D’Maeo seems to be thinking the same thing. He’s still walking, his gaze fixed on the last car. His suitcase is moving in his hand and now and then he bends over to listen.
“Please don’t let me be too late,” he mumbles to himself.
The train next to us moans and creaks and the old man quickens his step. “No, no, no, no.”
I fall back a bit, reluctant to meet the black void he spoke about. If it’s as powerful as it seems, it might be able to hurt me, even though I’m not really here.
I might just be scaring myself, but I’m not willing to take a chance on this. I like being alive and I prefer my soul to be kept intact, thank you very much.
D’Maeo doesn’t seem scared at all, just worried. It makes me wonder how many dangerous situations he’s found himself in already. Probably a lot, considering what he does for a living.
Hesitation is a word he’s not familiar with. Not yet, at least.
Finally he slows down. He’s hardly panting from the run and there’s no sweat under the rim of his hat. He places the suitcase on the ground beside the last wagon and reaches for the lock.
Without warning, the crack in the roof of the car expands. A huge, black figure pushes itself out with a loud crash. It shoots towards D’Maeo with the speed of lightning, and hits him in the chest. The magiporter topples backwards, groaning. His hat flies off and tumbles down the slope. The black cloud soars into the sky. Within seconds, it is no more than a small speck high above us.
It’s like someone unmutes the world around me. Sirens wail in the distance and the screaming and crying of the passengers reach my ears again. The roof of the last car creaks loudly, before giving in.
When I turn my head, D’Maeo is lying on the ground, with both hands on his chest.
I kneel next to him, but when I want to lift his shirt, I realize I can’t. I’m not really here, I’m just an observer.
“It’ll be okay,” I say to the old man. “We’ll find a solution.”
“Incoming demons,” he answers without moving his lips.
I frown. “What?”
“I’m pulling you back.”
Something pulls at my waist and a second later I’m in the smoking dessert again. D’Maeo’s ghost form points at a shape bouncing our way.
I take a deep breath and swallow a couple of times to calm my stomach. “Can you apparate us a couple of miles away?”
“Bit by bit, sure. But we might run into more monsters.”
“That’s a risk we’ll have to take. I’m ready to get out of here.”
He grabs my arm tighter. “So am I.”
As soon as we land, D’Maeo takes off again. And again. It’s like jumping with the Hulk and it makes me nauseous and dizzy.
“Hang on for a second,” I breathe when we touch ground again.
I let go of him, but grab him firmly only half a second later when I see where we’re standing. “What on earth is this?”
The old ghost remains remarkably calm. “This looks like the place where the violent are punished for their sins.”
I gulp. “By boiling them in blood?”
His face is grim when he nods. “That’s what it looks like.”
Although I want nothing more than to get out of here as fast as possible, I can’t tear my gaze from the wriggling and moaning people in the red lake. Every few seconds they are pulled under by something invisible, to resurface with scorched faces, screaming soundless words. They constantly push each other under in their attempts to get out, but there’s no escaping their punishment. One by one, they reach the high shore, but none are able to get out. They can find no hold in the mud, no matter how hard they pull. Every time they reach the surface, their skin heals and they burn all over again. The smell of smoldering flesh and blood is sickening and I can almost feel their fear and pain.
“Watch out!” D’Maeo suddenly yells.
There’s no time to react. Something hits me in the back and I fall forward, arms flailing.
For a moment, I’m relieved to hit the ground instead of the water, but before I can even blink, hands grab me where they can. They pull themselves up, while I slowly slide closer to the lake of blood. I try to steady myself, but more and more people dig their nails into my skin.
D’Maeo pushes them back in, but there are too many. Exhilarated cries fill the air as one by one the sinners escape their fate. Meanwhile, D’Maeo is trying to pull me back by my feet.
“Hold on!” he calls out. “There’s only a few of them left.”
While the last of the punished haul themselves out of the lake, I slide further forward. My face is now above the boiling blood. The heat stings my eyes and makes it hard to breathe.
Beside me countless people lie in the mud, panting hard. Their smoldering wounds slowly heal and relieved smiles creep upon their faces.
D’Maeo pulls the woman next to me out of the way and holds out his hand. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
I yank my arm out of the mud and reach for his hand. What happens next seems to unfold in slow motion.
A giant fish jumps out of the lake. It has arms instead of fins protruding from its sides. With one swift motion, it grabs D’Maeo and vanishes into the boiling blood.
“Nooo!” I yell with all my might.
The sinners around me crawl backwards, out of reach, in case the fish comes back. I want to follow their example, but my body is frozen.
The fish comes back before I can pull myself together. It grabs me with its long fingers. I barely have time to take a deep breath before it pulls me under.
My whole body burns. Red spots flash before my eyes. I can hear my bones sizzle as the flesh around them melts. Pain shoots through every part of my body and my brain shuts down. When darkness falls over me, I embrace it with longing.
CHAPTER 33
I wake to a blur of colors and pain. I want to scream my lungs out in agony, but my tongue has melted away. A bright light blinds me, but I can’t close my eyes without eyelids.
So all I do is moan and try to stay still, which is hard when it feels like someone is moving a torch up and down your body.
“Do something!” a voice screams near me. It sounds broken, like a radio station that isn’t fully coming through. There’s static, even when no one is speaking.
Because of that, and the sharp stings that shoot through my veins continuously, it takes me at least a minute to recognize the voice.
It’s my beautiful girl, who is now just a dark shape looming over me.
How did you get here? I want to ask, but I don’t know how to form words. My brain is only half functional and my lungs resist every gasp for air.
“He’s already healing,” someone else says.
“Well, can’t you make it go faster? Or take away the pain?” Vicky sounds really desperate. It makes me feel a little better.
“This is beyond me.”
Mona, that’s the other person. Her name lights up in my head.
“We should call Quinn.”
Excellent idea. He can save me and D’Maeo. I draw in a deep breath, which causes me to cough uncontrollably. D’Maeo! Is he okay? What if the black void took another part of his soul?
Someone pushes me up a little and pours some water onto my lips.
“An ou,” I mumble between coughs.
“What?”
I feel something moving in my mouth and swallow carefully. My tongue! It’s back!
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“See, he’s already getting better,” Mona says. She gently strokes my bald head. “Don’t worry, you’re healing, but we called Quinn to see if he can help.”
“D’Maeo,” I mumble.
“He’s fine. Just tired. We sent him to bed.”
My eyelids slowly grow back, too, and for a moment I close my eyes. The simple movement has never felt so good.
“You called?” Quinn’s voice says as I swallow some more wat
er.
When I open my eyes, the shapes have turned back into people, although vague ones. My Shield is huddled around me. Vicky is right beside me, Mona is studying my skinless legs. Taylar, Jeep and Maël are standing behind them like guards, all with concerned faces. Even Charlie is there, chewing manically on something greasy.
Quinn’s tall dark shape steps between them. “What happened to you?”
I cough and wince as more pain shoots through me. “Got taken to the seventh circle of Hell with D’Maeo. Were pulled into a lake of boiling blood.” I gasp for more oxygen. “Wasn’t very pleasant.”
As my eyes heal, contours become clearer, details return and colors get back their vividness. One look at my body makes me gag violently.
Vicky gently turns my face towards her. “Don’t look at that. Look at me.”
“Gladly.” I try a smile, but it feels like my face is ripped apart.
A tear escapes Vicky’s eye. “I’m so sorry. I wish I could hold you.”
“You can.”
She shakes her head fervently. “No, I’ll hurt you.”
“I don’t care.”
She looks at me for a moment, reading my feelings. Then she gently places her arms around me and kisses my head.
“Much better,” I sigh.
Quinn’s worried face appears over her shoulder. “You look like crap, mate.”
A moan escapes me as the skin around my feet grows back into place. I take a deep breath that makes my lungs burn even worse. “Yeah, no kidding.”
He gestures for Vicky to step aside. “Let me see what I can do.”
As soon as his hand touches the top of my hairless head, I close my eyes. My skin is still pulling in every direction, but it doesn’t hurt anymore. My head tingles as hair grows back steadily. Sucking in air doesn’t hurt anymore. After I cough up some blood from the lake, my throat feels smooth again.
“You could easily score the leading part in a horror movie right now.” Charlie’s joke is followed by a soft outcry of pain.
“Just trying to lighten the mood a bit,” he says a couple of seconds later.
“Can someone get him a glass of water?” Quinn asks softly.
I’m itching all over by the time Vicky comes back with a glass. It takes all my restraint to keep from scratching.
Quinn smiles when I look at him with clenched jaws. “Don’t worry, you’ll feel like new in a moment.”
I lick my lips. “Thanks, Quinn.”
He clasps the glass between his hands for a moment, muttering something inaudible. Then he splashes some of the water onto his hands. Slowly, he moves them over my whole body. The last of the burning and itching disappears.
Quinn sits up straight and hands me the glass. “Good as new. Drink this to cleanse your insides.”
Just before I take a large sip, he grabs my hand. “Slowly. Give it time to work.”
As much as I want to gulp it down in a second, I do as he says. When the glass is empty, I feel reborn.
I run my hand over my face several times. “Well, that’s something I never want to do again.”
“What happened?” Quinn and Vicky ask at the same time.
I recap everything we went through and only leave out D’Maeo’s life story.
“What I don’t understand,” I say after a short pause, “is how we got back here. We’d been looking for a way out since we got there, but there was no sign of it.”
Vicky pulls up a chair next to the bed. “You probably remember that we were looking for a way to contact you quickly in case something happened when you were gone.”
I nod.
“Well, we finally found a spell. It can be used to get a message to you or, with a small change, to call you to us. We figured you and D’Maeo were pulled into another world, so we choose the latter.”
With a smile I pull her closer and kiss her temple. “Good thinking. I can’t imagine what it must be like to spend eternity in that lake of boiling blood.” I shake my head to get rid of the haunting images and feelings. “Or actually, I can. There are no words strong enough to thank you guys for getting us out of there.”
“Don’t worry about it, that’s what we’re here for,” they say in unison, making us all laugh.
It’s exhilarating after all the horror I just experienced.
Vicky hands me a piece of paper. “This is the spell, it also works the other way around. So if you need us quickly, or want to send us a message, you can use this.”
She hands me my Book of Spells and I thank the universe silently that it’s still in one piece. After sliding the piece of paper between the pages, I check on my other stuff that’s placed on the night stand. Since I’m only wearing underpants, there’s nowhere to put everything.
Suddenly very aware of my mostly naked body, I rub my arms. “So did you guys take out that crab guy?”
Vicky shakes her head. “Almost, but then we were pulled back here.”
“Oh right, of course.” I sigh. “Well, at least none of you got hurt.”
With more energy than I’ve felt in days, I haul myself to my feet. “I’m going to check on Mom and after that we can get back to saving Kale.”
Quinn is smiling at me, while Vicky seems to be checking out every body part I have.
I swallow a comment and turn to my angelic friend. “Would you mind checking on D’Maeo? He might need your help, too.”
He takes a small bow. “Of course.”
While the Shield goes to the kitchen to discuss our next move, Charlie, Mona and I go upstairs to see Mom.
Mona lifts the blanket covering the frail figure. “She’s doing much better.”
Tears of relief fill my eyes when I see the clean skin of her arms and legs. Only a trickle of black is left on her chest and the rest of her skin is not as pale as it was when I last saw her.
I lower myself onto the edge of the bed. My head drops onto her shoulder and I wrap my arm around her. “I love you, Mom, and I miss you.”
A heavy sob escapes my lips and for a moment I let out all of the fear, sorrow and despair that’s been building up inside of me.
By the time I lift my head, a large piece of Mom’s shirt has turned dark.
As Mona squeezes my shoulder, I swallow the last of my tears.
“We’re all still here, Mom,” I say, my voice no longer broken. “It’s a tough war we’ve found ourselves in, but we’ll get through it. I’ll protect you, wherever I am.”
Charlie puts his hand on my other shoulder. “We’ll all protect her.”
I dive into the bathroom before joining the others downstairs. My forehead wrinkles when I look into the mirror. “Wow.”
Quinn did more than just heal me. Not only do I look older than before, my muscles seem to have grown a bit. I’m no longer a sixteen-year-old with skinny-ass arms. The person looking back at me is more like an eighteen or nineteen-year-old who works out on a regular basis.
Or one who fights demons almost every day.
Maybe not all of this muscle is Quinn’s work. Fighting demons has its perks.
I grin at my reflection. Now I know what Vicky was looking at.
The smell of baked eggs swirls into the room and I quickly wash my face and comb some gel into my hair with my fingers. I put on clean clothes and walk back to my bedroom to collect my weapons and notebooks.
“Mona, you’re the best,” I groan when I enter the kitchen. “Can you come live here?”
Her face lights up. “I’m already practically living here, so why not.”
I recoil. “Really?”
The pan is suspended above the stove for a moment. Mona shoots me an apologetic look. “Oh, only if you want me to, of course.”
“I do, I meant it. I just didn’t think you’d say yes.”
D’Maeo appears in the doorway, still more transparent than he used to be, but with a content look on his face. “I think it’s a great idea.”
Jeep si
ghs from across the table. “Of course you do.”
Taylar stands up and holds out his hand to Maël. “If everyone is hooking up, I don’t want to be left out. So Maël, will you be my girl?”
Everyone falls silent, while Maël shoots him the most confused look I’ve ever seen. “What?”
Taylar chuckles. “I’m just kidding, of course. You’re way too old for me.”
The African queen shoves him in the stomach with her wand, which only makes him laugh harder.
I look around and feel confident about our mission for the first time. The Devil might be strong, and his demons dangerous, but we’ve become a family. We have something the Devil will never have: a bond. We will fight together and protect each other, no matter what.
CHAPTER 34
While he munches on his fourth bacon and egg sandwich, Charlie surfs the Pentaweb for info on Kale.
“If we can’t find anything, we can just go to his boxing gym. He’s probably training for his next fight.”
Charlie holds up his phone. “I’ve already saved the address.” He swallows the rest of his sandwich and looks longingly at Mona, who’s cleaning the stove. She turns around as if she senses his stare, grabs the pan and slides two more sandwiches onto his plate.
Charlie’s eyes glisten. “Oh Mona, you’re a life saver.”
She tilts her head, then shrugs. “I know.”
“We should get going, there can’t be much time left,” I say, reaching for my car keys.
Everyone is getting up when Charlie suddenly calls out. “Oh no!”
I freeze. Charlie looks at me with wide eyes.
“What? What did you find?” I urge him.
“There’s a news report about Kale. He broke crab man’s nose. He was arrested for assault.”
I take out my Book of Spells and place it on the table. “That means he has already committed his sin, right? We need the cloaking spell.”
“For what?” Taylar asks from the doorway.
“To get into the police station. We have to protect Kale.”
“Right.” He vanishes and reappears a second later with a shield on his back. “I’m ready.”
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