Styx & Stoned (The Grim Reality Series Book 2)

by Brux, Boone

  The demon took a final leap. At first I thought it would hit the mirror, but at the last second it veered left, slamming into me. We toppled backward and landed on the floor, the creature on top of me. For a split second it leered down, its claws digging into my flesh. A scream lodged in my throat but I couldn’t expel it. In the next second the demon disappeared—inside me.

  Chapter Fourteen

  My body convulsed several times as the demon pushed its way inside me. No way was there enough room for a full-sized demon and all my personalities. When it tried to elbow me aside I got pissed. Though I had no idea what I looked like from the outside, I bet it was disturbing to say the least. I had no control over my muscles, but could feel my arms and legs twitching as we fought for control.

  Our wrestling match reminded me of my twin boys. Lots of pushing, shoving, and kicking, but nobody really getting the leg up.

  “Get out!” I don’t know if I actually shouted or if I only thought the command.

  I mentally reared back and slammed my fist into the creature’s jaw. It hissed at me and braced its legs against the inside wall of my body and shoved. It felt like being pushed down a drain hole, my soul compacting to fit. I grabbed a taloned foot and used my imaginary legs to push upward until I was face to face with the demon. It hissed at me again, its yellow eyes growing wide with shock.

  I don’t think it usually had this much trouble possessing somebody, but I was getting really tired of people, spirits, and now demons encroaching on my personal space. This thing needed to go back to Hell—now.

  I felt the familiar stirrings of what I referred to as my reaper superpower. Though the attempt to possess me was happening inside my body, it helped to treat it as if everything was going on outside me. Black ribbons streamed, and when the first tendril touched the demon, it howled and released its hold. It threw itself backward, ripping free of my body’s constraints.

  My limbs when limp and I flopped onto the floor, the battle over. Or so I thought. I opened my eyes just in time to see the demon leap from me to Nate, and disappear.

  “No!” Without thinking, I jumped to my feet and grabbed Nate around the waist.

  For a second, he didn’t move, staring at the far wall. Then slowly, he tilted his chin and grinned at me. The blood in my veins turned to ice. Though I was staring at Nate’s face, it was the demon leering back at me. A second later, Cam stopped behind him, putting Nate in a wrestlers hold, locking his fingers at the back of Nate’s neck. Mara hauled the mirror off the floor and slid it directly behind me.

  “Do whatever it was that expelled the demon,” Mara said. “That thing you did to me.”

  Cam’s gaze cut from her back to me, but he didn’t say anything. Nate started laughing, the voice nothing like his, instead deep and grating. My arms twitched, wanting to let go and back away, but this was my partner. That thought strengthened my determination. I focused on Nate’s eyes.

  “Get out.” That phrase had been so effective in The Amityville Horror, I thought I’d give it a try. Instead of the demon fleeing, it laughed louder. Anger surged through me. Heat burned along my spine and again I felt the flutter stir around me. “Get out.”

  The laughing stopped and Nate’s now-yellow eyes narrowed on me. “I will not leave. This body is mine.”

  Rage blanked my mind and I slipped into the reaper zone. Usually the black vapor extended in tendrils and ribbons, but this time it shot from me like a blanket of darkness. No gentle winding, or testing the soul. It folded over us, wrapping Nate, the demon, and I in a cloak of swirling blackness.

  Instantly I felt Nate’s soul struggling to break free of the demon’s confines. The only fear I felt from him was from not being in control. The other presence was the demon, but there was no soul to reap. It was like touching ash and smoke, sifting through the tiniest crack in Nate’s will. The black vapors tugged against me and I released whatever hold I had on it. Swooping forward, it plunged into Nate’s chest. His body went rigid in my arms, but I held tight.

  The demon condensed, shrinking away from my touch, confused by the new invader. It was long enough for vaporous blanket to wrap around the demon, capturing it. My arms fell from Nate’s waist and I stepped away as the blackness spiraled back around me, holding the demon to the side. Though the creature kicked and clawed at the black tethers, it couldn’t break free. It shrieked and my hold tightened, cutting off the piercing noise.

  Cam lowered Nate to sit on the ground and then ran around me to grab the other side of the frame. I slowly pivoted and focused on the silver mirror. With a single thought, the black vapors unfurled, piercing the glass, and depositing the monster inside. The demon flung itself against the mirror, beating against the glass with a dull thud, before disappearing.

  The blackness evaporated and I shook my head, clearing the muddiness doing in my head.

  While they carried the mirror to the door, I spun and dropped to the floor next to Nate. “Are you all right?”

  His eyes were wide with either fear or shock. Then his gaze focused on me, and before I knew what was happening, he clutched the back of my head and pulled my mouth to his. I fell against him, bracing one hand on his shoulder and one on the floor. His lips slanted over mine and though he didn’t slip me the tongue, he kissed me like a starving man and I was a juicy steak. I didn’t pull away. I’m just going to say it’s because he took me by surprise.

  When he broke the kiss, he didn’t let me go, but instead rested his forehead against mine. “Thank you.”

  I’m fairly certain he was thanking me for getting rid of the demon and not the kiss.

  “You’re welcome.” I sat back on my heels, pulling out of his hold. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah.” He rubbed his hands over his face and then looked at me. “How did you do that?”

  I shrugged. “It’s kind of my thing. Only works on paranormal beings.”

  “Why haven’t you told me about that before?” He shook his head. “Does Constantine know?”

  “I don’t know.” It was my answer for both of his questions. “The subject never came up.”

  Cam and Mara squatted beside us, cutting off our conversation. “Thanks, you two,” Cam said.

  “Yeah, we could have handled one demon, but two of them split our attention.” She patted Nate on the shoulder. “Sorry about the possession.”

  “It’s all right.” He shifted and pushed to his feet. The three of us followed him up. “But I never want to experience that again.”

  “And you?” Cam laid his hand on my shoulder. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.” He rubbed my shoulder a couple of times. “Are you okay?”

  To be honest my head was still spinning from the kiss Nate had given me more than kicking that demon’s ass. “I’m fine.” I ran my hands up and down my arms. “Just a little shaken up is all.” I held out my arms. “So, demons—in the Venetian? What’s up with that?”

  “Nothing good.” Cam crossed his arms over his chest. “The spirits who have been reaped but are popping back to the physical plane are free game.”

  “Wait, what?” I shook my head. “That can’t be.”

  “It’s the loophole Tabris told us about,” Mara said. “They’ve been reaped, and normally would have been delivered by now. But if the soul isn’t claimed within a certain amount of time, it’s up for grabs.”

  The weight of getting the souls ferried pressed down on me with crushing importance. Hearing about the threat was one thing. Being possessed by it was quite another. Even though we’d done three ferry trips, reapers were still reaping, filling the shores. So, not only were souls flooding the physical world, now we had demons sniffing after them.

  “It’s like open season on souls,” Nate said.

  “What about the ones that aren’t reaped?” My thought went to Tandy. “Can they be taken by demons?”

  “No, only the ones who have been reaped and unclaimed,” Cam said.

  Mara and I glanced at each other. We seemed t
o be thinking the same thing. We needed to get as many souls ferried as possible. I brushed my hands down the front of my shirt and pants, as if ridding myself of the last bit of indecisiveness. Everybody needed to pull their heads out and face the problem. “Somebody should tell Tabris about this.”

  Cam nodded. “I’ll do it.”

  Nate still didn’t appear to be one hundred percent.

  “Maybe you should go lay down for a while.” I smiled at him. “Until you feel normal again.”

  “I have a splitting headache so I think I will go to my room.” His eyes tracked over the three of us. “Thanks, guys.”

  With that, he left. Nate can be annoying sometimes with his know-it-all attitude, but I actually felt sorry for him. The poor guy had been so out of it he’d kissed me—really kissed me. Heat spread up my neck and I tried to silence the flutter of butterflies that had erupted at the thought of how that kiss had made me feel, and was still making me feel, which was stupid, because it meant nothing.

  “I’ll catch up with you two later.” Cam stood. “Let me know if you run into any more problems.”

  I nodded my head and Mara gave him a half salute. When he was gone she turned to me. “We’ve got to go ferry.”

  “My thoughts exactly.” I inhaled. “Unfortunately, I think we need to do a lot of runs.”

  “Yeah.” She scowled, her eyes scanning the overturned tables. “This Charon thing is getting out of control. Why does it seem like we’re the only ones trying to solve this?”

  “I know, right? The last time we talked to Tabris I got the distinct impression we’d reached our—” I made air quotes by my head. “Need-to-know-limit.” A sigh eased from me. “I’m going to run my bag to my room and change out of my swimsuit.”

  “Okay, I’ll meet you there in thirty minutes. I want to check on Cam and find out what Tabris said.”

  We exited the hall. Neither the security guard nor the mirror were anywhere in sight. I imagine GRS had some kind of paranormal warehouse where they stored that kind of stuff. God knows I wouldn’t want to chance breaking a mirror that imprisoned a couple of nasty demons.

  I stepped into the elevator and the doors slid along the track. A second before they closed, Charon slipped in. Irritation rippled through me. Because of this guy, Nate and I had just been possessed by a demon. The supernatural world was seeping into the physical, and not only was all my free time spent trying to fix it, I was actually spending my trans-dimensional free time dealing with the aftereffects of his hissy fit.

  He spun toward me, looking equally as aggravated. “Where’s the money?”

  My brow pinched, having no idea what he was ranting about. “What money?”

  “My money.” He waved his electronic tablet in the air. “I just checked my accounts. No deposit has been made in the last twenty-four hours.”

  Oh, that money. I screwed up my face. “How should I know? I’m not a banker.”

  “But you have been working with Tabris.” He took a step toward me. “You also said something about them getting another ferryman.”

  I backed up, my heels hitting the wall. “At which point you replied that there wasn’t anybody else.”

  “It’s Thanatos.” His eyes narrowed on me and his lips pinched together. “Isn’t it?”

  For the first time since I’d met him his power became evident. It filled the elevator and thrummed against my body. It took all my effort not to shrink back. I squared my shoulders and leveled a bored stare at him. “I think you’re being a little paranoid.”

  “If I’m paranoid—” He took a step toward me, pointing the silver end of his walking stick at my chest. “—than explain where my money is.”

  If I let him get the upper hand he’d definitely know somebody was ferrying—because I’d spill my guts. I needed to flip the situation and get control. It was a technique I used on my kids when they tried to pin me down for an answer. “Let me get this straight.” I propped my fists against my hips and channeled my southern church lady. “You’re pissed because you’re no longer receiving the gold for ferrying souls?”

  “That’s right.” He straightened his shoulders but some of the certainty in his expression melted. “It’s part of the compensation for being the ferryman.”

  “Right, which you are no longer.” I crossed my arms over my chest and shook my head as if any idiot could figure it out. “And you think they should continue to pay you when not only are you not doing the job, but are creating a lot of freakin’ headaches for the rest of us?” The elevator hiccupped and the doors opened onto my floor. I let my arms fall to my sides and shook my head as I strode to the exit. I slapped my hand against the metal slabs to keep it from shutting and craned my neck to look at him, as if he were an afterthought. “Stop acting like a spoiled brat and either get back to work or shut the hell up.” I stepped out and turned. “Because everybody is really getting tired of your crap.”

  Stunned, that’s how I’d describe Charon’s expression as the doors glided closed. His eyes had rounded and his mouth curved into a pouty frown. He may have awesome supernatural powers, but he was acting like a thirteen-year-old drama queen—and that might have been insulting the teenager a bit.

  I hadn’t given him time to reply, or maybe I’d knocked the wind out of his sails, but at this point I didn’t care. I could only deal with so much victimized attitude and Charon had reached his limit. He’d officially climbed to the number one spot on my shit list and would stay there until this situation was solved.

  Most of my time as a mother was spent cleaning up other people’s messes—laundry, dishes, school shenanigans—but those were my kids. Being responsible for the ethereal world was really twerking my gourd, and I couldn’t be held responsible for my actions if one more afterlife asshat dumped another job on me.

  Halfway down the hallway a scream wrenched the air. In an ectoplasmic burst, Tandy exploded out of our room. When she saw me, she pointed at the door, her hand wavering. “In there.” A sob broke from her. “It’s horrible.”

  My stomach twisted. “Please tell me it’s not another demon.”

  “Demon?” She stiffened and scrunched up her face. “Where did you see a demon?”

  “Long story.” I stopped next to her. “So what’s inside?”

  She crumbled again with a dramatic wail. “A poltergeist.”

  My shoulders slumped with relief, a testament of how bad things were getting. “Is that all?”

  “He called me a fat cow.” Her lip quivered. “And said I couldn’t dance.”

  “Tandy, it’s a poltergeist. They love to insult people, especially when it’s not true.” Okay, I’d never encountered a poltergeist in my life, and besides what Nate had told me, almost all my information came from the Ghostbuster movies and Peeves from Harry Potter, but she didn’t need to know that.

  She nodded but her pout remained. I blew out a long, soul-weary breath, and opened the door. Unlike regular spirits, poltergeists were a conglomeration of energy caused by events and people’s states of being. Teenagers most commonly attracted them, but with the chaotic state of the hotel, it was no wonder poltergeists were now showing up. I just wondered why it was in my room.

  My eyes tracked the energy as it shot along the ceiling and then back to the other side, as if swimming underwater laps. White sparks snapped, winking among the swirling pink, purple, and gray energy that made up its body. It was about the size of a sled, its head was round and blunt with no definable arms or legs.

  After watching it for several seconds, I yelled, “Hey!”

  The poltergeist stopped midway across the room and floated into what I’d describe as a vertical position. It hovered there, I assume watching me, though I didn’t see any eyes. Tandy had said it called her names, but it seemed to be all talked out.

  “You need to leave.” I pointed toward the door even though I knew poltergeist could traverse through solid objects.

  It didn’t move.

  “Now. This is my room and I�
��m already sharing it with one too many people.”

  “I thought you like being my roommate,” Tandy said from behind me.

  I shushed her with a wave of my hand. Still, the energy didn’t move. Time to pull out the big guns. Mara would be here in a little while and we had important ferrying to do. “Either leave or I’ll reap you.”

  Chatter that sounded vaguely like laughing echoed around the room. The poltergeist started flying in circles. The lamp on my bedside table flashed and the clock’s alarm erupted with loud beeping.

  “I don’t think it’s leaving,” Tandy shouted.

  “Me, either.” If I could get a hold of it, maybe Hal could dispose of the thing. Though I’d never reaped a poltergeist, I did know it wasn’t easy, and usually they came back unless the situation where they were haunting changed. Since ectoplasmic energy was off the charts with all the lingering spirits, I suspected my attempt to expel the poltergeist was futile, but Tandy’s wide-eyed fear propelled me forward on my fool’s mission. “All right, then.” I climbed on the bed. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  The circles it was flying got wider, which in turn brought it within reach. On its first pass over my head I jumped but missed. More of that creepy laughing filled the room. I began jumping, trying to sync my bounce with the poltergeist passing above me. I leapt and missed again. The thing was teasing me, which only made me more determined. Again I bounced, and again I missed.

  On its fourth pass, I anticipated where the thing would be and launched off the bed, latching on to the blob’s widest part. I assumed we’d fall to the floor, my weight enough to drag us down, but that’s not what happened. My toes scraped along the comforter and a second later I was hanging in the air.

  “Lisa, what are you doing?” Tandy stood near the door, ringing her hands.

  “Well, I’m not actually sure, Tandy.” We made a wide circle around the room. My arms strained from holding on, but I didn’t want to let go. My ankle beat against the desk when we turned. “Ouch.”

  When we were over the bed, I tried to hook my foot on the headboard but missed. I also attempted the move on the chair, and again as we passed the entertainment center. At one point, I considered having Tandy grab me, but since she was weightless, I figured that wouldn’t do anything but made this situation more ridiculous.