Awaken (Divine Hunter Series)

by L. J. Sealey

  “. . . only thing you’ll succeed in doing is being skinned alive,” he went on. “And I, for one, am not going to play any part in helping you get there. You got me?”

  Silence.

  “Have you finished?” Michael asked as he leant his back against the apartment door.

  “Well, that depends. . . Have you changed your mind?”

  “No. And I’m not going to either.”

  “Then no. Have I fuck finished!” Evo scrubbed at the stubble on his chin. He stopped to face Michael placing both his fisted hands on his hips. “Ok. So. . . let’s say I did help you, what is it that you plan on doing when you get there?”

  “Talking with Lucifer.”

  Evo’s eyes widened before he began to laugh until he saw Michael’s stoic expression and realised he was deadly serious. The laughing ceased and his face paled. “You’re out of your goddamn fucking mind.”

  Michael brushed past him. Maybe it was a dumb idea. Maybe he would be facing a fate worse than death. But the way he saw it, he had to do something about Varesh and maybe speaking to Lucifer was the only way.

  “Think about it. He’s after that demon piece of shit just as much as we are, remember. What if we can help each other?”

  Evo was looking at him like he’d lost his mind, the horror at the fact that Michael had even suggested looking for Lucifer clear on his face. “Can you hear what you’re saying right now? You’re suggesting teaming up with the king of Hell, and you expect me not to have a fucking issue with that?”

  “No. I’m not expecting that. I understand why you do, but you need to understand that this might be the only way. I’ve already seen some of Varesh’s power, hell. . . even his demon minion was more powerful than any other we’ve encountered. For whatever reason he wants me to team up with him or he wants me dead, I mean really dead. I’m not joining him, so do you think he’s going to stop until he gets his wish? We don’t stand a chance against him on our own Evo.”

  Evo dropped his head and let out a sigh. His voice had calmed and the weight of his friend’s grave expression was evidence of how dangerous Michael’s plan actually was. “There has to be another way, Mike. This has to be the stupidest. . . Jeez, I don’t think even I would have come up with something as crazy as this.”

  “I told you what Alethia said. It’s not going to be long until he returns and he’s going to be more pissed than before. We have to try this.”

  “What about Alethia’s ring? The one her father gave to her. I thought it was supposed to capture demons.”

  Michael sat on the sofa and rested his foot on his knee. “She tried. He was too powerful. All she could do was send him away and that nearly killed her.”

  “But it will work on other demons right?”

  “Apparently so.”

  Evo didn’t speak. Instead, he sat staring at the coffee table for a moment until he eventually looked back up at Michael with a smirk. “Then we’re not going down there without that ring. There will be plenty of other things in that place to worry about besides Lucifer.”

  * * *

  After about an hour of trying to convince his stubborn jack ass of a friend that he wouldn’t be going with him, Michael had finally given up. Evo was a determined SOB and when he decided he was going to do something, there was nothing Michael could ever do to stop him. This time was no exception. Evo was going with him to find Lucifer and that was that.

  Meanwhile, after his friend had gone out for some supplies, Michael played back the answering machine message that he’d just listened to. It was from Lacy. She’d called twice since he’d returned to his apartment and both times he hadn’t answered.

  Fucking coward!

  The second time she’d left a message:

  “Hi it’s Lacy. I. . . I was hoping you’d be back home by now. I just wanted to speak to you about earlier. I figured that’s the reason you left so quickly but. . . Michael I. . . ” Pause. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. Call me if you want to.”

  Michael stood with his finger on the delete button. Shit! She had no reason to be sorry. He should have called her back. Damn! He really wanted to, at least to tell her that everything was ok. But he didn’t. When he heard the key turn in the lock he knew Evo was back. He pressed the button and erased the message. They would talk and he would tell her that nothing could happen between them, but it would have to wait.

  Evo walked through the door looking like he’d had a fight with a mud wrestler and the mud wrestler had clearly won. His coat was covered in dirt but that wasn’t all, he had smears of the stuff all over his face too.

  Michael shot him a quizzical look. “If this is your attempt at camouflage. . . Well, I can still see you.”

  Evo’s responding smile was full of sarcasm. He dropped a small backpack, which was just as dirty as he was, onto the floor in front of the coffee table. “I hope you’ve got plenty of Jack,” he said as he removed his coat and slung it onto the chair in the corner of the room.

  Michael didn’t even bother to ask where he’d been and instead, retrieved two glasses from the cupboard and a large bottle of whiskey from on the unit. He walked over to where Evo had now placed a pile of items on the floor and watched as he grabbed his Bowie knife from his ankle and began to cut away at what looked like a tree branch. Again, Michael didn’t ask. He’d seen his friend do this kind of thing many times before and never really understood any of it.

  He poured them both a glass of Jack Daniels and sat quietly on the sofa watching Evo go to work on the branch. Finally, after about twenty minutes or so, it resembled some kind of. . . wand? Evo held it up and studied it for a moment. “It’s a branch from one of the trees in the cemetery. Has to be from sacred ground.”

  Michael nodded and took another swig of whiskey. “You going to drink that?”

  His friend didn’t answer and got back to work. Now he was carving something into the thicker end. Some symbols, four of them. When he was done he took a swig of his drink and looked at Michael, eyes narrowed. “I’ve no chance of talking you out of this have I?”

  “No,” was all Michael said as he put his glass to his mouth and took another large sip of Jack.

  Evo chewed on the inside of his cheek and nodded his head. He picked up a dirty piece of cloth and ripped it into two pieces.

  “What’s that?” Looked like something he’d grabbed from a dumpster.

  “Part of a shroud.” Evo answered.

  Michael frowned. “Please don’t tell me that was wrapped around someone at some point.”

  His buddy’s eyebrows rose. “Then I won’t. But it won’t change the fact that it was”

  Nice. Just what the hell else was he going to produce from that bag? His answer came next when Evo pulled out a dirty bone. Michael guessed it hadn’t belonged to an animal. That would just be too acceptable. “Human?” he asked, not surprised when his buddy replied, “Yup.” before cutting through it. “I need two small bowls.”

  After Michael retrieved what he’d asked for from the kitchen, he poured himself another whiskey and resumed his place on the sofa.

  “Make sure you save some of that.” Evo said nodding towards the now half empty bottle. He then placed the small portion of bone he’d cut into one of the bowls.

  “I’ve poured you one, remember? Aint my fault if you don’t keep up.”

  Next Evo pulled a lighter from his shirt pocket and lit the bone on fire, watching the flame crackle and burn before placing a piece of the shroud inside. “Not to drink. We’re gonna need it for something else shortly.” He then pulled out a clear bag, which looked to have dirt in it, and placed it on the table next to him. When he blew the flame out from the bowl he crushed the charred remains with the back end of his knife, and then added the contents from the bag. He reached into the backpack again and this time pulled out a hip flask, unscrewed the top and emptied what was inside into the same bowl. “Holy water.”

  Of course it was. The main ingredient for most of the rituals he’d s
een Evo perform.

  “I need your arm.” Evo said as he rolled up his own sleeve. “And bring the whiskey.”

  As soon as Michael handed him the bottle, Evo poured some of the stuff onto his own forearm then without hesitation he sliced through his skin and held it over the other empty bowl. Shit, it was deep. He clenched his fist and watched as a steady stream of dark crimson dripped from his arm, a stark contrast against the bright white porcelain of the bowl. When he was satisfied he wiped at the wound and then the blade with a piece of torn cloth and handed the knife to Michael, hilt first. “Make sure its deep,” he ordered.

  As he took a hold of his friend’s blade Michael felt a pang of uncertainty rush through him when he thought about all Evo was willing to do to help him. He knew he was loyal through and through but this was worse than anything they’d ever encountered. Michael’s decision to confront the most powerful being known to man, and. . . everything else, to ask for his help was most likely a suicide mission but one that he was willing to partake in to see that that bastard demon got what he deserved. His own life had already been taken from him, but he wasn’t happy about being the cause of Evo losing his.

  Nothing could be done though. Once Evo set his mind to something there was no talking him out of it, even something as stupid and dangerous as this.

  As he held his arm over the bowl, Michael glanced over at Evo, placed the blade on his forearm and began to draw it deep through his skin. No pain. Just a strange pulling sensation as his flesh parted and blood that wasn’t his own began to drip from the wound and into the bowl, merging with Evo’s.

  He had no clue what his friend was doing and quite frankly he didn’t care. He was focused and willing to do what he must. A vision of Lacy popped into his head. Her smile lighting up her face as she sat across from him in the restaurant, quickly changing into the grim sight of her cowering away in the junk yard, her face bloodied. Her fear had almost broken him apart. It was for her he was determined to see this through. No matter what became of him he had to make sure she was safe and getting rid of that son of a bitch and his minion was priority one. The rest would follow.

  After enough blood had left Michael’s vein, Evo passed him a torn piece of cloth to hold over his wound to stop the bleeding and continued with his ritual. Next he combined the ground bone, earth and holy water to the blood and mixed it together until it became a paste. Michael screwed his nose up. It was pretty gross.

  Evo retrieved the make shift wand from the table, looked at it for a second and sighed. “This is the final part of the ritual,” he said still looking down at the thing. “There’s no going back from this. I can give you more time to think about it before we do it. Just so you’re sure.” Evo’s eyes flicked up to meet his. The intense stare from him cut deeply. His buddy knew they may not return from this yet, selflessly, he was ready to go in guns blazing. The concern on Evo’s face wasn’t for himself though.

  Michael closed his eyes for a second and as soon as he did his mind was filled with a vision of someone else: Lacy. Her pale green eyes staring back at him full of concern. Then his vision shifted to her flushed cheeks and hooded lids just after they’d kissed. He tried desperately to fight away her image, to pretend that she meant nothing to him and get his mind fully focused on what lay ahead but it was impossible. His feelings for her were more than he’d anticipated and the thought of leaving her without saying a word and throwing himself into certain danger was proving too difficult.

  He heard her voice echoing over and over through his head. “You are real to me.” “I’m sorry.” “You’re not evil. I can feel your compassion. . . ”

  Evo’s voice brought him back from his thoughts. “Look buddy, if you’ve changed your mind I’ll gladly burn all this sh−”

  “No.” Michael said harshly. “I haven’t. I just. . . I just need to go out. There’s something I have to do first.”

  He got to his feet and headed for the door. He had to tell Lacy what he was about to do even though he didn’t want her to worry about him. He had to let her know how he truly felt.

  “Oh. . . I’ll just hang here then.” Michael heard Evo shout in a derisive tone as he pulled the door closed behind him.

  * * *

  “I’ll take a seat out here in the hall.” Alethia said softly.

  Lacy nodded her head as she reached down for the door handle and walked quietly into the hospital room. Nina’s head shifted around from her gaze out of the window. Her mouth turned up into a light smile as she looked at Lacy. “Miss Holloway?” Her voice was hoarse.

  Lacy smiled at her. “Hi. Please. . . it’s Lacy.”

  The head of her bed was raised so that she was nearly in a sitting position propped up on a bulk of pillows. She looked weak and her skin was pale which only accentuated the dark shadows under her eyes. But she was awake and the doctors had said that she was responding well which was all Lacy needed to hear.

  “I brought you some things.” Lacy said as she held up a sports bag that she’d filled with toiletries and some clean night clothes. “How are you feeling?” She walked over to the large chair beside the bed, eyeing the uneaten food on a tray across the other side before sitting down.

  “Thanks. Strange.” Nina said. “I can’t really remember much of what happened. It’s all fuzzy.”

  “That’s understandable.”

  Nina looked down at her hands as she picked at her nails. “I remember thinking I was dying but I wasn’t scared. All I could hear were echoes of distant voices all around me and then they began to fade and I could no longer feel my body. I just felt relief. It was like something was telling me that I was going to see my boyfriend, Danny, again and that’s all I was waiting for.

  “Then everything went dark and all I remember after that is waking up feeling really groggy in this room.” She closed her eyes and frowned. It was hard to ignore the sorrow in her voice. The poor girl had been through hell and back. “The nurses say that you stayed with me.”

  Lacy nodded. “I couldn’t let you go through this alone.”

  “Thank you,” Nina said, trying her best to smile.

  Lacy reached over and placed her hand over Nina’s. “You don’t have to thank me, Nina. You just get yourself better.”

  Noticing the sorrow on Nina’s face, Lacy wondered if she should leave her to rest. After all, she hadn’t been conscious that long and the whole situation must be quite overwhelming to say the least. She was just about to say her goodbyes when Nina spoke.

  “What do I do now?” she asked in a low whisper. “I have no one left.” Her eyes began to glisten before she turned her head away.

  Lacy thought back to when she’d first arrived in America. Being from a little place in England, and never venturing much further than the end of her street, everything had been so different. She hardly really knew her grandparents and didn’t really fit in well at high school, so alone was a very familiar feeling for her. After her grandparents died, she had no choice but to deal with the way things were, and she did. But even though she was around people every day at work, there was always a void in her life she could never seem to fill.

  Lacy noticed a small box of Kleenex on the cupboard beside her. “Hey,” she said taking one from the box and handing it to Nina. “I promise that you won’t be alone.” And somehow, she would make sure of it.

  Lacy felt the vibration of her cell phone in her pocket. When she looked at the screen her heart skipped. She read the text message from Michael:

  At yours. Where are you? Need to talk.

  She quickly typed back:

  With Alethia at hospital. Nina doing well x

  K. Pick u up in 20 mins outside main doors, he replied.

  It wasn’t totally unexpected to hear from him. They’d hardly said two words to each other before Michael had left earlier. But it was the ominous “Need to talk” part that unnerved her.

  Everything ok? she asked.

  Yes. See u then.

  She put the cell back
in her pocket. Everything wasn’t okay. She knew they would have to talk about what happened earlier but for some reason she had a feeling it was more than that.

  She said her goodbyes to Nina, promising to visit again tomorrow evening. She explained to Alethia that Michael was coming to pick her up, and that she could take her car, and then made her way down to the lobby.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  The ride home from the hospital was a quiet one. Lacy felt a distinct tension in the air and was growing more and more anxious by the minute about what would become of her and Michael’s impending talk. Many times she’d gone to say something but couldn’t seem to find her voice. After Michael had asked her about Nina, and she’d told him what the doctors had said, he’d shut down and neither of them said another word until they pulled up outside her house.

  “I’ve told Alethia that I’ll text her when I leave. She’ll stay with you tonight,” Michael said, his voice so void of emotion that Lacy found it hard to even answer him.

  “It’s good of her to help us.”

  Michael remained silent as they approached the house. She couldn’t bear it much longer. Never before had she felt so nervous over a coming break up. Not that she could call it that. One proper passionate kiss was all they’d shared−hardly relationship of the century−but she knew she would pine after him once he’d finalised things, none the less. Damn, her emotions had been all over the place the last few weeks. She was a mess.

  Lacy removed her coat and scarf and hung them on the hook in the hall. Michael left his jacket on and went straight to the sofa in the front room and sat down. He clearly wasn’t planning on staying long and that was probably for the best. She just wished he’d speak and get it over with.

  She couldn’t take the silence any longer. “Can I get you coffee?” Jeez, her voice was trembling. What the hell was the matter with her?

  Michael didn’t look at her. “No. Thanks.” He scrubbed the short stubble on his chin anxiously and then glanced up at her. “Would you sit? Please.” He motioned to the chair clearly not wanting to be too close to her. Lacy did as he asked, pushing her hands between her knees.