Excerpt of Demon Lore by Karilyn Bentley

The evil man-thing stands on my porch, his lips turning
in a menacing smile of death. I don’t need to touch him
to know he wants me dead. Muscles freeze, trapping my
breath in my lungs. Like a rabbit in view of a wolf, I’m
immobilized, waiting for death’s blow. Time slows, his
gaze locks on mine, trapping me in place.

Move, move, move! My mind screams as the man’s fingers
twitch.

But the spike of adrenaline explodes into my limbs too
late to stop the backhand blow slamming across my jaw.

I superman it halfway across the living room. Land on the
hardwood floor in a thud of pain-ridden limbs. My jaw
morphs into a screaming ball of nerves. My head no sooner
hits the floor than I hear the bracelet scream, a high-
pitched wail quivering through my skin like vibrations
from a tuning fork. The bracelet tightens around my
wrist, cutting off the circulation, and then it loosens
with a pop at the same time I hear the door click closed.

Ohgodohgodohgod, I’m going to die. I don’t want to die.
No, no, no, no, no. Pain and terror hold me crumpled on
the floor as my mind crawls backward in time.

But I’m no longer a child, fearful of fists and words,
cowering on the ground.

I’m a fighter.

My head spins, but I refuse to lie on the floor waiting
to be killed, so I attempt to stand. Evil Guy laughs as I
ass-plant it. Laughs as a moan escapes my lips. He takes
a step toward me, right arm drawn back for a hit. His
fist hurls toward my face, but I manage to block it with
my left arm. My right arm, the one with the bracelet,
shoves forward, slamming into his chest.

His black eyes widen, mouth open in surprise, his hands
fluttering to his chest before dropping. I stare at my
hand, stare hard, for I’m as surprised as Evil Guy. The
bracelet had become a sword, a long, thin spike of metal
extending from the silver links, straight into Evil Guy’s
heart.

A sword?

Definitely a sword. The flat of the blade rests against
the back of my hand, cool metal heating from the warmth
of my skin. Small silver links circle around my palm,
lending stability to the two-foot long sword.

I’m not sure which scares me more, Evil Guy paying me a
visit or the fact the bracelet performed a morphing
trick.