by J. S. Malcom
No sooner do I think it than Beatrice blips in beside me. She’s quickly followed by Regina, Harper, Blair and Alec. In a moment that would be comic—minus the demons—Beatrice and I look at each other and both say, “How did you get here?”
In her case, I suspect she means it literally. Although, I'm not sure how she knows I wasn't here a minute ago. On the other hand, I assume she and the others arrived via magic key. How they knew to come, I have no idea. Neither of us get an answer, since the bull demon chooses that moment to bellow out a roar. He drops onto all fours and gets ready to charge. Based on my experience, the street will soon be melting as he burns a path our way.
“Okay, team, this is what you've been training for! Now, do what needs to be done!”
With that, Regina flies up into the air. Gosh, thanks, Regina.
Then I realize that she just went after a zarcaroth circling above. Um, sorry, Regina. I take it back.
Beatrice doesn’t leave us on our own either. Just the opposite, as she takes the lead and starts marching forward. She thrusts out her arms and crosses her hands over each other, palms spread outward. She begins a pushing motion while reciting an incantation. The progress of the demons stops immediately, as if they’ve just come up against an invisible wall. Which they have, apparently, a wall conjured by magic.
Alec goes next. He raises his hands and begins gesturing in a summoning manner like the one he used at practice to call in birds. Only this time, the sky starts to rumble eerily before unleashing a sudden torrent of driving hail. Within seconds, it starts hammering at the demons in a rapid-fire barrage so dense and furious that I can barely see through it. Impressive magic, to say the least. Once again, I can’t help but wonder if Alec inherited his power from Sarah Wellingsford. Damn, my hatred of her runs so deep that even now she haunts my thoughts.
Hatred of his relatives aside, there’s no doubt that Alec’s magic is effective too. The hail works to drive the demons further back. The bull demon lets out another roar, this time one of anger and confusion. I take that as a cue to get my ass in gear. I start running around the outside of both Beatrice’s shield and Alec’s machine gun wall of hail. Seeing that I’m already spent, I’m going to have to get close. The way I figure it, I need to take out three demons nearly simultaneously. It’s going to take a lot of supernatural juice, and I’m not even sure if I have any left.
I’m almost at an opening when I nearly collide into a row of figures wearing long, hooded robes. There’s at least ten of them coming at the demons from the side, all of them firing lightning bolts from their hands. They have to be wizard-class mages, but where the hell did they come from? I circle back behind Alec and Beatrice, thinking I’ll come at the demons from that angle. The same thing happens again, as another row of hooded figures suddenly appears. I hit the brakes and shake my head, baffled. Then my eyes widen as the hooded figures start growing taller. Within seconds, the demons are penned in by two looming walls of giants. This must be a demon’s nightmare.
Suddenly, something occurs to me. Holy shit. Is that even possible?
My eyes cut to Blair who, sure enough, stands with her knees bent, her hands spread wide and her eyes rolled back into her head. Now I know what I’m seeing. Those mages aren’t real—they’re magical manifestations provided by Blair, as she taps into the demons’ collective fears. Apparently, she’s taking anxiety issues to a new level.
While I’ve never seen demons show fear, now they seem panicked. The porcupine tank keeps spinning in circles, it’s spiny hackles raised and shooting off electrical charges. It can’t tell who’s real and who’s not, so it can’t tell who to fire upon. The bull demon rises onto its massive hind legs, raising clenched fists to the assaulting sky. His eyeballs are literally on fire as he impotently rages. Meanwhile, the fire-breather stands hunched and spewing a steady stream of flame as hail keeps pelting against him. Unlike his rodent pal, he’s chosen a target.
That target is Harper, who stands with her legs braced and her hands thrust out before her. For a moment, I think she’s preparing to unleash a firestorm of her own, but that’s not what’s happening. She’s collecting the demon’s fire into herself to keep the rest of us protected. Her entire body is engulfed in a blazing glow, her skin scarlet. Her normally hazel eyes have become two obsidian pools of furious concentration.
It’s a surreal moment in which I realize what’s happening. Those around me are working in concert to keep the demons distracted, deceived and, amazingly, afraid. They’ve created the opening. Now I need to do my job and usher the Hell toddlers back out of here again.
The realization galvanizes me with a fresh, and seemingly impossible, rush of new magic. It’s not Faerie ley line supercharged, but I think I can do this. I dash straight through the wall of illusory wizard giants just as the hail finally quits. My guess is that Alec dialed that back so I wouldn’t get battered.
I have three demons to choose from, so I choose the electric rodent first. The way I figure it, all it will take is one of those quills to skewer me. Sensing my approach, it spins around, hackles raised and taking aim. I launch an orb in the same moment that the rodent fires off a charge. His shot goes wide while mine hits the bullseye. The oversized prickly critter squeals, starts shuddering like crazy and goes into a crackling electrical seizure. I run past, ducking and covering, as the thing explodes and sizzling quills shoot through the air.
One down and two to go.
This time, I choose the fire-breather. I’m just not sure how much longer Harper can hold that fucker off. Thankfully, he doesn’t see me coming up behind him as I close in for the strike. I unleash orb number two. Yes! This time the demon gets sucked back toward me, as if by a vacuum, the orb expanding around him. A moment later and he’s demon dust, the last stream of fire to leave his mouth still streaking through the air.
Just one to go now and we can call it a day. Thankfully, I seem to be on a roll. No sooner do I have that thought than I’m picked up into the air and slammed to the ground. The breath leaves my lungs with a sudden whoosh. For a moment, I’m too stunned to move. Then I spin onto my back just as the bull demon drops down from his hind legs to pin me.
Shit. That’s what I get for acting cocky.
The bull demon clenches my wrists in his two massive hands, driving my arms into the asphalt. I scream out in pain, thrashing my head back and forth as I wriggle my legs. I can wriggle them all I want. I’m not going anywhere. The demon looks down at me with fiery eyes, his corkscrew horns gleaming in the moonlight. I stare pinned, helpless and terrified as a grin splits his face. Clearly enjoying the moment, he slowly rears back his head. In a sickening moment, I realize just what he has planned. He’s about to drive those two horns right through me. In what I’m sure will be my final moment, I think of Autumn, then I close my eyes and prepare for the end.
Suddenly, the pressure against me is gone. My eyes pop open to see the bull demon reeling away backwards, as if caught by some sort of snare. Then I realize that’s exactly what’s happening. Wrapped around his throat is a winding noose of thick vine. That vine is connected to a long branch reaching all the way out from the sidewalk. That branch is connected to one of the trees lining the street. Beneath that tree stands Alec, his hands clenched into glowing fists as he reels that branch in, tugging the now choking demon like a fish on a line.
I leap to my feet, stagger forward and then start to run. With everything in me, I reach inside to summon more magic. As they say, failure isn’t an option. It’s only a matter of moments until the demon tears that vine from his throat. When that happens, Alec will die.
I light up another orb, and this time it’s me charging the bull. I fix my fury on that bastard, let out a primal scream, and hurl my orb through the air. I deliver it with some serious gusto. I mean, come on, that asshole was on top of me. The bull demon bellows out one last roar and then gets obliterated, as burning chunks of demon beef go sailing through the air.
Alec drops to his knees.
Just a few feet away, I do the same.
Both of us grin at each other.
“Just so you know…” He pauses, breathing, hard, and then gestures to where our fellow witches rush toward us. “You guys are my family these days.”
I nod, panting and sweating, his comment hitting home. Here I’ve been, angry at the unfairness of others judging me and Autumn, while I’ve being doing the same thing to him. Only, instead of ancient witch lore, I’ve based my prejudice on something way more flimsy.
“I’m an asshole, aren’t I?” I say.
Alec shrugs, that grin still on his face. “Sometimes, yeah. But you have some good qualities.”
“I’ll keep working on those.”
Alec nods. “I figured you would. Are we good now?”
“Yeah,” I say. “We’re definitely good.”
Then I jump as something slams down to the ground behind me. I turn to see an unconscious zarcaroth. Above it, Regina hovers in the sky.
“Hey, veil witch,” she says. “Take care of that, will you?”
Apparently, this is both my night to win a few rounds and also get put in my place. I gather myself up, conjure one last orb, and go do as I’ve been told.
CHAPTER 29
As Autumn and I sit at her kitchen table watching YouTube, her jaw drops open and her eyes go wide. I was there, and I'm nearly having the same reaction. The footage is grainy, blurry and taken from a distance—probably by someone in one of the downtown buildings. Still, you can make out burning cars, driving hail, and the hulking forms of the demons. Arcs of fire streak across the street as bolts of electricity crackle up into the air. Just before the video cuts off, you can see the small scurrying forms of people running toward the threatening creatures.
Autumn looks up from the laptop. “Seriously, that was you?”
I nod, rubbing my sore arms once again. Fucking bull demon. “Well, us. Those were the Shadow Order guys I told you about. I would have been baked without them.” More than likely, literally.
Autumn shakes her head briskly. “There were a bunch of stories about some gas main exploding.”
I shrug and take a sip of my coffee. “Pretty sure that happened later.”
The fact is, I know it happened later. As soon as we dispatched the demons—and with the sound of sirens bearing down quickly—Beatrice used one of her magic keys to open a portal. A spinning circle of sparks suddenly appeared beside her.
“Get through that now!” she said. “We’ll be right behind you.”
She meant herself and Regina, of course, although we weren’t sure why they were staying. That portal spit us out miles away, up by Capitol Square. Why there, I have no idea. Beatrice had been acting fast, so maybe she just chose a local key at random. As the four of us started walking, we speculated on why Beatrice and Regina might have stayed behind. We decided they were probably going to find a way of covering things up. This morning, I saw the stories about the gas main explosion.
Autumn looks at me, her eyebrow cocked. “Did you read the comments?”
She points to where, beneath the now stilled video, the list of comments keep growing longer.
“Yeah, I saw those,” I say. “Of course it’s a hoax, right? I mean, come on. Demons?”
“Of course. No such thing.” Autumn looks at the screen again, a smile playing on her lips. “I particularly like this one,” she says, and then reads the comment. “You expect us to believe that some idiots actually ran at those monsters? Go back to film school, asshole.”
She starts laughing and I do too.
“Right, I’m one of the idiots,” I say.
“I like that part best,” Autumn says. “Kind of true, actually.”
Which only makes us laugh harder. That we can laugh at all only goes to show that we’re in denial. Right now, we definitely shouldn’t be laughing. Tomorrow night, Autumn will stand trial before the supernatural community. And the location for that particular event? Sarah Wellingsford’s estate, of course. Meanwhile, Bethany and the others remain in limbo, and some asshole witch keeps opening the veil. Oh, and Vintain is on the loose again. Things are going great.
Done laughing, we fall silent for what I think will be a moment. Then the silence lingers, and I brace myself for where we have to go.
Finally, Autumn closes her laptop and looks at me. “So, how’s Esras doing?”
I shake my head, confused. “That’s what’s on your mind?”
Autumn nods, as if there’s no reason to be thinking of anything else. “Just curious. You didn’t really go into that part. Was he, like, happy to see you, or more like all business?”
I blink at her a few times. “We went to a prison.”
“So?” That smile starts tugging at the corner of her mouth again.
“Well, I mean, it wasn’t like we went out for a romantic dinner.”
“I know, but you can still tell.”
I squint at her like she’s insane. “We ended up battling demons.”
“Yeah, I know. You told me. How was the vibe between you two?” Autumn takes a sip of her coffee.
“At the prison, while we fought demons,” I say. “Just making sure I’m getting this right.”
Autumn just nods, keeping her eyes on mine. Her expression says, Take your time and think about it. I’m not in any rush.
So, I think back to last night. Despite everything that happened, two moments come to mind above all others. The first is when we were getting out of the freaky griffin elevator and Esras made sure I was okay. Well, and also made me accidentally horny just by placing his hands upon my midsection. The second is his face lighting up in a triumphant grin when I took out those demons. Even now, just thinking about his fond admiration sets my heart to pounding. Weirdly, everything between those two moments feels hazy by comparison.
I bring my gaze back to Autumn’s. “The vibe between us was good.”
Her eyes grow warm. “So, like really good, or so-so good?”
I can’t believe it, but I feel myself smiling again. I shrug and say, “Well, it’s not like we started banging in front of everyone, but it was really good.”
Autumn laughs. “Yeah, well, I figured it probably didn’t go that way. Still, good to know. What about Phoenix?”
Seriously? Of all the stuff we have to talk about? “You were there. No banging happened on that front either.”
Autumn shrugs this time. “I wasn’t there the entire time. You guys took that walk.” She uses finger quotes.
“Which was a walk,” I say. “Literally. Not ‘walk’ as in a euphemism for screwing.”
Autumn rolls her eyes, reminding me very much of our mother in this moment. She even sighs. “Banging and screwing aside, how’s the vibe there?”
“What’s with you and the vibes today?”
Autumn shrugs again. “Indulge me.”
So, I think back to that walk I took with Phoenix and the things we talked about. Immediately, his words come back to me from that peaceful, sad moment, during which I both wanted to cry and hold onto him forever. Love makes witchcraft seem simple.
My eyes start to mist, and it takes me a moment. Then I say, “The vibe was good there too.”
Autumn reaches for my hand across the table, placing hers upon mine. “Oh, geez,” she says.
“What?” I say, but already a tear is running down my cheek. I use my free hand to wipe it away, hoping she didn’t notice, or that maybe I can pass it off as cat allergies or something.
Autumn hesitates, but then says, “I thought it might be more cut and dried.”
I shake my head. “Probably not.”
“Oh, baby.”
And just like that, my tears start falling, even as I’m so totally pissed off at myself. Am I really crying over this when my sister’s life will be on the line tomorrow night? Apparently, yes.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m ridiculous.”
Autumn scoots her chair closer and then wraps her arms around me. She strokes my
hair while I cry. She speaks in a soft voice. “No, you’re not ridiculous. You’re tough as nails. Do you remember when we were kids, and we used to watch the Powerpuff girls?”
Now, I’m both crying and laughing as I remember those days from so long ago. Once upon a time, Autumn and I were just two little girls. Our parents were still young. Our father was still alive. The only monsters we knew of existed as animated characters on TV.
“I remember,” I say.
“You said I was like Buttercup,” Autumn says.
“Oh, my God, Buttercup. How do you remember?”
Autumn’s eyes meet mine and she doesn’t have to answer. She remembers because I was stolen. I went away and for fifteen years she searched to find me.
“You said I was like Buttercup because she was the tough one,” Autumn says. “Because I was older than you.”
I nod as Autumn holds onto me.
She kisses me on the forehead and says, “You’re Buttercup. You’re the kickass Powerpuff girl.”
I start laughing again as I wipe my eyes. “You’re totally Buttercup too.”
“No,” Autumn says. “I may be level-headed like Blossom, or maybe I’m more like Bubbles. She was the softie.”
I think of how kind and patient Autumn has always been with the spirits she encounters, when I’m more likely to ignore them. Then again, of the two of us, she’s definitely more level-headed and cautious. “You’re kind of like both,” I say.
Autumn nods. “That’s okay. I can live with being a Bubbles-Blossom hybrid.”
“Are you sure?” I say. “We could take turns. I can be Buttercup for a while, then you be Buttercup. I’m okay with that too.”
Autumn pulls back from our embrace, keeping her eyes on mine. “You may just have to be Buttercup. That might just be the way it goes.”
I start shaking my head as her meaning sinks in. “No.”
“Cassie, you might just have to be. And, listen, you’re way tougher than me. You know that.”
I keep shaking my head. “No, no, no.”
