by Misty Dietz
UNHOLY LEGACY
Unholy Inc Book Two
Misty Dietz
Contents
Blurb
Unholy Inc Terminology
Demon Hierarchy
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Note to Reader
Please enjoy this sneak peek…
COME HELL OR HIGH DESIRE
About the Author
Copyright © 2017 by Misty Dietz
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is coincidental.
MISTY MEDIA
eBook ISBN: 978-1-943716-08-1
Print ISBN: 978-1-943716-09-8
UNHOLY LEGACY
Acerbic exorcist Katherine Evangelista keeps her tongue razor sharp and her elegant night club the nerve center of her demon hunting activities. Her business runs on logic and her relationships on sarcasm because experience has taught her emotions are dangerous. Even if she hasn’t been happy, she’s been in control…until her ex and a daughter of Lucifer show up and make her life Hell.
Swashbuckling Ari Grimmson is an ancient Viking warrior with a big laugh, a big ego, and an even bigger plan. He’s returned after a three-year absence to vanquish the Demon Princess and win back Kat’s prickly heart. But his plan falls apart when Kat begins to empathize with Leviathan, the perplexingly philosophical Demon Princess, who claims she’s nothing like her notoriously evil father…a declaration Kat relates to on a deeply personal level.
As Leviathan’s demon horde begins to surge through the island and Katherine’s health begins to fail, she doesn’t know whom to trust. The man who knows her best, but broke her heart…or the Demon Princess who promises to heal her suffering once and for all. If Kat chooses wrong, it’s more than her own fate that hangs in the balance…she could leave an unholy legacy for the entire human race.
For Amy Bohannan.
For your beautiful mind
& the secrets that do us bind.
UNHOLY INC TERMINOLOGY
amplio—the heightened senses (gorgeous colors and wonderful taste) that a human or another Guardian can instigate in a male Guardian. Some Guardians think it’s a gift for good behavior. Generally doesn’t mean anything about that person who instigates it in the Guardian. But sometimes it does. Mated compars instigate amplio, but not all cases of amplio are with one’s compar.
chrism oil—Consecrated by the bishop on Holy Thursday, chrism oil burns and weakens demons even more substantially than holy water. Made of balsam. And if thrown on a demon’s shade after it had left its human vessel, chrism oil would exterminate the demon forever. Usually kept in pewter bottles inscribed IO—oleum infirmorum, oil of the sick.
compar—a Guardian’s soul mate. Guardians have more than one potential soul mate in the world. The choices they make take them down different paths. If they’re lucky, those decisions lead them toward unity with one of those soul mates. If compars choose to bond, they amplify each other’s powers.
dark sleep—a rare, black magic spell cast on Guardians by powerful demons using holy relics. It produces weakness and failure to thrive that eventually leads to a death-like unconsciousness from which Guardians almost never recover unless an archangel intervenes. (not the same as ether sleep, see below).
Dei Patris—God the Father
Demons—humans who went to Hell, who are now evil, bodiless spirits that require a human host (a human “meat suit”) to carry out their malevolent activities on Earth. They are distinguished from the recently Possessed by their eyes. Full-fledged demons have solid black eyes with no color to their irises, while the possessed still retain their iris color, though it may begin winking in and out the closer they are to losing the battle to the evil inside them. Most of them stay out of daylight because their powers are weakened at that time of day. If the human host body is killed without another available host, the demon’s black mist form seeps out the human’s eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Then it settles like gun powder on the body and lights on fire, turning the whole body to ash.
Devil’s Trap—a mystical symbol used to immobilize and control demons. It is similar to a circle of salt, but more powerful and persistent as it is usually etched or painted in place, and can't simply be brushed or blown away. If a demon walks inside the circle of a devil's trap, it cannot physically leave it, and is trapped. Devil's traps also inhibit the use of some demonic powers. Devil's traps have been used not only to detain a demon, but are also drawn at entrances as a deterrent to prevent access to a building, room, or container.
Example of a simple Devil’s Trap >>>>>>
domo—massive vanquishing ceremony for demon byproducts and evil-summoning objects. The ceremony requires at least two Guardians to perform, more if the cache of evil was enormous. The ceremony’s back draft sucks all demons within a ten block radius into a state of nothingness. And those demons are vanquished for all time.
elskan—Icelandic for darling.
ether sleep—a powerful, healing sleep for Guardians. Can only be instigated by Ether-Elemental Guardians in dire situations. Usually results in significant pain transference to the Ether Guardian.
Incubus—the male counterpart to the Succubus. A male demon who appears in a human’s dreams to seduce him or her for sex energy to maintain an attractive glamour. In their true form they have long, leonine tails and the iridescent scales growing up their shins from their feet.
Miklimunnr—old Norse (Viking) for a big loud-mouth.
Nephilim—milky-eyed, skeletal - assailed an individual’s mind, crumbling the human from the inside-out. The Nephilim’s objective was mental illness, and, unless a Guardian got to the human in time, self-harm, usually ending in suicide. (self-immolation, often by setting themselves on fire). Release ear-shattering shrieks that devastate humans. Hard on the Guardians too.
Oleum infirmorum—oil of the sick (Latin), also known as chrism oil. A mixture of olive oil and balsam, blessed by the bishop on Holy Thursday. Used for anointing in Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders, in the consecration of churches, chalices, patens, altars, and altar-stones, and in the solemn blessing of bells and baptismal water. Kept in pewter vessels with glass interiors and inscribed with OI on the front of the vessel. A powerful demon weapon, it has the same effect as holy water (burning, temporary immobilizer), but much stronger. If thrown on a demon’s shade it kills them permanently.
(The) Possessed—humans who have been recently invaded by a demonic spirit in a war for their soul and host body. If the human isn’t exorcised before the demon takes over, it’s almost always too late for their soul. The possessed retain their origi
nal (iris) eye color. Full-fledged demons have solid black eyes.
Rephaim—Another class of Fallen Angel with leathery gray skin, bald heads, red eyes, and wiry bodies. Taller, faster, and stronger than most Guardians, but they can usually be outsmarted. Unlike the Nephilim, they instigate social chaos and public devastation, creating mobs, serial killers, and suicide bombers.
sanctorum—a spiritually-warded protection room where no demons can enter. It’s also where they house powerful, ancient religious relics (in reliquaries), and stockpile demon byproducts and evil-summoning objects.
streaming—teleporting. Guardians can take people and object with them, but it’s taxing.
Succubus (succubi, plural)—a female demon who appears who appears in a human’s dreams to seduce him or her for sex energy to maintain an attractive glamour. In their true form they have brown horns, emerald hair, and rust colored, bat-like wings.
xiphos—a double-edged, iron sword used by the Spartan Alexios and other ancient Greeks for close combat. Its leaf-shaped design lends itself to both cutting and thrusting. When forged and blessed by Heaven’s Commanding Archangel Michael, it is one of the most powerful weapons in the Guardians’ arsenal. Kills demons and the possessed permanently. Doesn’t kill archdemons and fallen angels, but it can send them back to Hell where they are trapped until a new Seam between Earth and Hell breaks open.
DEMON HIERARCHY
(most power to least)
LUCIFER—the Original Fallen Angel (AKA Satan, The Devil, Dark One)—He rules Hell and all demonic beings from the cage he was placed in by the Archangel Michael during Heaven’s Fallen Angel Rebellion.
ARCHDEMONS—Lucifer’s children via Succubus mothers. They are princes and princesses of Hell who can control all demonic beings except Lucifer. They have their own true, monstrous forms so they don’t have to take a human host, though they usually do so they can walk among humanity undetected. When Archdemons are exorcised from human bodies without access to their true forms, they spew a blood-red colloidal substance out of their mouth, nose, and ears. When they are “killed” on Earth, their immortal spirits return to Hell to await their next opportunity to come back to torment humanity.
INCUBUS, SUCCUBUS, NEPHILIM, & REPHAIM—Other Fallen Angels from The Rebellion. They take their own forms, so don’t need human hosts, though they usually take them to walk among humans undetected. They can command demons and the possessed. They are commanded by archdemons and Lucifer, but they usually try to keep off the archdemons’ radar so they can do their own thing.
DEMONS & THE POSSESSED—Able to be commanded by any class of Fallen Angels (Incubus, Succubus, Rephaim, or Nephilim), but the Rephaim boss them around the most. The Incubi, Succubi, and Nephilim like to be more solitary. Demons and demonic spirits in search of human hosts are more numerous than archdemons and Fallen Angels. They also get to Earth easier and much more frequently than their more powerful counterparts due to cosmic justice.
Chapter 1
AQUA nightclub, Waikiki Beach, Hawaii
November, 8 am
Death, darkness, demons. It was getting so damn old.
Katherine Evangelista breathed deep and reached for the nearest wild-eyed, possessed female, ready to barter whatever was left of her soul for the strength to help this unfortunate human. Step one: force the young woman into the Devil’s Trap in the center of the dance floor where divine power would immobilize her. Step two: release the evil spirit. Step three: wipe the woman’s mind and send her on her way. Step four: erase the entire episode from the non-possessed, human bystanders’ memories and get them the hell out of the club.
It sounded so simple. And for the last century, it had been.
But lately Katherine was beginning to wonder how many more exorcisms and mind-wipes she’d have reserves for. Her arms shook with the effort to evade the snapping teeth of the young, tan brunette. Recently, every soul purification rite had sapped her Guardian life force.
Worse yet, she couldn’t seem to recharge the way she had for more than one hundred forty years. What was wrong with her?
Aut viam inveniam aut faciam. Find a way or make one.
Her father had believed it was his duty to warn his children’s endless list of governesses that she was the stubborn one—as if the trait was a stain on her soul no amount of good behavior could erase—while her younger siblings were the beleaguered byproducts of an intolerably bossy sibling. She’d never forget the sound of their father’s low, angry voice talking to her mother behind closed doors. Just wait Annabelle, Katherine’s perverse obstinacy will cause us more grief than Mary’s fearfulness or Paul’s tireless whining.
Perhaps what hurt the most was how her mother had never roused herself to Katherine’s defense.
Get over it already. These tweaks of insecurity reared up at the most inconvenient times. If people wanted to label her a bitch because she was assertive and goal-oriented, that was their prerogative. She had more important things to worry about.
Like how to put out that fire someone had just started on the table closest to the dance floor.
“Stark!” She yelled over her shoulder for her lead security specialist as the possessed woman clawed at her face.
“Stark’s out on the pool terrace rounding up the other crazies.” Konani, the club’s most popular human mixologist, rapidly refilled a spray bottle of holy water at her bar station. “Give me a sec. I’ll grab an extinguisher!”
“No time!” Katherine finally caught both the woman’s wrists, then glanced up, using her water element to activate the nightclub’s emergency sprinklers. Crystal chandeliers and champagne buckets rattled with the sudden power surge and water works. She gasped as bone-chilling water spewed in her face, her biomagnetism failing to shield her like it usually did when she used her powers.
Clearly this last call for energy had consumed the final dregs of her capacity. I am one hundred and eighty percent done with today, and at least forty percent done with tomorrow.
She shook her head to dislodge her soggy blonde hair from her eyes, her white designer pantsuit sagging on her frame. Screams of the possessed running amok in various perimeters of the nightclub rang in her ears, courtesy of one of Satan’s daughters.
Ancient archdemon Leviathan had decided to party on Katherine’s little patch of purgatory on Waikiki, and brought with her a horde of minions searching for human hosts. So far, Leviathan hadn’t performed any of the aggressive tricks that Nate Temple’s invading archdemon had pulled at his Minneapolis nightclub TERRA, but that wasn’t necessarily fortunate. The two low-key weeks since Leviathan had showed up in Hawaii were likely the calm before the storm.
AQUA’s human security team had observed a surge in possessions this week, but they should’ve posed no problem. Exorcisms had always been uncomplicated for Katherine. She spoke the right incantations, drew the malevolent spirit out of the human and into her body, blasted it with the mojo inside her, and voila!
Exorcisms-R-Us.
In the past, meditation, rest, and a good diet had always restored her powers. Right now, though, she was too tired to even turn off the emergency sprinklers. And it was doubtful she’d have enough energy to wipe the minds of the non-possessed humans cowering in the club’s dark corners witnessing all this shit. She’d probably need to call one of her Unholy Inc partners for help. Damn.
“Blood, pestilence, and horror! Blood, pestilence, and horror will visit the earth!” the possessed woman screeched.
Katherine shoved the woman the final two feet into a chair inside a Devil’s Trap, a mystical symbol comprised of a circle, a five-pointed star, and sigils that could be created on almost any surface to immobilize demons. Catching a glimpse of her wet suit cuffs, now stained pink from bloody fingernail scrapes on her wrists, she pursed her lips. “Ish. I despise pink.” Her gaze came up to pin the woman with a stare she hoped would demoralize the evil spirit using her as a meat suit. “And I loathe demons who repeat themselves. Now, sit still, or I’ll torture
you before I dispatch you back to Hell. Tottering maggot,” she finished under her breath.
The twenty-something woman shook her long, wet hair vigorously, then turned and sank her teeth into the nearest thing—another possessed human—this time a male who happened to be a fingernails-down-the-chalkboard shrieker.
Ugh. A person’s reaction to a demonic body invasion was as varied as the range of human personality. Yet recently, she’d seen nothing but the crazed type.
She wiped water out of her eyes, and her hand came away smudged with eyeshadow and mascara. Today was panning out to be a spectacular waste of makeup.
Katherine glared at the possessed woman once more, then turned to another member of AQUA’s security team. “Maddox, get the iron chains soaked in holy water for this perky thing. She’s a biter.”
The haunted look in the black man’s dark eyes vanished with his assignment. Katherine had found Maddox homeless and delirious on Detroit’s mean streets last year. He was human, but a powerful telepath who could hear the thoughts of others. Unchecked for years, the ability had nearly driven him insane.
Some days Katherine wondered if she was doing the right thing by pushing him to delve deeper into his psychic nature instead of medicating it out of him. Might be more humane that way. But then again, she was a hard-edged ogress who didn’t like the easy way out of anything.
She may be physically frozen at twenty-five years old—her age when she’d died—but she was much too set in her ways to change now. So yes, she would continue to push Maddox to control his ability. And some day, she would celebrate when those tormented shadows no longer darkened his eyes.
Katherine watched Maddox’s tall, athletic form vanish into the storage locker to retrieve the chains, wishing she was anywhere but here right now. Guardian leader Alexios was going to be cross about how damaged these humans were before she got them exorcised, but right now it was proving difficult to give a damn. Being a Purifier—a healer Guardian—had its perks, but most of the time, it just sucked.
