temple. “Ready.”
    Standing, she turned, taking a blow to her right arm meant to separate her head from her body. The strength behind it instantly numbed her hand. Her blade clattered to the ground. Crouched to dodge a fist, she slipped free a long-handled knife she carried in the sheath along her spine. Four more demons entered. Henry fought two others, Oscar battled three.
    Too many.
    The clock counted down at the back of her mind, slowly growing louder as time elapsed. The greater the distance between them and the blast, the better the chance for their survival. A small voice inside her wailed at the loss of the temple, the loss of a possible cure.
    Oscar took a blow to his weak leg and stumbled. Another demon swarmed forward. The snap of his arm, his grunt of pain reverberated through her.
    “Oscar!”
    He was unstoppable.
    Indestructible.
    Instinct took over, and Caly sent her blade tumbling through the air. It clipped one demon and landed solidly in the throat of another. The creature dropped Oscar’s arm, giving him time to retreat.
    It also gave her demon time to advance.
    Clammy fingers crushed her throat. Unable to breathe or swallow, Caly tried to pry the creature’s claws from her windpipe.
    Only to find his grip too firm to break. She kicked him in the balls then went for his eyes.
    Nothing worked.
    A tinge of panic raced through her before she could clamp it down. Everything narrowed to the two of them.
    Excitement burned like pure moonshine through her veins, the demon she harbored eager to join the fray.
    A burnt smell clogged her nose as her metal wrist guards sizzled against the demon’s flesh. The vicious grip lessened, and Caly snatched one of the last small blades. With a quick thrust to his solar plexus, the beast dissolved in a bright burst of light. The heat generated by the reaction