Awaken (Divine Hunter Series)

by L. J. Sealey

  “Jesus, Lacy!” She was standing at his side of the bed looking down at him, dressed in her gray sweats and a plain, blue T-shirt. Her eyes looked glazed over. She was still acting strange.

  “I was just waiting for you to wake.” She sounded strange too, and for a moment he thought she might be sleepwalking.

  “Lacy, are you ok?”

  “Yes, I’m fine now.” She moved away from the bed and left the room.

  “Shit!”

  Michael jumped out of bed, threw on his camo pants and quickly followed her. By the time he’d gotten into the hall she was already out of sight, but as he walked towards the front door he slowed, silencing his bare footsteps and listening intently to the voice that was coming from the living room.

  She was singing−well, humming−something he didn’t recognise.

  He stepped into the room to see that she was sat on the sofa, with her hands on her knees, staring vacantly at the opposite wall.

  Michael’s stomach sank. This wasn’t right. What’s wrong with her?

  “Lacy?” He kept his voice quiet. But she didn’t answer. It was like she hadn’t heard him. In fact, she didn’t even seem aware that he was standing there.

  He heard footsteps walking up the garden path and quickly went to the door. He glanced through the small window.

  Jaret.

  Michael opened it quietly and put his finger to his own mouth. “Shh,” he whispered. “Come in.”

  After Jaret walked into the hall, Michael closed the door softly after him.

  “What’s going on?” Jaret asked, keeping his voice low.

  “Listen.”

  After a couple of seconds Jaret’s eyebrows rose. “Nice voice.”

  Michael shook his head. “No. She’s acting strange. I woke to find her standing over me, staring. I’m really worried.” He pulled Jaret to the living room doorway. “She’s been sat there like that for the past ten minutes.”

  “What dya think’s wrong with ‘er?” Jaret went to walk in but Michael caught hold of his arm.

  “Wait!”

  Michael slowly walked over to where she was sat; being careful not to startle her just in case she was sleepwalking. He knew that you weren’t supposed to let the person wake too suddenly because it could scare them, so he gently knelt down in front of her.

  “Lacy?” he whispered while taking hold of her arms. “Wake up, Lacy. Look at me.”

  Still nothing.

  Michael ran his hands up her arms and was surprised at how rigid she was. He swallowed hard and shook her gently. “Lacy, baby. . . Is everything ok?”

  She went silent. Michael paused. The eerie way her eyes were staring out was unsettling. He had a very bad feeling and was growing more anxious every minute she remained in that state.

  “La−”

  Her head jerked and her eyes pinned him with a fierce stare. “NOOOOOO!” she shrieked, startling Michael and making him jump up on instinct. “Fuck!” he gasped. But went straight back to her, pulling her up by her arms. “Lacy! What the fuck’s wrong with you?”

  “GET. OFF. ME!” she screamed at him, her eyes were vicious like she was looking at someone who was trying to hurt her. He would never hurt her. His spine went icy cold. Her arms began to flail around and he had a hard time keeping hold of her. She broke away and began punching his chest. “GO!”

  Michael backed away from her, completely shocked by what was happening. Jaret immediately took his place.

  She was breathing heavily, her chest pumping up and down violently. His hand went to his mouth and he watched with despair as, somehow, Jaret managed to calm her.

  What the hell? Why was she ok with Jaret?

  Something had gone very wrong between last night when they’d made love and now. He scrubbed his hand through his hair and thought back to what had happened last night in the bathroom.

  “Michael! Help me!”

  He remembered how scared she’d sounded behind that door. That wasn’t just a panic attack.

  “Michael! Help me!”

  Fuck that. She’d sounded terrified.

  His whole body buzzed with a heavy feeling of dread as his mind replayed what had happened. Then he was out of the door and flying up the hallway. He threw the door to the bathroom open and. . . What is that smell? His hand covered his nose and he heard Jaret call his name from down the hall.

  What he saw when he turned around made him gasp. He stepped back.

  The word RUN was spelt out in−what was that?−toothpaste?

  Jaret appeared at the door. He must have seen the look on Michael’s face. “What’s wrong?” His eyes followed Michael’s and when he saw the mirror he cursed.

  “Something tried to warn her.” Michael said closing his eyes and dropping his head. He thought back to what Lacy had said about the spirit that had helped her in the warehouse.

  “What dya mean?” Jaret asked.

  “Lacy has some sort of ESP,” he explained. “It seems that spirits can communicate with her. I don’t really know much about it but something has helped her before. When she was kidnapped.” Michael’s eyes darted to Jaret. “Where is she?”

  “I left her in exactly the same position she was in when we first went in there. She’s just sat quietly staring again.”

  “She called for help last night. She was trapped in the bathroom and she sounded like she was being attacked or something. But when she came out she said she just panicked because she got locked in. After that she seemed distant. I should have known something wasn’t right. I. . . ”

  The thought of anything hurting her made his body hum, that same sensation he always seemed to feel when he was angry. He remembered it happening last night, but he’d managed to calm himself. If only he’d let it happen then maybe he’d have caught whatever it was that had hurt Lacy. Heat began to rise through his body. He was going to lose it. . . He had to get a grip of himself and focus.

  Michael inhaled deeply through the anguish that was almost suffocating him. “Something was in here with her last night, Jaret.” It killed him to think that he was right, but it was the only explanation for what had happened. “I think there’s something inside of her.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  The burning was excruciating.

  Her whole body was on fire.

  Lacy had tried to get Michael away from her−tried her hardest to fight what was now controlling her body so that she could get him away from the evil that was inside her. And for a moment she’d found the strength, but the evil had fought harder.

  To see the pain on Michael’s face when she’d screamed at him had almost killed her. He didn’t know. He couldn’t know. But she had to try and make him get away from her.

  She was trapped.

  Her body, her actions, they were no longer her own.

  It didn’t matter how hard she tried to fight now. The evil had locked her down.

  She thought she’d died last night. The suffocation, the burning, she thought she’d reached the end of her life. But that would have been too kind. The bastard that had latched itself onto her body was keeping her awake so she could feel and witness everything.

  Dying would have been easier.

  Her rapid breaths echoed inside her ears. She was confused, scared, hurting in ways she’d never experienced before and there was nothing she could do.

  Quiet laughter rumbled through her ears. The demon. . . it was laughing at her. It knew what it was doing: torturing her, making her feel and see everything, and the pain. . . the pain was extreme. She had no choice but to bear it; the demon wouldn’t let it be any other way.

  And Michael. . .

  He’d been completely unaware of her body standing over him as he’d slept peacefully. She’d feared the demon was about to hurt him, so she’d screamed as loud as she could but her cries had gone unheard. When he’d awoken to see her standing there, she’d called out to him again, trying desperately to warn him but he’d heard nothing. Then she’d watched herself leave
the bedroom and walk down the hallway. It hadn’t been her making her body move, just like it wasn’t her choosing to sit on the sofa now.

  Michael had left the room. Thank God he’s left the room.

  She needed him to leave−couldn’t bear to see his pain when he eventually realised what had happened. . . because he would, that is, if he hadn’t already.

  Oh, no! He’s coming back!

  “NOOOO! LEAVE!” she cried out so loudly she heard her voice distort, but her desperation wasn’t enough. Michael couldn’t hear her plea. Nobody heard her.

  Not true. The demon heard her.

  Outside, her body was still, but inside she was frantic.

  She looked at Michael as he approached her. He gripped her arms−she felt it, oh, thank God she could feel him−and his voice was a distant echo that she could only just make out.

  “I know you’re not Lacy! What do you want?” She heard him shout.

  He knew. Of course he did.

  All she could do was observe his agony as though she was looking through the eyes of a mask. Her body wasn’t her own anymore and it pained her to not be able to reach out to him.

  She wept uncontrollably.

  The deep laughter started again.

  “You BASTARD!” she cried, but then noticed Michael’s face. He looked alarmed as he stared at her now. His beautiful pale blue eyes were locked on to hers and she swore she could see slight, unshed tears in them.

  She soon realised why he looked the way he did. The demon was laughing at Michael not her; not just inside her head. She heard it but it was much louder this time and sounded like her voice. It was. The demon was using her own voice to communicate with Michael and Jaret−to mock them.

  She still felt the sting of agony rushing through her body, so much worse now, but being able to see and hear Michael, and not be able to speak to him−to reach out to him−was worse than the physical pain.

  “Let her go.” She heard Michael’s demand. “I’ll fucking make you suffer for this.”

  She felt his grip tighten on her arms.

  No Michael. Don’t make it angry.

  She saw Jaret reach out and place his hand on Michael’s arm and she heard his muffled voice, like she was listening under water. “Don’t,” he told him. “She’ll feel that.”

  Michael’s eyes widened and he immediately let go of her, pulling his own arms away in a panic.

  NO! Please, don’t let go. I’d rather you hurt me than let go.

  Knowing that she could feel Michael’s touch, Lacy tried to move her arms so she could reach out to him. She used all the strength she could muster but the bastard was too strong.

  More laughter.

  “Seems your woman here has more determination than previously thought,” she heard the demon say. Michael stared at her with such fierce hatred that for a moment she had to look away. Even though she knew his anger wasn’t directed towards her, it was still her that his eyes seemed to burn with great hostility.

  It was hard to witness.

  “She’s a feisty thing. I’m using a lot of my strength to keep her restrained in here.”

  Michael made a move towards her but Jaret held him back. “Ignore it,” Jaret almost growled as he appeared to use all of his strength to hold Michael’s arms. “It wants you to react this way. That demon would enjoy nuffin’ more than for you to strike out.”

  Michael!

  She hated seeing him suffer like he was. She imagined he was used to being in control whenever he was faced with a possession, so to have to hold back like he was, so as not to hurt her, must be hard for him.

  “What do you want from me?” Michael asked through gritted teeth. She noticed a slight change in his irises where a white glow had begun to replace the blue.

  She dropped her gaze, refusing to look at him while he was hurting so much. She felt she was to blame for all of this. It was her stupid fault that she was now trapped inside her own skin. If she’d have just paid more attention to the warning signs she’d been so blatantly given instead of trying to ignore her ability−she refused to call it a gift−or if she’d have mentioned it to Michael then perhaps she could have prevented it.

  Her train of thought was interrupted by the demon that was now laughing tauntingly at Michael again. “You misunderstand the situation,” her own voice echoed. “We don’t want anything from you. We just want you.”

  Lacy gasped.

  NO!

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Michael was silent.

  His mouth felt dry. His head was ringing. And his body buzzed with the rage that he was fighting to keep under control through fear of hurting Lacy. The last thing he needed was to let loose on the bastard demon that possessed her body. He had to keep a lid on things.

  He knew Varesh would retaliate after what had happened in the pit so he should have kept a closer eye on Lacy. He mentally tore himself to shreds for not keeping her safe. He shouldn’t have let her out of his sight for a moment. But that was all it had been: a moment. Now she was suffering and it was all because of him. He’d foolishly dragged her into a war between creatures she never even knew existed a few weeks ago.

  He had to make it right.

  His mind went to his friend. If Evo was here he’d be calm, composed. He’d know what to do. But he wasn’t was he? Instead, he was somewhere dealing with his own hell.

  Man, he had royally fucked up.

  He stared into Lacy’s pale green eyes, eyes that he’d been lost in and had gazed back at him adoringly as they’d lain in each other’s arms only a few hours ago. But now they looked at him with repulsion so palpable it turned his stomach.

  He closed his eyes. Lacy.

  A hand on his shoulder made him open them again to see Jaret leaning towards him. He spoke quietly into his ear.

  “Alethia will be ‘ere any minute. I messaged ‘er to let ‘er know what’s goin’ on.”

  Michael nodded. He doubted she could do anything to help. There was no way they could exorcise the demon out of Lacy because humans didn’t usually survive the process, and if they did they were a mess. The only way she would live through what had happened was if the demon left of its own accord and that wasn’t going to happen.

  Unless he let them take him.

  “What if I agree to go with you? What then? Will you let her go?” Michael saw Jaret’s head whip around and he looked surprised at what Michael had said.

  “You’re not serious−?”

  “What else do you suggest?” he snapped. Jaret remained silent, his brows pulled tight. No. There wasn’t any other solution was there? Varesh knew how Michael felt about Lacy and was using it to get what he wanted. The bastard knew he wouldn’t let her die and that this was the only way it could win: to trade her life, for his death.

  A whirring sound came from by the living room door as a cold draft swept through the room. When Michael looked up, a dark shadow had begun to form over by the fireplace.

  Alethia.

  When she appeared she looked straight over at Lacy and paused, her eyes full of sorrow. Then she looked at Michael and flicked her head, calling him over. “Jaret, watch her?” she said before walking out of the room.

  When Michael joined her, he noticed she looked troubled. Her eyes dropped to the floor and she exhaled sharply.

  “What is it?” Michael wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

  “I know you won’t want to hear this right now but I have some news about Evo.”

  Michael swallowed hard. “What Alethia? Just tell me.” He hadn’t meant to snap at her but, thankfully, she didn’t seem too bothered by it.

  “After I’d managed to convince my father to talk to me, I found out more information about the ring. I wanted to come and tell you straight away but my father wouldn’t allow me to leave. He was determined to stop me from getting further involved in whatever this thing is between you and Varesh.”

  Michael began to feel impatient. “Evo. What about Evo?”

  “I’m
getting to that,” she said in a harsh tone.

  Michael took a deep breath. Biting Alethia’s head off would achieve nothing. He needed to remember what she’d already done for them and by her own choice too. “I’m sorry. Go on.”

  She nodded her head in acceptance of his apology before she went on to explain. “There is a prison, a dungeon deep in the underworld, called Tartarus. It’s a place where the supernatural version of the criminally insane go: demons, monsters, even gods who have committed horrific crimes. Tartarus houses every single creature you can think of and more.

  “But that’s not all. There is another part of the prison: a dungeon that houses the most malevolent sinners. The ones that are so evil that even the devil himself wants them locked further away, away from anything else to rot for all eternity.”

  Her brows twisted together until her face only displayed pure anguish. “That place is called Mathrah. And that’s where Evo is.”

  Suddenly, Michael felt like he’d been hit around the head with a lump hammer; unable to move or speak. He stepped back until his back hit the wall and he could go no further.

  His buddy, his pal, was in the worst place imaginable. Worse than anything Michael could have thought of. He nearly went down, bowled over by the burning fear that he would never see his best friend again. “Jesus Christ,” he managed to say, his voice more a whisper.

  “I hope he can help us,” Alethia said as she walked towards him and placed her hand gently on his shoulder, squeezing it a little in acknowledgement of his grief. “Because right now. . . I don’t know who else can.”

  Michael could tell she was hurting too. Evo had become a friend to her as well and she wanted to find him as much as he did.

  His head began to spin. How would he find him? And even if he did, how would he free him. Assuming there was enough of his soul left to free.

  This new information, on top of what was happening to Lacy in the room on the other side of the wall that was now holding him up, was too much to handle. He had to do something. He had to make it right.