Usually an easygoing guy, Sebastian was the first to react, hauling Brenda off the floor and shaking her. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

Before she could reply, a rarity, Dale took a turn. “Do you have any idea how worried we were!”

Then it was Mike, who only shook her once with a muttered, “Moron,” before hugging her close with a softer, “Thank fuck you’re safe.”

Brenda hugged him back and proclaimed, “Mike is still my favorite.”

Dale shook his head. “Seriously? What if I said I had donuts in the car?”

She threw herself at Dale and hugged him. “New favorite.”

It made Sebastian wish he had a chocolate bar on him so he could be next. He got his hug without one. Brenda slipped her arms around him for a squeeze.

“Thanks for coming, but we probably should go. There’s an angry demon coming after me.”

“He can’t follow.” Morfeus entered the house in full wizard regalia, his long, dark robes brushing the rotting floor. “They can only possess humans who don’t have any magic in their blood.” The grand Whizziar was followed by several other wizards in robes.

“Brenda’s human.” Dale eyed her with a frown.

She planted her hands on her hips. “Are you trying to say something, Scooby?”

Morfeus waved a hand. “The female is not carrying a demonic parasite. She can’t because her foul existence repels them.”

“My foulness repels?” She turned her temper on Morfeus. “There is nothing repellent about me, Merlin.”

“Morfeus.”

“Whatever. I’ll have you know that the reason a demon isn’t humping my brain is because, according to them, my blood is very tasty. So yummy in fact, that my demon host on the other side drank a great big cup.”

At the mention, Morfeus’s eyes widened. “You fed a demon your tainted essence?”

“Not on purpose. But yes.”

“Get out!” Morfeus screamed. “Everyone out, now. ”

Since Brenda opened her mouth, probably to ask a thousand new questions, Sebastian hoisted her over a shoulder and they fled the house, a building that heaved and moved underfoot. Groaned as if stretching itself.

As they fled out the door, Sebastian heard a voice from behind say, in a tone more deserving of a mansion than a crumbling heap, “Won’t anyone stay to welcome their new ruler?”

“Return to your dimension,” Morfeus demanded, the warm air of his command blasting past Sebastian.

Magic. There was only one thing to do about magic.

Get as far away as you could.

Sebastian paused only to wrench the door open. He dove over the threshold and hit the yard, where some of the wizards had stretched in a line, hands raised, chanting.

A red glow emanated from their fingers, and Sebastian thought it best to get behind the line of fire.

Dale and Mike joined him on the sidewalk, where Sebastian deposited Brenda, who declared, “Your ass is fascinating to watch when you run.”

“What’s happening?” Willow came running, leaving the driver’s side of her Smart car open.

“I think I caused an apocalypse.” Brenda beamed.

“What she means to say is, apparently, a demon of some kind managed to cross over without needing a human body.”

“A full demon? Without a circle to contain it?” Willow’s eyes widened.

“I take it that’s bad,” Mike said.

Brenda made a pshaw sound. “The wizard dudes will handle it.” Indeed their spell casting had reached a crescendo, and red light, sizzling and dancing like flames in the air, shot from their fingertips and hit the house.

It immediately caught fire and began to burn. But it didn’t burn quietly. It moaned and screamed, the sounds eerie and blood-chilling.

“What’s happening?” Brenda asked. “It sounds like the house is hurting.”

“In a sense, it is. The souls of the human hosts caught between the worlds are escaping their prison.”

“Going back to their bodies?”

Willow shook her head. “Unfortunately not. This will simply prevent new incursions.”

“What about the ones still on Earth?”

“A hunt is underway to find them. The demons will be sent back to their dimension.”

Fantastic news, except the man with the flaming red hair and even redder eyes strode from the house, unbothered by the flames, his lips stretched wide in a smile.

“Peasants of Earth, bow to your new leader.”

“That’s the dude who drank my blood.” Brenda pointed just to make sure everyone knew who she meant.

“I, the great Lord An’al’onious”—Brenda wasn’t alone snickering at his anal name—“have come to rule your world.”

“Begone, foul creature!” Morfeus shot a jagged streak of lightning at the demon.

He held up a hand and absorbed it. “Did no one ever tell you that demon magic, being the root of all magic, is stronger than that of any other?” He swept a hand and bowled the wizards over. A flick of his hand and their arms were wrenched behind their backs. The wizards’ mouths hung open, but not a sound emerged. “You’ll make delicious meals for my minions. Stay here while I fetch my prize.”

What prize? “What’s he talking about?”

“Oh, shit, I think I know,” Brenda mumbled. She lurched into a run, and it took only a half second to realize what the demon was after.

Sebastian threw himself in the path, as did Dale and Mike. They all tried to grab hold of the demon that gave all indications of being a man on fire.

He burnt like fire, too. The touch of him singed the skin on their hands. A flick of his hand, and they were thrown away.

In but a moment, the fiery male had Brenda, his hand wrapped around her hair, not burning her but not gentle either.

She fought, twisting and turning, cussing him out. “Let me go, you bastard.”

“Not yet. I have need of you. Need of your blood. One cup was not enough, and I am losing my thread with this world.” Indeed, the demon intruder’s skin rippled. His entire being waved.

He drew Brenda up on tiptoe and, with his other hand, slashed a line. A thread of red appeared on her neck.

The demon bent its head and—

“Unhand the girl.” A shriveled little woman dressed in a flowered muumuu appeared out of nowhere to give that order.

The red gaze flicked toward the new arrival and smirked. “Do you really think I’m frightened of a human witch?”

“Who said I was a witch? How easily the children of the other realm are fooled.” The old lady smiled, and a spark appeared in her eyes, a spot of red that grew. “You shouldn’t have touched my grandchild.” With a flick of her fingers, the demon, with his mouth hanging open, exploded into a cloud of dust, setting Brenda free.

And she just couldn’t be scared for once. Nope. She smiled wide and squealed, “Meemaw! You’re home.”