The Fourth Soul: (Cards of Death book 4)

by Tamara Geraeds

  I quickly fill her and the others in on what I found out about Gisella’s background.

  “That’s it?” she says when I’m done. “Oh, babe, you don’t have to worry about Gisella. I’ve read her emotions many times. She’s on our side, and honestly… even with our newfound strength, we can really use her as an ally.”

  I shake my head, unwilling to give in. “She could’ve tricked you with a spell or something.”

  With a chuckle, she pulls me closer and plants a kiss on my lips. “Babe, you’re going a little overboard here. Getting paranoid won’t help us defeat the Devil.”

  “It might.”

  She turns her head away. “You’re hopeless.”

  I shrug. “Maybe.”

  “Okay, what do we do?” Charlie repeats.

  For a moment, I stare at our training circle in the back garden, barely visible in the trickle of light that pours out of the kitchen. I remember Gisella joining us, pledging to fight with us against Lucifer.

  “Okay,” I say. “She can come. But I still want to test her later.”

  The next morning, I wake with an ominous feeling, which drives me to take off as soon as everyone’s ready. We skip breakfast, since the thought of filling the empty pit in my stomach with food makes me nauseous. The trip is way too short to form a solid plan, and I realize once again that it would’ve been better to set up a plan before storming off. Even if my gut tells me to hurry.

  “You know,” Vicky says after a short silence, “we did cast a spell to make sure they can’t attack us anymore. Maybe we should have a little more confidence that it will work.”

  I grin at her in the rearview mirror. “I forgot about that.” With my eyes on the road again, I add, “but just in case it doesn’t work, we should have a plan.”

  “Hey!” Taylar suddenly calls out, making me hit the brake hard.

  I follow his gaze to the street. “What? What did you see?”

  “Go back a bit.”

  I shift to reverse and wait for Gisella to back up her car behind me. Charlie, in the seat next to her, is also pointing at something, and he looks shocked. He’s yelling at his girlfriend and as soon as her car comes to a halt, he jumps out and storms off into an alley.

  With a curse, I brake again and turn off the engine. The Shield is already out of the car, following in Charlie’s wake, while Gisella’s footsteps are just behind me.

  I hold back a bit so she can catch up with me. No time for suspicions now. “What’s wrong? What did he see?”

  “I’m not sure. I saw a glimpse of two men fighting, then Charlie suddenly yelled, ‘There he is!’ and told me to stop the car.”

  We reach the alley. It’s so crowded that at first I can’t make out who is who.

  Then I see him. Paul.

  Charlie approaches our former friend carefully, with his hands in the air. “Please listen to me, Paul. That man has done nothing to you. Let him go.”

  My gaze shifts to the heap behind him. A mess of torn clothes and blood with some bare skin in between.

  Paul steps aside with a wide grin. There’s no trace of the beating he received from Kale recently. Someone must have healed him.

  “You’re a bit late, mates,” he sneers. “He’s already dead.”

  A red glow moves from Charlie’s neck to his cheeks, and he balls his fists. “You piece of―”

  Paul raises a hand. “There’s no need for name calling. You have your beliefs, I have mine. It’s a shame we can’t see eye to eye anymore, but I’d rather not kill you.”

  Charlie spits out his next words with a venom I’ve never heard in his voice before. “Well, I have no problem killing you. Mate.”

  Paul sighs. “If that’s what you want.” There’s a twinkle in his eyes when he takes us all in, one by one. “You’re welcome to try.”

  His words barely reach me. I can’t take my eyes of the man on the ground. Even though his face is beaten to a pulp, I recognize him. It’s the priest’s nephew. The one we helped escape yesterday. They got to him after all.

  “Why?” I shout at Paul, but I don’t really want an answer. I know his answer, and it’s just not good enough. So instead of waiting for him to say something, I grab my Morningstar and fling it at him.

  It’s like watching a fight scene in slow motion and for a moment, I wonder if Charlie has slowed down time. But his shocked expression tells me he didn’t do anything. While my weapon soars straight at Paul’s head, Charlie’s eyes grow wide. I know what he’s feeling, because I feel the exact same things. Anger, betrayal, disbelief, shock and sorrow. They bounce around in my chest and freeze me to the spot. I want to pull my weapon back, but at the same time, I don’t. I wish Paul dead, but I also want him to live. The same struggle is visible on Charlie’s face as he turns back to our former friend. Should he push Paul out of harm’s way or let him die?

  In the end, it’s Paul who decides his own fate. Just before the Morningstar reaches him, he digs his hand into his chest and pulls out a rock. As he ducks to avoid the spiked ball, he moves his hand back, preparing to shatter every bone in Charlie’s face.

  The ‘N’ of the, ‘No!’ I want to utter has barely formed in my mouth when Paul vanishes with a soft whoosh.

  My panicked scream dies on my lips, and I blink feverishly.

  Charlie’s head swerves from left to right while the others carefully step closer.

  “Where did he go?”

  Thoughts tumble through my mind as I try to make sense of what I just saw.

  And then it hits me.

  All eyes turn to me as I chuckle. “It worked!”

  Half of the faces staring at me still wear blank expressions, so I explain. “Our spell! It worked! Paul tried to attack Charlie, and he got whisked away.”

  Charlie waves his hands in front of him. “So, where did he go? And why didn’t we see a portal of some kind?”

  I can’t stop grinning. “Who cares? It went so fast that we didn’t see it. A good thing too, because now Paul didn’t get a chance to escape his fate. He’s gone, and that’s all that matters.” What I don’t say is that I’m not just relieved he didn’t get a chance to kill Charlie. I’m also glad I didn’t kill him. The burden of killing our other friend Simon still weighs heavily on my conscience. I try not to think about that too much, but it’s not something I’m proud of, even though I had no choice.

  Jeep gestures at the dead man. “What do we do with him?”

  With a heavy heart, I bend over him and check his pulse. My last shred of hope evaporates, and I close my eyes. “There’s nothing we can do for him anymore. We must go back to the priest to see how he’s doing. If Trevor finds out we took care of Paul, he’s bound to speed up the rest of his plans. And I have a feeling that this priest’s mind isn’t as strong as he believes it to be. Anyone can crack if you push the right buttons.”

  I close my eyes again, whisper, “I’m sorry” to the unmoving form at my feet and straighten up. “Let’s go. If we’re lucky, we’ll find Trevor with the priest. He’ll vanish just like Paul did.”

  Yeah, right. When did we ever get lucky? A pesky voice says in my head.

  But I have to believe it. I have to believe that our luck can actually change.

  CHAPTER 40

  In case our spell only works once, we walk the last two streets to the church and turn the corner carefully. Still, it’s not careful enough, because the line of fire demons blocking the road comes to life with a roar that could wake the whole town. I dive back behind the house that keeps the others hidden from sight.

  “That didn’t sound good,” Jeep comments dryly.

  “There’s an army of wolf demons blocking the road from both sides. Trevor must have known we were coming.”

  Charlie pulls his hair in frustration. “How is that possible? He seems to know every time.”

  My gaze turns to Gisella, standing next to him.

  “What?” she says, narrowing her eyes
. “You’re not implying that I had anything to do with that, are you?”

  “Well, you did take off on your own for a while, and you are the descendant of―”

  “That has nothing to do with this,” Charlie interrupts me. “I can’t believe you’re accusing her of such a thing. It could’ve been any of us.”

  I snort. “Of course not. My Shield is here to protect me. They would never betray me. And you and Quinn… well, I just know I can trust you with my life.”

  He shakes his head. “Any one of us can blab to Trevor under the influence of a curse or spell and not even know about it.”

  I rub my chin. “You’ve got a good point there, but has any one of us been in a situation where we could’ve gotten cursed? Have we wandered off alone or…”

  D’Maeo is pacing up and down. “We’re all alone at some point during the day. It could even be you. Although, I think we would’ve noticed some kind of change, even if only temporarily.”

  My heart stops for a second. “I saw a change in you.”

  He doesn’t respond, doesn’t even seem to hear me.

  “Wait a minute,” he says, coming to a sudden halt.

  “What?”

  “I’ve got it.”

  Fighting the urge to shake him, I clasp my mouth shut and wait for him to tell us.

  “Mona and your mother,” he says slowly.

  Vicky’s eyes grow wide. “The accident!”

  Dizziness hits me, and I grab Jeep’s tattooed arm for support. “He made them into spies?” It sounds like a question, but as soon as I say it, I know he’s right. Yes, he was acting a bit weird yesterday, but that was after Trevor knew we were coming. Something else is going on with him.

  Maybe he’s just worried about Gisella, like me, I tell myself.

  The old ghost starts pacing again. “It makes sense. We saw Trevor several times before, and he never knew we were coming. Until after Mona and your mom got into that mysterious car accident. He must’ve used a strong spell for them to remain unconscious for so long.”

  “I still don’t get it.” Taylar shakes his head. “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because only once,” D’Maeo holds up one finger, “just once, we didn’t tell them about our plan, and Trevor didn’t see us coming.”

  “Right.” I glance around the corner of the house again. “We could put breaking that curse on our never-ending list of important things to do, but if we kill Trevor today, we won’t have to.”

  Jeep steps out into the open. “Great plan, I like it.”

  I pull him back behind the wall. “What are you doing?”

  He takes off his black bowler hat. “Provoking the demons.” He pulls his arm out of my grip, steps back out and flings his hat at the wolves.

  “Are you crazy?” I hiss.

  The sound of ripping flesh reaches us, followed by a chorus of howls.

  Jeep’s hat comes sailing back, and he plucks it out of the air whilst shooting me a sideways grin. “Obviously.” He places the hat back where it belongs. “Are you ready to fight? I mean, in case the spell doesn’t work.”

  He starts walking and I follow reluctantly. The demons close in on us fast. About a dozen of them light up the retreating dawn. Behind us, an old couple passes by with their dog without even looking up, although the dog yanks his leash feverishly. The poor animal can probably sense something is wrong here.

  When the demons are about three steps away from us, I’m starting to think that our success with the spell was a one-time event. It’s too late to raise an army of zombies, so instead I grab my Morningstar and fling it.

  It rattles as it unwinds, heading straight for the roaring demon that has my scent. At the last moment, when the spiked ball is only inches from its burning face, the wolf leaps.

  Not expecting this move, I fumble for my athame with my free hand and duck at the same time.

  But just as I raise my dagger, the air explodes in gusts of wind. Four demons vanish as one. The rest of the pack emits surprised yelps, but they’re already midflight, and within seconds they’ve all disappeared. My Morningstar hits the tarmac with a clang.

  D’Maeo leans on his sword with an exhausted expression on his face. “That was bad for my heart.”

  Jeep slaps him on the back. “Good thing you don’t need your heart anymore.”

  Taylar lowers his shield. He looks a little disappointed.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask him.

  He gestures at the road before us. “I was looking forward to a good fight.”

  Vicky messes up his hair. “Don’t worry, I’m sure this spell will wear off soon.”

  She strides off after Jeep, who’s confidently stepping toward the church.

  “Well, that’s comforting,” I grumble before following them.

  We’re almost at the path leading to the church when the other line of demons jumps into action.

  I raise my weapons again, just in case, and urge the others to do the same.

  As we wait for them to come closer, I notice movement from the corner of my eye. The church’s door has opened, and Trevor steps out.

  “How nice of you to join us,” he says, spreading his arms as if he’s welcoming back long lost friends. “We’ve been expecting you.”

  “Yes, I can see that,” I call back. “What a pleasant surprise.”

  He starts walking toward us, changing more into stone with every step he takes. Bricks materialize in his hands, and he tosses them our way at lightning speed.

  “Duck!” I yell, crushing two bricks at once with one well-aimed throw of my Morningstar.

  Behind me, there’s a loud crash, and I whirl around.

  “Watch out!” Taylar yells, and he pushes me aside, blocking the next wave of bricks with his shield. The others seem okay. A heap of red-colored dust lies on the ground where Taylar must have blocked the previous attack.

  “Why isn’t he vanishing?” Charlie mumbles as we avoid another attack.

  “I think the spell only works when he attacks us directly,” I say. “That, or it has worn off sooner than we thought.”

  “We’ll find out any second now,” he answers, raising his arms at the demons that have sped up and are now charging us like rabid bulls. “I’m not sure I can freeze them fast enough if the spell doesn’t hold up.”

  “Then use a sword or something!”

  “I can’t. I didn’t bring anything.”

  Gisella jumps in front of him, her blade hands extended. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

  “You put up a good fight, boy. I have to admit that,” Trevor says, creating a larger brick. “But you’re no match for the big boys.”

  He grins as the line of demons leaps, aiming for our throats.

  We brace ourselves for impact. The snapping jaws of two wolf heads come closer. In a flash, I realize it’s the head demon, its mouths even bigger than the others’. The stench of sulfur stings my throat. I swing my athame up to my face and try not to flinch.

  And then… they all vanish into thin air. The air shivers, and we all let out the breaths we’ve been holding. Then we turn as one to Trevor, whose mouth has fallen open.

  “I might not be a match for the big boys,” I taunt. “But together, we’re stronger than you think, Trevor. Why don’t you give up before we kill you too?”

  Jeep adds a little fuel to the fire. “Yeah, there’s no shame in admitting defeat. Sometimes giving up is the only reasonable thing to do.”

  “Don’t push it,” I mumble from the corner of my mouth.

  “Trust me,” he whispers back, “this will work. I can sense the struggle inside him. Just a little push and he goes over the edge.”

  Trevor turns redder and redder. The texture of his skin changes from smooth into grainy and rugged. If he could spit fire, he would. Instead, he adds more volume to the brick in his hands and hauls it at us with a frustrated cry.

  I duck just in time to avoid it, but Vi
cky is a tad slower. In a reflex, I reach out to pull her away, but I know it’s too late. That brick the size of a microwave is about to hit my girl in the head. Her face will shatter into tiny pieces, and there’s nothing I can do about it anymore.

  Still, I try. With my hand stretched out, I launch myself forward in an attempt to push Vicky out of the way, my eyes locked on the giant brick.

  Vicky doesn’t look the least bit worried. She just smiles lazily as the projectile hits her. She doesn’t go down as I expected and when I fall right through her, I realize why.

  She helps me up, and we watch the stone hit the road. It leaves a sizeable crack in the asphalt.

  I’m a bit out of breath from the adrenaline. “I thought I was going to lose you.”

  She winks at me. “Not today, babe. As long as I’m not in the middle of a fight or something, becoming immaterial is no problem. I only had to focus on one thing now, so…” She shrugs, as if it’s no big deal, and I love how mad that makes Trevor.

  He turns on his heels, throws another two bricks at us over his shoulder and while we duck, he stomps into the church.

  I beckon the others. “Let’s not give him any time to come to his senses.”

  We hurry after him with our guards up.

  Before we enter the building, I nod at Taylar to go first. “If you get a clear shot, hit him with a bolt.”

  One by one, we step inside. The church looks empty, so we carefully make our way to the annex.

  Trevor’s voice drifts out to us, sounding strained. “I know you’ve been taught to love God, but how can you keep doing that if he kills the people closest to you? How can you still have faith in Him if he makes them suffer?”

  “It is a test, and I will not falter,” the priest’s voice answers.

  We exchange a quick look.

  “He doesn’t sound that convinced anymore, does he?” Charlie whispers.

  “Let’s go in.” I push the door open and hold out my athame. “Get away from him.”

  Trevor sends us a crooked grin. “Why? Are you afraid he’ll yield?”

  “Not at all,” Taylar answers, lightning dancing in his palm. “But we’re sick of you torturing him.”