Even in the past, an electro-kinetic could’ve taken in a simple spark of static electricity or an electrical imbalance of some kind in the ground, then went to town with it.

  Janice cursed in a sulfurous tone, “Fucking fuck, I’m an idiot. I didn’t even think of having you try, that’s my fault. My only defense is there hasn’t been an Electro-kinetic to my knowledge, so we were making that up from whole cloth. Umm, try it now, but don’t throw a lot of magic into it.”

  “Not your fault, love. I’m the one that told you I could only control it.”

  Janice shook her head, “But you were new to our world, and knew little about powers. I shouldn’t have assumed that you were right, and had you experiment more. Anyway, try it.”

  I pulled just a bit from the alternator, the car didn’t even whine, then focused on the idea of it growing while feeding it just a little magic. That small spark was suddenly electrifying my body with strength and speed, though I only used a minuscule amount of the magic, and I was at maybe a tenth of what I could take in from lines.

  “Well, what do you know, it worked. It’s not perfect however, and I should use electrical sources when I can. But for the fight I’ll use it the best I can, the faster we take down her minions the better.”

  Janice asked, “Not perfect?”

  “Well, when I make a conduit with the power, I can pull that power back inside me when I’m done with it. The power kind of rushes back into me actually, when I’m not holding it out there, so I don’t really expend it. I suspect that’s why I’ve been able to nail eight targets for an hour or two straight, without totally exhausting myself. But this new way, amplifying it, costs me magic. The electricity eats my magic to grow, the amount I feed to it, and I assume I have a limited amount that will replenish over time.”

  Janice nodded, “I get it, and Lillian does run out of gas over time, until she rests.”

  Ginny said, “That’s pretty normal. I do too when healing skin, or any use of my beauty powers to keep me and my clothes clean, my hair in place and healthy, and so forth.”

  Janice said, “Any idea of your limits?”

  I considered that, “It’s hard to tell with how little I used, but I suspect I could reload my body with what it can hold about fifteen to twenty times. We’ll have to test it at some point to be sure.”

  Ginny said, “That’s seventy-five to a hundred monster takedowns. Even on the lowball side, that’s got to be far more than Lillian has with her.”

  I nodded, “There’s a cost of course, I haven’t practiced with it at all, so it’ll be slower than drawing from lines. I expect I’ll be able to take four out every four to five seconds. It’ll take my full focus to amplify what I have in me, whereas a power line connection is something that I could’ve maintained while focusing on the attacks at the same time.”

  Janice said, “Still better than nothing, and better than before. That’s at least three to four seconds faster than using the cars to charge up. Still, try to charge up a fifth, and target just one thing, open one conduit. Don’t fire of course, we’re in my car.”

  I laughed, “Good point, one conduit is almost automatic for me, so I might be able to do both. And if I can I’ll be able to stick with Caroline’s plan. Still, that will actually slow me down, I’ll be firing more but we’ll be back up to six seconds for taking down four if I do it in succession, instead of four at once at three to four seconds.”

  I tried it, and it worked, but it was still a bit mentally unwieldy.

  Ginny tilted her head, “Good point,” then she pulled out her phone and called Caroline. She wasn’t on the phone long as she explained what we’d discovered, then she hung up.

  Ginny said, “Caroline said to use the most efficient way, four every three to four seconds. Umm, she said if you start to run low to go the original plan, as long as you stop with that and have enough magic left you can move to the alternator powered one shot every two seconds.”

  Janice sighed, “I’m going to have to rework your training now.”

  I laughed, “If nothing else, it will save on Ginny’s electric bill. I think that part is well trained already anyway. I can connect to power and have it run into me to keep me constantly charged with my eyes closed and half asleep.”

  Janice nodded, “We’ll focus on your skills when you won’t be around electricity. Finding a spark of potential in nature and pulling it in, amplifying it. We do still need to keep up with your quick draw training though, and the four at a time until it’s second nature and you can train for five at a time. Once that’s truly trained in your subconscious you should be able to make five conduits in a split second.”

  “Whatever you want, I won’t argue. I need to be the best I can be to protect us all, even if our enemy stops actively hunting us today. Nature’s all good and well, but I could also carry around a piezoelectric lighter, capture and amplify that spark.”

  Ginny kissed me softly. The two of us did that for a while, and we were both completely lost in the kiss, until we felt Janice pull off the interstate and onto the country road. It helped calm me a bit, I was still extremely alert, but no longer on the edge of panic at what I’d started that day.

  Janice said, “Two miles.”

  I nodded, and pulled from the power lines, even with my new trick it made sense to go in fully charged. At least those first four monsters will go down in a two and a half seconds. It was when we got to the final mile that I felt it, and I nodded grimly.

  “Well, good news and bad. The good news is Lillian wasn’t smart enough to use the tactic as a surprise at the start of battle. The bad news is she was smart enough to come up with the idea. The electric is already down in this area. I don’t even feel a potential in the lines, so she must’ve cut the lines a mile in each direction from your property.”

  Janice grunted, “She probably also heard the generator come online then, if it did, which means she’s sure to have destroyed it by now.”

  Right, maybe it wasn’t so stupid of her after all then. Once the battle had started, she’d have been a little too occupied to hunt down a natural gas fed electric generator. Might not have even heard the hum of it over the monster’s war cries and the screeches from however many demons she brought this time.

  Still, I felt a little more comfortable about things with my discovery, it’d still be a fight from hell, but at least I wouldn’t be impotent to do anything until my magic was fully used. Which was unlikely, if she’d brought seventy-five demons, or enough to exhaust my power, then four demons every four seconds wasn’t going to be nearly fast enough to counter a demon and monster rush. Point being, we’d be overrun and killed long before I could expend that much power.

  We pulled off the road a good three hundred feet before her driveway, which was barely in my range from Janice’s yard to pull electricity from. More than an alternate electrical source, it was also wise to leave our vehicles somewhere they wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire.

  I assumed this spot was chosen because it was still likely warded, no humans driving by would see anything unusual, and of course it was a shot to our confidence and the site of our one battle loss thanks to that ass that betrayed us.

  Still, the idea that if we died, that the bitch Lillian would be getting her metallic blue Mustang Cobra kind of turned my stomach. Ridiculous of course, but less painful for my mind to dwell on than the idea of losing even one of my mates.

  We headed that way as a group of eight, Caroline and Janice in the lead, with Ginny and I behind them. Our four monsters were on our flanks slightly ahead and slightly behind, but not by much. Janice and Nicole needed to shield us all from fire for the first part of the plan which was purely defensive in nature while we took down charging monsters and swooping demons. If any one of us got too far away from her and Nicole’s shields it was likely that person would go up in spontaneous combustion or be taken down by a fireball.

  We were all armed save Ginny. Our monsters shifted and were looking fierce, while I had my steel batons, Janice her Escrima sticks, and at the moment Caroline had her bow out with an arrow knocked but not drawn yet.

  It wasn’t quite as bad as we’d feared, but it was certainly bad enough. There were ten red and yellow sets of wings flying above us, and at a quick count both Lillian and Hazel had a dozen monsters at their backs. That was thirty-four monsters and demons plus the two demigoddesses, against the eight of us. A little over four to one odds. They only had four Taura, two each, the rest were shifted monsters similar to ours, and quite fierce enough.

  Still, at four at a time, it would take a minimum of two and a half minutes to get them all, which was an eternity at the speeds that monsters could move. Caroline would be taking out a monster a second as well, or at least wounding them with that bow of hers, the rest of us would be melee. She was deadly accurate with that bow, and only the Taura had armor thick enough to brush off an arrow to the chest, but those I’d happily take down.

  I already knew it’d get desperate, as our monsters, Caroline, and Janice tried to keep them from overrunning us.

  Of course, it would help that we were packed in a tight group, no more than eight or so monsters could attack at once, and maybe two or three Empusa diving on our heads at once given their wing spread. So it wasn’t quite as hopeless as it might seem.

  Lillian smirked as we got close. I wasn’t sure why they or we hadn’t attacked yet. Caroline hadn’t given the signal which was to fire her bow. It also annoyed me just how fucking hot she was, and Hazel was hardly hard to look at either, but they were both ugly on the inside. Hazel less so, but cowardice and emotional lack of integrity were still ugly things.

  “I’m surprised you came, before we kill you all, I’ll offer you one more chance. Agree, and all will be forgiven for your interference. Send the son of Zeus over here and I’ll even fight him in solo combat. No matter the turn out, you seven will be free to walk away.”

  That was tempting, despite the fact she’d gut me in a flat second. All my mates would survive, and I wouldn’t have to risk them.

  Of course, I wasn’t consulted, and my mates would kill me if I tried.

  Caroline said, “This is your war, not ours. Walk away now, and we’ll let you live.”

  Lillian screamed in anger, “Attack!” as she let out a potent fireball, less than a split second later an arrow shaft appeared in the throat of a monster that looked like the male version of Bree.

  The fireball exploded just four feet away from us, and it was deflected around us by Janice’s shield in a powerful firestorm that went out far too quickly thanks to Nicole’s air power.

  The monsters streamed forward and everything in me told me to fire, but I waited for the faster ones to get within ten feet as I brought up the four conduits and blasted them with four fifths of my power. If they went down too far away it’d be too dangerous to end them. They collapsed as lightning coruscated around them, but the twins, Caroline, and Janice had no time to put them out of their misery as another four hit our group.

  The fighting was fierce as the other monsters started to surround us, and it took all my focus and control not to panic, but instead to power back up. The next four I took out with lightning were two Empusa diving for our heads, and one each on our flanks that were looking brave.

  At the same time, Janice and Caroline took down their foes, and my twins were taking damage from their enemies but seemed to be overpowering them with lightning fast strikes of their claws. My throat almost closed up in fear when Bree slithered low to the ground and killed the first four with poison, and even managed to get her teeth into the monster fighting Dawn.

  Even my Ginny got in on the action. I had no idea where she’d gotten a dagger from, but she quickly slit the throats of the two helpless Empusa that had fallen into our midst with burnt wings and twitching muscles.

  Caroline and Janice were fighting another two as Bree helped Aurora with hers, and another started fighting Dawn. I really wanted to help them in that, but I had to let them take the risk and fight. Mostly because the four Taura had circled, and two each were coming from our flanks, while two Empusa dove.

  I couldn’t get all six, so I went for the most dangerous of the foes.

  “Two Empusa incoming!” I warned, as the conduits came up and I blasted the incoming Taura. A little too late, both Ginny and I had to jump back to avoid being bowled over.

  One Empusa dove for Nicole and the other me, less than a second away at that point. It was clear the enemy was trying to hit us from every direction at once and would continue to do so as we all fell one at a time.

  My steel rod whipped up and both parried her slashing claw and emptied almost all the rest of the electricity in my body. Her wings went limp, and her head snapped as she landed on it at a good thirty miles an hour with my electricity coursing through her body.

  When I looked as I mentally charged up, Nicole had a nasty gash along one of her wings, but her opponent had been disemboweled by a claw and had two steel tipped feathers in her throat.

  It was pure pandemonium as the monsters circled us with roars and came in waves. I believed Janice had taken down another of her opponents, but she was already fighting another. Another four were racing at our flanks and rear, while two more Empusa were diving, the fifth and sixth of ten.

  Worse, the four Taura were starting to stir, and absolutely no one had time to hack at them long enough to put them down.

  So, I did something rather desperate.

  “I vanquished you four and spared your lives, Defend us!” I ordered in the sternest tone I could muster.

  The Taura all growled at me as they regained their feet shakily, and my sphincter might’ve locked up, but they all turned away from me and took up positions on our flanks. Holy shit, things had just gone from we’re about to die to we might actually live.

  I targeted the two diving Empusa and two more that were still circling, completely confident in our now eight monsters and two warrior demigoddesses to hold our line from the fifteen enemy monsters that were left but couldn’t all attack at once. I could figure out what to do with the four Taura later. It’d be wrong to kill them now, after all.

  Lightning coruscated almost straight up on the path of the conduits, and four Empusa shook and their bodies locked up like they’d been Tasered. Their wings started to blacken as they fell from the sky. Two of them were absolutely wrecked, as they fell close enough for two Taura to bash their skulls in before they even hit ground. The other two hit the ground hard about fifty feet away, too far away for the others to finish off.

  Or so I’d thought, because as I recharged my electricity to full with magic, two arrows, one each, found their way to the Empusa’s hearts. There were only two more Empusa in the sky, less monsters than we had, maybe seven still standing on the other side, and Lillian looked beyond pissed as Janice kept deflecting her fireballs with Nicole’s aid.

  It looked like we might actually win this thing, once the last seven monsters and two Empusa were destroyed, Janice and Nicole could go after Lillian while Bree and Caroline went after Hazel, and I could nail both with lightning until it was done, assuming I could get a clear shot during their fight.

  Battle was unpredictable however, and that’s when something went very wrong for our side. The monster fighting Caroline which was a panther with some kind of stinger tail that looked vaguely like a scorpion’s shifted its body and lunged powerfully for Janice instead, switching targets.

  Normally, Janice would’ve easily dodged, but in that moment she was facing the other way fighting a clawed birdlike monster not unlike my Nicole, but with subtle differences. Regardless, she was parrying a claw strike and slamming the thing in the throat when the panther hit her square in the back. She bounced forward and the two monsters and Nicole went rolling away.

  The Taura head stomped the bird bitch, and her skull cracked mightily, while Caroline had pivoted and summoned her bow, and she put an arrow in the panther’s flank which found its heart. But the damage was done, Janice was knocked unconscious and bleeding from her back.

  My lightning had been our ace in the hole as far as offensive, but my Janice’s mystical shield power had also been a critical element in our success.

  A split second later, Lillian’s fireball exploded in a firestorm that made my skin heat, her power no longer blocked. I imagined we might’ve all died right there, in fire, if it wasn’t for Nicole starving the fireball of precious oxygen. As it was, all our skins were a bright red and burned badly, and Nicole looked exhausted. Nicole was great, but her power reserves and strength couldn’t match mine or Lillian’s, or Janice’s for that matter.

  Three more monsters were taken down, leaving only four on the other side, but that hardly mattered at that point. The biggest danger was Lillian and her fire.

  Janice had told me I had the power to shield, but we hadn’t gotten that far in my training, and I didn’t have a clue where to start.

  Ginny ran over to Janice and started to heal her back wound, which was deep, but closing up her skin would only help prevent blood loss and start the healing. Janice looked down for the count though, and ironically, she was the only true healer among us as well.

  I ordered the Taura in desperation, “Stop her!”

  The four Taura rushed her at a sprint, but it’d take time to cross the distance Hazel and Lillian stood at. While I took care of knocking out the last two Empusa, and two of the three remaining monsters. The third was quickly overwhelmed by my twins, who double teamed it.

  The first phase of our plan was done, but Janice wasn’t awake and unable to take down our last two enemies. Nor could I create a conduit that reached her body, I was unable to reach her with my magic past her own shield. It occurred to me then the goddess had saved our lives by babysitting, the first half of the battle had been extremely close, without Aurora present, and even Ginny’s throat slashing dagger as I took down the Empusa earlier, we’d have been overwhelmed.