Tears glittered in Ariel’s eyes, but none of them fell, instead seemed to get tangled in her lashes. She pressed her lips together and looked away from Michael, up toward the ceiling, as if visualizing her daughter in her bedroom above them. Then, mouth still compressed, she picked up the pen and signed the form.
“When will you be back?” she asked next, her voice calmer now, as though she’d confronted the worst and made her peace with it.
“Tomorrow morning,” he replied. “Between nine and ten. I need tonight to prepare myself.”
“How long will it take?”
There was no real way to answer that. So much depended on how strong a hold the demon had on the girl — and how strong the demon itself was. There were exorcisms that had taken days, weeks…in some cases, months and months. He wouldn’t know until he got started, and possibly not even then.
“I can’t say,” he told her, hoping she would take his frankness at face value. “The time required varies from case to case. I hope — I very much hope — that it won’t take more than a few hours, or a day at the most. But you should probably prepare yourself for a long ordeal.”
“Whatever it takes to get my girl back,” Ariel said. Now she looked fierce, ready to do battle.
Only she wouldn’t be the one fighting this particular battle. That task would fall on his shoulders, and his alone.
“I’ll do my very best.” Since there wasn’t anything else he could do now, he rose from his seat. “We’ll be back tomorrow. Try to get some rest if you can.”
Once again she slanted a look upward, as if she knew that her ability to get any sleep depended wholly on how much of a disturbance the demon would cause tonight. “I’ll do my best.”
“Good. We’ll see you then.”
He nodded toward the Project Demon Hunters crew, indicating that it was time to get going, and they all rose from the table as well. Audrey sent Ariel a sympathetic smile before she followed Colin, Susan, and Daniela out of the room and then the front door.
Once they were out on the sidewalk in front of the house, however, Colin shot Michael an annoyed glance. “Are you going to keep interfering with me like that?”
“If I have to.” He really didn’t want to get into this now, but if Colin wanted a confrontation, so be it.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Audrey opened her mouth — probably trying to act as peacemaker — but Michael gave her a subtle shake of the head. To his relief, she didn’t argue, but crossed her arms and waited to see what would happen next.
“It means,” Michael said, “that while you can film the procedure, if things start to get too out of hand, then you have to stop. I don’t want to exploit this poor girl.”
This argument didn’t seem to have any effect on Colin. Still scowling, he retorted, “If that was the case, then you shouldn’t have chosen to come here at all. We had other options.”
Yes, they did, but the quiet urgency of Ariel Vargas’ most recent phone call, coupled with his desire to stay the hell out of Colorado for the immediate future, had been enough to convince Michael that this needed to be their next case file. “We can record enough to show that exorcisms are scary, scary things. You’d have to edit the hell out of the thing anyway to get it to fit into a forty-two-minute run time, so there’s no need to film every damn second. All right?”
For a second, Colin didn’t reply. Then he gave an elaborate shrug that Michael didn’t buy for a second and said, “Sure, mate. Whatever.” He turned toward Daniela, “Let’s go. We’re done for the day, right?”
“Right,” Michael replied. In that moment, he felt very tired, but he knew he didn’t dare give in to his weariness. He still had a great deal to do. “I’ll call you tomorrow morning when I’m ready to leave the hotel.”
“Looking forward to it.”
With that, Colin got into his Porsche SUV and Daniela followed suit, although her expression was considerably more apologetic. Susan, calm as ever, just said that she’d be ready, and climbed into her car as well.
“Let’s go,” Audrey said. She waited a few feet away, and he wished he could take her in his arms, hold her so he could breathe in her sweetness and warmth. However, he couldn’t allow himself that kind of distraction, not now with so much on the line.
When this was all over with….
He had to cling to that belief. Because the one thing he hadn’t told Ariel Vargas was that it wasn’t just her daughter’s life on the line.
His hung in the balance as well.
Chapter 17
It was hard to remain quiet on the drive back to the hotel, but Audrey did so for Michael’s sake. There was something taut and cold about him right then, something that made her feel as if he was doing everything he could to put a safe distance between them. She hadn’t interrupted back at the house because this was his field of expertise, not hers; what she’d seen in Kayla Vargas’ room had been both tragic and deeply disturbing. While she’d dealt with several case studies during the time she was getting her degree that, on the surface, were almost as unsettling, this was different. Although she couldn’t say precisely how she was able to sense such a thing, she could tell that Kayla’s behavior was not something caused by the troubles inside her own mind, but some terrible outside influence that made her behave as she did.
There was no sign of Colin or Daniela when Audrey and Michael rode up in the elevator; she guessed that Colin had probably gone in search of the nearest pub to nurse his woes. She couldn’t really blame him for doing such a thing, because Audrey thought she could have used a drink as well. However, she also knew that she needed to be on top of things when they went back to the Vargas house the next day, and that meant no alcohol and a good night’s sleep.
If she’d be able to sleep after the things she’d seen that morning.
As she was about to slip her key card into the lock, Michael spoke.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish — I wish I could spend a normal day with you, take you out to dinner. But I can’t do any of those things. I have to prepare myself as best I can, and that means solitude and prayer…and fasting.”
“You can’t eat anything?” she asked, feeling slightly alarmed. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea to tackle this kind of ordeal on an empty stomach.”
Her concern made him smile, and for a second, she thought he was going to bend down and kiss her. However, he seemed to take control of himself, and he shook his head. “Unfortunately, this is exactly the sort of thing that needs to be faced on an empty stomach. It’s all about purifying myself, making sure that I’m a vessel for God’s power when I face the enemy tomorrow.”
“‘Enemy’?” Audrey repeated. “She’s just a girl. She’s barely old enough to drive.”
This time he touched her hair — just for a moment, so gently she couldn’t even feel the brush of his fingertips against the strands that fell around her face. “I’m not talking about Kayla. I mean the thing inside her. The war with their kind has been going on for millennia.”
Cold moved over Audrey’s body, and she wished he would take her in his arms. Since she knew that wasn’t going to happen, she set her jaw and waited for the shiver to pass. “I think I’m a little freaked out, Michael.”
His gray eyes met hers. “You should be. Or at least, let yourself be freaked out now. I’m going to need your strength tomorrow.”
“My strength?” she faltered. “I thought you said you had to do this on your own.”
“Up to a point,” he replied. “In the Catholic faith, two priests perform the ritual, with one in an assisting role. I need you to be my assistant, Audrey, to bring me water, to lend your will to mine if I begin to show any signs of flagging. Can you do that?”
Could she? The very thought of having to spend hours in that room, watching as Michael wrestled with the devil — or at least a demon — made her stomach knot up. But then she realized they’d all be there, or at least Colin and Susan would, because they had to re
cord the exorcism. If Daniela were smart, she’d stay far away…and Audrey guessed she would. It wasn’t as if any undying love existed between her and Colin, just a casual attraction. Looking in from outside, someone else might have said the same thing about her and Michael, but Audrey knew that wasn’t the case. She loved him, even if she hadn’t yet been brave enough to utter the fateful words, and she knew she wouldn’t abandon him when he needed her most.
“I can do that,” she said firmly. “And I will.” After a pause, she asked, “Do you want me to drive tomorrow?”
The smile he offered her now was very genuine. “Yes, that would help. Come and knock at eight-thirty tomorrow — I’ll be ready.”
“Okay.” She squeezed his fingers briefly — somehow she knew that was the only contact he’d allow — then went into her room and closed the door behind her.
Michael had said he would be ready…but she sure as hell didn’t know whether she would be.
This was only a hotel room, with nothing personal about it, but maybe that was for the best. For a moment, Michael touched the wall that separated his room from Audrey’s, wishing fiercely he could be there with her, knowing that was impossible. Then he put her out of his mind, because he had work to do.
Water, lots of it, ordered from room service. The kid who brought the pallet of bottled water up to the room looked a little confused by the request, but he obviously had been trained not to ask questions, because he took the generous tip Michael offered him and then beat a hasty retreat.
Michael cracked open one of the bottles and drank down half of it in one long gulp. Then he set the bottle down on the dresser, went to his luggage, and got out his cross and his Bible. His purpose now was merely to clear his mind of any extraneous worries or weaknesses, anything the demon might use against him. He could not think of his clash with Colin, or his need for Audrey. For a moment, he wondered if he was asking too much of her to be present during the ritual, but he needed someone there. At least as a trained psychologist, she would have plenty of experience being around those who’d been tortured by the demons of their own minds, and so — he hoped — she would be less likely to be shocked by what she witnessed.
But no, he needed to put her out of his mind. Audrey was strong; Audrey could do this.
He needed to put his own house in order.
Kneeling on the carpet in front of the cross where it stood on the dresser, he recited the opening words of the Lord’s Prayer for the first of what would be many times that night.
“Our Father, who art in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name…”
All was silent on the other side of the wall. Audrey didn’t know what Michael was doing in there, but he certainly wasn’t making any noise.
Praying?
Probably.
She wished she could. Maybe it would help.
But she hadn’t been raised to think of a higher power in anything but the abstract. In a way, she was a little amused at herself for falling for someone who so clearly was a man of faith, even though he didn’t advertise that he was a minister, didn’t go out of his way to show that it was more than an interest in the supernatural that had led him to hunt demons.
No, it was his way of trying to restore the natural balance of things.
It was only the early afternoon, and for a moment Audrey thought that she should go out for a while, see something of Santa Barbara, get some fresh air. Maybe with Susan, who was probably also wondering what to do with herself until the next morning. However, engaging in those sorts of activities seemed unfair to Michael, who clearly was determined to lock himself up in meditation and fasting until, like some prophet of old, he emerged ready to do battle with one of the Devil’s minions.
Audrey didn’t think she had it in herself to do that. She could, however, get down on the carpet and do some yoga exercises, eat lightly, go to bed early. Part of her wanted to call Rosemary, just so she could talk to someone who knew a little of what was going on, but no — no one on the crew was supposed to talk to outsiders about the particulars of any of the cases being covered on Project Demon Hunters. Michael had bent that rule more than once, but he was one of the show’s producers and had more leeway. Colin was already on a rampage; the last thing Audrey wanted to do was give him a convenient scapegoat.
So she put on some yoga pants and a tank top, did a few simple exercises, watched a little television, stretched some more, and ordered a light dinner of Asian chicken salad and some green tea. As she was getting ready for bed — at the ungodly hour of 8:45 — her phone pinged.
She picked it up, hoping against hope that the message might be from Michael, that he’d decided contacting her this way wasn’t breaking the rules, but it turned out the text was from Rosemary.
Only two words.
Be careful.
Hand shaking a little, Audrey set down the phone. She wouldn’t bother to ask how Rosemary knew she and Michael and the rest of the crew were walking into the lions’ den the next morning, because Rosemary was the sort of person who just knew things. Clearly, she was feeling some uncomfortable vibes, or at the very least had managed to pick up Audrey’s worry across the miles.
“Be careful,” she said to herself as she went in to brush her teeth. Of course she was going to be careful. What exactly that would entail, she didn’t know, but she understood that she had to be on her guard at all times during the ritual, even if she wasn’t the one who would be going toe to toe with the demon…or demons. Sometimes they traveled in packs.
When she was done in the bathroom, she came back and picked up the phone and typed, I will, then hit “send.”
That was all. She wasn’t about to give Rosemary anything other than that. But, being Rosemary, she probably knew already.
Time to turn out the light and go to sleep. However, as her fingers touched the pushbutton control for the bedside lamp, she hesitated. True, Michael was on the other side of the wall, and Susan and Colin and Daniela were just down the hallway. Even so, Audrey realized she didn’t want to go to sleep in the dark. She knew better than anyone else that things lived in the darkness, or at least used it to hide their movements.
Slowly, she withdrew her hand, then pulled the covers up to her chin. It seemed awfully quiet in there, the only sound the faint hum of the climate-control system.
Maybe she should turn on the TV?
No, better not. It wasn’t that she expected the “TV people” to come howling out of the screen, the way they had in Poltergeist…but what if they did?
Instead, she picked up her phone from where she’d left it charging on the nightstand, then opened the Pandora app and started streaming one of her favorite stations for background music, the one that focused on acoustic guitar solos, no vocals. That seemed the safest, and with the phone plugged into the charger, she didn’t have to worry about the battery draining out sometime in the middle of the night.
Doing her best to ignore the glare of the bedside lamp, she rolled over and went to sleep.
And, once again, she saw those empty hillsides, the place with the gray sky and the chill wind. She supposed she shouldn’t have been surprised to see Jeffrey Whitcomb there, either, walking up the slight rise to where she stood.
He came to stand next to her, his heavy, gray-streaked dark hair ruffled by the wind. “You’re losing the thread, you know.”
“What thread?” Even in the dream she was cold, arms hugged around herself. Or maybe it was simply the chill of seeing him again, knowing that she spoke to someone long dead and not merely a dream-figment.
“The thread of me, or what used to be me. Everything else is a distraction.”
“We have to help her,” she protested, not stopping to wonder whether the astral Jeffrey would know who she meant by “her.”
“You think you do.” A pause as he looked away from her, deep-set black eyes surveying the gray horizon. “But she’s not important.”
Audrey’s dream-self experienced a wave of anger. Who was this m
an — or what was left of this man — to tell her who was and wasn’t important? The first time she’d encountered him, she’d almost felt sorry for him, despite what he’d done when he was alive. Now, though, she saw clearly the arrogance that had led him to invite dark energies into his life. He’d thought he could control them, but they had ended up becoming his masters.
“We can pick up that thread when we’re done here,” she said firmly. “Not before. If we start trying to say one life is more important than another, then we’re just as bad as the things you’ve let loose in this world.”
His lip curled. “I suppose I shouldn’t have expected you to understand.”
“I understand completely. You want us to help you because you want to be free to move on, rather than being bound to this world. And we will help you — but we have to help Kayla first.”
As Audrey had expected, these words didn’t appear to sit well with the astral-Whitcomb. His black eyes glittered, and he said, “She’s beyond help.”
“No one’s beyond help,” Audrey said, then added, “Not even you.”
Even as the words left her mouth, a gale of a wind came out of nowhere, catching at the skirts of his long jacket, picking him up and blowing him away from her so he floated like a black kite against the gray skies. Audrey reached out to grab his coat before he was out of reach, but the heavy fabric slipped through her fingers and she was left grasping empty air.
And then he was gone, and she woke up, gasping, to her hotel room and the music playing through the tinny speakers of her cell phone, and the soft light from her bedside lamp. Everything appeared calm here, utterly still, and yet she felt cold sweat dripping down between her shoulder blades, and her heart wouldn’t stop pounding.
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