“Pierce its heart. Only one, in the center of its chest.”
The imp gnawed on the statue, making an om nom nom sound until one of its teeth snapped. It hissed at the bust, its hand covering its mouth as it darted to the floor and backed away. Its nostrils flared, and it crawled across the tile, using its long arms to propel it like a monkey.
“That would be easy-peasy if I had a weapon on me.” I moved around the table, putting distance between the little monster and myself.
The imp reached for a book on the bottom shelf, and I shouted, “Hey! Hands off.”
It hissed and grabbed the volume, anyway. Then it took a giant bite out of the spine.
“Son of a serpent. That is not the way to devour a book. Drop it.” I clapped and stomped my feet, trying to scare it. I was rewarded with another hiss.
“Perhaps a freezing spell?”
“You think?” I grabbed the potion from my bag, which would now have to be restocked again, and threw it on the little fiend while I recited the incantation. The half-eaten book dropped to the floor, and the imp froze with an oh shit expression on its hideous face.
Okay, now what? I had nothing to stab it with. “Can I shove it back through like we did the faeries?”
I didn’t wait for an answer. Gripping it by the slimy shoulders, I hoisted it from the ground and pushed it into the rift. It wouldn’t pass through. I shoved again, really putting my weight into it, but all I managed to do was get imp slime all over my shirt.
“What am I doing wrong?” I set it on the floor. That little guy was heavier than he looked.
“The imp wasn’t summoned from Hell. He escaped, drawn to my energy. As long as I’m here, he can’t be forced through.”
“But the faeries could?” I wiped my hands on my pants.
“They aren’t demons.”
“Great, and as long as I’m here, you’re here. But if I leave, he’ll eat the rest of the books.”
“The only option is to vanquish him.”
“Which requires a weapon.” I scanned the shelves. “I could knock him on the head with a big book.”
“You must pierce his heart.”
“Fabulous.” If only I wore stilettos, I could stomp him like a grape and make him go splat. I blew out a hard breath. The door rattled, someone trying to come in.
“Huh,” a voice sounded from outside. “It’s locked. Let me get the key. Be right back.”
“Well, crap.” Someone wanted in the archives, and a visible rift floated in the air while a demon lay on the floor. I had about two minutes to clean up this mess before all hell broke loose.
Well, technically, I guess a little hell had already broken loose.
I spun in a circle, taking in the room. Books, books, more books, computer kiosk, more books. Crap on a cracker. Nothing even remotely close to a weapon called this space home. I wrung my hands, my mind scrambling to come up with a plan.
“A little help, Chaos?”
“I can stall the people outside by—”
“No. No, you can’t.” I wrung my hands again, and a jagged fingernail scratched my palm. I was way overdue for a manicure, but that was so far down my list it had fallen off the bottom.
The imp let out a muffled screech, its arm twitching as the spell began losing its hold. I chewed on my broken nail. I was screwed.
Wait… I looked at my finger and sucked in a breath. Of course! I had a metal nail file in my bag. I rummaged through and found my mini manicure set. I grabbed the file and held it up. “Do you think this will work?”
“I think it’s our only shot.”
The imp’s lips peeled back over its tiny fangs, and it hissed as I approached. I couldn’t think about what I was doing, or I’d talk myself out of it, so I gritted my teeth and jabbed the file into the slimy creature’s chest.
It wailed once, turned into a puff of smoke, and the rift sucked it back through. Whew.
“Here we go,” the librarian’s voice came from right outside the door.
“Not yet,” I whispered and darted toward it. I still had to seal the rift and clean up the mess.
Holding my hands over the lock, I whispered another incantation I’d used frequently growing up—a locking spell. That should hold them. I wasn’t sure why I didn’t think of doing that earlier. I would blame it on stress. The door rattled, the knob turning back and forth, but it wouldn’t budge.
I allowed myself one deep breath before I sealed the rift. Fatigue made my head spin, and I stumbled as I returned the half-eaten book to the shelf. Hopefully it wasn’t the only copy available. I reshelved the volume I’d been reading and gathered my things before releasing the lock.
Swinging the door inward, I gasped, pretending to be startled by the people across the threshold. “Oh, excuse me.” I tried to shuffle past them.
“This door is supposed to remain open,” the librarian scolded.
“Sorry. Someone was on their phone out there, and it was distracting. I won’t do it again.” I hurried to the staircase and darted down the steps, hoping they didn’t notice the imp slime covering my shirt.
I made it outside without any more issues, and I stopped by a tree a block away. My pulse thrummed, and it took a minute to catch my breath, but it was done. “Well, that was fun.”
“Indeed. You handled that like the powerful witch you are. I’m impressed.”
