Chapter 12
The demon was much smaller than the terrifying, shadowy beings Audrey and Michael had battled in the basement of the Whitcomb mansion in Glendora. Crouched up there on one of the beams that supported the adobe structure’s roof, it really did look like a gargoyle — not quite three feet tall, with black scaly skin and bat-like wings that beat slowly against the warm air.
As their eyes met, its mouth opened in a wide grimace of a smile, revealing several rows of yellowish, pointed teeth. Before Audrey could even begin to react, it launched itself from its perch and dived directly at her, small hands with their curved black talons reaching out toward her face.
A scream escaped her lips, and she flung herself to the ground, thinking in her panic that maybe a quick tuck and roll mi
