"Who goes there?" called Joy, the Sensor slotted in her belt and her dagger at the ready. A Storm of Swords lay forgotten at the dead fairy's feet, dangerously close to the puddle of blood. "Reveal yourself!" The Sensor went mad at Joy's belt, flashing bright green and beginning to beep. Joy and Edgar exchanged a quick glance; only one thing could elicit such a response from the machine – demons.

The figure was already fleeing down the street, a glowing seraph blade in hand. Edgar turned to a bewildered Noah, the only one of the three of them with no seraph blades in his belt. "Stay here," he said as Joy set off in pursuit. "And watch her!" He gestured in the general direction of the dead fairy before pelting off into the street after Joy. She was easy enough to follow, with the Sensor glowing in her belt, and he kept up with her with relative ease. His feet pounded on the concrete pavement, neatly dodging fast food packaging and muddy puddles. His steps didn't feel light – each time his feet made contact with the hard concrete, the force jarred through him – but he knew it would appear that way to an onlooker. Demonhunter blood made them appear naturally graceful.

They turned onto the next street, and the demon came into view; a scorpion the size of a Renault Clio, blacker than their leather gear in the soft light of the sparse sodium streetlights, was scuttling towards them along the car-lined one way street. A Reaper. Edgar lifted his seraph blade just as Joy raised her arm – the dagger glanced harmlessly off the onyx exoskeleton.

The figure they had been tailing raised his own seraph blade, so the bright light illuminated his face – Giles Bullwright. He dodged skilfully to the side as the Reaper lunged for him, its massive sting arched over its back. Edgar ran forward, and he heard Joy's voice behind him; "Duma!" He glanced behind him – her seraph blade had burst into life, its flame bright and fresh.

Edgar jumped forward while the Reaper was distracted by Giles – it launched its tail at him, again and again, and each time he jumped out of the way. The other boy's face was bright red with the effort. Edgar raised the seraph blade, and he shoved it deep in the gap between two slats in its armour, as though he was plunging a magical sword into a stone pedestal.

The Reaper jerked beneath him, ripping the blade from his fingers as it screeched, the sound clawing at his eardrums. It flailed around in pain, waving its deadly stinger, and he retreated, reaching for his second seraph blade; "Ramiel!" The new seraph blade's flame was as bitter as a cold winter, illuminating the street around them with a cold light as Joy threw her seraph blade with deadly precision. The shining blade sank into the Reaper's soft underbelly, and it writhed, hitting Giles in the chest with its stinger. They watched as his seraph blade tumbled out of his grip, smouldering on the pavement as he was thrown into a humdrum front garden with a yell.

Edgar dodged out of the way of some of the Reaper's poison, and he lunged forwards, stabbing up, where the Reaper was most vulnerable. The blade caught the Reaper in its neck, not far from where Joy's had sunk in up to its hilt, and there was a final, ear-splitting screech as the demon exploded. Inky black ichor sprayed everywhere – Edgar raised his hands to protect his face – and then there was silence.

As he lowered his hands, he saw Joy making her way over to a pale Giles, drawing her stylograph from her belt. He was leaning against a low garden wall, his fingers pressed against the wounds on his chest to try and stop more blood leaking out. As Edgar approached, he could see that his fingers were stained scarlet.

Joy squatted down beside Giles, and she scrawled a rune onto his neck; the gashes in his chest started to close up, and she scrawled another – Edgar was close enough now to recognise it as a rune to speed up blood replenishment. Giles scowled up at them, and he pushed himself up, so he was sitting on the little wall. "What the hell are you guys doing out?" he demanded, rubbing his sore chest. Joy frowned, sliding her stylograph back into her belt and tugging on her hair – some strands were coming out of her plait, like loose threads on an old blanket. "You're not on duty tonight."

Edgar raised a chestnut eyebrow, and he leant against the wall rather lazily. He drew out his own stylograph, and he renewed the glamour rune on his forearm – it had started to burn a little. "It's a good job we were here, though, wouldn't you say?" He shot a smug grin at Giles as Joy pulled the now silent Sensor out of her belt, checking for any other demonic activity. "What the heck were you doing near our investigation site? A fairy's been killed, and you were right there."

Giles frowned. Colour was returning to his cheeks as the healing runes started to have more of an effect. "What are you on about? Those murders aren't still going on, are they?"

"They are, actually." Edgar crossed his legs. "And they're our job. So, what were you doing near a dead fairy body with a lit seraph blade?" His smirk had faded, and he sat down properly, pulling out a dagger and polishing it on the black undershirt that poked out below his gear jacket. A cursory glance at Giles told him he had used the last of his weapons on the Reaper.

Giles frowned, rubbing his forehead. "I was on patrol, and I heard a noise, so I headed over," he said. "I was at the other end of the street. I saw a fat guy in gear running the other way – this way, I s'pose. I was chasing after him when I saw your light, and then the Reaper appeared, and..." He waved, indicating that they knew the rest. "I haven't killed any fairies. Not that I wouldn't want to, but I haven't got any reason to. Not without an order from the Sunder."

There was a small beep, and Joy turned back to them. "No demons around here." She shot a look at Giles. "D'you know who you saw?"

Giles shook his head. "He was too far away, and I didn't have a farsighted rune," he said with a sigh. "You know...I s'pose he looked a bit like –"

He broke off as a familiar yell split the air. Edgar froze, his grip on the dagger tightening, and he looked over at Joy – she had tensed up in a similar manner. Both he and Giles jumped to their feet, though Giles winced, and Edgar gestured for the other two to follow.

"Noah!"