Scion

by Kelly Oram

  Gritting my teeth against the pain that shot through me as I pulled my arm tight against my chest, I turned my smile on Clara and batted my lashes. “What do you say, Clare Bear, want to be my slutty nurse? Just this once? For old times’ sake?”

  Clara didn’t appreciate my humor. She gave me a sweet smile as she placed a hand over my shoulder. “Only because it will inflict a lot of pain, you jackass.”

  I laughed, but quickly pinched my eyes shut and grunted as burning heat ripped through my body. Pain is definitely a downside to healing magic. By the time it was over, I was sweating. Supernatural injuries are always more intense than regular ones.

  “Did you enjoy that as much as I did?” Clara asked, mimicking my eyelash move.

  “Oh yeah,” I rasped, trying to catch my breath as I rolled my stiff shoulder. “We should totally do it again sometime.”

  Cynthia threw her arm over my shoulder and propelled me forward behind Dani. “I think I liked you guys better when you hated each other. This twisted flirting of yours creeps me out.”

  I chuckled and slipped my arm around her waist, enjoying her company as we navigated through the sea of guardians to the elevators. As we made our way, a new round of gasps sounded. “The resistance!” someone cried. “You’ve joined the resistance?”

  Gabe stepped forward and tried to explain how he and Dani had not abandoned the supernatural people, and how he’d like to try and find a way to work with both sides of the conflict. We need change, and blah…blah…blah… This was taking too long. My father was going to murder the entire council before we even got upstairs. Not that I was completely convinced that was a bad thing. The buttmunches did order my execution.

  I shoved everyone into motion again. “As fascinating as all this political talk is, my father is upstairs killing people and becoming even more powerful with each death. Do you mind if we hash out the details of a new and better world after I stop him?”

  The group of guardians all frowned at me. Tough crowd. Where was Ethan when I needed him? Was there no one working for the consulate who appreciated the fine art of dry humor and sarcasm? How could an entire organization collectively have giant sticks up their butts? I swear it was like a prerequisite for working at the consulate. No wonder Dani was still having trouble adjusting.

  I rolled my eyes at the disapproving crowd and pushed on to the elevators with my shoulders back and my head held high. There were several magic users gathered around the elevator doors, along with the vampire lady from the council. When Councilor Sena saw Dani, Gabe, and Duncan, she sagged with relief. “Miss Danielle, Seer, I am so grateful for your safety. Please understand that I was appalled by the actions of the council the other day. I should have left with you. Please forgive me.”

  Gabe’s face softened and he took her hand in his. “There is nothing to forgive, Councilor. After we stop Devereaux, we must call a truce and discuss the future of the supernatural people.”

  “Yes, Seer. But I don’t know how we will ever stop him.” Her glistening, fearful eyes flicked to Dani. “Danielle, Devereaux has spelled the elevators out of commission and sealed off all entrances and exits to the consulate floors. We’ve evacuated the rest of the building, but there are a number of people stuck up on the consulate floors and we cannot make contact with them. We’ve been trying to break the wards, but even with all of us we aren’t strong enough. He’s done something to his magic. It’s stronger, and very dark.”

  “It could be the use of the artifact,” I guessed, when all eyes turned to me for an explanation. “Or some other trick he’s learned from Beelzebub. The two are in cahoots these days.”

  Councilor Sena brought her hand to her mouth to cover a gasp. “Danielle, the rest of the council is up there. The three of us were the only ones away from the building.”

  Dani placed a hand on the panicked woman’s shoulder. “We’ll stop him.” She glanced at the elevator, closed her eyes, and held her hand out. Seconds later the doors slid open, ready to take us the fifty whatever floors up to the consulate. She didn’t even have to try hard. Man, her power was crazy.

  Duncan, Logan, Simone, Marcus, and Mr. Layton piled into the elevators with a handful of other strong resistance members, leaving Dani, Gabe, me, Clara, Caleb, and Cynthia to shove in behind them. The elevator was built to accommodate large crowds, but it was still a tight squeeze.

  Before she stepped in, Dani pushed Gabe over to Councilor Sena’s side. “You should stay here.”

  I coughed to cover up a laugh. Gabe ignored me and took Dani’s hand in his. “Danielle, I do not wish to stay here and let you face him alone.”

  “Gabriel, it’s too dangerous. Alex won’t hurt me, but he wants you and Councilor Sena dead. We don’t know what we’re walking into, and I’ll be too worried about protecting you to do my job if you’re up there. You should stay down here and help Councilor Sena keep the guardians calm. We need leaders present to make sure no humans figure out anything is wrong.”

  Gabe opened his mouth, but Dani kissed him before he could argue. “I won’t be alone,” she promised, stepping onto the waiting elevator next to me. She grasped my hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’ve got Russ with me.”

  After a moment, Gabe’s shoulders slumped and he gave in. The pansy. I never would have let my girl go alone. But Dani was right; it was better if he stayed out of the way. Visions of the future are handy and all, and the guy was rumored to have guardian training, but he’d still be a dead man if my father found him, and then I’d have to do the noble thing and save him and that would be really annoying. I couldn’t help smiling and waving as the elevator doors slid shut. Dani elbowed me in the ribs hard enough to leave a bruise, but it was worth it.

  “Let me get out first,” I said as we began our ascent.

  Dani snorted. “Yeah, because that worked out so well for you before.”

  “Fine. You go first. Dad’s not going to hurt you, either.”

  Dani didn’t argue with me, but her hand went to her stomach where my father had, not that long ago, put a knife in it in an attempt to slow her down. I decided not to correct my statement about him not hurting her, and settled for grabbing her hand again. “Together?” Dani asked.

  How could I refuse such an offer? “Together.”

  The ride up was tense. We all prepared for the worst, but the only thing that rushed at us when the doors slid open on the main floor of the consulate was a blast…from the past. There, in the small lobby of the consulate, standing as sentry in front in the main reception desk, was my old archnemesis from Carmine and his idiot boss.

  “Deputy McHale? Sheriff Guston?” Dani was even more shocked to see the familiar faces. “What are you guys doing here?”

  Just as she moved toward them, I felt an air of something nasty. It was the same dark energy Necro Babe had been sporting when she had an unwanted guest taking up residence in her body. “Dani, wait! They’re possessed by demons!”

  Too late. Dani stepped out of the elevator, and my old hometown poor excuse for a lawman, Deputy McHale, grabbed her while Sheriff Guston came at me. I twisted out of the way, but he moved so fast he was able to grab a fistful of my hair and yank me back toward him. “Son of a filthy witch!”

  Duncan immediately went to Dani’s rescue, but she called him off. “No! Stay back! I’ve got this!”

  And she did, too. She moved with the grace, strength, and speed of a nephilim fighter, but judging from the fangs, she’d also taken on the endurance of a vampire. It was so amazing that I forgot to fight back against my own demon-possessed captor. “Are you a vampire and a nephilim right now?”

  Dani’s hand morphed into a paw with some serious claws. “And a werewolf and a witch,” she grunted, taking a swipe at Deputy McHale. A sheen of sweat broke out on to her forehead as she concentrated. “But my magic doesn’t seem to work on him.”

  “Yeah, demons suck that way.”

  She was incredible, and I wasn’t the only one mystified by the sight of her. We all
stopped to watch the show. She sliced her claws through Deputy McHale’s forearm and the demon inside him roared, snapping me from my trance.

  “No!” Sheriff Guston shouted when Deputy McHale moved to wrap his hands around Dani’s neck. “Boss said not to hurt that one.”

  “She’s trying to decapitate me.”

  I used the distraction to the best of my advantage and elbowed Sheriff Guston in his doughnut-loving gut. He let out a small oof but, sadly, that was all the damage I could inflict on him while he had demon strength. I was going to have to use my Scion power against these guys, and I really, really didn’t want to do that. “I can do it. I can send them back with demon magic. Clara—be ready to—”

  “No, Russ. You can’t use your power. It’s too dangerous.”

  “What other choice do we have?”

  “We’ll fight!” Logan shouted, leading the rest of our group out of the elevator as if he were Braveheart or something.

  Of course, Logan and the other two nephilim present would feel it was their responsibility to fight the demons. Aside from Dani, they probably had the best shot at succeeding, but they didn’t know what they were really up against. I’d seen one of these things fight Ethan. They’re nasty, powerful. The only reason I wasn’t dead yet was because they weren’t trying to kill me. Logan and his clan mates wouldn’t be that lucky.

  “Logan, no!” I threw a spell out to try and stop him, but I wasn’t fast enough and the nephilim threw themselves, daggers first, at Sheriff Guston. When the group of us tumbled to the floor, the trained nephilim with the knives proved to be the bigger threat for the demon, and I was quickly forgotten. The Laytons and their wolf friends jumped into the fight in their wolf forms, but they moved too slowly and Sheriff Guston batted them away like flies, knocking them across the room, sending them crashing into various walls and desks.

  One nephilim fell to the floor with a broken neck, and another was stabbed through the heart with a dagger the demon had taken from the dead guy. Logan, in the fray, managed to plunge his dagger into Sheriff Guston’s chest for what should have been a killing blow, but all it did was severely piss off the demon. The monster opened his mouth and screeched that same piercing noise Necro Babe used that had laid Ethan out and scrambled his brain. Everyone in the room except me reached to cover their ears.

  Then, while Logan was incapacitated, Sheriff Guston, with the knife still protruding from his chest, grabbed Logan and ripped his head right off his body. It made this awful tearing sound, and I was standing close enough to be bathed in the splatter of blood that flew from his body.

  Several screams of horror rang out, but there was no time for me to be shocked by the violence. I had to move while the demon was distracted. It was my only chance. I pulled my nifty new seraph blades from their sheaths, and dove for the evil SOB.

  The demon gasped when he saw the steel in my hands, blazing with white fire. He tried to dodge me, but it was too late. My knife found its way into his gut, causing him to cry out in agony. The blade warmed in my hand, and then there was an explosion of energy that burst from his body. He lifelessly collapsed to the floor.

  The entire room stilled with Sheriff Guston’s death. Even Deputy McHale froze, gaping at my knives with wide eyes. Dani was panting and sweating from exhaustion, but she wasted no time grabbing him. She moved behind him and pulled his arms tightly behind his back. Then, with one still-clawed hand, she gripped him around his throat. He started to squirm but all of the wolves quickly surrounded him, hackles raised and growling. Outnumbered and outpowered by the Chosen One, he gave up his fight and focused on me. “You carry angelic blades.”

  Wiping the bloody knife on my already messed up jeans, I stepped right up to Deputy McHale. I wriggled my eyebrows at the shocked demon, and held the blade in front of his face so he could get a good look. “Pretty sweet, huh? They were a gift from Michael. He said they’d come in handy; I just didn’t know he meant so soon.”

  The demon flinched back with a hiss, as if it hurt to even be close to the knife. Curiosity piqued, I let the flat end of my knife graze his cheek. Skin sizzled beneath the glowing steel, burning the demon. He clenched his jaw, refusing to scream, but he was in some serious pain.

  “Oh, heck yes! This is perfect.” I laughed at the brilliance of my new predicament. Until that moment, I hadn’t been sure if one touch would automatically kill him or not. Now I had a chance to get some answers from the unfortunate jerk. “Who’s your boss, dude?”

  The demon glared at me. I raised an eyebrow at his defiance and held my knife close to his skin again. “Beelzebub,” he spat, flinching back from the dagger. “My master is Lord Beelzebub.”

  Nice try. I made an obnoxious buzzing noise. “Wrong answer. Uncle B would have let you kill the Chosen One in a heartbeat. The sheriff said you couldn’t harm Dani or me, so who’s controlling you? Is it my dad?”

  He took too long to respond for my liking, so I dragged my knife down the side of his face until he cried out again. “The Scion!” he gasped. “The Scion is my master! The blood of the Godly Descendant binds me. It was his blood that pulled me through the veil.”

  “I’m the Godly Descendant, you jackhole, and I didn’t summon you.” This lying sack of evil was really starting to try my patience. I sunk my seraph blade deep into his shoulder until he fell to the ground, writhing in pain. “I can keep this up all day, dude.”

  “It’s the truth!” he screamed. “The warlock with the artifact holds the blood of the Scion! I am forced to answer the call of my master, no matter who wields his power!”

  Oh.

  I stumbled back, letting my knife fall loosely to my side. I had a sneaking suspicion I knew what happened, and if that were the case, all hell was going to break loose. Literally. Because I was going to go Godly Descendant on my traitorous father.

  The demon, exhausted and weak from my torture, lay in a heap on the floor, gripping its shoulder where the seraph wound was still causing it pain. I crouched low over him and grabbed him by the hair, forcing him to look me in the eyes. “How much blood do you need to pull Beelzebub through the veil?”

  The demon shook his head, confused. “Only a truly devastating sacrifice could bring Lord Beelzebub to the surface.”

  “Or the blood of the Scion, right?” I asked, running with my theory. “How much of the Scion’s blood would you need to spill in order to bring Beelzebub into this world?”

  “The true Scion shares the blood of the Dark Lord himself. With the proper rituals performed, it would take but a drop of blood for him to summon the master.”

  Dang, blast it! Why do I always have to be right? “You’re saying Dad nearly bled me dry on purpose.”

  With a grimace, the demon nodded. “The relic he holds was created by the Dark Angel. His glory is infused within it. It can only be activated or destroyed by his own hand.” The demon met my eyes and swallowed hard. “Or that of his Earthly servants.”

  “Like me.” I ground my teeth together so hard my head throbbed. “He needed my blood to use the darn thing. And he knew it all along.”

  “Russ?” Dani crouched down beside me and met my gaze. “What does it mean?”

  I had to unclench my jaw to answer her, and the words came out in a growl. “It means my father jacked my blood. He nearly killed me stealing my blood so that he could do things like control this jerk and use demonic artifacts.”

  I was going to freaking kill him! In a flash, I felt the darkness in my mind attack me with full force. Beelzebub knew how close I was to cracking, and he was trying desperately to break me.

  “Russ,” Clara whispered, her hand falling delicately to my back. “Fight it. Don’t give in to him.”

  I jumped to my feet and attacked the first inanimate object I could find. I picked up the computer sitting on the reception desk and threw it across the room. It exploded against the wall with a very satisfying crash, so I went for the desk next. It was too heavy to lift, so I used magic and blasted it into a million
pieces.

  Was I throwing a tantrum? Epically. Was it immature? Oh, yeah. But it was also destructive enough to keep me from losing myself to Beelzebub for the moment.

  Once I released enough energy to keep myself sane, I sucked in a deep breath and glanced at all my fellow magic users. “Anyone have a good exorcism spell up their sleeve? I’d rather not kill Deputy Dipstick if I don’t have to.”

  Dani and I had to hold Deputy McHale down using my seraph blades to keep him weak while Marcus performed an exorcism to send the demon inside him back to Hell. It wasn’t easy to do, considering the evil inside my own body tried to protest the entire time. It felt like Marcus’s spell was trying to rip me apart from the inside out. Luckily, that didn’t happen. Either Beelzebub was simply stronger than Marcus’s spell, or he didn’t have an actual physical presence inside my head. I chose to believe option number two because it was a lot less creepy.

  As soon as the demon was gone and we had a very confused, very terrified Deputy McHale back with us, we finally noticed the other bodies scattered around the room just beyond the immediate reception area.

  The main floor of the consulate was separated into two sides. When you stepped off the elevator, you entered a small lobby facing the main reception desk—which I had just thoroughly trashed. To the left of the reception area was a large, open room filled with rows of desks and small cubicles, while the right side of the floor was walled off for private offices and stuff. There was a long hallway that led to the conference room Ethan and I had been interrogated in. The holding cells were past the conference room and around a corner all the way at the back of the building near Gabe’s secret elevator.

  The large, open office looked like a war zone—furniture overturned, windows, desks, computers, lamps, and walls all smashed and broken. Scattered around the mess were the broken, lifeless bodies of the brave supernaturals who’d tried to fight when Dad arrived with his demon-possessed backup. Most of the dead looked like consulate security, but not all of them. There were a few average Joes in business attire as well, both male and female.