Free The Demonata #10: Hell's Heroes by Darren Shan

another face poking out of the flesh and bones. It’s still forming, the skin around the cheeks bulging and warping. But I recognize it in spite of all the blood and goo.
    “Bec!”
    Her eyes snap open and focus on me. I almost drop her and stamp her head into the ground. But that wouldn’t achieve anything. This isn’t the real Bec, merely a projection. I might as well hear her out. If I do any damage, I’ll only hurt Curly.
    Bec’s lips move and she spits out clumps of Curly’s hairy flesh. She tries to speak. Blood gurgles in her throat and she chokes. Spits it out, then retches. Curly’s hand twitches and rises towards her mouth. It’s probably just to wipe blood away, but I’m taking no chances. I pin her with a wrestling move and clamp her hands behind her back. There are now only inches between my face and Bec’s. I draw back slightly, in case she bites.
    “You don’t look worried,” Bec says, her voice rougher than usual, a bit of Curly’s growly tone mixed in with it.
    “I’ve seen a lot weirder than this,” I shrug.
    “Is that really Bec?” Shark barks.
    “Quiet,” I tell him.
    “We should kill her if—”
    “Shut up!” I roar.
    Bec smiles crookedly. “You’ve been spying on me. I thought I sensed you, but I wasn’t certain until now. You’d be more concerned if my appearance had come as a complete surprise. Will you try to kill me, Grubbs, or do you still hold out hope of reassembling the Kah-Gash?”
    “What have you done?” I growl. “Have you pledged yourself to that foul hunk of rotting demon meat?”
    “We can’t beat them,” she sighs. “Everybody realizes that except you.”
    “So we join them instead?” I sneer. “Never. I’d rather die than fight beside the likes of Lord Loss.”
    “I tried death,” Bec says. “It wasn’t much fun.”
    “Are you having more
fun
now?” I want to pound her face to bits, but it wouldn’t change anything.
    “Enjoyment isn’t an issue any longer,” Bec says. “I won’t become a shrieking harpy like Juni Swan. I take no pleasure from this. But I want to survive. There’s no point sacrificing ourselves when the fight has already been lost.”
    “Of course there is,” I protest. “Dying for the people you care about has always been the ultimate point.”
    “But who do
you
care about?” Bec asks softly. “Your parents and Dervish are dead. Your sister, Bill-E, Meera, Sharmila. Who’s left? Who are you fighting for? I think you’re only resisting because it’s expected. You’ve never looked around and said, ‘I don’t have to do this.’ Try it, Grubbs. Ask who you fight for. Then tell me I’m wrong for choosing life over a pointless death.”
    I shake my head. The scary thing is, it’s tempting. I could easily accept everything she’s said, choose the same way she has, abandon the post of protector that Beranabus saddled me with, ride off into a gleeful, savage sunset with Bec and Lord Loss. I never wanted to be a hero. Why die miserably when I could live triumphantly? All it takes is a slight adjustment in the way I think, and…
    “No,” I whisper, putting temptation behind me.
    Bec smiles. “I almost had you for a moment, didn’t I?”
    “Almost,” I admit, chuckling wolfishly.
    “Grubbs,” Kernel says.
    “Not now,” I snap, staying focused on Bec. “What else do you have to say? I doubt you went to all this trouble just to tempt me.”
    “I wanted to warn you,” Bec says. “I feel I owe you that much.”
    “Warn me of what?” I frown.
    “Grubbs!” Kernel yells. “A window is opening. I can feel it.”
    “That,”
Bec says sadly. Then her face freezes, turns a paler shade, and starts to disintegrate.
    I drop Curly’s head, lurch to my feet, and scan the surrounding area. I can’t see anything, but I don’t doubt Kernel. “Your eyes!” I shout.
    “Not finished,” he says.
    “Do I have time to open a window back to Earth?”
    He shakes his head.
    “Then get ready to fight.”
    As soon