by Rain Oxford
“What are the alternatives?” she asked. “What can you protect me against?”
“A wizard is more likely to show up on your doorstep, so we can fight him if one does come here. The same goes for a creature.”
“What if it’s another demon?”
“That we could prepare for. It wouldn’t be the first one we’ve fought,” I said.
“Fought?”
“And won.”
“How?”
The last time we faced a demon, I made a trap I had learned from Cindy. It was a pentagram inside a circle with five magic symbols. If I created it right, it would trap a demon and dampen his power. That didn’t get rid of the demon, though. To banish him, Logan would have to use an incantation and magic.
We decided to make the trap because it wouldn’t hurt. However, getting a demon into the trap without risking Melissa would be the difficult part. If Melissa was inside it, he might go into it, but that wouldn’t stop him from killing her.
Thus, I called Cindy to find out how to protect someone from a demon.
“Is there another demon? Shit.”
“It’s just a precaution,” I said. I really didn’t want to fight demons again. That was the kind of thing someone should only have to mess with once in their lives.
“I know a number of protection spells, but not any that you can do without tools, unless the demon is already in the trap. Demons are not like wizards. They’re way more powerful.”
“That’s really the only thing I know about them,” I said. “So there’s no way?”
“I’m sure there is, but you don’t have magic and I don’t know how without magic.”
I’d never told her that Logan was half demon because that was his secret to keep. I was about to hang up when I remembered the book in my car. “There’s a book on demons I found at the farmhouse.”
“The farmhouse where the kids were forced to summon Marluk?”
“Yeah. It’s mostly in German, but maybe you can decipher---”
“I can read German,” she interrupted.
“Great. It’s an old book by Heinrich Baldauf. Check it out and see if you can find anything that can help us.”
“Fine. I’ll do that. In the meantime, get some salt. Make a salt circle around her. That can help against witchcraft in case it’s not a demon.”
After I agreed, she hung up.
I got a can of white paint, moved the white area rug, and painted the trap from memory in the middle of the living room, in front of the couch. Meanwhile, Logan called around, looking for more information on demons and if any demons showed up missing. From the irritation that radiated from him and his increasingly short answers to his contacts, I figured he wasn’t having much luck.
He avoided learning about demons despite being half a demon because he didn’t trust them. I found that odd, since he certainly didn’t identify with humans. I wondered if it was his human blood or his demon blood that bothered him more.
A couple minutes after I finished the trap, I got a text from Cindy.
Cindy: Have the person you’re trying to protect stand in a triangle next to the trap.
Attached was a picture of a drawing. It was a triangle with some magic symbols inside it. Melissa was shocked when I moved the couch easily on my own. I painted the triangle there so that she could sit on the couch and be protected. When the paint was dry, I moved the couch and rug back.
“This will protect me?” Melissa asked.
“It should… if the attacker is a demon.”
Logan hung up on the phone. “Since the fall of the wizard council, they can’t send someone here to put up a ward that is strong enough to stop a powerful wizard.”
“Then what can we do?”
“We will do it the manual way. If someone arrives to kill Melissa, we will fight them.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
* * *
We ordered pizza. Logan offered to watch Melissa while I went and got a bottle of Sanguatine, or to get it for me, but I insisted I didn’t need it. I would need it after exerting a lot of energy or if I was injured and if I brought it into the house, it was more likely to be damaged.
I wasn’t terribly concerned with splitting our focus, since it was the four of us, but I preferred his brash company to Melissa. When the pizza was delivered, Deimos and Phobos relaxed and ate. Melissa sat on the couch between Deimos and Phobos while Logan and I sat on folding chairs. Stormy was locked in her crate for her own safety.
I had sprinkled a thin layer of salt around Melissa, hoping it would be enough, because she didn’t have much. “It’s bad for your health,” she’d explained.
Logan texted someone for ten minutes before I asked, “Any news?”
“My store was attacked again and nothing was caught on camera, so Marcus installed some magic-resistant, motion and pressure-trip lights.”
“That’s good coverage.”
“Have you had any more issues with the whispers?”
“No. So far so good.”
A knock on the door interrupted him from saying anything else. I got up to check it and was surprised to see Arks standing on the doorstep. “Hello, again, Aurora,” he said.
“Is Melissa expecting you?”
“No, but I have some information you might be interested in.”
He opened his mouth to continue, but the lights went out. “Sorry, but now isn’t a good time. You should go far away.” I shut the door. I didn’t want to deal with a priest during a magical fight. Although power outages weren’t strange for most people, I knew this one was caused by magic. It was a good thing I wasn’t hearing whispers, because this was no time to get distracted.
I returned to the living room to find Logan using a flashlight. He held it on Melissa, which meant my eyes couldn’t adapt to the dark the way they were supposed to. What I saw was a strange wavering of the darkness around the light, as if the shadows were liquid and moving.
Deimos and Phobos growled, but their focus flicked around the room as if we were surrounded.
“I sense magic,” Logan told me.
“He’s here,” Melissa said.
“Stay calm and don’t move,” Logan said. “You’re safe in that spot.”
Supposedly.
Logan’s flashlight smashed against the wall. “Well, that was a reasonable response,” I said.
“I didn’t do that,” he said.
I figured as much. Without the light, I could see everything clearly, but not in color. I saw the shadows move. “They’re converging in front of the couch, outside the trap,” I said.
Deimos and Phobos growled at it. The man formed in midair out of the darkness and I drew my dagger from my boot. He was tall, thin, and dark-haired. Melissa screamed and bolted for the door. “Stay where you are!” I yelled at her. She didn’t. I ran towards the demon, but blinding red lightning shot from him to Melissa and it disoriented me.
Before I could regain my vision, the demon turned on Logan. I felt the demon striking again, but my eyes weren’t open, so it didn’t damage my vision further. Logan was slammed into the wall with enough force that some of the ceiling crumbled.
By the time I could make out what was going on, Phobos was dragging the demon away from Logan. Phobos wouldn’t let go once he had his teeth in someone until I gave the order. The demon motioned with his hand, about to strike with magic again.
“Phobos, dodge!”
He instantly released his opponent, dropped, and rolled. The demon turned his attack on me. The same red lightning he used before struck me and pain exploded in my body. I fell to my knees. Without giving me a second to recover, he attacked again, and I felt like a thousand knives were stabbing me all over my body. Blood sprayed across the wood floor.
My blood.
I looked up in time to see the demon approach me casually. I was expecting Deimos to leap over me and attack him. I wasn’t expecting the demon and Deimos to disperse into shadows upon contact.
“Deimos!” I
shouted.
Phobos started barking. I struggled to my feet, but I had lost a lot of blood. Logan wrapped his arms around my chest and pulled me up.
“Save Deimos,” I said.
“It’s too late. He’s gone and Melissa is dead. We need to get your blood out of the truck.”
Phobos’s barking had turned to mournful howls. I wanted to argue, but I wasn’t going to be any good to him without blood. I had to heal. Then I would destroy the demon.
Logan had to help me the entire way back to the alley and I lost more blood with each step. Then we made it to the alley…
And the truck was gone.
Chapter 6
“That’s shit timing,” I said.
“How bad is it?” Logan asked.
“I’ll heal with blood.”
“Drink mine.”
“I don’t know if your blood will do the trick. My body is designed to live on human blood. Paranormal blood usually tastes better and has different effects, but human blood is the most nourishing.”
“Then let me heal you.”
“I don’t want magic right now.” I didn’t want to owe him anything when people who made deals with demons were being killed. It wasn’t that I suspected him, I just didn’t want to make myself any more of a target. “That was a demon, right?”
“Definitely,” he said.
Everything had happened so fast. Then I felt the presence of a powerful predator and knew the demon was back. At least this time, my vampire instincts had a chance to warn me. “Shit timing,” I repeated. There was enough street light that Logan could see. I pointed to the darkest part of the alley. “In there.”
I saw the lightning form and got out of the way in time. Logan didn’t, but he took it with a grunt. Without his chain, he could probably do something. With it, he wasn’t much help. Then he pulled out his gun and shot the demon. The demon collapsed to his knees and doubled over with pain. Logan had shot him in the chest.
I ran at him with the intention of crushing his skull. An instant before I could reach him, however, Phobos crashed into him and red energy exploded from the demon. Phobos yelped. The demon struggled to his feet and ran. Logan chased after him.
The last thing I saw was Phobos whimpering, struggling to breathe, and bleeding.
* * *
1986
I was in a lot of pain. Being two years old, my thoughts weren’t sensible. However, there was a woman standing over me with short, dark blue hair and sky blue eyes. “It worked. She will live,” she said, stepping aside.
Then I saw my father, whose face was full of misery and desperation. He carefully picked me up and held me to his chest. “Thank you, Natalia,” he said.
“You should be more careful, because next time, I might not be able to bring her back.”
“Are there any side effects I should be aware of?”
Instead of answering his question, she said, “I hope the price was worth it.” Then she stepped into the darkest corner of the room and vanished.
* * *
I woke to the sound of a choir. Pain pulsed through my body in time with my heartbeat. When I opened my eyes, it took me a moment to realize I was in the shelter room at the church. Not making any sudden movements, I felt out my wounds with my left hand. My abdomen was bandaged and my right arm was in a sling. I rolled onto my side.
I was shocked I had woken at all, because I was in desperate need of blood. As much as it was a biological disadvantage, vampire physiology was designed so that when we needed blood the most, we would pass out and conserve energy. I pushed myself up, determined not to fall back to sleep.
I was alone in the room, but I could hear that the main room was packed. I noticed that a blanket had been hung over the curtain rod, hiding the sun, and a cup of water was left on the nightstand, next to a bible. My first concern was for my boys. I refused to accept that Deimos was gone. He wasn’t a dog. He wasn’t a pet. He was like my child. They both were.
I had to find Phobos, too, but it was early daylight. I reached for my phone in my pocket and found it dead. Fortunately, I only had to wait thirty minutes until people started to leave. As soon as the noise settled down, Arks knocked softly on the door. “Aurora, are you awake?”
“Yes.”
The door opened and he entered. “I’m glad to see you alive.”
“Did you bring me here?”
“Yes. I figured taking you to a hospital was a bad idea,” he said. When I didn’t respond, he gestured to his teeth. “You’re not the first vampire I’ve met.”
“No?”
“Ryker saved my brother’s life by turning him. I take it you need blood?”
“Desperately.”
“Do you have money?”
I scowled at him. “Are you selling safety now?”
“I know a number of people who need money and you need blood.”
“Isn’t that like prostitution?”
“They’ll be selling you blood so that they can eat. I know Ryker keeps a number of humans on hand that he pays and houses in exchange for their blood.”
“Okay. No one dirty or drunk, though. I have around four hundred and fifty dollars on me.”
“And you won’t take too much, right?”
“I’ve never hurt a human I drank from in my life. That would be like whipping chickens for giving me eggs or cows for giving me milk.”
He left. A few minutes later, he returned with a middle-aged woman. She was a little thin, but her skin was clean and her eyes were clear. I smelled no drugs or alcohol on her. She blushed and held out her hand to shake mine. It was awkward. “I’m Rory,” I said.
“I’m Amber.”
Arks left us alone. “What did Arks tell you?” I asked.
“That you’re a vampire who needs blood and you have money.”
“And you’re willing to sell your blood?”
“My kids have to eat and it’s no different than donating blood… for money.”
“You don’t have a problem with vampires?”
“I was married to a lion shifter, so I know about paranormals.”
“Was?”
“He died.”
I pulled out my wallet and gave her all my cash. She sat beside me on the bed and I turned to face her, crossing my legs under me. I took her wrist when she offered it to me and bit her gently. She winced slightly and then relaxed.
“That didn’t hurt as much as I was expecting.”
Sanguatine never made things awkward, but there was still something better about drinking from the source. It was more natural; it was what I was designed for. I drank gently until I took as much as she could safely offer. My natural instincts could tell me when I had enough and when the person I was drinking from was at risk. When I let her go, she thanked me and left.
Arks returned. By then, I was able to take off the sling.
“Where’s my dog?”
“I’m afraid he was dead by the time I reached you.”
My heart sank and the blood I’d just drank turned to sludge. “No. You’re wrong.”
“He wasn’t breathing and he didn’t have a pulse. I had to save you or I would have gotten him out of the alley.”
“I couldn’t have lost my boys. I refuse to believe it.”
“I wish all life was that simple.”
“There are only four beings I really love in this world, and that’s my dad, Brandy, Deimos, and Phobos. My dad has been missing since I was twelve. Deimos is missing. Phobos is not dead. I don’t care who I have to kill to get both my boys back. I need to use your phone.”
He gave me his cell phone and Logan’s business card, since I hadn’t memorized Logan’s number. I texted Logan where I was and that if he was still around, he needed to save Phobos. I didn’t get a response, so I wasn’t sure he had made it. I felt bad about that, but I was mostly numb.
“I understand that you loved your dog, but right now, you need to rest and recover. When the sun sets, you should be healthy enough to co
llect his body and bury him.”
“I’m not going to bury my living dog. Where is Logan?”
“I didn’t see him. There was a suspicious amount of blood, though. Did you save Melissa?”
“No. It got her. She wouldn’t stay where we told her to.”
“That is unfortunate.”
“I wish I knew who was next so that I could prevent it. I want to find this bastard who hurt my boys and destroy him. If I knew why…”
“That was what I tried to tell you last night. What did you think happened to the souls of people who make deals with demons?”
“I guess that depends on the deal.”
“No. Everyone who made a deal with a demon made the same deal. They ask for something, and in exchange, the demon can stay here on Earth. But that’s not the real exchange. If a demon leaves Hell, another soul has to take his place.”
“I don’t buy into religion.”
“Don’t call it Hell, then. Can you accept that demons come from another world?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you must accept that there is a balance between the worlds. That is the most fundamental rule of magic.”
“How do you know that?”
“That’s beside the point. You can’t take a demon from Hell without replacing it with a soul. When a human makes a deal with a demon, the demon gets to stay on Earth, but the human must sacrifice their soul. That is always the case. Even the demon can’t change that.”
“Are you saying that when someone makes a deal with a demon, no matter what it’s for, their soul belongs to demons?”
“Yes. That’s what this mummification business is.”
“Someone is collecting early. That really sucks, because I’m pretty sure my father made a deal with a demon.”
* * *
I spent the day worrying about my boys, not even able to consider the fact that my own soul could belong to demons. Arks got me a phone charger, but Logan didn’t respond to my texts. I sensed Logan’s presence when he arrived. When he entered the room, he was covered in blood, and none of it was human.
