“Got it. “ Back in my fighting stance, I could hear Millie‘s pleas in the background. I couldn‘t even look at Eric right now, I needed to focus on the task at hand.
I had to save him.
22.
I dove at the demon, punching it in the face with my sword hand. It stumbled back, confused, and I knocked her feet out from under her and she fell flat on her back. The disorientation gave me enough time to straddle her and pin her down. Thrashing, it scratched my cheek with its stupid nails, and I punched it again. Putting my free hand over its face, I pushed down as I used the sword to make a small cut into my wrist.
“Blood of my blood, bring forth the power only my life-force can wield.” I proclaimed. The demon began to fight harder; clearly it knew what came next. Millie‘s screams got louder, but none of them came closer to try to stop me.
With the tip of my pointer finger, I dipped it in blood and smeared it across the demon‘s forehead. “Take this wretched creature back to the bowels of darkness from whence it came. Break it‘s tether to this mortal coil, and this realm.”
The demon started laughing again. “You‘re too late!” Its sing song voice made me push harder.
“Blood of my blood, send this demon back to hell! “ I yelled, pushing my power down at it, latching on to every piece I could feel within Bliss‘s body.
I sensed something else in there, a little glimmer of white light that could only be the last spark of my former friend. It cried out to me, I could feel it‘s deep and consuming pain.
But then the blackness snuffed it out. I knew in that moment Bliss was gone. She would not be coming back from this.
Gut punching sadness rushed through me and I screamed for her, screamed for the mistakes we both made. We’d been friends once, or so I‘d thought, but beyond all that she was a person. But this life never gave her a proper chance. It never gave any of us a proper chance.
The blackness began to bubble up like lava. Now that it took complete control of Bliss‘s body, it pooled itself around any connection I made and crawled inside it. When I looked down at my hand, the blood turned black and crawled up my skin like a snake.
“Fight back, dumbass!” Lilly yelled at me.
“I am in control.” I lowered my face down so I could growl in the demon's ear. “You will not take him. Do you understand? “
“No, but I could take you.” The demon suddenly jumped, knocking me back and into the wall, where I slid down until I sat flat on my ass.
“Ow! That hurt!” I screamed at it. Without even standing I sent those magic threads out of my hands, and they latched on to every living thing in the room. A thicker longer one came out of my sword hand and went straight into the demon‘s chest. The slash I‘d made earlier now oozed black liquid.
“I will have his powers, blanchmains." The demon growled at me. “And then I will take yours and your little team over there. You‘re not strong enough to stop me. “
This is it, bitch. Do or die time.
You either go whole hog, or let the damn thing kill you right now because you know you would never be able to live with yourself if it killed Eric. Might as well go down swinging.
How long have people been kicking you for?
How long are you just going to take this bullshit before you fucking rise?
You’re supposed to be all powerful.
Be powerful.
Enough games.
Standing up, I could feel lightning sparking from my fingertips. Energy surged from the sword and the threads sparked to life, I heard my friends cry out in pain. Wrapping the one connected to the demon around my fingers, I pulled as hard as I could.
It sputtered, coughing and laughing. I tugged again. Black liquid dripped from its eyes like tears, with little spots at the corner of its mouth. Quickly I shot across the room, my hand flying over its mouth.
“Blood of my blood, I banish you from this plane. I release you from your mortal coil, never to return.” My voice didn‘t sound like my own, a guttural growl more raspy than I‘d ever heard. The black ooze began to flow up my arm and into the cut I‘d made on my wrist.
“Blood of my blood, leave this place and never return.” I looked deep in its eyes as I spoke the final words, and then plunged Excalibur into its stomach all the way to the hilt.
A loud snap and crackle and I flung back, slamming hard enough into the wall that I saw stars. As I slid down to the ground my body went heavy and I lost consciousness.
23.
How did I get here?
Bliss's body lay on the floor a few feet away from me, discarded like a leftover husk from when you shuck an ear of corn.
Black ooze seeped from my hands as it crawled into my veins, demon blood becoming one with mine. It puddled around Bliss and in random spots on the floor.
My memory felt shrouded with fog, the hit on the head combined with the pain in my neck really shaking me up. But I did know that I saved him. Before the demon could overtake him I pulled it back and I saved him.
A pulse radiated out of Bliss's body and it caused my powers to hum under my skin. A new feeling since the demon blood went into my system, a new dimension to my powers. Everything about me felt more alive, like I could feel every tiny hair and skin cell on my body.
Squeezing the muscles in my left hand I could feel Bliss's body twitch and move, the bones contorting as it forced itself to stand. It teetered on unstable feet like a newborn horse, looking ridiculous in her coordinating neon green bra and panties and clear plastic stripper shoes. Black goo smeared across her stomach and around her mouth, dripping down her chin. Her blank, dead eyes turned to me, waiting for command. Power radiated from the pommel of the sword that I clutched tightly in my right hand.
“My God, Camille. What have you done?” Millie’s voice shocked me back to reality. I turned to see her and Ledo hunched over Nya’s body, Millie watched me in horror as Ledo attempted to revive his sister.
“I had to save him.” My words were barely audible. Dashing across the room, I used the sword to cut Eric free. He flopped into my arms; I could faintly feel his heartbeat.
Above us I heard a bunch of noise but I ignored it. Placing my hand on the symbol on Eric’s chest, a warm white light cast a glow from my hand over it until it disappeared. His eyes shot open, and he looked up at me.
“You came.” He whispered.
“Of course I did, what did you think was going to happen?” I laughed, tears streaming down my cheeks. He sat up and looked around, jumping a little when he saw zombie Bliss.
“It’s ok. The demon is gone.” Stroking his hair, his eyes took in the scene around the room.
Something came thundering down the stairs and I covered him protectively. Three figures with masks, one smaller than the others, came down the stairs. The two bigger figures carried guns, which were pointed at us. Even in the black outfits I could see clearly feminine shape on the smaller one.
“Status update, Sparrow.” A radio crackled. The woman lifted her hand and a pink energy bolt shot out, smacking right into zombie Bliss and it fell into a heap, my connection lost. They turned to us as their third went and cut one of the men off the wall. When his body hit the floor I caught a better glimpse of Tobias Kinkaid's battered face. They spoke quickly to each other in a language I didn’t understand, the voice another clear indicator that the smallest of the three was female.
“Hey, we don’t want any trouble. We're here on a rescue mission, just like you.” I raised my hands above my head, flicking my wrist and the sword disappeared.
The woman came closer as her companions picked up the lifeless body of Tobias Kinkaid and began to leave.
“Tu es blanchmains?” She asked me in perfect French. The black mask looked solid, smooth, with tinted glass over the eyes. Its face came to a bit of a point, like the Venetian plague doctor mask but more bird like.
> Like a Sparrow.
“Yes, I am.” I tried to sit up tall and look brave, staring at the masked face. Not being able to see their eyes when someone spoke felt unsettling.
She giggled, and when one of her partners called Sparrow from upstairs she turned and left.
Looking at the others, Nya sat up and stared around the room in a daze. Millie cried, and Ledo glared around angrily.
“You did it.” Lilly's voice said in my mind. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
I looked around for her. “I had to save him.”
“We have to get out of here.” Millie said, looking down at Nya. “Can you walk?”
The young woman nodded and they pulled her up to standing. Millie let Nya lean on her brother for a minute and came over to Eric to help me pull him up.
“Who are they?” Nya called out, pointing across the room. Stepping away from Eric I approached the back wall.
Pointing to the one I recognized. “That one I believe is Tobias Kinkaid's personal bodyguard. The other two I don’t know.”
“We should go, before they come back.” Millie helped Eric to his feet. They all went up the stairs first and I followed along behind.
When I got to the top of the steps I stared down at the mangled corpse of Bliss Fiori, which looked like a marionette when their strings aren’t pulled. The part of me that would feel something for her no longer existed. As a wise woman once said, she made her bed. She could go fuck herself in it. The new me rose from this horror show better, faster, and stronger.
I looked down at my arms, surprised to see that the white now mixed with patches of black in a weird almost Jackson Pollock like paint splatter.
“Hands up!” A female voice said from behind me, I heard a gun cock. “Put them behind your head!”
Fuck.
Slowly I turned on my heel, taking one step up into the open doorway. Moving out of the patch of darkness the woman holding the gun took me by surprise.
“You a cop?” I asked.
“No. Something much worse.” Her steady hand kept the gun pointed at my head. “The demon still down there?”
“No. I banished it.” I gestured to the talisman around her neck. “You get that from Moira?”
She hesitated, no sign the familiar name threw her off. “Why?”
“I saw your photo on her wall. It was an old photo, mind you, but it most definitely was you. You were a teenager maybe?” I thought about asking about the child I saw her on the bus with, but she may take that as a threat.
“Anyone left down there?” She asked.
“Someone already came for Tobias Kinkaid. But three others and what’s left of the demon's mortal body.” It felt weird to not refer to Bliss like an actual person.
“Alright.”
“I'm going to go now with my friends. You may have seen them leave.” We slid around each other, leaving some distance in between, her gun and my hands still up. “My name is Camille Bishop. I'm the blanchmains. What’s your name?”
“Frost. Kennedy Frost.” She gestured with her gun towards the exit. “I'd leave now if I were you.”
“Gladly.” I turned away from her and headed for the door, not looking back.
Millie waited on the sidewalk for me, Eric sat in one of the open back seat doors looking like he wanted to bolt. Jogging once I got off the front steps, I caught up with them quickly.
“Everything ok?” Millie asked.
“Yeah. Let’s get the hell out of here.” I climbed in the back seat beside Eric, who immediately took my hand.
As Millie put the car in gear, a series of loud bangs startled us all, with smashing glass and loud thumping. The boarded up front window of the house we just exited exploded, flashes of hot red and orange shot out as the house burst into flames.
Watching out the back window, I waited to see if someone, anyone ran out of that house. Even though I saw no one, I knew that wouldn’t be the last time I saw Kennedy Frost.
No one said a word, they probably assumed I rigged the explosion and I wouldn’t correct them. Trying to explain the strange line of coincidences that made up Kennedy Frost would only make them paranoid.
Kissing the top of Eric’s hand, I felt complete with him beside me. Deep in my soul I knew I did the right thing. I saved him, and that was everything. Maybe fate brought me here, and that was just fine.
From the world of Camille Bishop comes
Kennedy Frost
2001.
Even in the early spring, it felt cold when darkness fell. Not to the bone, but cold enough that you really needed a jacket. The ground still carried some of the mess of winter, flowers not quite poking their way up to freedom. A time of rebirth.
Windsor told us to be prepared, so when he called mentioning a job I was ready. But if you knew me, like really knew me, you'd know I tried my best to prepare for anything and everything.
I kept my black jacket zipped up tight and all the pockets closed so nothing could fall out. Not that I carried much; no ID, only some cash, a burner phone, and my kit. My little box of goodies contained a lot more than my fellow recruits. I wouldn’t take the chance of not being prepared so I always came with a little of everything.
Wiggling my fingers at my side, Jack took it as a signal and held my hand. He never prepared. Jack somehow always managed to kick ass while flying by the seat of his pants. I hoped one day his mellowness would rub off on me.
Tonight his eyes glowed in a way that sent my anxiety flying off the rails. He was scared but would never vocalize it.
I couldn’t blame him.
I was scared too.
After our last hunt he'd be stupid not to be. We lost three people that day. But his arrogance would eventually take over, and he would keep going just to prove a point. And I would go with him. I would never let him go alone. Like a lovesick fool, I would follow him into the dark.
Windsor waited by the front door with the others. Well, what remained of our group of recruits.
Almost half of us were gone.
“Bout time you two showed up.” Windsor growled at us. He dressed a little less like a stoned professor today, the logos of his Eddie Bauer windbreaker clearly visible. If you looked down the back of his neck you’d probably find the price tag still attached.
“You could have started without us...oh right! You don’t have the balls.” I would not deal with his attitude towards us any longer. I was sick and tired of him. His bullshit demeanour and unpleasant disposition made me hate his presence in any situation.
“Watch your mouth, Frost.” The older and larger Windsor closed the space between us, getting right in my face. His breath smelled minty, the freshness overriding anything that could pass as cologne.
I pulled my gun, so fast he couldn’t react, and pushed the tip of the barrel into his forehead. “If anyone else dies, and I mean anyone, I have a bullet with your name on it.”
“Is that a threat?”
I ground the gun in harder. “More like an FYI.”
“So how many?” Jack asked, pushing my hand gently away from Windsor's face.
“A dozen. Maybe fifteen.” Windsor scowled at me as he backed away. “Should be a piece of cake.”
“That’s what you said last time and there were more. How can we trust you?” I asked. I let Jack step between me and our handler, if I could even call him that at this point. He didn’t really ‘handle’ us; he gave up any guise of caring for us long ago and mostly barked orders and directions like a pathetic excuse for a commander. At some point, we’d be in the position to contradict him and that would change everything.
“I have been watching this place all night, Frost. If you don’t want to trust me it’s your call.” Windsor pulled Destiny over; she’d been in the shadows when we approached. “Desi has been here too. She can tell you.”
Bile began to rise up in my throat when I looked at Destiny. He used her like a meat shield, his claws firmly sunk into the skin on her shoulder like an active wear clad demon. Hearing him say her nickname made it feel dirty. Anything he touched he seemed to taint. But Desi's expression said it all – she knew too. Something wasn’t right.
“The one who killed Amir is in there.” Destiny's eyes grew dark as she spoke, her anger quite obvious. She never told me if she got a chance to tell him how she felt. Amir’s death sparked me to cling to Jack more than ever, harsh realities always a firm reminder to speak your mind.
With her statement I knew nothing I could say would stop her from going in, which meant Jack and I went too. We stuck together from the beginning and nothing would change that.
Jack cursed under his breath. He was too good for our fucked up existence.
“I'll go with her. You can stay here and call me if more bad nasties show up.” I smiled sweetly at him. He and I looked at each other for a solid minute, his expression softening as I smiled.
Windsor laughed and started to say something, I raised my gun again.
“Or I just kill you now and we all walk away.” I stared him down as if he were my greatest enemy. “Not a word unless its life or death critical. Clear?”
“Enough of this shit.” Destiny turned and went for the door. Jack and I followed close at her heels, the others just behind us.
The interior of the building smelled like dust. Well, the building itself did. The overwhelming rotten flesh stink came from those things inside; blocking whatever chance there would be of identifying if something else lurked around.
The unfinished building still mimicked the abandoned nightclub plans, with multiple levels and lots of dark corners. So many things sat half started, bits and pieces clearly stolen and random graffiti covered most of the once cleanly painted walls. Hopefully any homeless and other vagrants that took up residence here vacated the premises.
We walked the expansive main floor as a group, checking every corner and dark area, anywhere something could hide. Destiny took the front, Jack and I flanked her and the others took the rear. We cleared buildings like a military team, even though we lost key members. Windsor’s statement being one drops, another slides into their place. He’d have to get a batch of new recruits soon, they probably started gathering.
Rise (Camille Bishop Book 3) Page 13
