by Alexie Aaron
“Would that please you, little man?” August asked as the two circled around and around, looking for an opening to pounce.
“I’m not here for pleasure. Augusto Borgia, if you kneel down and repent your sins, I will pray for your soul.”
“My soul. What does that get me?”
“A place in Purgatory. If you truly repent, then I will let the light decide.”
“You would? What arrogance!” The angry elemental leapt, expanding its body to cover the entire summoning circle.
Father Simon kept steady, and as the mass of darkness fell, he held the dagger up with both hands. He was either going to kill this thing or die. He prayed to God that his aim would be true.
The observers and the participants watched as the mass rose off the fallen priest.
“All is lost,” Faye cried.
“Wait,” Murphy said, seeing the first spark.
“His aim was dead on,” Jesse said, his eyes still closed.
“Holy Father, shield the priest from harm,” Daniel prayed.
The elemental grabbed for the dagger but found nothing but a wound that refused to close. Sparks from small explosions burned August’s claws. He looked down at the priest who lay, with his eyes squeezed shut, flat on the floor, still holding the dagger in both hands.
Cid ran over and dragged Father Simon backwards. Only when he had felt the heat of Cid’s hands did he open his eyes. Before him August was on fire. It wasn’t quick, and it looked painful.
Father Santos held up a cross and said, “You may choose to exist in this hellfire or pray for forgiveness and walk for eternity, not in pain, but never in the company of others.”
August, still arrogant, pointed to Miss Gee and said, “I choose hellfire, and when I get there, I will be bringing you down with me. We will burn side by side.”
Miss Gee shook her head. “Silly man, hellfire is just a name. It doesn’t come from Hell. Where you’re going, there is no redemption and no one to cry foul to.”
The west side of the building disappeared, and darkness rushed in. Father Simon got to his feet and pushed Cid behind him. He held his crucifix out, shielding Cid from harm.
Jesse saw what he once thought of as stars in a dark sky. The closer the darkness came, the more distinct the lights became. Each mistaken star was a body burning forever.
“Welcome to the Hellfire Galaxy, August,” Miss Gee said.
The burning man struggled, but the pull was too much, and the blazing humanoid was pulled into the vastness. He opened his mouth to scream, but it was lost in the vastness of space. The darkness receded and the wall resumed.
Faye moved to join the others, but Daniel held her back, hissing in her ear, “Not all the bad guys have been dealt with.”
“He should have read his contract,” Miss Gee said. She pulled out a rolled parchment, let the document open, and tapped a line near the bottom. “Right here is the Hellfire Clause.”
Cid turned his head and asked Father Santos, “Is that real?”
“I’ve never dealt with a heritage demon before,” Father Santos said. “Miss Gee, will you allow me to release the souls into the light now?”
“Why?” Miss Gee asked. “I’m sure one of you will need to feed on them.”
“Gadus, no!” Arnold said.
“You’ll thank me when it’s over. You’ll live long and be strong. Think of all the good that’s left to be accomplished!”
“I’m tired. Let me go,” Arnold said.
She ignored him and walked over to Bridgeton. “What about you? Do you want to live forever? All you have to do is sign here.”
Bridgeton, still a bit ill from what he had witnessed, looked at the demon and asked, “What do I have to do besides sign? I don’t want to mate with you.”
Miss Gee colored. “It will be a business arrangement. I get the souls of your dead and you get all the support I can give you. Power and money will come to you. All you have to do is sign.”
“It’s a trick,” Cid said. “She’s going to gut you and renew Arnold.”
“I don’t think so. Look at him. He’s not going to cooperate.” He looked over at Miss Gee and said, “Untie me and tell me again what I have to do.”
The demon looked at the crucifix wrapped around Bridgeton’s hands and knew this was something she could not touch. “Untie him,” Miss Gee ordered Cid.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t participate in this farce,” Cid said crossing his arms.
“You’re not only going to participate but you’re going to be the first man I sacrifice. Acolytes!”
Father Santos was lifted up and shook by an unseen hand. He was dumped semiconscious on the floor. The woman with the torn cloak materialized and pulled the white cloth out of his pocket. She screamed as the holy altar cloth burned her hands. She scattered the four crystals on the floor, and Gadus chanted. Four acolytes shot out of the crystals and moved to the north, south, east, and west points of the summoning circle.
Father Simon ran at Gadus and pierced her back with the dagger. She pulled it from her and waved her hand, and he flew backwards, crashing into the wooden screen, exposing Jesse sitting on the steps.
Jesse got up and pulled the unconscious priest from the wreckage. He lifted him in his strong arms and ran him up the stairs, following Faye who opened the door of a bedroom. Together they tried to stabilize the man.
Father Simon opened his eyes. “I think she broke my ribs, but my lungs are sound,” he said through clenched teeth. “Seek out help. All is not lost. There is only one way to get rid of her now.”
“The circle must be activated,” Jesse said.
“Yes, but these words need to be changed,” he said and gave Jesse the information.
“Rest, I’ll get you help as soon as I can,” Jesse promised. He opened the door to leave, and before him was the woman with the torn robe. “Maybe not.”
CRACK!
Murphy’s axe came down and bisected the ghost. “Quick, grab her knife before she disappears!”
Jesse did so. The ghost lost its fight to stay manifested.
Jesse looked down at the knife. “How is this possible? It feels real.”
“Remember Fiorentino’s chisel? It’s so real you can cut wood with it. This place still holds a lot of evil energy. That knife is no different. If you cover it with salt, it may slow her regeneration, unless her bones are about. Either way, hurry and execute plan B.”
“What’s plan B?” Jesse asked.
“There is always a plan B,” Murphy said.
Jesse ran down the hall and down the stairs. He jumped over the wreckage, surprising everyone in the room.
Chapter Twenty-nine
“Does your mate have to be a Borgia, Gadus?” Jesse asked. “The Holden family are a prolific lot. I’m sure my children will be no different.”
“You?” Gadus asked stunned.
“I’m looking at the competition here. Aside from Cid who doesn’t want you, the pickings are slim. Arnold deserves to meet his maker. Bridgeton is too stupid to understand he really doesn’t have much of a choice. Surely, you must be tired of bolstering political ambitions. All I want is to build an empire of goodness with you at my side.”
“I don’t know you, Jesse Holden,” Gadus said.
“You didn’t know the Borgias either. Ask Cid if I’m a good man.”
“Jesse, you don’t want this,” Cid warned.
“Why wouldn’t I? I’m tired of moving to find the perfect place to live. With Gadus’s help, I can make it. No pollution, no poverty, hell, we may even take a stab at reversing climate change. That is possible isn’t it?” Jesse asked the demon.
“It’s ambitious,” Gadus worried.
“Come on, old girl, you must be up for a challenge,” Jesse teased. “Take a moment and weigh your choices.”
To Jesse’s amazement, she did.
Faye returned from topping off her energy to an impatient Daniel w
ho was pacing in the kitchen.
“What took you so long?” he asked.
“They’re gone. They left a note, something about taking away the pawns. I found the trailer a mile from here.”
“I’m sorry.”
Faye smiled at the ghost. “It’s okay. I realized you would be worried.”
“We need to convince the beasts to help us,” Daniel said.
“Well, first, don’t refer to them as beasts. They are just like us but are an egg short of a dozen.”
Daniel smiled. “More like eleven eggs short of a dozen.”
Faye giggled and then caught herself. “Sorry, this is serious business.”
Daniel grabbed her hand. “If you can find humor in the most dire times, then you are ready for the challenges life, or in our case death, has in store. Let’s see if we can recruit some help.”
Father Santos kept an eye on Arnold from his position standing beside Bridgeton. Arnold was either rapidly aging or putting on a persona. He wished he was more sensitive to be able to tell the difference. He wasn’t quite sure what Jesse was doing. He suspected that he was buying time, but for what? Where was Stephen Murphy? He assumed he was watching the acolytes, but there were so many of them. Five were here. The sixth one had yet to show itself. When Mia had asked him if he wanted her to come home and help, he told her no, he could handle this. He worried that his sin of bravado was going to get them all killed or, worse, tempted to join the dark side. He had gambled a lot on altering the floor. Gadus needed to want the floor to be used in order for his plan to work.
Cid tried not to stare where Sariel’s sword lay. For the moment it was forgotten. How had it not effected Gadus? Were heritage demons immune to angel magic? There wasn’t enough information on them. These were the wheeler-dealers of the demon race. He assumed they were high demons, perhaps here before the fall. He had too many questions and not enough answers. Father Santos asked him to trust him that he could handle the problem here, and he had. Right now, Cid was questioning why he was overly keen to operate independent of PEEPs and, especially, Mia Martin. His choice to do so may just get them killed.
Jesse walked across the summoning circle bold as brass. He kicked the crystals to the outside of the circle.
Gadus looked at him.
“I’m just cleaning up,” Jesse said. “I hate a dirty house.” He walked over to where Cid had piled boxes of salt. He took one and plunged the acolyte’s dagger into it. He leaned against the wall and watched as an unseen hand took the crystals one by one while Gadus’s attention was on Arnold.
“We can leave now,” Arnold said. “Spend a few months in the warm weather and I’ll be right as rain.”
“You’re dying,” Gadus said, running her hand along his cheek. “I love you, but you’re leaving before my very eyes. I can’t go where the light is going to send you. Your refusal to take over Bridgeton’s body is a slap in my face. Don’t you care that I will be without you? Don’t you love me, or was all that a lie?”
“You chose a good man, and with a few exceptions, I’ve stayed that way. I can’t abide to have another death on my conscience. I was young and hot-headed when I took those lives, but now I can see that what we did was wrong. August didn’t suffer anything but loss of pride. It was innocents who suffered in this house. Walnut Grove House became a prison with the worst kind of warden. We did this. I will not participate in a regeneration. I’m sorry. I will take my love for you into the next life if it’s offered. If I’m to be punished, then I will do so knowing that I was so loved in life.”
Gadus looked at Bridgeton and couldn’t stomach looking at him much longer. How would she be able to do so once she forced Arnold into his body. She then looked at the very masculine Jesse. He stirred the desire inside her that she thought she had lost. She could return to an honorable existence if she took the contract with Jesse, and possibly enjoy herself too. Honor and desire over love, this was the trade she was willing to make. But first she needed a sacrifice. She had hoped for the pious priest, but the pedantic contractor would have to do.
“Acolytes, prepare my sacrifice.”
Father Santos saw that the robed ghosts didn’t move. A closer look showed that they were being pulled downward through the floor. They pushed at unseen hands, and when their hands were no longer any use to them, they twisted and screamed but could not free themselves from the Italian workmen ghosts who held them firmly from below.
CLINK! THUD!
The acolyte in the north spot of the circle fell forward with a crystal embedded in his head.
Before Gadus could react, another clink sounded, and the acolyte in the south position fell with a thud.
“STOP!” Gadus demanded. “Not here, you moron!”
CLINK! THUD! CLINK! THUD!
The last two fell. First east and then west.
Cid used this confusion to retrieve Sariel’s sword. If it didn’t work on Gadus, it may still work on whomever was resetting the power grid. He ran over and put himself in front of Jesse. He stood with the dagger drawn in a fighting stance his avatars used in the games he played with Ted.
“Careful, you’re not made of steel, Superman,” Jesse said. “But I appreciate you trying.”
A recharged Arnold stood up. His eyes glowed with strength and determination. “Gadus!”
She turned and saw him. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s time to stop this.”
“NO!”
Gadus picked up what was left of the carved screen and flung it at Arnold. Murphy manifested in time to slice the deadly projectile down the middle before it could reach the congressman.
“Come now, Miss Gee,” Arnold said, his voice calmer. “We’ve spoken about this. It’s time to leave. We’ve had a good run.”
Gadus walked over to him. Murphy stood in front of him.
“Sir, I thank you, but Miss Gee was just having a bit of temper. Please step aside.”
Murphy did so.
Gadus walked into Arnold’s arms. She held him for a minute before stepping back and snapping his head to the side. Arnold fell lifeless to the floor.
“Gadus, you’ve just condemned yourself. Heritage demons cannot kill their owners,” Father Santos proclaimed.
“He never owned me. August did. Arnold killed August,” she said.
As she talked, the ghostly remains of the acolytes were pulled through the floor, the black crystals disappearing again one by one.
Gadus walked over to Bridgeton. “You look nothing like him, or I’d consider you.”
“Looks aren’t everything,” Bridgeton said.
“True, but you have to be beautiful on the inside. You have no redeeming qualities. You carry the arrogance gene along with a cruelness that I’m not sure I can abide for long.” She walked over to Cid and pushed him aside with her mind. Gadus stood in front of Jesse. “The circle is free. All you have to do is summon me. We’ll sign the contract and take it from there.”
“I’ll do so on one condition.”
Gadus lifted her eyebrow.
“No sacrifice.”
“Oh we don’t need one. We are just negotiating. First, summon me, then we’ll bind the deal.”
“You want to take me through the summoning bit?”
Gadus turned and waved her hand. There, burned in the marble wall were the summoning words. She turned back and grinned. “It’s very simple, even an idiot can do it.”
Bridgeton thought this was his cue and opened his mouth to speak. Father Santos stuffed the retrieved altar cloth in it.
Jesse closed his eyes and listened for the voice which reminded him of the words Father Simon had given him. He smiled and then waved his arm. “Miss Gee, er, Gadus, if you will stand in the middle of the circle. Please.”
The demon did so with a skip in her step. She turned slowly around, her skirts brushing the top of the flooring.
Jesse began to speak. Just before he exchanged his first word
, Gadus’s skirt snagged on a sliver of wood. She looked down and noticed for the first time that the floor had been altered. Before she could react, even to shout stop, Jesse had finished.
The cherry wood dissolved into blood, and the edges of the circle rose in a lattice pattern until the circle became a cage. Gadus’s skirts absorbed the blood of the innocents she sacrificed, and the weight of all her wrongdoing pulled her down until she lay prone. The north end of the half-circle cage rose until it was balanced on the south edge. It spun around like a top, increasing its speed until, to the men left in the room, it looked like a solid orb. The orb decreased in size until it was too small to see, and only Cid heard the tiny pop, no louder than a bubble, and the orb was gone.
Jesse looked down through the large hole in the floor and waved at Faye who was teaching a dozen Italians what a high-five was. Daniel rose up through the floor joists and nodded to Father Santos. “Father, may I have the Lord’s supper before you send me on?”
“Yes, my son, it would be my pleasure.”
Daniel’s eyes opened wide as the torn-cloaked woman rose up behind the priest. He opened his mouth to warn him, but just as quick, the woman fell to ash.
Cid stood there with Sariel’s dagger, just inches from Father Santos. “Excuse me, Father, but I may have just sinned?”
Jesse started laughing.
Bridgeton made a noise to get their attention. He was still gagged.
Jesse walked over and removed the altar cloth. “Watch what you say, there is still an acolyte with a hammer around.”
“I was going to thank all of you,” he said. “I’ve been living a half-life since I could remember.”
Father Santos helped Jesse untie Bridgeton. He looked at the crucifix before he handed it back to Cid. “That’s Mia’s. I know because I blessed it for her. How is it that you have it?”
