Loud snarls and roaring fire greet us. I have only a second to wonder what to do now. In a flash, everything starts moving.
It takes me three hand gestures to get the skeletons moving and in that time, half of them are torn apart. Bones fly everywhere, but now my private army is fighting back, keeping the wolf demons busy while we move closer to the portal.
Behind us, a cracking sound rises from the wall of grease. It won’t hold much longer. And if this mist escapes again, we’ve got almost nothing left to defend ourselves with. Swords and daggers won’t help us against it, nor will skeletons. Charlie’s power is drained, and D’Maeo can barely stay on his feet. I want to hit myself on the head for not bringing Taylar with us. He might’ve been able to fry or freeze the mist with my power. But he’s not here, so we’ll have to get back to the forest before that blackness escapes.
I wave my hands around some more, making the skeletons jump to catch the fire demons leaping over their heads. They catch quite a few, creating a gap in the line of attacking monsters.
“Move! Move!” I urge the others.
We leap forward and duck to avoid snapping jaws. My fingers are cramping from the effort to keep the zombies under control.
Jeep looks over his shoulder and nods at my hands. “Once you’ve given them the order to fight, you don’t need that many gestures anymore. Let them do the work and only intervene when you want them to do something else.”
I drop my arms, and the skeletons keep smashing heads and grabbing flaming legs.
We’re about ten feet away from the shimmering portal, and I’m starting to think we can actually make it, when one of the wolves takes a giant leap, knocks aside a zombie, lands on its feet and blocks our way.
We come to a sudden halt and huddle together.
Jeep points at a skeleton nearby, struggling to get closer to the raging fight. “Focus only on that one, Dante. Tell it to take out this demon.”
I focus so hard on the skeleton that it swerves around and almost keels over. With a couple of quick hand gestures, I put it back upright, and with a flip of the wrist, I get it to charge the demon.
The right wolf head turns and tries to bite off an arm while the left head keeps its eyes on us. The jaws miss their mark and only grab some loose, half-decayed skin. Before it can make any decisions of its own, I order the zombie to kick the wolf in the face. It obeys my frantic gesticulating immediately, and the demon topples over as the right head is knocked unconscious. Without further instruction, the skeleton slams both fists down on the left head and pulls until the neck snaps. While we step over it, I send the zombie a simple thought, combined with a finger movement, and it breaks the other neck. The flames on the wolf’s body die out as it crumbles to the ground. The skeleton joins its mates without one gesture from me.
“You’re getting the hang of it,” Jeep compliments me.
I grin at him. “I’ve got a good teacher.”
There’s a loud ripping noise from behind us, and we all turn. Within the same second, I realize what it is and push the others closer to the portal. “Go! Now!”
Vicky, Jeep and Charlie roll through, and Maël pulls D’Maeo along.
From the corner of my eye, I see several fire demons soaring through the air, determined to block my way out. I wave my hands, meanwhile rushing forward. A shadow falls over me, but I keep going. There’s not a millisecond to waste if I want to survive this.
I drop my gaze to my fingers, that are twisting and wriggling, and whisper to the army I control, “Please hurry. Please…”
The smell of burned meat and sulfur hits my nostrils when I’m suddenly staring into an open maw with ragged teeth. My brain tells me to stop running, but my momentum keeps carrying me forward to my doom.
The shadow grows, and a dark hand grabs my shoulder.
I duck, still unable to stop moving but preferring the wolf’s merciful jaws to the evil mist tearing my soul apart.
Then, my prayers are answered, and my whole skeleton army swoops down on the demon in front of me. It crashes to the ground and is instantly buried by hundreds of pale bones. While a dozen or more corpses hold back the remaining fire demons, two others take my hands and pull me over the heap of fallen bodies. With the fingertips of the darkness inches from my neck, I plunge through the portal.
CHAPTER 25
As soon as my feet touch the forest floor, two pine trees are slammed down in front of it, blocking my pursuer’s way through. Not small ones, not just some stumps… no, actual full-grown pine trees standing upright.
Still dazed by the narrow escape, I roll out of the way, afraid of more demons ready to squash me with trees this time. But it’s not a demon smiling down on me. It’s an angel with dark skin and short white curls.
I blink against the blinding light that surrounds him. “Quinn?”
He salutes, a big grin on his face. “Someone called for help, here I am. But only for a second, I‘m afraid. I must go. Busy day.” He taps one of the tree trunks with his knuckles. “These should stay up for a couple of minutes. Make sure you close the portal with a spell before they fall.”
With a loud whoosh and a gust of wind that blows sand into my face, he takes off.
A deep sigh of relief escapes me. “Thanks, Quinn.” I wipe the sand out of my eyes and pull myself to my feet. “Well, that was close.”
Charlie is sitting cross-legged on the ground. With an angry tug, he tears the wrapper off the chocolate bar that Vicky hands him. I can’t say I’m surprised to see his hunger for grease hasn’t vanished with his power. He’s been extremely fond of snacks for as long as I can remember.
“What the heck happened in there?” he asks. “Why were they able to see us? How did they know we were even there?” His anger is directed at me for some reason, but Jeep answers him. “I guess the spell didn’t work as well as we thought. As for them knowing we were there… that was probably my fault.”
Charlie swallows the first mouthful of chocolate. Color slowly returns to his cheeks. “How’s that?”
Jeep taps the rim of his hat. “Did you really think they hadn’t noticed this lying around?”
My best friend shrugs and lowers his head. His blond hair, which now looks more like straw, falls over his face, and I feel sorry for him.
“Listen,” I say, ignoring the ache in my arms and hands and the tremble that lingers in my legs. “This isn’t anyone’s fault but the Devil’s. We do the best we can with what we’ve got, which isn’t much at the moment.”
“It’s plenty,” Jeep mumbles. “We just don’t know how to use it.”
“True.” I smile at him. “But it boils down to the same thing.”
I open my arms wide and beckon urgently when no one responds. “Come on! We can all use a hug.”
Jeep folds his arms while the others form a circle. “No thanks, I’m fine.”
I give him a stern look. “Jeep, come hug us, that’s an order.”
He completes the circle and when I pull Vicky and Charlie, on either side of me, closer, the others follow my example.
Although Jeep was forced to join us, I can feel the energy from the whole group coursing through me.
“Thank you all for keeping a cool head in there. I am infinitely proud of you all, and I could never imagine a better team to watch my back.”
When I glance in his direction, I see Jeep’s expression softening.
I give Vicky and Charlie another squeeze before I let go. “I love you all to pieces. Now, let’s lock those suckers inside their cursed world.”
Fast as lightning, I flip through Dad’s notebook. “Oh good, there’s some new stuff in here again.” I grin at my friends. “There’s a spell here that sounds just like the one we need.”
“I love how that book seems to read your mind,” Vicky says, with a bemused look on her face.
I pull her close and whisper in her ear, “And I love you.”
I expect a giggle and a kis
s, but Jeep interrupts before she can react.
“Excuse me! We’re in a hurry here, remember?”
My body aches with regret as I let her go. “Yes, I know.”
I bend over Dad’s book again. “Okay, here’s what I need. The usual salt, incense, matches and candles of course, some apple blossom, basil, rosemary, cornstarch, water and a chromium bowl.”
Vicky pulls everything from her endless pocket without trouble, then sticks her hand further in. “I’ll need to refill soon, or I’ll be empty-handed. I’m also out of chocolate.”
Maël eagerly stretches her arm, offering Vicky back the bar she was munching on.
Vicky swats it away. “No, eat it, we might need your power before we get a chance to stop by a supermarket.”
She rolls her eyes, which makes her look very un-queenlike, and keeps chewing.
When I get the chance, I should really ask her why she’s got such an aversion to food.
For now, I just beckon her and hand her the three candles, the matches, the incense and the salt. “Can you create a circle of salt in front of the portal? Put the candles between the circle and the portal, but don’t light them yet, and use the incense stick to purify the air, spreading it two steps in every direction from the circle and portal.”
She takes everything in and turns away. “Of course.”
While she prepares the spell, I mix the ingredients. “The rosemary will put a barrier up through which evil cannot pass, basil to purify the portal, which also makes it hard for evil to get through,” I read out loud. “Apple blossom can be used as a key to the Underworld, so we’ll burn it to destroy the possibility to restore the portal, which the chromium bowl represents. The cornstarch, mixed with water, serves as a solidifier; it will make the concoction stronger.”
Jeep is standing next to me with his arms folded. “Very interesting. But it won’t do us much good when Maël’s spells are only half working.”
I look up at him with a smile. “That’s why two of us are casting this spell together.”
He drops his arms. “What?”
With my hand on his arm, I pull myself up. “Yes, D’Maeo is going to help. We can use every extra bit of spell power.”
Vicky frowns. “In that case, you should use my power too.”
Jeep throws his hands in the air. “No way! I’m not casting a spell. I’ve always been lousy at them.”
My hand, still on his arm, squeezes him in comfort. “That was before you had Vicky’s power. Vicky is right, we should use everything we’ve got.”
He shakes his head. “Don’t make me do it. I’ll blow the whole thing up.”
I turn away from him and hand the bowl with the mixture in it to Maël. “No you won’t. You’ll all do fine.” With my head, I gesture to the candles, and Maël lights them.
“Now, use the middle candle to burn the apple blossom…” I hand it to her, “and catch the ashes in the bowl.”
She follows the steps precisely, and a spark shoots up from the mixture.
“So far, so good.” I nod. “Now, step into the circle, all three of you, take some of the ingredients in your hand and as soon as the trees fall, cast the spell and sprinkle the mixture over the three candles.”
Maël and D’Maeo step into the circle. Jeep shoots me an angry glare but joins the other two.
I put the book down in front of them and join Vicky and Charlie as guards around the circle, our weapons raised. I’m just about to awaken a couple of dead animals for extra back-up when the trees creak and start to fall.
With a loud thump, they hit the ground. The crash reverberates through my body and for a moment, I’m afraid the earth is going to crack. But the only sound that follows is the hissing of the candle flames as our friends throw the mixture onto them.
They start chanting simultaneously.
“Powers of All, hear my call.
Make this portal crack and fall.
Trap all beings safe inside.
Block their powers high and wide.”
Rumbles rise up from behind the portal, and the outline blinks.
A wolf’s snout breaks through the surface, snarling and spanning.
“Keep going,” I urge my friends.
“Powers of All, hear my cry.
Lock this portal low and high.
Seal it so none can escape,
no matter the size or shape.”
The demon screeches. Smoke curls up from its bare skin as the gateway starts to close.
“Now, throw the rest of the salt at the portal and blow out the candles,” I order.
The ghosts obey. As soon as the salt hits the portal, the demon’s grunts are cut off. A shadow falls over the emptiness within the door frame. It looks like concrete drying at the speed of light. Within a heartbeat, the demon has turned to something resembling stone. The smoke from the blown-out candles glides forward. The whole portal starts to crack as soon as the smoke hits it. The demon’s mouth falls to pieces on the ground, and with the sound of a rockslide, the whole portal collapses. An avalanche of dust hits us, and we all cover our faces.
When I finally manage to wipe the powder out of my eyes, there’s no trace of the gateway, and to my relief, also no trace of any demons or dark mist. But since you never know with magic, I gingerly step forward and wave my hands through the air, checking for anything solid. There’s nothing there.
“Great job!” I tell my friends, turning on my heels and giving them the thumbs up.
I bend over to pick up the candles and hand them back to Vicky. “Let’s clean this all up and get out of here. I’ve had enough adventure for one day, and I want to see how Mom and Mona are doing.”
Charlie pushes himself to his feet. “But we didn’t find Trevor.”
Jeep nods at the spot where the portal was a few minutes ago. “Maybe we locked him in there.”
“No…” I shake my head. “If he was there, he would’ve shown himself. He’s the kind of guy that likes to show off his power.”
“But the pendant led us here.”
I munch on my lip. “Yes, it did. And I’m sure it was right. He must’ve left before we got here.”
Charlie is still standing in the same spot. His head moves slowly from left to right, scanning the trees. “If you ask me, there’s something fishy going on, you know.”
“More fishy than dark mist luring us into another world?” Jeep asks over his shoulder.
My best friend takes a hair tie from his pocket and pulls his messy blond locks into a ponytail. “Definitely more fishy.”
CHAPTER 26
Mom and Mona are sitting at the kitchen table when we arrive at Darkwood Manor. They’re fully dressed and smiling.
I kiss them on the cheek. “You both look a lot better.”
“We are,” Mona confirms. “No more headache. Do you want some tea or coffee?”
“Coffee,” we all say in unison, and Mona laughs.
“Tough morning?” she asks with a wink.
We fill them in on what’s happened, and they both scrutinize D’Maeo.
“So, you’re whole again?” Mom finally asks.
He spreads his arms. “One hundred percent.” Then he looks down at his see-through chest. “Well, almost.”
Mom smiles at him. “I’m happy for you. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to lose several parts of your soul.”
He grimaces. “I’ll spare you the details.”
Mona puts a row of mugs on the table, filled to the rim with steaming dark liquid. “But you didn’t find out anything new about the next victim. Maybe you should scry again.”
Everyone is looking at me for an answer, but everything that needs solving is dashing through my head, screaming to be dealt with first. I don’t know what to do next, but I can’t tell the others that. So I just pick one of the many problems that are driving me crazy and put it on the table. “We should check on the black void in the mine, see if it’s
still closed. Without a demon snare, the demons can walk in and out of the mine freely.”
“Hey… what if we…” Charlie raises a finger in thought. “Can’t we just scry for the soul we have to save?”
I take a sip from my coffee. “Not as long as we don’t know who it is.”
He wraps his hands around his mug with a sigh. “Right.”
“Time is running out fast,” Maël says, turning a packet of cookies over and over with a gloomy expression on her face. “Every time you receive the Cards of Death, we only have a couple of days before the demons try to take the soul. Although I am glad we got D’Maeo’s soul pieces back, it has cost us precious time. The same goes for the secret room. I propose we finish our coffee and go hunting again. Saving the soul is our primary goal.”
Jeep raises his mug. “Hear hear.”
I grin into my mug, hiding my relief at someone else making the decision for me. The only thing that keeps worrying me is that all the other problems that need attention soon are pushed aside by our mission to stop the Devil. What if we run out of time to solve those while fighting demons and saving souls? We’d lose Vicky to the curse, Jeep to the evil souls trapped in his tattoos and Taylar to his unfinished business. With a Shield of only two ghosts, can we still win this battle? And even if we can, would I be willing to sacrifice my friends?
I shake my head. I know the answer to that. If I start sacrificing people, friends or no friends, I will be no better than the Devil. Never in my life, or after, will I lower myself to such a thing.
“What are you shaking your head at, honey?” Mom asks. “Don’t you agree with Maël?”
“No, I do agree. It’s just all so… hard.” I push my mug away from me. The taste of coffee is suddenly too bitter. “Never mind, let’s go scry for Trevor again. The sooner we save that soul, the sooner we can work on our other problems.”
When we got back from the gateway, I ordered everyone to leave Taylar alone, but now I’m getting nervous, so I go upstairs to find him.
He’s lying on his bed, leaning on his elbows, absorbed in a letter.
The Fourth Soul: (Cards of Death book 4) Page 13
