by T. S. Bishop
“This is my body, I got it the regular way,” I said, slowly moving to the left, hoping my words were keeping him distracted from noticing that I was blocking his view of Dominic.
“That’s hilarious,” the demon said, “All right fine, don’t tell me. But what’re you doing with the tazers?”
“The—you mean the Sanctum?”
“Yeah, I call them tazers ‘cause they’re always trying to hit us with those lightning things. Geddit?”
“…Sure. That’s funny,” I deadpanned, “I’m, uh, infiltrating them.”
“No way,” ‘Zel said, sounding genuinely impressed for a second, “Did you meet that guy who’s trying to recruit us into his demon army? Man, these guys are gonna freak when they find out.”
“Uh, what?” I said, confused. Who was this guy who wanted a demon army? But then,
“Sophie, out of the way!” Dominic yelled, and I saw his arm flashing up as I turned, aiming at ‘Zel with a dagger with unerring accuracy. My heart sank immediately—of course it wasn’t going to hit him, and sure enough he batted it away with ease—but I hadn’t seen Dominic move a second time when ‘Zel was busy deflecting the first blow, his eyes off Dominic for a split second in which Dominic tossed the catcher at him.
The catcher snapped open as it flew towards ‘Zel, and I only caught sight of his momentary shock and anger before he was quickly swallowed up by the tin, which fell harmlessly and anticlimactically to the ground.
“What the hell was that?” Dominic demanded, limping over to retrieve the tin. His leg must have gotten hurt when he was hit, I thought dispassionately. He would need to have it looked at.
“What was what?” I said, “Good job with the catcher.”
“I meant, what the hell was he saying to you?”
“Nothing,” I shrugged with an air of false unconcern, “Or more likely everything. But I don’t know, okay? I don’t know why these demons always talk to me or why only I can understand them or literally anything that he just said while you were unconscious.”
“That’s what I thought,” said Dominic, surprising me.
“Really?”
“Yes. There’s something strange going on here, and we need to find out what it is, but I don’t think you’re a part of it on purpose.”
“Thank god,” I said, exhaling with relief.
“Don’t be silly,” he chided, smiling at me, “I’d have to be crazy to believe you were a part of this. I do have a couple of ideas of what this is about though.”
“Wait, but first we need to make sure they’re okay,” I said, jerking my head towards Adrian and Noah, who were still unconscious.
“I’m fine,” Ethan mumbled from the corner.
“Shut up,” Dominic and I said at the same time.
I touched Adrian lightly on the shoulder and tugged lightly, hoping strongly that he wasn’t concussed and hadn’t taken any permanent damage from being smashed against stuff hard enough to hurt.
To my relief, he stirred. It still didn’t prove that he was fine, but I was glad that he could at least move on his own. My hand drifted to his face before I could stop myself.
“You okay?” I asked, almost embarrassed by how soft and concerned my voice sounded.
“Sophie,” he whispered, leaning into my touch.
“Yeah?” I whispered back.
“Did we get him?”
“Yeah,” I said, still cradling his face.
His eyelids trembled and then blinked open, once and then twice. He was looking into my eyes, and we were suspended in time for a second that seemed to stretch into infinity. His blue eyes had flecks of green in them, I realized. I could have traced the shape of his eyelashes with my own eyes closed, that was how long it felt like I’d been looking at him.
“Yeah, we got him,” I said, dropping my hand and rising to my feet briskly, as though the previous moment had never happened, even though I could feel my bastard heart still thundering in my chest. “Well, actually Dominic was the one who really did it in the end.”
“Good job,” said Noah blurrily to Dominic, one arm around Dominic’s neck as they both staggered upright.
“You okay too?” I asked him, looking at the bruise on his face with concern.
“I’m good,” he said, smiling through his split lip.
“How many fingers am I holding up?” I asked, raising my hand.
“I don’t know, I can’t see,” he said, tilting his head to the side. My heart dropped like a stone in the moment before he cracked a grin. My relief was so strong it was like a dam broke.
“Very funny,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“I’m here all week,” he said, grinning weakly, “Who’s got the catcher?”
“I have it,” said Adrian, holding up the ugly, battered tin, “I think we should move out quick before someone notices that we completely wrecked this place,” he added, looking around.
“Agreed, but what do we do about this guy?” I asked, glancing over to where Ethan was hunched over, breathing heavily into his hands.
“I think, as the person who summoned the demon in the first place, and causing the deaths of eight people, he gets to deal with the consequences of this,” said Dominic heartlessly.
“I would be okay with that,” said Noah, listing against Dominic but still able to speak clearly.
“Oh, and also?” I added, going over to Ethan and nudging him with my boot. He whimpered, which was really pathetic and made me regret that capturing the demon meant that we had helped him out, even though he didn’t realize it. “If you ever tell anyone what happened here, we’re coming back for you. And it won’t be polite or pretty.”
We left him lying there, knowing that someone would have reported a disturbance in the parking lot and called the police.
“You think anyone’s going to believe him even if he does tell?” I asked nervously, “He got a pretty good look at us, they’d probably be able to track us down.”
“Well, think about what he’s going to tell them,” said Dominic reasonably, “He’s going to talk about demons and bolts of lightning and energy and witches and guys with swords. If you weren’t already a member of the Sanctum, what would you think?”
“I’d…think he was tweaking,” I confessed.
“Exactly,” said Dominic, sounding satisfied, “These kinds of sightings always get put down to drugs and hallucinations. Nobody from law enforcement has ever come after us. And if they did, we have people on the inside to take care of it.”
Again with the mention of the Sanctum’s mysterious and far reaching powers. So this was how an entire community of witches could have been banding together and fighting without even a whisper of it reaching anyone’s ears.
“What happened after I got knocked out?” asked Noah. He was supported by Adrian now, who was struggling to keep him awake in case he had a concussion. “Was the demon doing that weird thing where he was making hissing noises at you, Sophie?”
“Yeah,” I said, feeling a tell-tale blush creeping up my cheeks. “I didn’t really get it. Luckily I managed to distract him long enough for Dominic to get the catcher.”
“We’re not idiots,” said Adrian angrily, “We know you’re hiding something.”
I almost stumbled, I was so startled.
“What?” I said stupidly, “What are you talking about?”
“I saw the expression on your face when he was talking to you—the demon, I mean,” said Noah unexpectedly, “And it seemed like you knew more than you were saying.”
“Are you in on this too?” said Adrian to Dominic, who flicked a glance over at me that seemed to say ‘well, time to face the music’.
“Guys,” I began, taking a deep breath, “We need to talk.”
Chapter 22
We’d made it two blocks down the street when I realized we were being followed.
I happened to turn my head and catch a glimpse of myself in the window of a store, as well as the man in the black hoodie who was watching me fr
om across the street.
Now, that wouldn’t be unusual on its own. We were getting a lot of weird looks, dressed all in black like assassins and half-carrying a limping guy who had clearly been in a fight, and Adrian’s face was turning an attractive red and purple in a few places as well.
But I glanced across the street a moment later to see that he was on the move. Keeping his distance, and not blatantly getting so close that the boys would notice, but he was still moving in the same direction.
I decided to experiment.
“I’m going to stop at Walgreens and get some ice,” I told the boys, who shrugged and waited outside for me.
When I emerged, the guy was still there, pretending to look in another store’s window display.
“Don’t look now,” I muttered to Dominic, “But we’re being followed.”
“I’ll tell the guys,” he said quickly.
I was surprised that he hadn’t asked me if I was sure, or made sure himself. It was like he trusted my word, and my dedication to keeping the three of them safe.
“Where is he right now?” Adrian asked, keeping his voice low and not looking around too obviously.
“Opposite end of the street, tall guy in the black hoodie,” I said, “He’s the guy who kidnapped me the first time,” I added.
“Excellent,” Adrian breathed, lip curling, “I’ve been wanting to get even with that guy since the first time they took you.”
“Easy,” I said sharply, “I don’t need you to get revenge for me. I can do that myself. But I do think this might be the perfect time to get some answers.”
“I get that,” said Dominic slowly, “I really do. But do you think this guy is going to politely give you the information you need to know?”
“Um,” I said, thinking about the guy with the broken nose and balls that I’d left in my wake at their HQ, “Probably not. That’s why I have you guys, for backup.”
I smiled at them hopefully. Dominic looked conflicted but Adrian nodded immediately.
“What do you say?” I asked Noah, who looked pretty out of it. He blinked at me.
“Whatever you want, obviously,” he said sincerely. I resisted the urge to hug him.
“You’re my favorite,” I told him.
A few blocks down, we decided to slip into an alley that was a dead end. It seemed like the perfect spot to lure the guy and get some answers.
“Could’ve picked a cleaner alley though,” I said, wrinkling my nose at the overflowing piles of trash and stepping carefully over the pools of garbage juice.
“In Chicago? No such thing,” said Dominic. A rat scurried away when he kicked a bag of trash and I grimaced.
“I think I hear him,” Adrian said. He was right, and also apparently had freakishly good hearing.
“I wasn’t expecting to find the whole gang waiting for me,” said the guy smoothly. He had his hands in his pockets and looked the picture of ease and confidence.
“Tough luck, Ethan,” I said, crossing my arms, “I want some answers before we take you back to the Sanctum as our prisoner—“
“Not Ethan,” Adrian muttered.
“What?” I said, distracted by his sudden interruption.
“His name isn’t Ethan,” Adrian repeated, the corners of his mouth lifting in a momentary smile, “That was the demon summoning guy, remember?”
“Oh yeah,” I said, rubbing my neck sheepishly. I’d never been very good with names. “Anyway—you, guy, what’syourname—“
“Eli,” he prompted, sounding amused.
“Right, Eli, we want you to answer some questions of ours,” I continued, “And I’d be careful about being truthful, because we’ll find out if you lie—“
“How did you think this was going to go?” Eli asked.
“I thought you might come quietly because it would clearly be suicide to try and take on four of us at once,” I answered.
I had to admit that he wasn’t acting like someone who’d been ambushed. He looked oddly carefree.
“And I have to say I thought you’d have more sense than to try and take me on,” he replied, “Especially since two of your guys aren’t doing too hot right now.”
“Sophie,” said Dominic, and I turned at the warning tone in his voice. He was looking down at his chest.
Where there was a red dot squarely above his heart. I looked around, heart racing, and sure enough Adrian and Noah had the same red dots. And when I looked down, I saw a matching one on my chest as well.
“What the hell is this?” asked Adrian furiously. He looked up and glared at the tops of the buildings, as though he thought he’d be able to spot the snipers and fry them with the power of his mind.
“Call it insurance,” said Eli, smiling wide. “I didn’t think you’d want to come quietly, for some reason.”
“Have you forgotten that I’m a witch—“ I started, when something lodged into my sternum at high speed. I looked down and found a dart stuck in me, with some kind of liquid that was quickly draining into my system.
“What the f—“ said Dominic, before cutting off abruptly. I turned to find that the three boys had been hit with the same thing. Their eyes rolled back in their heads and they fell down and lay there.
“Don’t worry,” said Eli, seeing my expression, “It’s non lethal. We were told to take you alive, and I don’t really care about those kids.”
I felt woozy, and on the verge of blacking out but his words filled me with relief. At least I hadn’t gotten Noah, Dominic and Adrian killed. Even if I didn’t make it out alive at least he would leave them alone. They would be safe. Every step I took made me feel like I was trying to walk with lead-lined feet.
“I’m impressed,” said Eli, “Usually people go down a lot faster.”
“I—“ I managed, my hand stretched out and scrabbling to get a hold of him, but he was too far away and I was suddenly too weak to continue walking.
As last words went, that wasn’t very impressive.
I fell to my knees on the hard concrete and felt a wave of impact hit my knees. Under other circumstances it might have been extremely painful, but in my drugged-up state I couldn’t feel pain, just the sensation of pressure.
“Nighty night,” said Eli, which were the last words I heard before I blacked out.
Chapter 23
Noah
“I can’t believe you’re okay with just sitting here!” Adrian barked at Dominic, who was slouched over the table, hands over his eyes, trying to breathe.
I knew how he felt.
It was hard to argue with Adrian when he was in a towering rage like he was now. He was pacing the room like a caged lion, and his eyes were smoldering with anger. I knew how he felt, but I didn’t really do shouting or confrontations. They stressed me out too much.
Dominic was better at handling Adrian in these types of situations. For years, part of their dynamic had been the cool headed cynic vs. the hot headed and impulsive one, but with Sophie’s arrival that had changed somewhat. We hadn’t had a conversation like this in weeks.
Now Adrian was less out of control, more willing to obey orders. It was like he had instinctively fallen in line once we had a leader.
I also thought he knew that Sophie would have limited patience with displays of temper, and he was trying to stay on her good side. Because I wasn’t an idiot and I’d seen how he looked at her.
And that made me wonder sometimes how I looked at her, because my face transparently showed all emotion, according to my mom and sisters. I always shrugged it off and didn’t think it was a bad thing, precisely, but not it was definitely inconvenient.
Being secretly in love with the witch you were sworn to obey and protect was tricky, to say the least. Even Dominic, who I thought was the most hardened out of all of us, got a look in his eyes sometimes when Sophie was around.
Like when she laughed at his jokes that nobody else got, or when she said something strange and amazing that only she would think of.
“I’m not
okay with it,” said Dominic, visibly trying to control his reaction, “I’m waiting here until we get some more information, like we were ordered to do.”
“Fuck orders,” said Adrian emphatically. He finally got tired of pacing and flung himself into a chair grouchily.
“It’s only been a few hours,” I pointed out, wincing internally when Adrian’s gazed snapped to me, “Give them some time.”
“Time is something we don’t have, Noah,” he said witheringly, “They could have taken her anywhere by now. You didn’t see the place they took her last time. They had drains in all the rooms! What exactly is spilling there so much that they needed to install drains? Well, usually blood. And this new place could be worse than that!”
“Okay,” I said carefully, “We’re all upset, Ade, but let’s just—“
“If you say ‘calm down’, I swear to god Noah. How are you so calm about all of this, including Dom and Sophie hiding stuff from the both of us!”
I’d been trying to not think about that, but trust Adrian to bring it up. He had all the tact and grace of a rampaging bull in a china shop.
The fact that Dom and Sophie had some kind of long-standing secret that they were actively hiding from the two of us…didn’t feel great. But, growing up with sisters who were all witches and parents who were heads of the Archive had prepared me for a life of being on the outside looking in on things that I would never be privy to.
Adrian, though, wasn’t. He was his parents’ favored son, and he’d been the top student at the academy in his year. People trusted him, looked to him to lead and for answers. He wasn’t the kind of person that was usually kept in the dark.
Which was oddly comforting to me. If Sophie thought she couldn’t tell Adrian, then of course she wouldn’t be able to tell me. I would have felt a lot worse if I was the only one kept out of the loop.
It also made me wonder why Dominic was the one to know first. I suspected that she hadn’t told him voluntarily. Dom was sharp, the smartest out of the three of us. I sometimes suspected that he might have a genius level intellect, hidden under the layers of cutting sarcasm and exhaustion with the world.
