Gideon missed what came next. One of the bird demons landed on his head and re-opened the cut on his neck. By the time he got it off and rolled free, Jesse perched on the iron railing, leaning forward toward something in the ceiling.
He smelled the sulfur the moment before Jesse ignited the lighter.
Five seconds later, the sprinklers came on in a torrent.
It may have been the weight of the water, or the shock of the cold inundation, but the demons immediately hit the floor. Gideon couldn’t bite back his smile. He snapped three necks in quick succession, and Jesse jumped from the beam overhead, landing deftly on his feet before he began hacking again. The floor was slick with blood, feathers, and more fluids than he could name, but Gideon managed to keep his footing—even when the grounde
