Shannon O'Reilly was bullied and everything his older sister wasn't. When his sister Sarah gives him a chance to change things through a single wish things don't go as planned.     I Wish: Book 5 Chapter 23 Khinara By Amethyst

I appeared on a small rooftop, some sort of pagoda or something that I figured was probably the gatehouse that Shannon had been aiming for. I might still taunt or mess with her occasionally, but one thing that I had learned while traveling through that godforsaken hellhole that we had been trapped in after Mom’s plane went down, was that she’s very good at this magick stuff. She’s way more imaginative and focused than I will ever be, for sure, and I guess that’s important with that kind of shit.

I would never admit it, of course, but it was because of her that we survived and got out of there alive. She’s smart, she never gives up, and she genuinely cares about what happens to other people… what happens to me, and probably far more than I deserve. She and Beth aren’t what I originally thought them to be, as hard as it is to accept sometimes, their sickening sweetness is genuine.

It might be having an effect on me too. I think that I might have been actually crushing on Shannon there for a while until Elsaishe made it awkward. Now, Shannon is like the big sister that I always wanted but never had. She’s a bit overprotective, but she cares and she and Sarah are both wise in the way of girl-fu. It’s hard to believe that she was like me once. Hell, sometimes it’s hard to believe that I was like me once.

I think Mom would have liked them, she probably would have liked this whole crazy group once she got past the ‘magic is real’ thing. I’m still trying to get used to that myself, but I guess it helps hanging out with witches, psychics, angels, faery, and Succubae. Being one of those Succubae helps too, even if I’m not a real one. I have the abilities and I’m hot as hell now, which is great, but now I was going to need to use those abilities.

“Focus Beks. Shannon isn’t going to be here to cover your ass this time,” I told myself sternly. I was in the middle of Hell itself and I was going to be attacking one of the most powerful Demons in existence with an ex-jock Witch and a Catgirl. Wow, my life is seriously fucked up these days, but even I have to admit that it’s exciting sometimes. It’ll be even more exciting if I can find the bitch who murdered my mom and rip her fucking heart out.

I could do it, I would do it. My… friends would help me, and Lisa had a score to settle with the bitch too. Speaking of Lisa, she had appeared nearby and a moment later Michelle was by her side. My best friend was smitten with the woman who had become her Witch, and even I had to admit that they made a good couple. For a former jock, Lisa had some qualities that I admired, like her refusal to take shit from absolutely anyone, even Demons.

Oh yeah, we were going to get some payback today. The thought of it made me smile as I shifted to my full-on Succubus form and used my sharp senses to get a read on the area. I didn’t put on the new toy that Elsaishe had made me yet, it was safely in its pouch, waiting for just the right moment. Even I knew that fighting a Demon wasn’t going to be a cakewalk, and I decided that I should keep the pretty Faery’s gift in reserve as my ace in the hole.

It was a thoughtful gift, and I could feel a warmth building up in my cheeks, and other places, as it brought my thoughts to Elsaishe. For some reason that didn’t make a lick of fucking sense, she liked me. I had tried pushing her away at first, but she was like Shannon and just wouldn’t give up on me, and as we were getting to know one another, I found myself starting to like her too.

“Keep your head in the game, Beks,” I reminded myself as I listened carefully and scented the air. There was something moving far below us in the Gatehouse, but looking around I could see that the large courtyard around the gatehouse was clear of any Demons. Whoever this Demon General was, they obviously valued their privacy. Well, at least it would make our job easier.

I looked at Michelle, pointed down, and held up one finger. The catgirl nodded, but there was a dark expression on her face and even from fifteen feet away, I could tell that she was on edge. Her body language was stiff and rigid, her ears were back flat against her head, and her tail was bristling. She gave Lisa a meaningful look and the Witch tensed up, clenching and unclenching her fists.

Screw this. We were supposed to hit hard and fast so none of these fuckers could come to each other’s aid. Lisa was a Witch so she needed to have some space to throw spells, or bullets if all else failed. Out of all of us, I was the best built for a physical one-on-one fight to keep the Demon’s attention off her while she did her thing. Michelle was fast enough and had those claws and regeneration, but I was stronger and faster, and my regen was better too.

Shannon would probably tell me to try to figure out what I was dealing with before throwing myself into a fight, but this was the best choice. I needed to do this. Besides, I already knew what was down there. Michelle had recognized the scent and her and Lisa’s reactions had told me everything that I needed to know.

“This is for you, Mom,” I told myself as I flew off the roof and glided toward the sounds and scent I had detected. The gatehouse wasn’t really a gatehouse after all, just an open courtyard built between the outer ring and the next with a large gate to restrict traffic on each side. The pagoda at the center was real fancy and all, but I didn’t give a shit as I burst through the nearest wall on the top floor toward the breathing I heard on the other side.

I wasn’t able to get my hands on her before some magical energy blast threw me back through the hole I had just made and sent me crashing to the ground and skidding across the courtyard. I got to my feet and could already feel the damaged bones in my left wing resetting and my various bruises and scrapes healing. Good thing I was durable, and at least I got her attention.

The hideous freak who had killed my mother jumped out of the pagoda and walked toward me, giving me a dismissive look as she spoke in that guttural Demon language that I couldn’t understand a word of. She probably thought I was some other Demon trying to take her place in the hierarchy and was telling me that I’d never be good enough. I didn’t need a common language to understand that bitch. She might be ugly as fuck and have scary Demon powers, but I’d seen tons of people with that same superior sneer and that body language that says, “I’m better than you and always will be.” Fuck, Demons are so high school.

I dusted myself off and just gave her my best “I’m gonna fuck you up” smile. And that was when Lisa hit her in the back with a barrage of what Shannon called holy missiles, Michelle emptied a clip of Shannon’s special bullets, and whatever magick shield Khinara had protecting her flared with the impacts. She quickly chanted something in Demon and raised another shield as Lisa followed up with a spear of light, and Michelle leaped her way down the balconies of the building and rushed the Demon.

“Pour it on!” my best friend said as we both attacked with a mix of punches and slashes to keep her occupied while Lisa readied another round of spells. “She’s protected herself against physical attacks too this time, but her shield is a lot weaker!”

I guess Shannon was right, Khinara was weak and getting even weaker every day that she couldn’t feed. We could take her; Mason said that we had an advantage. I might not believe one hundred percent in his psychic powers or his sense of the future, but I was ready to make my own future. I was going to fucking kill the bitch who took my mom from me.

“You two,” Khinara spat, glaring at the black-furred catgirl and the Witch bombarding her from the roof of the pagoda in turn. “You escaped after all and somehow managed to turn a Succubus against me. Did you offer her my place? She’s too weak to keep it.”

“I’m not a Succubus, bitch!” I snapped, causing her eyes to widen momentarily.

She glared at me as if she was trying to burn a hole through me with willpower alone, that or she was constipated. Whatever it was, it only resulted in a headache, for her. “You… those protections on your minds…”

“Shannon says hi,” Michelle said with a savage smile as her claws raked across Khinara’s energy shield.

“No, Michelle, get it right,” I countered. “She said ‘die’.” I swung out my shotgun to hit the Demoness full in the face with a load of magical buckshot, causing her shield to flare again. She landed a savage kick in return though, sending me flying and my shotgun skittering across the flagstones.

“Fuck, I think she broke some ribs there,” I muttered as I clutched my side and got to my feet. Lisa managed to get a shot in with a holy spell while her shield was down, disintegrating one of the three arms on her left side. Two more like that and one on the right and she’d have to start biting to fight back. This might take a while.

Taking that hit might have been worth it though; something had caught my attention as she kicked me away. When something hit her shield, it would flare with the impact, only when the shield faded there was a very faint popping sound that accompanied the flare and it took her several seconds to recast the shield. In fact, she was getting weaker the longer that this fight went on, and it took longer to re-cast the shield that time than it had after Lisa and Michelle had ambushed her.

Ignoring my ribs since they were already beginning to heal, I threw myself back into the fight. Khinara let loose the same spell that had sent me flying and hurled it at the only one that she considered a threat, Lisa. The blast blew the top of the pagoda off and Lisa lost her footing trying to avoid it. Shit, that pagoda was probably at least fifty feet high and she was too far away to catch on to any of the balconies.

Michelle vanished and I dove in to get the Demoness’s attention back on me as the catgirl reappeared in midair to catch her girlfriend in what would have been a fatal fall for her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw them hit the ground, Michelle cushioning the landing of her Witch, but landing with a painful-sounding crack as she tried to stick the landing. Oh fuck, her leg wasn’t at a good angle, even with her regeneration that was going to take time to heal.

Lisa got right to her feet, standing protectively in front of Michelle as she recharged and threw another battery of spells at Khinara and I beat on the Demoness with every ounce of strength that I possessed. The shield popped again and I managed to rake my claws against her back, causing a hiss of pain that sounded vaguely like a can of soda that had been punctured. Khinara turned toward me snarling, “I don’t know who, or what, you are, but this is where you die. I will gut you and feast on your entrails.”

She re-cast her shield spell and then she was suddenly on top of me, raining down a flurry of blows. The pain of bones breaking and starting to heal was only a dim discomfort in the back of my mind. For some reason, all that I could think of was the day my mother had died, walking into the cockpit and seeing her standing over my mother’s desecrated body, guts strewn all over the cockpit. A fury built up in me as she grabbed me by the throat and lifted me into the air to sneer at me.

Behind her, I could see Lisa prepping another round of spells. On the ground beside her, Michelle had her gun reloaded and was aiming carefully as her face scrunched up in pain. I needed to hold on, I wasn’t going to let them die too, and I couldn’t afford to die either. I had a promise to keep. I slipped my tail carefully into the pouch that held my tail blade and felt it click into place securely on the spaded tip.

Khinara held me high in front of her, mercilessly pounding on my ribs and stomach, and I wheezed as I spit a bloody gob in her face. I ignored the pain, ignored the arrogant sneer on her face, and waited for my moment. Lisa unleashed another rain of holy missiles and Michelle emptied her clip into the Demon’s back, and as I heard the faint popping sound, I lashed out with my tail, burying the silver blade at its tip into her chest. “That… was… for Mom… bitch.”

For a moment, Khinara’s eyes were wide with surprise and realization before she turned to ash and I fell to the stone-covered ground. I didn’t stay down. I’ve taken enough beatings to last a lifetime, and if I’ve learned one thing, it’s that you never give them the satisfaction of staying down. Even in death, I wasn’t going to let that hideous bitch have that power over me. We’d won, at least for the moment, and I needed to check on Michelle and Lisa.

Staggering to my feet, I walked toward them, my head held high. “Thanks… for the opening. How’s the leg, Michelle?”

“Hurts like a bitch,” Lisa’s Familiar admitted with a grimace. “Even with my regeneration and some hefty healing spells, this is probably gonna take a few days to heal once we set it. Elsaishe could heal it a lot quicker, but she’s got her own fight to handle. Fuck. I guess we’re done here.”

“We did our job,” Lisa replied with shrug. “That’s one less Demon that can go after Shannon or the others. Nice job, Becca. I’m glad you were able to avenge your mom.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you two,” I admitted while looking anywhere at them. “Um… thanks. You two should use your bug-out bracelets to head home, so you can work on healing Michelle’s leg.”

“What about you? You just took a beating too,” Michelle protested.

“Yeah, but my regeneration works a lot faster than yours, and I can still fly and not get too much attention. I… need to go. I know that I avenged my mom, but there are people that I want to protect too. I’ll meet you at home.”

I waited until they had both vanished before retrieving my shotgun and taking to the air. I still hurt like hell, but I could regenerate on the way. As I got some altitude, I could see and hear the battles going on below me. The entire second ring was in chaos and looking into the distance, it looked like the same might hold true for the third ring as well.

It looked like Kisha had done her part and contacted her friends in the resistance after all. Hopefully, the chaos would help turn things in our favor. I didn’t give a fuck what happened to the Demons in this shithole, but I needed to hurry. I had someone to protect.