Charms & Demons

by Kim Richardson

  And then they did.

  8

  Did I mention that higher demons had super-supernatural speed?

  In a blur of motion, the higher demons attacked, their death blades whistling in the air in a song of death and destruction and blood.

  But I was ready for them.

  “Feurantis!” I shouted. Energy rushed out of me into my hand and I hurled a fireball at the nearest higher demon. The blast exploded on his chest into a roar of flame, and for an instant it turned that black mist as bright as though I were standing under an afternoon sun.

  I didn’t wait to see if my spell worked on him. The bastard had two brothers. And they were coming at me.

  I raised my right hand, my sigil ring blazing with energy.

  “Dis caeli!” I cried, waving my arms as the magic of my rings roared through me. A blast of powerful kinetic force hit both higher demons, slamming them back through the blackened mist and to the ground with a satisfying thud.

  “Ha!” I shouted, feeling a burst of pride at my own skill. And Tran said I wasn’t even a real witch. “Take that. You want some more, eh? You black-eyed, mother—”

  With a pop, the fire on the first higher demon went out. His shoulders rocked up and down as he laughed. He looked at me, his ebony eyes glistening with amusement.

  Damn. There wasn’t a scratch on him. Not even a scorch mark on his suit. They either had wicked tailors in the Netherworld, or he was immune to my magic.

  I gave him a nervous smile. “Can’t blame a girl for trying,” I said as I took a step back.

  He wiped the arms of his jacket with his free hand. “No. And you can’t blame a demon for killing a mortal either. It’s in our nature.”

  The sound of shoes scuffing the pavement reached me, and his brothers appeared through the wall of black mist. Swell.

  The higher demon bared his teeth in an evil grin before lowering himself into an attack stance.

  I took another step back. I wasn’t stupid. Straining my mind, I searched for a spell or dark curse that would actually work on a higher demon. Which were slim. I focused my will on my rings, concentrating, and I felt a gentle pull on my core.

  His fist came out of nowhere and hit me in the side of the head. It threw me hard to my left, and if I hadn’t planted my legs at the last minute, it would have thrown me to the ground. And then I’d have been finished.

  My concentration vanished. I stumbled and whirled around, blinking the black and white spots from my eyes. God. That. Hurt.

  “Amateur little witch,” snarled the higher demon. “You’ll have to do better than that if you want to defeat us with your little witch tricks. Think bigger.”

  “All righty then.” I blinked, my head throbbing with pain, and shouted, “Sphaeras!” A sphere-shaped shield of golden energy rose up from the pavement and pulled to a close just over my head.

  “There you go,” I howled. “Bigger.”

  Okay, so it wasn’t a sphere of fire or some dark demon magic, but I needed to think. I needed time to contemplate how I was going to get out of this mess—alive.

  My shield wouldn’t last forever, but I needed to protect my ass in order to save my ass.

  Think, Sam. Think!

  If I couldn’t defeat them on my own, I’d have to find someone or something that could.

  And I had just the demon in mind to kick some higher demons’ butts.

  Pulling out my chalk from my pocket, I fell to the hard pavement and began to draw a summoning circle.

  When in doubt, always summon a deceitful demon from the seventy-two listed in the Ars Goetia that you can control. Or one with a giant mouth full of sharp teeth.

  Through the shimmering golden energy, I saw the two other demons join their brother just as I finished my circle. The three of them stood facing my golden sphere, their body language confident and sly, and I didn’t like it.

  I smiled and waved my fingers at them. “Oh, boy, do I have a surprise for you guys,” I laughed, and I began to draw the summoning triangle-shaped sigil. These fools had no idea who they were messing with.

  Next, I wrote the name Buné in the center. Buné was a massive, three-headed dragon demon. Three giant dragon maws to each fit a higher demon’s head. It was perfect.

  No way could these higher demons take on a two-thousand-pound dragon. And he was cute too, purple with a fiery red mane of hair that spread from the tips of his heads to his tail. But he did have a temper, especially when someone stepped on his tail. Love dragons.

  Heart thumping, I shot to my feet again while channeling the magic from the summoning circle and triangle. “I conjure you, Buné, demon of the Netherworld—”

  There was a sudden snap, and my protection shield fell.

  Ooops.

  My pulse spiked as I watched the last of my golden energy shimmer and disappear around the edges of three death blades pointed at me.

  I stilled, and then I glowered. “You bastards burst my bubble.”

  The higher demons grinned, their gray teeth like that of cadavers. They made odd little gestures with their death blades, and threads of black mixed with gold light leapt toward their arms in spiraling paths. It was almost as though their blades had consumed my sphere like they consumed souls.

  I knew I had seconds to react before they did. I never stopped drawing on my rings, pulling the energy into me.

  “For that, I will break every bone in your body and then I will take your witch flesh over and over again,” said the middle higher demon. His gaze jumped to mine, his delight lighting his black eyes. “We are going to have some fun, witch bitch.”

  I seethed. “Call me that again, and I’ll have to agree.” My frustration gave my voice some anger.

  The higher demons moved.

  And so did I.

  In a smooth motion, I pushed the energy from my rings and threw it. “Vento!” I shouted, and a blast of powerful wind hit the higher demons, throwing them back and giving me those precious seconds to turn around and run. I knew my spells wouldn’t hurt them, but what else could I do? Give a witch a break!

  I wasn’t known for my great bursts of speed, nor my talent to see in the dark. So I didn’t get very far—five feet, give or take a few inches—before I felt the pain.

  Agony exploded from nowhere inside me, and I screamed. It felt like my lungs were on fire. My concentration shattered, and the bits of the spell I’d pulled from my rings vanished. My knees gave way and I hit the pavement beside what looked like a metal garbage bin.

  The pain concentrated towards my lower back. Instinctively, I reached out, my fingers finding wetness under my t-shirt. They’d stabbed me with one of their death blades. It was enough to cause extreme physical misery with its poison but not enough to kill. Teeth clenched, I lifted my head to find the higher demons standing above me, the black haze moving around them like eerie black capes.

  Great. That’s all I needed, super-higher demons.

  I grabbed the sides of the bin and pulled myself up, trying not to hurl at the stench of garbage that assaulted my nose. “You know,” I said, struggling to my feet and taking their not-attacking-me as a sign I could actually do just that. “Three against one,” I panted, trying to hide the fact that I felt as though my spinal column was melting. “That’s not exactly fair.”

  “We’re higher demons,” said one of the gray-skinned clones. “We don’t do fair. We do whatever we like.”

  “Not with me, you won’t,” I hissed as another wave of pain hit me. “You’re all going to die.” Blocking out as much pain as I could, I pulled on the energy from my rings.

  In unison, the higher demons laughed. The sound was as unpleasant as if they’d scratched their fingernails on a blackboard. I hated that.

  “How sweet of you to think you can best us,” said one of the higher demons, coming closer and causing the stench of sulfur to fill my nose and mix with the week-old garbage stench. He carved the air with his death blade and said, “You should take comfort in knowing you won�
��t die alone.”

  The higher demons blurred and came at me in a rush, but I’d been expecting that.

  Since I knew my magic did diddly squat to them, I did the only other thing I could.

  I reached in the bin, grabbed handfuls of garbage, tried not to vomit as the cold squishy substance between my fingers, and hurled it at them.

  It worked like a charm.

  The three of them froze, disgust plastered on their faces as they screamed something incoherent and bestial. They struggled against chunks of rotten meat and fruit all mixed in with a brown and green slime. Their shouts became lost in their attempt to wipe themselves clean. The three of them started clawing at their clothes and faces in a frenzy.

  It was the strangest thing I’d ever seen. The great and powerful higher demons had a weakness. And that weakness was cleanliness. Go figure.

  As for me? Well, I took it as my cue to get the hell out of there.

  With my heart in my throat, I spun around and ran through the black haze towards what I hoped was the street. I just needed to get to a safe place for now. I’d come back for Poe. I was no good to him if I was dead.

  My legs, heavy with the pain in my lower back, burned with every step. I knew it was the poison. If the cut had been deep, my legs wouldn’t have moved at all.

  I kept going. I could see a break in the haze, a spot where the darkness wasn’t so dark, as if someone had turned on a light. Always follow the light. The sense of freedom pushed my legs harder. I was going to make it.

  A fist came out of nowhere and connected with the side of my head.

  I pitched sideways, my hip exploding with pain as I hit the hard pavement.

  Well, my escape didn’t last long.

  Head throbbing, I felt a presence above me. Twisting, I snarled and kicked out with my leg as hard as I could, hitting a higher demon in the shins and taking him down to the ground. No sooner did he crumple and another higher demon appeared in my line of sight.

  Before I could move, he grabbed me by the throat and lifted me up, my boots grazing the ground as I stared into his black eyes.

  “Not bad for a witch,” said the higher demon, his face smeared with what looked like pea soup. If I could have smiled, I would have. “That some martial arts or something?”

  I struggled to breathe. “It’s called asshole.”

  He squeezed harder. “You shouldn’t have soiled us with your human waste. You’re going to pay for that.”

  “You shouldn’t have tried to kill me,” I wheezed, and the other two higher demons appeared at his side, looking equally pissed and covered in slime. Boo-hoo.

  I tapped into my rings, willing the magic to come, but it didn’t answer. Either my magic was spent, or the death blade’s poison was keeping me from reaching it.

  The higher demon with his hand wrapped around my neck smiled wickedly, seeing the fear in my eyes.

  Was this it? Was this how I was going to die? Killed by some demon thugs in a dark alley? Talk about a cliché way to die. There was nothing honorable about dying in that way. Especially for a Beaumont witch. What would my Aunt Evanora say?

  If only I could reach Poe...

  “That’s how the big boys do it, little witch,” said the higher demon with satisfaction as he pulled me closer.

  I pursed my lips and spit in his face.

  The demon lost his smile, and a snarl replaced it. “You’re asking for it,” he said, and he used his free hand to wipe his face of my white foamy spit. I’d gotten him good. Yay for me.

  “Poe?” I gasped, praying that my familiar was still alive somewhere in that horrid black mist. “Poe! I need help!”

  The higher demons laughed, mocking and hissing, thick with something wet and bubbly erupting from them. When it came to spooky laughter, they were the champs, hands down.

  Fear coursed through me like an icy ribbon and settled into my core. I was going to die.

  And what image flashed before my eyes? Logan’s lips. Damn. I was such a girl.

  A blade with a coiling black shadowy mist appeared before my eyes.

  “I’m going to cut out those pretty eyes of yours,” said the higher demon. “Then, I’m going to eat them, one by one, while you watch until you can’t see anymore. But you will feel the pain.”

  Terror slid to my middle, and his black eyes darkened. “Time so say bye-bye, little witch,” he said in warning.

  His blade grazed the skin on my neck, my flesh tingling as the cold metal slipped along my jawline and then back tracing a line along my neck. I felt the demon’s grip tighten in anticipation of my death.

  I struggled in his grasp, in my panic, and then a new fear slid into place behind it. I didn’t want to die. Not like this. Tears welled in my eyes.

  Cauldron save me...

  The blade pricked the skin on my neck—

  And then retreated.

  With my lungs burning from the lack of air, I blinked through my tears as the higher demon whipped his head around at something behind him.

  An orange glow broke through the black haze. Even from my limited vision I could feel its rays upon my skin, warming my face with its presence.

  Morning was approaching.

  The demons hissed at the sun—a hateful enemy, the one that would destroy them.

  The pressure around my neck released and I dropped like a bag of sand. My feet did nothing to break my fall and I hit the pavement hard on my left hip.

  The higher demons squealed and scrambled like frightened rats as they jumped around seeking shadows and trying to avoid the sunlight, their black eyes wide in panic. It was a glorious sight.

  I knew they’d be demon toast if they stayed a second longer. There was nothing more deadly to a demon than the sun. It was equivalent to the myth about vampires and the sun. Vampires could go in the sun because of the mortal blood in their veins, whereas higher demons would combust into ash, just like an expensive Hollywood visual effect.

  Squealing in protest, the higher demons dispersed before the light. They scurried down the street and scampered away into the last of the black haze, back to whatever Rift they crawled out of.

  I smiled. “Bon voyage, bastards,” I wheezed and rubbed my neck.

  With a last shimmer, the unnatural black haze lifted and evaporated like dew in a morning sun. A few seconds later, there was only me.

  And Poe.

  Poe!

  I picked myself up and stumbled into the alley, not really recognizing anything I saw since just a few moments ago everything had been covered by a black mist.

  A small black bundle the size of a house cat lay on the pavement next to one of the building’s brick walls.

  My heart pounded in my throat as I rushed over and fell to my knees. A moan escaped me as the cut on my lower back ripped. The skin on my fingers burned as I scraped them on the asphalt, gently slipping them under Poe’s body. Carefully, I picked up the raven with my hands, rubbing my thumb across the feathers on his belly.

  “Poe?” My throat tight and I swallowed, trying not to cry. Please, not my Poe. Not Poe.

  His eyes opened. “What did I miss?” asked the raven. He shifted to his feet, shook his feathers, and climbed up my right arm.

  I sighed in relief. “Thank the cauldron.” I ran my eyes over the bird. “I’m not seeing any visible marks. What did they do to you—”

  The clink of scraping boots jerked my attention behind me.

  The air was bitter despite the bright morning sun, and I squinted at two human males walking briskly towards me. The two men wore navy uniforms, black boots, and finished the look with navy caps.

  Cops. I swallowed the nausea in my mouth. It looked like New York City’s finest were coming to greet me. Swell.

  9

  I liked nothing better than finishing a night where I’d almost died in the hands of higher demons by pulling out my acting chops and playing the innocent human to the police.

  “Oh shit,” I breathed.

  “Oh cops,” said the
bird.

  Damnit. My stomach quailed a little bit, but I pushed it away. Who knew? Maybe they weren’t here for me. I was tired, in pain, and just wanted to go home. Straining, I got to my feet and started walking in the opposite direction, hoping they’d just ignore me. I hadn’t done anything, after all—nothing that concerned the human population.

  “You there. Stop right there!” said one of the policemen.

  I kept walking with Poe balanced on my arm like a hunting falcon, as every step sent a wave of jarring pain through my lower back.

  “I said stop!”

  Okay then. He said stop. Guess that meant I had to obey. My mood soured, and I felt I was going to lose it. Damn the human police. I really didn’t need them nosing in my business right now. I had enough going on in my own paranormal world, thank you very much.

  Resolute, I turned slowly and raised my hands. Poe jumped to my shoulder, his feathers tickling the side of my face.

  “Is walking in an alley a crime nowadays?” I asked, pulling my face into the sweetest smile I could muster, which probably looked as fake as it felt. It was all I had.

  The policeman with the beard, which he kept clipped close to his face, glanced down at his cell phone and then back at me, his forty-something face pinched in a frown. He had a strong jaw, and his dark eyes flashed. Even with his cap, I could see his hair was cropped close to his scalp, Marine-length.

  I clenched my jaw, fighting with the alarm bells setting off in my gut. I didn’t like this.

  Still holding my hands in the air like a fool, my gaze flicked to the other officer. He looked to be in his twenties, with a Latino flair, and a plain, forgettable face. His mouth was slightly open and he wore one of those quizzical expressions, like he was waiting for the other guy to give him orders since he had no idea what do to. Great. A rookie cop. This was just getting better.

  Seeing as they weren’t pointing their guns at me, I took it as a sign they weren’t going to shoot me and lowered my hands. I swallowed. So far, so good.

  “Why don’t you spell their asses,” muttered the bird. “A few memory charms, and we’re golden.”