by Jana Oliver
Riley twisted open the lid on a quart bottle of water and offered it to Beck. He grabbed on to it with both hands and began to drink earnest.
‘God . . . that’s good.’ Another long swig.
With her knife, she cut the seam of his left trouser leg, beginning at the ankle. The demon wound was a long slice on the outside of the calf and Riley shuddered at the copious drainage. Once the wound was completely exposed, she gave him the warning.
‘I need to treat this with the Holy Water. You ready?’
He gave a faint nod and she let a stream of the liquid drop on to the wound. As the infection bubbled in reaction, Beck sucked in a sharp gulp of air. Then he swore, long and loud.
Sorry.
Once the wound looked fairly clean, she rinsed it with clear water, then applied a light bandage. She’d be repeating the task every two hours until the infection was gone. After she’d stashed away the supplies, Riley insisted he take some aspirin and finish off the water. He still had a high fever, but that would disappear with the infection.
As Beck dozed fitfully and the night deepened Riley sat vigil, her nerves on a razor’s edge. She was prepared for the demon’s return, the magical knife her friend Ayden had given her in the sheath at her waist. The steel pipe sat to her left and a Holy Water sphere to the right. Now that she’d found the man she loved, there was no way Hell would have him.
I will die first.
When Beck struggled back to consciousness, he was pleased to find he felt better. He raked his nails over his chest in broad swipes. His fever was dropping and he was hungry, all of which was good news. But when he saw Riley he growled under his breath.
‘What the hell are ya doin’ here?’ he demanded, cloaking his concern in anger. ‘This isn’t some damned picnic.’
She ignored his question and fired one back. ‘Why are you itching?’
‘Bug bites. The things are in my shirt, eatin’ me alive.’
‘That I can fx,’ she replied.
Between them they managed to pull off his jacket and shirt. After shaking her head at the mass of red marks on his chest, she handed over a packet of hand wipes. Beck was going mad from the itching, so he gave in. Though the wipes were cold, they felt good and he used them to clean his hands, face, arms, pits and chest. Riley did the honours to his back. By the time she was done, he was shivering in the chilly night air, his skin dotted with goose bumps.
Riley pulled off her jacket, then a sweater, revealing a heavy sweatshirt. It was one of his, and as it came off her shirt rode up and the edge of a pink bra peeked out. He knew better than to mention it.
Riley helped him dress and the sweatshirt felt good. It smelt of her and for some reason he liked that.
‘Stealin’ my clothes while I was gone?’ he asked.
‘Only the sweatshirt,’ she replied. ‘Your jeans didn’t fit that well.’
God, he’d missed her humour. As he studied her, he noted fresh bruises on her face and he asked about those.
‘McGovern,’ she replied. ‘He wanted to bring me out here to keep you company because I wouldn’t stop trying to find you. He’s in jail now.’
Beck felt a ball of fury ignite in his gut. It was best that bastard remain behind bars or he wouldn’t be above ground for long.
‘What the hell was this all about? He wouldn’t tell me.’
‘He was covering his tracks.’ Riley leaned back against the tree and spun him the whole tale. The longer she spoke, the more he worked out for himself.
‘He killed Nate and Brad, didn’t he?’
‘That’s what Donovan thinks,’ she replied. ‘He would have killed you too if he’d known you were sleeping it off in the boat. You would have just disappeared like the other two boys.’
Beck moved his gaze to the far tree. Were their bodies under those leaves? Had the demon done them all a favour without intending to?
When she offered him his jacket, Beck shook his head. ‘The critters are in that too. They’re from the Spanish moss.’
‘OK . . .’ Riley set the garment aside and unpacked a large silvery blanket from her backpack, then laid it out about five feet away from where he was sitting. ‘Let’s move you over here. This will keep you warm and get you away from the bity things.’
Though he was already too warm from the fever, it seemed like a good idea. He made it to his feet with her considerable help and then hobbled over to the new location, his leg throbbing with every step. The moment he was settled she tucked the silver blanket around him.
‘What about you? It’s gonna get colder,’ he said.
‘I’ll be OK.’ She wouldn’t be in a couple of hours, but they’d cross that bridge later.
‘So what else ya got in that pack of yers. Any food?’
‘I thought this wasn’t a picnic,’ she retorted, arching an eyebrow.
He frowned at her. Why did she have to challenge him all the time?
‘Ya scare me when ya do this kind of crazy stuff, girl.’
‘I scare myself too,’ she admitted.
A few moments later he had an unwrapped power bar in his hand. It vanished within seconds, followed by a handful of orange slices and some beef jerky. He took a healthy chug from a bottle of sports drink, then leaned back against the tree in relief. His stomach wasn’t happy that he’d eaten so fast, but that couldn’t be helped.
‘So what’s the story with the rifle? Is it McGovern’s?’
‘No, I found it here,’ he said, unwilling to get into whose it was or what that might mean. ‘No ammunition, so it didn’t help me much.’
He closed his eyes and he could hear her moving around, then he caught the scent of wood smoke. She’d lit a fire without his help – he didn’t think city girls knew how to do that. After a time he dozed, images of his mother and the dead boys haunting his dreams.
Chapter Nineteen
When the demon returned a few hours later, it was evident the Holy Water had hurt it. Its chest looked like it’d been attacked with a flamethrower and every now and then Riley could hear a whimper of pain cross its lips.
‘You will die here,’ it growled, glaring at her. ‘You will pay for my pain.’
She ignored it, refusing to allow the thing to get a foothold in her mind.
‘Remember, Denver Beck? Remember how I told you of her angel lover?’ the fiend taunted.
‘Give it a rest, demon,’ Beck mumbled.
‘Has she told you of her soul? How it is ours now? How she gave it to him . . . forever?’
There was a rapid intake of breath behind her as Beck digested that bit of news.
‘Thanks for that,’ she muttered. Riley had intended to reveal her secret when the time was right, if there ever was such a thing. Now it was out in the open, flopping around like a dying carp.
‘Tell me it’s lyin’,’ Beck demanded.
She couldn’t meet his eyes. ‘No, I gave my soul to Ori.’
‘Oh, girl,’ he murmured.
The demon barked in triumph. ‘Why is she here? Is it for you, trapper, or for her demi-lord? Did he order her to find you? Did he order her to kill you?’
Riley exploded off the ground. ‘Where do you come up with this stuff? Do you losers have a giant book of lies and you choose which ones sound good?’
She took a couple of steps forward, her knife out of the sheath now. Then she halted. The demon was baiting her, trying to get her to break the circle.
‘Is that what’s happenin’ here?’ Beck asked. ‘That angel tell ya to kill me?’
He’s sick and this damned thing is playing with his mind.
‘No.’
‘How can I believe ya?’
She shot a look over her shoulder at the wounded man. ‘But you’d believe this piece of Hell crap?’
The fiend chortled to itself, then blended into the brush. It had sown the seeds of doubt and now it just needed to let them grow.
You’re history, demon. I don’t how I’m going to do it, but you’re dead.
‘Beck? What’s going on?’ she asked, moving closer.
‘Demon. It keeps pushin’ on my mind. I hear it over and over tellin’ me what that damned angel did to ya and –’ He jammed his palms against his ears. ‘Oh, God, make it stop!’
Panicking, she knelt next to him. Singing country western songs to block the demon’s mind games wasn’t going to do it. They needed something stronger than Hell’s lies.
Love.
Riley didn’t know whether he loved her, but she knew he adored her father. She gently guided his hands away from his ears. ‘Beck, hey, look at me.’ His eyes tracked to hers, pleading. ‘Tell me about my father. You know, how you met and what he was like.’
‘What?’ he said, bewildered.
‘Talk to me about my dad,’ she ordered. ‘The demon can’t screw with you when you’re thinking about someone you love.’ She wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but it was the only weapon they had against the dark voice in Beck’s mind.
‘Yer playin’ with me, tryin’ to get me to—’
‘No! I’m trying to help you. Please listen to me. I would never do anything to hurt you, Beck. I swear that on my father’s grave.’
He blinked, then nodded his head, the message getting through to him. ‘I did love Paul. He was so good to me. He was like the daddy I never had.’
‘Tell me about the first time you guys met. It was in class, right?’
Beck gritted his teeth as if the demon had tried to cut across his thoughts. ‘It was . . . the American history class. I’d only been in school a few days and I was still pissed at Donovan for haulin’ my ass up to Atlanta.’
Riley sat next to him, tucking her jacket around her for warmth. ‘Go on, I want to hear it all.’ Keep talking . . .
Beck took a deep inhalation then let it out slowly. ‘I told Paul that I didn’t do any effn’ homework, that there was no point. He said I should stay after class. I figured I was goin’ to the principal’s office and then maybe get detention. If I did that enough times, they’d kick me outta school and then I could do what I wanted.’
‘Then what happened?’ Riley executed a quick demon check. It had to be out there somewhere.
‘Instead of bustin’ my ass, Paul sits me down and asks me a bunch of questions – where I’m from, what TV shows do I like, stuff like that. I couldn’t figure out what he was doin’.’
Beck grimaced again.
‘Don’t listen to that other voice. Tell me the story,’ she urged.
‘I . . . I told Paul to go screw himself. So he gives me an assignment: I was to write a paper about the one person in the whole world I thought was awesome. I told him there wasn’t anyone like that. Then he said I should write down what that person would be like if there was one.’
She remembered this part – her father had said he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to reach the boy. Then, after a solid week of pressure, Beck had finally turned in the assignment, six barely readable sentences, riddled with misspellings.
‘Did yer daddy tell you what I wrote?’ he asked.
‘No.’ He’d kept that secret to his grave.
‘I wrote that all I wanted was somebody who wouldn’t judge me for who I was and where I came from. I just wanted a chance like everyone else.’ He leaned back against the tree and gazed upward at the stars, as if he could see her dad in Heaven. ‘Instead of laughin’ at me, Paul said he’d be happy to give me that chance, but in return I had to earn it.’
‘He was amazing,’ Riley said, the loss pulling at her heart. Both of her parents had been so great.
‘Still is. Probably teachin’ angels a thing or two.’ He looked over at her, pensive now. ‘I gave him hell for another week or so and then we started workin’ together, after school. Most of the time I fought him for every inch of ground, but he didn’t give up. By the time I joined the Army I could sorta read and write, just slower than most.’ Beck blinked in surprise. ‘Hey, it worked. I don’t hear that damned demon no more.’
‘Go you,’ she said, and gave him a thumbs up.
He peered out into the darkness. ‘It’ll be back. It won’t leave us be.’
‘We only need to make it through tonight,’ she said, refusing to believe that morning wouldn’t bring help. If she started thinking that way, Hell would have won. ‘How’s about some more food?’ Riley rummaged around in the pack and unearthed a small bag of barbecue potato chips which she dropped in his lap. ‘Sorry, I don’t have any hot dogs.’
He wasn’t looking at her again.
‘What’s wrong? Is it the demon?’
A shake of the head. ‘You told me you didn’t give up yer soul when the angel . . . Why did you lie to me?’
‘I didn’t lie to you, Beck. I signed over my soul during the battle at the cemetery, when I de-statued Ori. That way he would go after Sartael.’
‘He can give it to anyone in Hell, even Lucifer.’
She shook her head. ‘No, he can’t. That was part of the deal. Only he has control of it.’
‘You believe him?’ he asked, incredulous.
‘Yes. Ori swore on the Light, and that means everything to him.’
The bag of chips lay forgotten in his lap. ‘If you hadn’t made that deal, we’d all be dead. Millions . . . would be dead.’
There was nothing she could say to that.
‘Dammit! That demon had me goin’,’ he snarled. ‘They tell you lies and then sprinkle in just enough truth to make it sound right.’ He shook his head in despair. ‘Sorry. I should have known better. Yer Paul’s daughter. You wouldn’t go down easy.’
Which was what she’d told the angel.
‘You want a banana?’ she asked, hoping to change the subject.
‘No, you have it.’
Riley didn’t eat it, though she was hungry. They might need it in the morning, or the next morning if someone didn’t come to get them. Instead, she listened as he crunched his way through the bag of chips. When they were gone, he finished off the sports drink, then lay back again, thoughtful.
‘I’ve never had a woman in my life that believed in me as much as you do.’
She touched his hand fondly and he immediately grasped it. They held hands for a time, then he curled up under the silver blanket. He was quiet for a few minutes, then she heard, ‘Thank you, Riley.’
‘You’re welcome, Den.’
He slid into sleep and this time he wasn’t restless. She tucked the blanket up around his shoulders and then gently bent over and kissed his cheek. He wasn’t quite so hot now and that meant he was healing.
She returned to tending the fire, scanning the darkness for the trouble that was sure to come. The demon had failed in its latest gambit. It would try again.
Beck rose from his bed a few hours later, slightly dizzy, mumbling something about having to take a walk around the tree and deal with all that water he’d consumed. When he hobbled back, he appeared more alert.
‘How are you doing?’ she asked.
‘Better. Time to work on the leg again?’
She treated the wound and was pleased to see it was already beginning to heal. Within a day or so it’d be a long red line, yet another one of the many scars that graced his body.
‘You get some sleep. I’ll keep watch,’ he offered.
Riley wasn’t comfortable with that idea, but he sounded in control so she agreed. He insisted she curl up under the silver blanket, and they switched places. She handed over her jacket, worried he’d get cold. It wouldn’t fit, but at least he could put it round his shoulders.
‘Wake me up in a couple hours,’ she said, then burrowed down and let sleep claim her.
Something stirred her awake a few hou
rs later, but it wasn’t Beck. The fire had died down and he was asleep on the ground next to it, lightly snoring.
There was movement within the circle. Riley shot out of the blanket, fearing it was the demon, but instead it was a curious raccoon shuffling across the ground. When it saw her, it growled, then took a run for it, hurrying across the leaves and into the night.
Beck roused, then sat up and yawned. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘A raccoon came into the circle and woke me up.’
‘Hunting for food most likely.’
‘It wouldn’t have screwed up anything, would it?’
‘Not unless it dug at the circle or somethin’. Just crossin’ the Holy Water wouldn’t make a difference.’ Beck groaned and stretched. ‘God, my back hurts.’
He poked at the fire and added more wood. Then blew on it. When it sparked back to life, he rose and walked back to the tree, dragging the chain. Riley remained on the alert.
‘What’s botherin’ you?’
‘Something doesn’t feel right,’ she said. ‘Not like before.’
She began to walk along the inside of the circle, studying the ground. Suddenly, she halted.
‘Beck! I need Holy Water, quick!’
He never got the chance to retrieve it. All he saw was the bright red eyes and talons as the demon charged directly at him. Lightning fast, Riley was in its way, coming up into a fighter’s stance, the knife in her hand. He’d never seen her move that quick.
The demon skidded to a halt. ‘This soul will be mine,’ it said.
‘He’s not yours, not ever,’ Riley retorted, the blade glowing silver-blue in the faint moonlight.
Beck reached the end of the chain, but he couldn’t get near them. ‘Back up towards me, real slow,’ he said.
She paid him no attention.
‘You think I will not kill you because of your demi-lord,’ the demon replied. ‘You are wrong.’
‘Leave this circle or you die,’ Riley said evenly.
In a blur the Four leaped at her before Beck could shout a warning. Riley caught it by the throat and slammed it into the ground, the knife piercing its chest and driving deep into its heart.
She rose, an ancient war goddess come to life as the black demon blood coursed down her blade. The fiend’s lips were moving, mouthing curses, but no sound came forth. Then it died.
