"How well can venidemons hear, anyway?" Camille asked.

Vanzir frowned. "I don't know. h.e.l.l, I don't even know if they have ears or can can hear. But the ghost or specter or whatever it is, is probably aware we're here." hear. But the ghost or specter or whatever it is, is probably aware we're here."

"We'll go together." I stared at Camille. She usually took the lead, but I had a strong premonition about this, and I wasn't in any mood to be proven right. When she frowned, I added, "Please, just listen to me on this?"

Slowly, she nodded. "Whatever you like, Kitten. I'm not getting a whole lot of guidance on this, except for the creepy feeling I got coming up the stairs. What about you, Morio? Smoky?"

Morio closed his eyes. "Squirmy. The energy feels like it's squirming. It's all over the place, and I can't pin it down."

Smoky stared at the walls. "There's Netherworld energy here, along with demon stench."

Netherworld energy. That confirmed it. Ghosts, specters, and wights were all from the Netherworld. Although the Netherworld was linked to the Underworld, there was a big difference between the two.

The Underworld was usually a peaceful-if somber-place where a number of spirits journeyed after they left their mortal forms behind. The Netherworld, on the other hand, was filled with wandering souls and angry dead and generally p.i.s.sed-off spirits. Of course, the undead also included vampires and ghouls, but they seemed to hang out with the Demonkin.

Somebody really needed to write a handbook on how to keep track of who was stationed where. Actually, if I remembered my OIA training right, they'd taught a cla.s.s on the subject, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember anything from it.

"That seals it. We stick together." I motioned to Camille, and we swung into the hallway, Roz and Morio right behind us. Vanzir and Smoky brought up the rear. As we edged toward the first door, I swallowed my fear and put my hand on the k.n.o.b. I looked at the others.

Camille gave me a nod. "Do it."

"Here goes nothing," I said, yanking open the door. As I did, a cold shaft of wind gusted past, and my skin broke out in goose b.u.mps. I stared into the room, thinking I'd been prepared for just about anything, but this took the cake. Nope, no way had I expected to stumble onto a portal first thing. Wide open, the portal led right into the heart of a glacier by the feel of the energy pouring through. Oh yeah, this was going to be a fun ride.

CHAPTER 4.

"Holy c.r.a.p, where the h.e.l.l does this lead?" Morio said.

Smoky cleared his throat. "At first I thought it was the Northlands, but the energy is tainted, not clear. I'm thinking the Netherworld."

"Oh s.h.i.t," Vanzir said. "Then we're open to invasion from a bunch of spooks of the worst kind. They might even be able to summon the venidemons, though I'm not sure if that's what happened in this case."

"Great." I stared at the shimmering energy, wondering just how big of a zap it would give me if I touched it. "So the spirit world has decided to take up residence over Earthside, too."

Camille folded her arms over her chest and stared nervously at the opening. "Who are we going to call in to watch over this one? I don't know many Supes who are very effective against denizens of the Netherworld. It's not quite the same as a troll or goblin, whom you can take out with one good thump over the head. Spirits can be dangerous on so many levels."

I squinted, trying to think of anyone who might be able to help. "I can ask Venus the Moon Child. He might know of somebody." The shaman of the Rainier Puma Pride was an incredibly powerful Were, and if anybody would know how to deal with ghosts and spirits, it would be him. He'd been intensively trained when he was young, and I had the feeling he'd traveled to h.e.l.l and back more than once.

"Good idea," Morio said.

"Meanwhile, that just leaves us with finding the venidemons and whatever creep's protecting them. Considering where we think this portal leads, well . . . it could be anything or anyone." I glanced down the hall. "Want to make a bet the venidemons are belowground? If I were a giant demonic blowfly, I'd hide in a bas.e.m.e.nt."

"Ten to one you're spot-on, babe," Roz said, winking at me. "Now to find the staircase down."

I ignored him, not feeling up to playful banter. Another portal meant more havoc to guard against. And the Netherworld wasn't some scenic spirit amus.e.m.e.nt park. No, there were creatures there that could swallow your soul and spit it back out, blackened and empty.

Slipping past him, I motioned to Camille. "You take the right side of the hallway; I'll take the left. Peek in the door and slam it if something tries to get out. Everybody be on their guard. For all we know, we could be facing a spirit demon."

Vanzir shivered. "Could be a spirit demon. They scare the h.e.l.l out of me, and I'm I'm a dream chaser. Some of them eat any psychic energy in their paths, which means Morio and Camille better be alert and ready to run. If it a dream chaser. Some of them eat any psychic energy in their paths, which means Morio and Camille better be alert and ready to run. If it is is a spirit demon, whatever you do, don't let it touch you." a spirit demon, whatever you do, don't let it touch you."

Camille shuddered. "Why?"

"If one touches you, they can latch onto your psyche, and you'll play h.e.l.l trying to dislodge them. That's how they feed. Psychic leeches, you might call them. Only they're a d.a.m.ned sight smarter than any leech you'll find in a swamp, and a whole lot deadlier."

I held up my hand. "In that case, Roz, you switch places with her. Camille, I don't want you and Morio in front; you two stay back a little. I'm not taking any chances losing either of you to a spirit demon." Camille started to protest, but I waved her silent. "Listen, you're far more valuable alive than dead. Got it?"

She gave me a grin. "Got it, General. Okay, while we're waiting, maybe Morio and I can tune in on whatever's going on. If it is a spirit demon, maybe it will sense our energy and show itself. By the way, how do you kill one of them?"

Vanzir rolled his eyes. "Don't you girls know anything about demons?" When we stared at him blankly, he shook his head. "Besides the fact that you want to kill us all? A spirit demon can be killed, but the worst way to attack it is through magic. It eats up spells like candy. They're just fuel. Silver is always good. You can actually hit them on the physical plane and it will affect them if you have a silver weapon. And an experienced enough witch can trap them-"

"Of course!" Morio snapped his fingers. "A Snare spell. If they wander into it, the energy creates a barrier they can't absorb, and yet they can't free themselves. Kind of like when a spin-bug traps a spider in its own type of web, which it attaches to the spider's guy wires and spins in a parallel direction."

I stared at him. "Spiders, huh? I don't even want to think about spiders."

Morio grinned at me. "Subject makes you a little jumpy, does it?"

I shuddered. We'd fought a bunch of werespiders some months back. Hobo werespiders, at that. I still got creeped out every time I saw a brown arachnid scuttling across the floor. Luckily, the Spider-Be-Gone spell that Queen Asteria's technomage had cast on our house was still doing the trick. The Elfin Queen knew how to pick her helpers.

"Yeah," I said. "So what's a spin-bug? I've never heard of one. We don't have them in Otherworld."

Smoky spoke up. "Spin-bugs aren't endemic Earthside, either. n.o.body knows where they came from, actually, though I've heard they can be found in some of the older Fae barrows."

"That's right," Morio said. "The spin-bug's a spider-eater. It looks like a cross between a praying mantis and a centipede, and it spins a web out of its b.u.t.t, just like a spider. It usually hooks its own web next to that of a spider's and waits in ambush. The spider thinks the webs are connected and tries to scuttle over to put the bite on the spin-bug. Everything looks safe enough, but the moment the spider touches the spin-bug's web, boom, it's stuck."

Camille leaned against the wall. "So the Snare spell is like the web. It looks like magical energy the spirit demon can eat, but when he gets in the middle of it, he can't touch it, and he can't get away. Essentially, he becomes a sitting duck."

"You got it," Morio said. "And then we pick him off."

"Can you cast one?" She frowned, thinking. "I have a vague idea of how it might be done, but there's no way in h.e.l.l I'd trust my magic unless I knew precisely what to do. Even then, I'd be on red alert."

Morio let out a long sigh. "Theoretically. I'll need your help, and we can't do it here in the hall, and it can't be done on the run. We have to set it up somewhere quiet so I can concentrate."

"The living room?" Camille glanced back down the hall at the archway. "We could put the curtains back up to make it more inviting to those in the spook division."

The youkai gave her a nod. "Let's go-"

"Hold on!" I vigorously shook my head. "n.o.body's going anywhere without group consensus. We don't even know if it's a spirit demon we're facing. What if you're wrong? What if it's something that decides to double around and take you two on while you're focused on setting up the spell?"

"What if we're right, and we have no other way to combat the creature?" Camille asked.

A sudden thump put an end to our bickering. "Oh c.r.a.p, what's that?" I spun around as a second thump landed squarely on the door at the end of the hallway. It shuddered. Whatever was back there was big. At that moment, I noticed the padlock holding the door shut. The door opened out into the hallway-the hinges could easily be busted through.

"The lock looks flimsy. Maybe whatever it is, isn't so tough after all."

"Don't count your chickens," Camille said. "The lock's been charmed."

Oh h.e.l.l. If it was magically enhanced, then there was no telling what was behind the door. Whatever it was, it wanted out, and from the way the wood was splintering around the hinges, it was about to get its wish. I headed down the hall.

"Come on! That thing's coming through. Get ready." Roz and I stood in front, leaving enough s.p.a.ce through which Morio and Camille could aim their spells. "What's a spirit demon look like, anyway?"

Vanzir pulled out a nasty-looking kris blade with a bone hilt. I flinched. That thing was likely to leave a bad scar, if it didn't cut off whatever appendage it managed to hit.

He saw my grimace and let out a snort. "What? You expect me to use silver? Or some hoity-toity fancy-a.s.sed dagger? I'm a demon, girl, even if I don't look the part. Get used to it." His gaze met mine, and his eyes swirled with a kaleidoscope of colors and took on a wild, rough look. It never failed to give me the shakes.

"Just answer me," I said over the repeated slams against the door. Either our friend's keeper was out of the house, or whatever we were about to face was being given a pep talk before being freed to attack us.

"Spirit demon. Check. The best way to differentiate between a ghost and a spirit demon is that it will have glowing eyes the color of fire. The thing has a hole-a vortex, actually-where its heart should be. The hole looks like a whirling fogbank, and it's about the size of a small melon. That's where it leeches energy. Tendrils come through the hole and fasten themselves into the aura of its victim. Holy c.r.a.p, that was a big one!" He jumped as the door shuddered.

Whatever it was, it was almost through. I thought about breaking the lock to get it over with, but who knew if it had been b.o.o.by-trapped? And to get close enough to break the lock would put me in the danger zone. No, better to let the mountain come to us rather than go to the mountain.

Camille apparently didn't think so, though. She moved toward the door. "Let's just get this over with."

"Stop right where you are." When she turned to look at me, I said, "Listen: I'm a werecat, right?" She nodded. "We know when to make the jump and when to sit and wait. Be patient. I know it's hard, but trust me, my instincts are not saying attack first. There's a reason that n.o.body's opened the lock and let it out on us."

And when I said it, I knew it was true. Whatever was behind that door was so nasty that its keeper had no intention of getting close to it. I glanced at Vanzir. "Are you sure you didn't see anything when you came spying here yesterday?"

He shook his head. "I knew this place was overrun with a bad miasma, but I had no idea there was anything like this here. I thought we were facing a bunch of venidemons and their guardian, that's all," he muttered. I could tell it bothered him that he wasn't prepared for this, so he was probably telling the truth. And he was oath-bound not to lead us into a trap. He'd be dead by now if he had lied. His symbiont collar would have strangled him.

At that moment, the door gave way to one particularly nasty thud, and we all jumped as a creature lurched out. The thing must have been a good seven feet tall at the shoulder. With three heads, it looked all too much like a very nasty mutant Rottweiler with large, bared teeth. It saw us and raised one of its heads to let loose with a long, piercing howl.

"You shall not pa.s.s," said the second head, while the third growled.

"A h.e.l.lhound!" I tried to get a grip. Tabby wanted me to bolt, and Panther wanted me to tear the creature apart. I fought to stay in control and not shift.

"c.r.a.p!" Morio immediately dropped his bag and stepped back. "I'm going in as my true form. None of my spells will work against a h.e.l.lhound."

As he began to shift into his full demonic form, Camille yelled out, "h.e.l.lhounds don't like the cold, either!"

Smoky pushed past her in a blur and was on the creature as I managed to bring myself back to the edge of control. The dragon's hands-now bearing long talons instead of fingernails-swiped at the three-headed dog and left a row of deep scratches along one side of the h.e.l.lhound's back. As Smoky leapt away to avoid being bitten, I rushed in, my dagger raised.

The h.e.l.lhound's left head-the one that had ordered us to back off-snapped at me. I managed to avoid the long teeth, but he laughed and said, "Fair meat for the children."

"Don't be so hasty, dogface!" As I headed in, I saw Morio racing by. He was a good eight feet tall in full demonic form. His eyes glistened golden topaz, and his body was lightly covered with a downy fur the color of burnished copper.

Morio's face was still close enough to his own to recognize, except his nose had lengthened and turned black and shiny. Steam puffed out of his nostrils, and a row of needle-sharp teeth gleamed as he opened his mouth. The fox demon walked on feet, not paws, and his hands were still human, though they were fully furred and tipped with curved claws. A c.o.c.k the size of my favorite vibrator hung heavy from his loins.

"Holy c.r.a.p," Vanzir yelled. "I wish I I could do that!" He swung with the heavy kris, slashing at the haunches of the h.e.l.lhound. He managed a strike with the last few inches of his blade. could do that!" He swung with the heavy kris, slashing at the haunches of the h.e.l.lhound. He managed a strike with the last few inches of his blade.

Morio was on the h.e.l.lhound now, which stood on its hind legs to engage him. Camille let out a short scream, and I saw the blur of her skirt as she raced by, her own dagger out and ready.

I took the opportunity to drop and roll, right against the h.e.l.lhound's feet. One good strike, and I hamstrung his right back leg. He let out a loud yowl from his right head as I rolled away again. I came up in time to see the youkai and the h.e.l.lhound in the grips of a duel to the death. The h.e.l.lhound was close to Morio's demon size, and they were probably evenly matched for strength.

"Out of the way, girl!" Smoky pushed me aside and landed a long swipe of talons down the left side of the h.e.l.lhound, leaving five b.l.o.o.d.y lines that dripped smoking blood to the floor, where the drops ate into the wood, leaving burn marks.

"Its blood is acidic," I shouted, spinning around to look for an opening.

Camille leapt away with a short scream, her fingers smoldering where she'd struck with her dagger and missed, hitting the side of the beast with her hand. She dropped the blade and leaned over, moaning. "d.a.m.n, it's worse than iron."

As the h.e.l.lhound turned its attention to her, Smoky let out a low growl that set the entire hall to vibrating and moved in. We all edged away, recognizing his breaking point. All except Morio, who dashed forward to drag Camille out of the way.

Smoky threw back his head, his long braid coiling around his shoulders like a snake. His eyes took on the look of frozen glaciers and tundras long forgotten by the sun, and he raised his arms, letting loose a chant that was both impossible to understand and impossible to ignore.

Within seconds, the temperature of the air dropped a good thirty degrees, and his hands were vibrating, his talons gleaming like icicles. The h.e.l.lhound turned away from Morio and Camille as Smoky thrust his hands forward and grabbed the sides of the center head. His face contorting, Smoky growled as the head froze-turned to pure ice-and shattered in his death grip.

The h.e.l.lhound's other heads both shrieked-whether in surprise or pain I'm not sure-and it backed away, the stump of the center head covered with a frozen pool of the acidic blood. But once Smoky was p.i.s.sed, he stayed p.i.s.sed until the object of his anger had taken a nosedive into oblivion or until he'd decided he'd done enough damage. That much we'd learned about the dragon. And when somebody hurt Camille, there was no escaping him.

Smoky flew at the creature-a blur of white and silver-landing beside it with a heavy thud. He laughed then, his eyes crinkling in delight as he tore through the h.e.l.lhound's hide, gutting it.

The h.e.l.lhound let out one last howl as a cloud of smoke emerged from its belly. Within seconds, the creature, entrails and all, vanished in a puff of ashes and blood.

I stared at the spot on the floor where it had stood, then looked up at Smoky. The delight in his eyes, the joy of battle, died as quickly as it had appeared. He hurried to Camille's side as I raced over to join them. Morio was already examining her hand.

She was on the floor by now, gritting her teeth as Morio probed the wound. The acid had burnt through to the bone in one small spot. Smoky smoothed her hair as I shushed her cries.

"d.a.m.n it. I'm sorry," she said, shaking away angry tears. "I missed, and my hand landed against one of the cuts on the creature."

"Great Mother, that's a nasty wound. You can't stay here. We'll just have to come back another day-" I started to say, but she shook her head.

"No! We can't let them regroup. Find me something to wrap this up with, and I'll just stay near the back." She glanced over at Roz, who was digging through his coat. "You got any more of that salve you carry around with you?"

He held up a little jar. "Here," he said, opening it and slathering a good spoonful over the open wound. "This will stave off the worst of the pain and infection for now. Just don't get it dirty." He pulled out a small roll of gauze from another pocket and began to wrap her hand.

"You're not only a walking armory, but now you're an infirmary, too?" I couldn't help but smile. "Someday, I want to see everything you keep hidden in that coat."

He gave me a long look. "Everything?" he said softly with a smirk.

"Give me a break. You know what I meant." I let out a sigh. Once an incubus, always an incubus. He'd never change. I was just glad he was on our side. "Okay, change of plans. Camille, in back with Smoky. He can protect you best if we come across another big beastie. Morio, up front with me. Roz and Vanzir, take the middle."

Vanzir pointed at the open door where the h.e.l.lhound had busted through. "All right, but I think we found our nest. This is the door to the bas.e.m.e.nt, it looks like, and there's definite demonic energy radiating up the stairwell."

I peered down the stairs. The light was dim, probably only a twenty-five-watt bulb. The stairs vanished into the darkness below. The scent of dung and fetid meat and sour milk rose from the depths.

"Cripes, that's a nasty scent. My stomach's testy enough as it is," I said as I moved to the edge of the staircase. "I guess we go down?"

Vanzir nodded and handed me a broom he found in the corner. "You might want to test the way as you go, in case there are any traps or broken steps. The last thing we need is for you to go crashing down the stairs and break your neck."

With that thought to cheer me up, I grabbed the broom, and we headed into the bas.e.m.e.nt, one step at a time.

CHAPTER 5.