by C. C. Wood
The demon we intended to summon tonight could just be the first in a long line of supernatural beings that wanted a piece of me.
The epiphany scared the crap out of me.
I spent the rest of the afternoon avoiding the kitchen as Carissa and Angie prepared for the ritual that Angie intended to complete at moonrise. I might not know a lot about the craft, but I did understand that certain types of magic were tied strongly to the moon.
Jonelle called just before dinner and explained that she wouldn’t be able to make it after all. She wouldn’t admit it, but I knew she was still feeling the aftereffects of what happened this weekend. She sounded tired and listless, and it worried me. She must have been feeling awful if she was staying home when she’d been insistent that morning.
I said as much to Mal and Stony as they prepared dinner.
“I’ll go check on her after Angie summons the demon,” Stony stated, his face tight. “I shouldn’t have let her talk me into coming back here.”
I bit back a chuckle. I doubted she had talked him into anything. More like kicked him out of her house. Jonelle was feisty and independent. Having Stony hanging around and making an effort to take care of her probably drove her nuts.
“Thanks, Stony,” I replied.
Stony left the kitchen and I had a hunch it was to call my friend. Mal gave me a speaking look when we were alone in the kitchen.
“I know what you’re doing,” he said.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He grinned at me. “You’re playing matchmaker.”
I just winked at him and got to my feet, heading toward the living room. Carissa and Angie had shoved all my furniture against the walls, leaving an open space in the center of the room. I’d nearly had a heart attack when Angie had rolled back the rug in the center of the room and picked up a chunk of chalk.
After I stopped her from defacing the beautiful wood floors that my father and I had refinished together, she explained that she needed to draw a circle for the summoning and that she would be able to remove the chalk with a spell when it was all over.
Though I hated to see her marking up my floors, I let it go. I was tired of looking over my shoulder, wondering when I would see that dark cloud again.
The white chalk markings seemed to glow against the warm, golden wood of the floor and I wondered if Angie had already imbued the circle with her magic.
“How’s it going?” I asked Carissa.
I didn’t bother asking Angie because she seemed intent on the leather bound book in her lap. She’d explained earlier that it was her family’s grimoire.
“We’re nearly done setting everything up. Then we just have to wait for moonrise,” Carissa answered.
It was obvious that being in my house was taking a toll on her. Though her skin was usually pale, her face seemed to have lost almost all of its color and her grey eyes where dull with fatigue.
I sank down on the couch next to her. “Thank you for helping me.”
She smiled a little. “You’re welcome, Zoe.”
“Dinner’s ready,” Mal called from the kitchen, preventing further conversation.
For the first time since Mal and the guys had descended upon my house, dinner was a solemn affair. Usually there was a lot of conversation and laughter, but tonight everyone was quiet and pensive. Another unusual occurrence was the fact that there were leftovers. With Mal, Stony, and Blaine in the house, I rarely had more than a spoonful of each dish left, if anything.
Tonight, my fridge was full of containers that held the remnants of our meal.
I wasn’t the only one nervous about what was going to happen.
As the light filtering through my windows faded completely, anxiety buzzed beneath my skin. The energy in the house seemed to change, the air growing thicker with each passing hour until I thought I was going to break. It seemed the very walls of my home were gathering strength for what was to come. Teri appeared, a worried expression on her face as she hovered near me in the living room. I’d tried to talk her into staying away, but she was convinced she would be able to protect me if things went south. I sincerely hoped it didn’t come to that.
Finally, Angie’s phone chimed.
We were all sitting around the kitchen table and Blaine and I jumped at the sound.
“It’s time,” Angie murmured.
We silently filed into the living room. My heart picked up speed as I stared at the circle that Angie had drawn and the candles and bundles of herbs she’d placed at strategic points around it.
Mal moved to stand next to me, his hand sliding down my forearm until it clasped mine. I clung to his fingers, feeling some of my fear ease at his warm, solid touch.
Angie and Carissa looked at each other. “Ready?” Carissa asked.
Angie nodded and took a deep breath, blowing it out slowly. Then she moved to the first candle and placed her finger to the wick. To my amazement, a spark leapt from her finger and the candle was suddenly aflame.
The tension in the air wound tighter as Angie lit the candles, moving around the circle in slow, deliberate steps. When she set her finger to the last candle and the last wick danced with fire, the invisible cord that wound around us snapped.
The energy I felt building as she began the spell had been loosed. I watched in fascination as a breeze blew through Angie’s hair, lifting it from the nape of her neck, yet the candles around the circle burned brightly, their flames straight and untouched by the wind that grew in strength with each passing second.
I couldn’t hear the words Angie murmured over the sounds of the wind she created and the buzz of power that rang in my ears, but I could feel the magic that she gathered with each sentence.
The maniacal hum of her power grew until it was nearly a roar. As it reached the point where I wasn’t sure I could take it, Angie lifted her hands and shouted, “By my will, it shall be!”
This time I felt the gust of wind she created. We all did. It was so strong it rocked my body forward as it howled toward the circle, rushing from the walls toward the center of the room. Only Mal’s grip on my hand kept me from falling to my knees.
The storm Angie created writhed in the center of the circle, shimmering with the power of her spell. I watched in awe as the maelstrom twisted and snapped, like a beast reaching for prey. The glittering mass grew darker as it roiled until the heart of it was black. As black as the entity that attacked me.
Suddenly the sparkling shell that encased the blackness burst apart with a thunderous boom that shook the house. Inside the circle was the same oily cloud I’d faced twice before.
Angie lifted her hands once again and cried, “Show me your true form, demon!”
The tumbling cloud began to coalesce, solidifying until it gained a shape. The shape of a man. He looked as though he were made of shadows and putrefied flesh, nothing but slick blackness where his skin should be.
Then he opened his eyes and I found myself staring directly into crystalline blue eyes so pale that they looked like glacial ice. Eyes I’d stared at just days before on the screen of my laptop. It couldn’t be.
“No,” I whispered.
Over the howl of the wind, the demon heard me. Sharp white teeth flashed as he smiled.
“Yes, sweet Zoe.”
Mal’s hand tightened on mine until his grip was nearly punishing. “What’s happening?” he asked me, nearly shouting to be heard over the clamor.
“It’s Victor Kincade,” I cried.
“NO!”
I tore my eyes from the evil being in the center of the circle and looked toward Teri. She was staring at Victor in terror, her hands balled into fists as she moved away.
A movement from Victor had my head swiveling back toward him. His neck was twisting until his cold gaze locked onto Teri.
“Hello again. Have you missed me?”
She shrieked, her hands lifting to grip her hair. “You’re dead. Dead!”
I couldn’t see his expression, but
I heard the chilling laugh and it made my stomach twist with fear.
I knew without a doubt I stood in the presence of pure evil.
Angie remained undistracted by the chaos that whirled around her, her mouth moving continuously and her eyes sparking with power. Her arms lifted and fell as she chanted, her words lost in the cacophony of the wind and power clashing at the center of the circle.
Victor faced me again, his smile wide once again. “I’ll be seeing you again,” he called out to me. “Soon.”
Then his body began to fade and my heart stopped. He was going to get away.
Angie’s arms lifted higher and I could see tension in every line of her body as she fought to keep him in the circle. For a moment, Victor seemed to solidify once again and I thought that maybe, just maybe, we’d won.
His eyes shot to Angie. “You can’t keep me here, witch,” he spat. “You haven’t the strength.” Then he threw back his head and screamed.
The sound shook the house, knocking pictures off the walls and bringing us all to our knees. I watched in horror as several of the floorboards beneath the circle peeled away with a great crack.
Then he was gone.
Chapter
As soon as Victor vanished from the circle, Angie collapsed. Carissa rushed over to her, brushing her tangled brown hair away from her face.
I gasped when I saw the paleness of her skin. She looked nearly bloodless, her cheeks and lips held no color.
“Is she breathing?” Blaine asked, coming over to squat next to Angie.
“Yes,” Carissa murmured. “She’s just unconscious.”
Blaine leaned over, sliding his arms beneath the tiny witch and lifting her easily. He carried her to the couch, gently placing her on top of the cushions.
I bit back another gasp as I got a better look at her face. Deep purple marks mottled the white skin beneath her eyes and her chest rose and fell in barely perceptible movements.
“Will she be okay?” I asked Carissa.
The psychic nodded. “I believe so, but I should still take her back to her coven just in case.”
“I’ll drive,” Blaine volunteered, scooping Angie up in his arms and following Carissa out the front door.
Stony followed them out, concern etched on his features.
“What in the hell happened?” I asked aloud, knowing that Mal wouldn’t know the answer any more than I would.
“Whatever it was, it was bad,” he replied.
I stared at my ruined floor, filled with horror at both the destruction of my home and the state of the witch who’d tried to help me.
“What am I going to do?” I murmured quietly. “This isn’t a ghost or a zombie I can control or reason with. It’s a serial killer turned demon.” I lifted my eyes to Mal, my lips stiff and cold as I forced words past them. “He’s not going to stop until he kills me the way he killed those women.”
Mal reached for me, pulling me into his arms. I let my head fall onto his shoulder as I fought back the urge to sob, refusing to give into the shudders that wanted to wrack my body.
Despite my refusal to give in, my body still shook with fine tremors, uncontrollable aftershocks of what I’d just witnessed. Then I felt the absence, the missing presence that should have been in the room.
“Oh my God, where’s Teri?” I cried, lifting my head when I realized that she was no longer in the corner of the living room.
Pulling away from Mal’s embrace, I turned in a circle, searching for her. “Teri!”
I couldn’t see her anywhere, so I dashed up the stairs, going from room to room, calling her name.
“TERI!”
There was no answer.
Mal had followed me upstairs and I turned to him, unable to hold back the tears that filled my eyes.
“She’s gone.”
Suddenly the events of the night overwhelmed me and I cracked. The tears that filled my eyes turned into a flood and the tremors I’d tried to control grew into waves of shudders that rode my body. The first sob that tore from my lips was painful, as though it had been ripped from my lungs.
Mal lunged forward, gathering me in his arms. He lifted me and carried me into the bedroom as I sobbed, my face pressed against his neck.
He held me, his cheek pressed against the top of my head, and murmured soft words. After the storm passed, I let my head rest against his shoulder, curled up in his lap even though I knew he had to be uncomfortable from holding me for so long.
Mal kept me in his embrace, not releasing me though my tears had finally stopped.
“I hope she’s okay,” I murmured to him, my voice hoarse from crying.
“I’m sure she is,” he replied, pressing his lips to my forehead.
“She was terrified, Mal. Even after thirty years, she was so scared of him.”
Mal’s arms tightened around me. “She’s probably hiding.”
I nodded, though I wasn’t sure I agreed. “I hope so.”
“I don’t understand how Victor Martin Kincade can be a demon,” I muttered to him, wiping the dampness from my cheeks. “He’s been dead for fifteen years.”
“I wish I knew how that was possible, Zoe, but I think that question is best left for Angie and Carissa. I know a lot about ghosts and even a bit on other supernatural beings, but this is beyond my realm of understanding.”
“Mine, too,” I replied.
We sat in silence for a long time. Mal kept me on his lap, just holding me close, until his cell phone rang.
“That’s probably Blaine with news about Angie,” he murmured.
I slid off his lap so he could reach in his pocket for his phone. While he spoke with Blaine, I went into the bathroom to wash my face and blow my nose. I winced when I saw myself in the mirror. My hair was a mess, so I quickly brushed it out, though it didn’t seem to help much. It was full of static electricity.
When I came out, he was no longer on the phone.
“How’s Angie?” I asked.
“Already better,” he replied. “She regained consciousness while they were on their way to Fort Worth but Carissa insisted she see one of the healers from the coven. The healer says she’ll be fine after she rests for a couple of days.”
“I’m glad she’s going to be okay.” I ran a hand through my hair, feeling the strands lift with the static that seemed to surround me. “We should go downstairs and clean up the mess. I saw several picture frames fall off the walls, so there’s probably glass everywhere.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Mal offered. “Why don’t you lay down and rest?”
I shook my head. “There’s no way I’ll be able to go to sleep. Keeping busy will help.”
I could tell he wanted to argue but he must have seen from my expression that I wasn’t going to give in and relented.
We headed back downstairs to find Stony with a broom and dustpan, sweeping up the last of the shards of glass.
His pretty hazel eyes were soft as they stared at me. “You better?”
I realized he must have come back in after Blaine and Carissa left with Angie and heard me crying.
I nodded.
“Well, I’m almost done cleaning this up. I managed to get some of the boards pressed back down, but your floor is definitely going to need work,” Stony explained, gesturing to the center of the living room where the chalk circle had been.
Several of the boards were still curved up at the ends and I could see that others were warped, even though they were no longer sticking up.
“I’ll get someone over here to look at your floor tomorrow,” Mal stated.
It was a good thing I’d been saving most of my checks while we were on the road. It was going to cost a pretty penny to fix my hardwood floors.
“Thanks,” I told Mal before turning to Stony. “And thank you.”
Stony shrugged. “No need.” He carried the dustpan into the kitchen and I heard him dump the glass into the trash.
When he returned, I said, “You should go to Jonelle’s tonight.
”
Stony shook his head. “No, y’all will need me here.”
“Stony—” I began.
He lifted a hand. “I’ll go check on her tomorrow, maybe take her to lunch. Tonight, I’m staying here. I have no idea what time Blaine will be back and I doubt any of us will be getting much sleep but at least you’ll have three of us here if you need us.”
I didn’t bother to argue because he had an obstinate gleam in his eyes and I knew it was no use.
I wanted to call Jonelle after what happened, but decided it was best to wait until morning. If I called her tonight, she’d show up and I didn’t want to put her in harm’s way again after what happened last weekend.
Stony was right when he said none of us would sleep. I napped a little but, for the most part, we all spent the night in the living room, watching television and conversing quietly.
I hated the limbo I was in. I had no idea what our next step would be because I had no idea how to deal with demons. Much less a demon that had once been a serial killer. It couldn’t be a coincidence.
On top of that, Teri still hadn’t appeared and I was beginning to freak out. I worried that Victor had somehow taken her with him when he left. I called for her several times throughout the night and the next morning but there was nothing.
At three that afternoon, there was a knock on the front door. Well, more like several loud thumps.
Mal jumped to his feet and strode over to open it. Angie stood on my porch, her fist still raised.
While she was still a little pale, there was pink in her cheeks and even from my place sprawled on the sofa, I could see the white sparks that danced in her brown eyes.
“We need to talk,” she said, her gaze encompassing all of us.
Chapter
We gathered around my kitchen table. I poured glasses of iced tea, hoping that the caffeine would wake my brain up a bit. I also hoped it would perk up Angie. She looked drained. Better than she had last night but still exhausted and wan.
When I sat down, she looked at me, her expression solemn. “I am so sorry about what happened last night, Zoe. I didn’t expect…” She trailed off and took a sip of her tea.
