by Wendy Wang
Daphne slipped her hand into Darius’s and gave it a squeeze. “I don’t mind at all. In fact, it would make me feel better if y’all were with her.”
“I agree with Daphne,” Lisa said.
“Oh, Goddess, somebody please record that for posterity’s sake,” Daphne joked. Jen and Evangeline chuckled, but Lisa didn’t seem to find it funny.
Ben cocked his head and considered Tomeka’s request. What was Tomeka up to? He didn't want to embarrass her. She'd really become part of the team in just the few days she'd been working at the DOL, volunteering to do whatever was needed to help with Charlie's case.
"All right. You two stay here. Let us know if there's any change,” Ben said.
"Absolutely," Tomeka said. "Y'all be careful. Come on, Darius." She pinched his sleeve and led him away from the group.
"Y'all be careful." Darius pecked Daphne on the lips before being dragged away by his sister. "Text me if you need me."
Ben watched the two of them disappear from the room before turning his attention back to his crew. "All right. Tom, are you, Joy, and Gabrielle going to meet us there?"
"Yes," Tom said.
"Great. Athena, do you still have skills with that blow gun of yours?”
“I do,” she nodded.
“Good. Get it, along with the strongest sedative you find, then gather the others and come in a separate car."
"Yes, sir," Athena said.
"Where do you want me, boss?" Will asked.
Ben scratched his head. "I… I don't know. How familiar are you with hunting demons?"
"They're not really different than vamps. They have their own smell, and they leave that damn dust everywhere. And as far as dispatching them, I've got a knife for that."
"A knife that will kill demons?" Jason asked. "Where did you get one?"
"This one was forged in the bowels of hell. I paid a pretty price for it on the black market. But you didn't hear that from me,” Will said.
“And it works?” Jason asked.
“Like a charm,” Will said.
"Yeah, I'm just going to ignore that last part,” Ben said. "I have no plans to kill Gerald. If he's still alive somewhere inside that body of his, I'd like to just exorcise the damn demon and, maybe if we’re lucky, save Gerald’s life."
"If you can get the demon out of the host body," Tom said, "we can ensure the demon goes back to where he belongs. It will be tricky, and the timing will have to be perfect. We’ll have to drop our glamours to do it, but no one has to die if we can help it."
"Good. That's exactly the way I want it,” Ben said.
"Sounds like a plan," Will said, rubbing his hands together. "Let's go demon hunting."
Chapter 21
Tomeka pulled one of the padded stools up next to Charlie’s bedside. Her lips had turned blue, and her pale blonde hair lay limp off her face, wet and stringy in places. Tomeka wrapped her hand around Charlie's forearm. The cold, clammy skin made her stomach turn. She focused her gaze on the monitors and the slow beep of Charlie's heartbeat.
"Hey, Charlie," Tomeka said. "It's me, Mika. I don't know if you can hear me or not. Darius is here with me. Although he stopped to get some coffee."
Tomeka reached inside her bag and pulled out her deck of tarot cards.
"I know this is crazy. I rely on these cards way too much. And I don't even know if they will bridge the gap between here and wherever you are."
Darius pushed open the door carrying two cups of fresh coffee in his hands. Tomeka took one of the cups and took a sip, glad for the warmth in this cold, cold place.
"I'm here, Mika," Darius said. "Now you gonna tell me why you really didn't want to go with them?"
"I thought since you’re a necromancer, your talents would be better used here with Charlie. Maybe you can call her up and let her know that we’re fighting for her life. That we’re doing everything we can."
"I would love to talk to her," Darius said. "Just one problem. Charlie's not really dead."
"What do you mean? She's almost dead,” Tomeka said.
"I know, but she's not all the way dead. I know she's not here. I can see there's nobody home. But she's not there, either. She’s somewhere in between." Darius shook his head. "All we can do now is just stay here and be with her. Hopefully, our energy will anchor hers to this plane, at least while this body is still alive."
Tomeka twirled one of her braids around her finger and leaned with her elbows on the table next to where Charlie lay so cold and still. She shuffled her deck of cards and cut it in half. Then she brought the two halves back together and pressed the deck into Charlie's palm. She drew the first card. And a smile tugged at her lips.
"This is you, Charlie," Tomeka said. She positioned the high priestess card on Charlie's flat stomach. "She represents knowledge and understanding and intuition and dreams. I couldn't have picked a better card myself."
When Tomeka drew the next card, her heart beat a little faster.
"The moon. My guess is that you might be a little confused right now, maybe even a little overwhelmed. A little fearful of what you're going through and what might happen in the future. But the other thing this card tells me about you is that you need to trust yourself. Don't be afraid. Even if you're surrounded by darkness at this moment. You're not alone."
"Keep talking to her, Mika. Keep talking." Darius put his hand on his sister’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Maybe your voice will be enough to keep her grounded."
Tomeka nodded, took a deep breath, and drew another card.
Tears stung her eyes, and she put the five of cups down next to the moon card.
"I don't want you to be scared, but this is not the card I really wanted to see. You need to hang on. You hear me, Charlie Payne? You can change your future. You don't have to be afraid of it."
"Keep talking, Mika. Don't stop,” Darius said.
Tomeka took the cards away from Charlie's chest and folded the three drawn cards into the deck. She slipped the deck back into her purse and took Charlie's frozen hand into her own.
"I'm here, Charlie."
The light behind her grew brighter and warmer. Charlie was almost certain that, even though she had not moved from her spot, the light had moved closer to her. All she wanted to do was turn around and let it embrace her for good. To be done with this fight.
The feel of someone holding her hand made her look down to see where it came from. There did not seem be to anyone here with her, but in the distance, she heard voices. Voices she knew well. Voices telling her to hang on.
And for a moment she held on, but that light, it beckoned to her, vibrated around her and through her.
How could she not want to be part of it? Finally, when she could stand it no more, she turned to face it, and in the blink of an eye, it swallowed her whole.
The rhythmic sound of waves crashing against the beach made Charlie open her eyes. She found herself standing on a familiar beach, although she couldn't quite place it. The shore seemed to extend forever in both directions, and fat, white puffy clouds floated in the distance. The sun sat low in the sky, and the day was warm, but not hot, and strangely not humid.
She looked down to find herself in a pair of white linen shorts and a long-sleeved, white linen blouse over a pale blue tank top. Her toes dug into the sand, and she relished the warmth.
Charlie took a seat on the sand and watched the sun sink lower in the sky, turning the clouds from white to pale pink and deep orange.
"Charlie, girl?" a familiar voice called after her.
Charlie looked up the beach and saw her grandmother approaching. She wore a pink plaid blouse over a white tank top and a pair of khaki Capri pants. Her silvery-white hair glowed in the light of the sunset. Bunny waved, and a big smile crossed her face.
"Hey, Bunny." Charlie waved back. "Come watch the sunset with me."
Charlie blinked, and the next thing she knew her grandmother was beside her.
"We weren't expecting you,” Bunny
said.
"I know. I just couldn't seem to stay away. I tried. I tried so hard."
"I know, love. I know. There's still time for you to go back."
A loud, beeping sound penetrated Charlie’s consciousness. The frantic sounds of voices filled her head.
Charlie looked up, searching for the sound. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what, love?"
"It sounds like heartbeats or something mechanical beeping." Charlie stood up, still searching for the source.
"Oh, that," Bunny said. "That's just the doctors. They are probably trying to save your life. You may have gone into cardiac arrest. That would be my guess, anyway. Why don't you come sit down, sweetie? This is going to be one doozy of a sunset." Bunny tapped the sand next to her.
"What am I doing here? I should not be here." Panic fluttered in Charlie’s chest, and she began to walk away from her grandmother. Within a few seconds, her grandmother stood in front of her.
"Now, just wait a minute. At the moment, you don't have anywhere to go back to. Be still and listen." Bunny pointed to the sky. Charlie followed her grandmother's finger. Looking upward, she could see the universe. Stars glowed against the deep black sky. Planets. Nebulas.
"Bunny?" Charlie called. Panic wound its way through her chest. "Bunny!?"
"What's happening to her?" Tomeka cried. Darius held her back from the table.
"She's stable for now. She had a seizure," the doctor said. "Do you know where her family is?"
"They're off looking for something that will cure her,” Tomeka said.
"Right. This was Sutton's idea." The doctor sighed and scrubbed his fingers through his short brown hair. "I hope whatever it is they're doing, they get here quick. I don't know how much longer we can keep her in this state. She's already starting to deteriorate. If she has another seizure, we could lose her."
"Okay, doctor, thank you,” Tomeka said. She pulled her phone from her purse and jotted off a text to Ben.
Charlie going downhill fast. Have you found the book?
Tomeka stared at the screen, but no answer came. She jotted off a text to Jen, letting her know the situation. It took less than a second for three dots to appear with a response from Jen.
Please tell her to hang on. And you need to let her ex, Scott know. So he can tell her son. Maybe Scott can bring him to Charlotte.
Is that a good idea? He’s kind of young, isn’t he?
I know it’s hard, but yes he should be told. I’ll tell you the story about my mom’s death sometime. We were kept away. It was awful. Tell Scott to bring Evan.
Okay. Do you have his number?
Yes. I’ll look it up and text it to you.
Chapter 22
It took almost an hour to get to Lake Norman with late afternoon traffic working against them.
Jason circled the block to get a good look at the layout of the house and the surrounding land. In a community of older two-story homes built in the seventies, Gerald’s yellow clapboard house sat back from the street near the water, on a large, mostly wooded lot. With white shutters and a formal portico, the house seemed to be built into the hill leading down to the lake.
A separate, matching two-car garage sat adjacent to the house, and when Jason slowed down to check as much of the back of the house as he could from the street, he saw a boat shelter near a short dock extending into the lake. It would be a lot to search. Maybe once this thing was contained, Ben could call for more reinforcements to help.
When he felt like he knew what they were in for, he parked down the street. He popped the trunk and got out. This wasn’t his case, wasn’t even his jurisdiction, but he damn sure wasn’t going in there unarmed. His hand hovered over the lockbox holding his weapon and he kept it moving to another box that held a taser and a stun gun. He took both and held them in his hand to weigh them out before finally settling on the stun gun. He grabbed his Kevlar vest, more out of habit than anything else, and closed the trunk.
“Do you really think that will drop a demon?” Lisa sidled up next to him.
“I don’t know. We’ll find out.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “It’ll all be fine. Do you think you could say a quick blessing over them?”
“Of course,” she said. She placed one hand on each item and whispered a quick prayer to the goddess. When she was done she took a deep breath and gave him a weary smile. “There. Your talismans are blessed. You should be good to go. Just… Just be careful, okay?”
“Back atcha, babe,” he said. He thought she might pick a fight. Sometimes she did when she was scared, but instead, she leaned over, pressed her hand against his chest and gave him a quick kiss. Her lips whispered against his for a second before she pulled away.
“What was that for?”
“Just a little extra protection for that body I love so much,” she said. “Now be careful.”
“I will,” he said, and quickly donned his vest.
“Good.” She gave him a quick nod. “Let’s go round up this demon.”
“You got it,” he said, answering the determination in her voice with a dark glance at the house.
They made their way up to the end of the driveway and waited for Ben, Jen, Daphne, and Will to get out of Ben’s FJ50. Athena and the other witches had parked up the street out of sight and joined them a few minutes later. Jason’s belly began to tingle like it did anytime he took part in a S.W.A.T operation.
“Okay,” Ben said. “Evangeline, if you wouldn’t mind setting up a protection circle around the house with the help of Daphne, Lisa, and Jen, that would be great.”
“You don’t want our help? You know, taking him down?” Jen asked.
“This will be a big help. We need to protect Gerald’s neighbors in case Tom and his crew can’t catch this demon.”
“Do not worry yourself, witch,” Gabrielle said. “We will not allow the demon to get away.”
“Evangeline is powerful enough to cast that spell without us,” Lisa said. “Jen, Daphne, and I all have experience with casting out demons, as you well know.”
“I do know,” Ben said. “I also know how dangerous the last time was, and I don’t want anyone to get hurt or possessed unnecessarily.”
“No one is going to possess me, Daphne, or Jen.” Lisa swept her hair aside to show a tiny tattoo at the base of her hair line behind one of her ears — a pentacle between two crescent moons.
Jen removed the old Timex watch she wore and held her wrist up to show her matching tattoo.
“What about you?” Ben asked, directing his question to Daphne.
Her eyes widened, and she glanced around the group.
“Oh, um, mine is somewhere a little more private,” she said. “But it’s there.”
“We got them after our last demon encounter, just to be on the safe side,” Jen said.
Ben lowered his voice and bent over. “I thought you said you hurt yourself at work.”
Jen shrugged. “I lied. I’m sorry. I just know how much you hate tattoos. I didn’t want you to try and talk me out of it. Are you mad?”
“No. Not really. I just don’t know how I didn’t catch the lie?” Ben said.
Jen smiled and pecked him on the cheek. “There may have been some misdirection on my part.”
“You sneaky little witch,” Ben said, grinning.
“So, does Charlie have one too?” Jason asked.
“Yes,” Jen and Tom said at the same time, then chuckled.
“I can verify that she does. It’s also in a discreet place.” Tom pasted a self-satisfied grin on his face before he went serious again.
“So, Jen and I will go with Tom, Gabrielle, and Joy,” Lisa said.
“For the record, I don’t like this. I’d feel better if you stayed here with Evangeline,” Jason said.
“Nice try, deputy, but not happening,” Lisa said.
“Wait. Evangeline, will you please help me out here?” Jason said.
“Sorry, honey,” Evangeline said. “And the fact
that they’re going with Tom is actually better.”
“Better how? It’s not like they’re armed,” Jason said.
“Don’t worry about us, lieutenant,” Joy practically purred. “We’re armed. You just can’t see it.”
“And trust me, you don’t want to,” Lisa said, giving Joy a side-eyed look. “No offense.”
“None taken,” Joy said.
“Shall we go now?”
“Yes,” Ben said. “Jason, you, Athena, Marigold, and Sabine take the front door. Will and I will flank the house from the left. Tom, you lead your group around the right.”
Tom nodded. “I’ll let you know if we spot him in any of the windows.”
“How are you gonna do that? We don’t have any radios?” Jason said.
Tom stared at him, a smug look on his face.
Like this lieutenant.
Jason scowled. “What the fuck? You can get inside my head?”
I can’t read your thoughts if that’s what you’re asking. Unless you decide to communicate with me mentally.
“The last thing I want to do is communicate with you mentally,” Jason said.
“You can communicate with me.” Ben looked around. “And Athena.”
“Cool,” Athena chirped with a little more enthusiasm than Jason thought was necessary.
“Very well.” Tom cleared his throat. “All any of you have to do, to communicate with me, is think my name. That will open the lines of communication. No need to speak out loud. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Ben said. The others nodded or murmured, ‘’Yes.”
“Great. Now that we know how we’re talking to each other, we’ve all got our jobs. Let’s get to this.”
Evan held tight to the mojo bag in his pocket. The texture, strangely both rough and soft, felt good against the skin of his thumb, and he stroked it any time Rachel’s arm brushed up against his in the back seat of the Uber.
