"No!" Karma grabbed her arms and shook her hard. "No! You're a demon. Fight them how a demon fights!"
"I don't … know … how!"
"Where does the Dark One get his power?"
"What?"
The dealers entered the room cautiously, weapons drawn.
Karma snatched her arm and all but dragged her into the bathing chamber, barring the door. Deidre sagged to the floor, already trying to make her mind numb.
Not again. I can't go through this again.
Spinning, Karma grabbed Deidre's arms again and hauled her up. "Look at me!" The deity's eyes were piercing green, her curls gone and her hair straight standing on end, as if she'd stuck her finger in a light socket. "You are a demon now, and you can draw power from the same thing the Dark One does. I know you are tired of this, and I know you can do this. There's lots of power here for one such as you."
"Depravity?" Deidre asked uncertainly.
"Evil. Hatred. Pain. Resentment. Betrayal. Whatever emotion it is that makes them hurt you. You can use it against them."
"I don't know how."
"How?" Karma echoed, astonished. "You just use it! Did the Dark One teach you nothing?"
Deidre drew a few calming breaths and forced her panicking mind to focus. "Y… yes. He did. How to kill."
"Then do it!" Karma released her and took a hand. "Look. You've got small claws. When demons are threatened, they grow claws and fangs. Make them grow more."
Something smashed into the door, and the bar across it cracked.
Deidre looked at it fearfully then at her hands.
Karma was right. Her nails had grown to short points and turned black, the same way …
"Wait a minute. They do this when I'm in bed with Darkyn," she murmured.
"Defense mechanism. What he does should probably kill you."
"That's what he says."
Karma grinned suddenly. "Then pretend you're in bed with him."
Desire shot through her at the thought, pooling at her belly. As Deidre watched, her nails grew longer, until they were thick and pointy enough to look threatening even to her.
"You can kill with them," Karma told her. "They are like tiny swords. They will go through anything."
"I'm like Catwoman." Deidre studied the lengthened nails in a cross between revulsion and intrigue. "Or maybe Wolverine." Her nails stopped growing at about two inches long. "Umm … definitely Catwoman."
Karma appeared confused. "Yes. Whatever it takes. How does this Cat-wo-man act? Afraid of death dealers?"
The door splintered.
"She's not afraid of anything," Deidre said.
"You can be that! You are that inside."
"He taught me another way to kill," Deidre continued, flipping over her hand to study her palm. "I couldn't do it to him. Karma, I don't know if I can kill." The demon way of killing usually involved a lot of blood and pain, from what she'd seen. Neither was natural to her.