Free Demon's Caress: Demon Heat, Book 1 by Crystal Jordan

come out with their hands up. She heard windows shatter in the hallway as men came swarming in, and she could feel her lungs and eyes beginning to burn from the tear gas. Gunfire rang out, the boom of it enough to freeze the blood in a person’s veins.
    The Russian girls went absolutely batshit crazy, pelting toward the door, screaming and battering at the heavy metal surface. Maron groaned. “Shit.”
    If the teens got out, they were likely to get caught in the crossfire. Their combined weight pushing forward kept the girls in front from opening the door inward. For the moment, they’d trapped themselves.
    “Maron!” Raum roared from a distance, his voice almost drowned out by the crack of bullets flying. He was echoed by Kobal. “Maron, where are you?”  
    “Here!” She dissolved, sweeping through the girls and out the door. The demons materialized before her. “Bruno and the girls are in there.”
    Kobal swore in about six different languages, then ducked as a canister of tear gas came whizzing by. The men choked on the fumes and evaporated into the safer spirit form. “Can we reap him in there with the girls?”
    She shook her head. “Too small. We’d pull the girls’ souls into the vortex as well. We need to get him out, and keep them in and away from the bullets.”
    “This might scare them back from the door.” Kobal shook his head and let his entire body burst into a ball of flames, gliding forward so he was half in and half out. The hysterical screams rose higher, but seemed to move farther away. “Raum, open it up, would you?”
    Raum solidified, hacked and wheezed on the gas. More gunfire popped from the first floor as he put his shoulder against the door and shoved with his superhuman strength. A few more shrieks sounded, but when the door swung wide, there were no girls hanging around the flaming demon. They were back to cowering in the corner, crying, sneezing, coughing and breathing hard from gas inhalation. A few of them lay unconscious on the floor. From the shock of Kobal’s fire show or being trampled, Maron wasn’t sure.
    The dark-haired demon charged in and grabbed Bruno, twisting his arm behind his back. He whispered something in the human’s ear that made horror and terror flash in his beady eyes. Forcing Bruno forward, Raum duck-walked him out of the room. Both of them choked on the gas, tears rolling down their faces. The demon slammed and locked the door behind them, sealing the girls in for the cops to find when they searched the building. That was the best they could do for them. Now they had to do their real job…divesting Bruno of his blackened soul.
    Kobal shut off the flames, and Maron solidified, taking over Bruno from Raum. “We’ll take turns until we’re out of the gas. Ghost ahead and check for roadblocks.”
    Nodding, Raum did as he was bid without further comment. The moment the fumes hit Maron’s system, she felt her lungs lock up. Every membrane in her eyes, nose and mouth began to burn. It took everything in her to stay in human form. Her heart hammered, adrenaline flooding her veins as sweat poured down her face. Pushing past the pain seizing her body, she clamped her hand on Bruno’s arm, twisting it higher so he didn’t try anything stupid because she was a woman and shoved him toward the stairs. Kobal swept the hall behind her to watch her back.
    “No good.” Raum sped up the steps. “Push him out the window and I’ll catch him at the bottom.”
    “If he dies, we can’t harvest his soul.” He might end up in hell eventually, but he might turn into a poltergeist that continued to visit his evil on innocent people. He’d be beyond their reach—not dead, but not alive. And Samael would ship them downstairs for eternal guard duty.
    Bruno hacked, spittle dripping from his mouth. “Who the fuck are you talking to, bitch? What the hell are you?”
    “I’m your worst nightmare. I’m the bitch who’s going to make you pay for everything you’ve