Part 32 (1/2)

Her heart hurt for Derek and for Lou. She didn't even think of Ben as Derek's father anymore. She knew Derek, or at least knew him better than she'd known any other person, and no part of Ben lived within him. There wasn't an ounce of evil within him.

But Ben? Ben had to go down.

Way down.

She raised her weapon and targeted an approaching demon, melting it before it could launch at her. She'd never felt so empowered before. Tie her up and make her feel like a helpless ninny, will they? Man, she hated that s.h.i.+t. Another went down. Then another. The hunters were in sync, blasting in a protective circle, eliminating row upon row of demons as they worked their way through the line toward Ben.

And Ben stood against the wall, watching with a smug smile on his face, no doubt a.s.sured of his own victory.

Ha! Ben didn't know his son at all, did he?

But Gina did.

She blasted another demon, watching it fall. She'd do this as long as it took, but the numbers of demons were dwindling, and they were drawing closer to Ben.

She knew Derek wanted to kill him, to destroy his own father. But she wanted to help him. She wanted revenge for her mother's death, for the death of Lou's wife and children.

As they fought back the demons, she noticed Ben moving along the wall toward one of the exits.

Oh, no. That was not going to happen. They had a demon Lord in their midst and they were not going to let him go. Her gaze shot to Derek, then Lou, who were busy firing off their lasers. No one else noticed Ben.

She did, though. And she was in the back of the group. Skirting behind the line of fire, she bent low and snuck around the edge of the action, intercepting Ben just as he was about to hit the doorway. Derek reached him at the same time.

'You're not leaving us, are youDad?' Derek asked with a smirk.

Gina blocked the doorway, raising her laser and pointing it directly at Ben's chest.

'He's not going anywhere,' she said.

In fact, Ben was going to die.

Chapter Twenty-Three.

B en's gaze s.h.i.+fted to Derek, then to Gina. en's gaze s.h.i.+fted to Derek, then to Gina.

Derek could swear he saw a flicker of fear in his father's eyes.

'You afraid of me?' Derek asked. 'Need your minions here to shelter you while you make your escape? I thought you were the great and powerful demon Lord, yet you were trying to sneak away. You're nothing but a p.u.s.s.y.'

'I don't need to run away. I could kill you right now.'

Derek shrugged. 'Then do it. Show me.'

Ben shook his head. 'Such a waste. You could have been so valuable to the Sons of Darkness. You and Gina both. The children you could have created together would have been so powerful, would have sat at the right hand of the great ones.'

'Uh-huh. Still waiting for you to do the killing thing.'

'Can we just shoot him now?' Gina asked.

Derek smiled. G.o.d, he loved her.

Around them, the battle continued, but Derek felt the s.h.i.+ft of power. The stench of toasted carca.s.s was strong in the room as one demon after another went down. His hunters had gained the advantage.

Ben's eyes began to change, becoming darker, his body thickening. Malevolence spread out as the force of his evil blanketed them.

Derek looked to Gina and nodded. Without even blinking, she fired her laser at Ben's chest. His eyes widened and he flinched, but his transformation continued. Derek fired, too, and kept at it, pounding Ben's flesh with wave after wave of UV light, enough blasts to take down ten demons.

But Ben was no average demon, and Derek knew he wasn't going to go down easy. His human skin began to bubble and melt, but still the evil advanced on them.

Derek and Gina backed up.

Gina kept pumping pulse after pulse into Ben, but it seemed not to faze him. She took a quick glance at Derek, his expression determined as he rapid-fired the trigger of his rifle.

This wasn't working. She slung her laser over her shoulder and grabbed for the microwave, hoping that cooking him would have an effect. She blasted him with waves and he halted, looking at her.

G.o.d, he was gruesome, half his flesh melted. Still, an evil light glowed in his eyes, and he was laughing at them.

Laughing! The b.a.s.t.a.r.d, as if he knew their weapons would have no effect.

Yet the microwave was starting to work. Not as much as it did on the other demons, but his skin, what little there was left, began to bubble, his muscles expanding and contracting as if they were breathing. Ben frowned.

'You cannot kill me. I am a Lord of the Sons of Darkness,' he said, his voice echoing deeply throughout the chamber.

Uh-huh. Everything could die. Maybe if she shot him up with enough of this stuff, he'd explode.

She pulled her guns and pumped him full of sonic bullets. His body flew backward with each shot, and yet he recovered, this time heading directly toward her.

She wasn't afraid of him. But Derek pushed her out of the way, stepping in front of her and emitting a low growl at Ben. She moved to Derek's side, intent on continuing to fire at Ben until she had nothing left to shoot him with. Her gaze shot to Derek's, and she gasped at the look on his face.

Just like that, Derek had transformed into a demon, his eyes glowing in the darkness, claws extending from his fingertips, his mouth filled with hideous fangs as he faced his father.

She shuddered and stepped away as Derek launched at Ben, the two of them flying out of the smaller room and into the one they'd occupied earlier. Furniture went cras.h.i.+ng around them as they fell to the floor, righted themselves, and dove at each other again.

Derek dug his hands into Ben's body, tearing away the flesh that had been melted by the weapons. But Ben was regenerating, muscle reappearing as quickly as it disappeared.

Gina swallowed past the revulsion. They weren't going to be able to kill him. The bullets were tearing him apart, bubbling and baking him from the inside out, and still he was fighting off their effects.

'You can join me, Derek. We will rule the world.'

'You can rule in h.e.l.l for all I care,' Derek growled, then reached into Ben's chest, grasping his ribs and crus.h.i.+ng the bones to dust. 'I won't let you hurt another person I care about.'

Ben grunted, then laughed, shoving Derek away. The bones reappeared and the wound closed up, flesh rematerializing where moments ago Gina had been able to see clear through him.

He might be regenerating, but he was tiring, his breath sawing in and out, his chest heaving with the force of his efforts.

'If you kill me, it will end nothing. The Sons of Darkness will go on,' Ben said.