Ignoring the shrieks of rage that sounded like nails on a chalkboard, Isobel focused on the floor beneath the creature. A design in the same golden-white light flashed on the floor inside the circle. First a cross, then the Star of David, a pentagram—
The shadowy figure screamed. Isobel held that design and focused the rest of her energy at the demon. When she spoke her voice was surprisingly calm and even. “I banish thee. I banish thee back to the pit from which you came. I banish thee from this plane. I banish thee from the world of the living. I banish thee.”
The volume of the scream rose several decibels as it shrank and shriveled until it was no more. As it disappeared, the memory of every demon she’d ever banished came back. Her power thrummed in her veins bringing with it the knowledge of how to use her power to its fullest extent.
Silence filled the house. Slow clapping made her turn as she backed the power down and released it. Damien walked toward her, love and pride shining in his eyes. A smile of intense relief spread over her face and her hands shook with adrenaline. Damien pulled her into a tight hug and whispered, “You did it. Congratulations, meae deliciae.”
Lucian approached with a huge smile on his face. “I knew you could do it.”
“Ha!” Rose poked him with her cane. “You and Damien were the two who argued the strongest against this.”
Thunder rolled over the house as both of them talked over each other listing off reasons why it could have been a terrible idea.
Amelia took hold of Isobel’s trembling hands, her mouth spread in one of her gorgeous smiles. “I told you your gift was coming forward.”
Isobel hugged her friend, thankful she had come with Rose. She watched them all with a twinge of sadness. They felt like family. Her mind wandered to Rihanna, and she knew what she would do when it came time to face Xapar without the vial. Isobel wasn’t sure exactly how to do it, but the way would present itself. It was the only way to protect them all. She prayed quietly to the Higher Powers that they wouldn’t let her courage fail when the time came.
She quietly whispered the words Damien had once spoken to her, “Eis quos diligo me devovebo.” I will sacrifice my life.
Isobel jolted awake as thunder crashed over the house. A strange, soft light filled her bedroom. She rolled over and glanced around. The walls were covered in ghostly writing. “Sanctum inveni virum” was written over and over again. Find the saint. She reached for Damien and found his side of the bed empty. “Damien?”
No answer. Sorsha offered a trilling meow. Isobel pushed back the covers as she sat up. The cat hadn’t set foot upstairs since the window was installed. Isobel slid out of the bed. The door was open, but she didn’t see Damien on the landing. Sorsha meowed quietly again from the doorway. Isobel flipped the light switch. Nothing. The power must be out again. Outside the wind surged and howled. Xapar glowered at her from the crimson center of the window in the flashes of lightning, and dark shadows veined around the window.
Sorsha ran a few steps and paused, looking over her shoulder she meowed again.
The walls of the landing were covered with the same message as was the wall leading to the attic stairs. Isobel walked to them and stared up into the darkness. The words covered the attic door as well. The cat raced up the stairs and sat at the top, gazing back down at Isobel, her eyes half closed. She meowed again. Trailing her fingertips over the wall Isobel climbed the stairs, feeling the words in raised relief.
She opened the attic door. The inside was dark except for the box that contained her mother’s diary. Isobel glanced down at the cat. “Are you joining me?”
Sorsha rubbed up against her leg with another meow then dashed down the stairs.
Isobel stared after the cat then shook her head and walked into the attic. It looked like she was on her own. The glowing words were written on every available space on the box. “What am I supposed to find this time?” she whispered to the empty attic. How much energy had Eusebia used to draw her here?
The words remained as Isobel opened the box. The diary glowed with the same otherworldly light. Isobel picked up the book. She’d been through it already; there was no mention of the saint or his blood. The light around the diary flared and the words sprang up on the walls all around her.
“Okay, okay. I get it. I missed something.” In the glow of the words, Isobel opened the diary and thumbed through the entries scanning them. There was nothing new. She examined the diary itself, sliding her fingers over it. On the inside of the back cover she found a slit just big enough for three fingers. Isobel felt inside and found a small piece of folded paper.
Her hand trembled as she pulled it out and unfolded it. It was the missing page from the diary.
Father Thomas assures me the vial is safe and will be there when Isobel needs it. She is just a baby. I can’t decide if I’m proud or afraid that Isobel is the one to banish the demon when she becomes a young woman. Either way, it is the will of the Higher Powers. Father Thomas felt it the minute he saw her this morning. I hope I’m there to guide her when the time comes. If I’m not, Aiden assures me her dark angel will be ready.
Isobel stared at the page as the words on the wall faded until she stood in darkness. Her mother had known everything. Whoever Father Thomas was, he had known her as a baby. That meant he was in one of two cities. She refolded the paper and slowly felt her way across the attic to the door. It was so dark she couldn’t see anything. Eusebia could have left her ghostly lights on long enough for her to get back. She bumped into a wall and felt along it for the door, pretty certain she was on the wrong wall. Isobel turned and tried another direction unable to see even her hand in front of her face. Where was the lightning when she needed it?
Damien’s panicked voice called through the house carrying up the stairs. She raised her voice and yelled, “I’m up here. I found something!”
She heard the sound of feet running up the stairs from the main floor and caught a glimpse of a flashlight beam. Isobel rolled her eyes; she’d been going the wrong way to get to the door. Figures.
“Where?” Damien’s voice was tight with strain.
“The attic. Shine the light again. I can’t see anything.” The flashlight beam swung back and grew brighter as he ran up the stairs.
“How the hell did you get up here in the dark?” His voice was rough and a storm of emotions raged in his blue eyes. “I went to get a flashlight and when I returned you were gone. I thought Xapar had gotten to you again or another demon attacked. I didn’t know where you were.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I can’t protect you if I can’t find you.”
Isobel stared at him stunned by the outburst. “I called for you, but you didn’t answer.”
“How did you get up here without killing yourself?”
Isobel held the folded page out to him. “Eusebia provided the light to get me here then left me high and dry in the dark.”
He took the page from her and shined the flashlight on it. It only took him a second to read it. Hope flared inside him as he lifted his eyes from the page. “The vial.”
Isobel nodded. “I woke up to ‘find the saint’ written in Latin all over the walls and the attic stairs as if I would have understood what it meant without you.”
Damien glanced back at the paper. “I wonder why she waited so long to show you?”
“Maybe she was waiting for me to be ready. Or finally decided I was too dense to figure it out for myself.” Isobel shrugged, wondering if Eusebia had become frustrated or if she had disapproved of Isobel’s plan should the vial not be found.
“Do you know where this Father Thomas might be?” Damien studied her face, curious what the emotions were that had just flashed across it in the dim, dusty light.
“It says he knew me as a baby. My parents moved to Denver when I was two. So depending on when Rihanna stopped thinking of me as a baby he could either be in Denver or in Wichita where I was born. I was five when we moved to Ohio. I doubt she would have considered me a baby by the t
ime we moved there.”
Damien frowned. Both cities would have to be searched. There would be several Catholic churches in each city. It was a lot to explore. He glanced at Isobel. It would take too long to do it all by car. He would have to scout it first on his own. Damien shined the light toward the stairs leading down from the attic. “Let’s take this downstairs and—”
A heavy ripple of dark energy shimmered over him. Isobel’s eyes grew wide. His wings unfurled and light poured into the attic. He grabbed her hand as shouts drifted up through the house and pulled her down the stairs behind him. They bypassed the landing where Xapar’s malignant light shined with gleeful triumph.
Isobel gasped as they reached the main floor. Dark, smoky shapes moved in the light from Isaac and Lucian. Too many shapes. Damien grabbed a demon as it jumped at her and slammed it back, his bracelet in his hand. The words he spoke were mixed with the words of the other two dark angels as they battled others.
Rose had two golden-white rings up at the same time, a demon trapped in each. Amelia raised another in the dining room, but it wasn’t as strong as Rose’s. Not strong enough to hold the level of demon she was attempting to banish.
Isobel rushed across the foyer to Amelia, embracing her power. The strong, sweet, pure energy poured into her as she brought her own wall up around the demon. She glanced at Amelia. “I’ve got this one help the others.”
Amelia nodded, her face ashen as she backed away.
Isobel started working through the various symbols. She had no trouble holding the demon though he pounded against the walls of the prison she had made for him. The symbols stopped when she reached the Star of David and the demon shrieked, its howl mixing with the others as demons were banished.
It only took her a few seconds to send it back to the underworld. She turned and saw Damien banishing another while two more pounced on him. She started forward to help and found herself face-to-face with a much stronger demon. The shadowy figure towered over her. Isobel raised the circle around him just as he lunged. The wall of light shuddered violently under the weight of his power and an evil smile spread across its twisted face.
Isobel threw a cross under him knowing it would only marginally weaken the demon. He snarled at her. This one wasn’t aligned with any religion. For the first several minutes, she could do nothing beyond hold him there as he battered at the walls. She pulled in more power until she felt heat in her veins. Her senses sharpened with the additional energy until each smoky tendril around the demon was visible. Then she began to banish him.
“I banish thee. I banish thee back to the pit from which you came.”
The smoky hand of a lower demon swung through her line of vision. Pain exploded in her face and the blow sent her head crashing against the wall. The air left her lungs in a rush, and she slid down the wall.
The upper level demon battered against her power. She blinked against the dark haze at the edge of her vision and held onto consciousness with a death grip, eyes still fixed on the demon within her circle. Isobel finally pulled air into her stunned lungs and mumbled, “I banish thee from this plane.”
The lower demon pounced at her. Its hot claws closed around her throat cutting off the rest of the words and slammed her head against the wall again. Something warm and wet trickled down the back of her neck and black flecks swam across her vision. Damien appeared ripping the lower demon away and banishing it with such force it exploded as it left their plane.
Isobel sucked a breath down her raw throat and coughed. Through watering eyes she pinned the demon in her circle with power that raged through her until she felt as if she were crackling with it. More heat raced through her veins and her skin flushed as sweat beaded on it. “I banish thee from the world for good. I banish thee!”
The demon didn’t shrink or shrivel. Its red eyes grew wide as the circle’s power intensified and it exploded in a shower of sparks.
The house was completely silent.
Isobel’s head swam and power still raged through her. Damien knelt in front of her, his hands gently holding either side of her face as his blue eyes found hers. “Isobel, you need to back it down. You’re holding too much and it’s burning you up.” His voice was steady but urgent.
The darkness of unconsciousness beckoned, promising relief. Pain drove like a spike through her head as Damien’s hand touched her face. “Meae deliciae! Stay with me. You cannot pass out with this much power in your system. It will go out of control and you will die.”
Isobel sought his eyes as she struggled against the darkness.
“Concentrate on it, and back it down.”
She nodded and focused on the fire raging through her veins, concentrating on bringing it under control. She whispered a plea in her mind to the Higher Powers begging for their help.
A moment of absolute clarity and strength flooded through her bringing with it a blessed coolness. It was just enough for her to bring the energy under control so that she could back it down until it was safe to release.
Damien watched the power glowing around her fade. Her skin cooled considerably under his hands and he let out a relieved sigh. Her lids sagged again and she mumbled, “So tired.”
He pulled her toward him careful of her injuries. “I know, meae deliciae. You can rest now.”
Her eyes closed and her head fell limp against his arm. A bruise was spreading across her cheek and her lower lip was split. Dark, red prints marred her throat, and he felt blood mixing in her hair. With gentle, thorough fingers he explored the injuries on her face and head. Nothing felt broken just battered. The cut on the back of her head was bleeding heavy, but it wasn’t deep.
Damien lifted her without effort and carried her into the family room. He eased her down on the couch and pulled the quilt off the back laying it over her. Amelia and Rose sat on the other end. Amelia had a cut across her cheek where a demon had thrown her into a table during the fight. Rose appeared fairly unscathed.
Lucian handed him a couple of towels from the kitchen and Damien applied gentle pressure to the back of Isobel’s head. She groaned slightly but didn’t stir. She was going to have a hell of a headache when she woke. He paid no attention to his own injuries; they were already healing.
Seeing Isobel hurt made him ache, and he wished he could have reached her faster. Even so, pride welled inside him. She hadn’t let the attack from the lesser demon distract her from the upper level demon that could have done so much damage if she had released him. Damien shook his head. And she thought she wasn’t courageous. Isobel had scared him though with the level of power she had embraced. Well beyond the amount needed.
Lucian stood next to him. “What the hell was with the sudden attack by so many demons?”
Damien knew exactly what it was. “Isobel discovered where the vial is. Xapar called in some of his demons to try and stop us from retrieving it.”
Lucian’s brows rose. “You found it? Where?”
“It’s with a priest either in Wichita or Denver.”
“That’s a lot of churches to search. I’m not sure we have that much time.”
Damien raked a hand through his hair. “I know. I’m going to have to do something I don’t like.”
Lucian remained silent for a moment his tawny eyes sharp. “You’re going to scout them out first.”
Damien nodded. “It will go a lot faster if I do it on my own. If the priest is going to release it or even speak about it with anyone, it will be with Isobel’s dark angel.” He looked back at her sleeping face. “After tonight though, I worry about leaving her here. Leaving anyone here.”
Lucian’s hand gripped his shoulder. “Damien, we can’t walk away from the house right now. Rose is the only one keeping anyone else in the neighborhood from dying by Xapar’s hand. If she leaves, he will have a field day. And if Rose stays, we have to as well.”
“She can’t face him without the vial, Lucian. There would only be one way to stop him then.” Damien paused, his eyes narrowing at Isobel as h
e suddenly understood the motivation that had driven her to learn so much and the expressions on her face in the attic. “That’s what she was planning to do too.”
“When I said we I didn’t mean you, my friend.” Lucian pulled out his phone. “You do what you have to do. Isaac and I will remain here. I’ll call Elijah. He’s a free agent. That should be enough for now. If needed, I can call in Solomon and his channel.”
Damien nodded. Isobel, Rose, and Amelia would have the protection they needed. “You will tell her when she wakes?”
Lucian smiled as he scanned through his contact list. “Damien, go. I got this.”
Damien pulled the towel away from Isobel’s head. The blood had stopped flowing. Gently, he traced her face with his fingers careful to avoid the darkening bruise on her cheek. “I will return, meae deliciae.” She stirred slightly under his touch then settled.
He stood and locked eyes with Lucian. “Keep her safe, or I’ll rip your wings off and stuff them down your throat.”
Lucian chuckled. “It will take Xapar a while to gather more demons. We should have a break.” He leveled a look at Damien when he didn’t move. “You know she will be safe with me. Go away, Damien.”
Damien strode through the French doors in the dining room and out onto the large back deck. The rain had stopped sometime during the attack. Thunder still rumbled across the sky. Not that he worried. The storm wouldn’t affect him. He spread his wings wide and brought them down in a rush launching himself into the sky.
Isobel climbed through layers of mental fog as she clawed her way to wakefulness. She opened her eyes and rolled onto her back with a groan staring through blurry eyes at the ceiling. Her head felt like the top was coming off and the side her face ached like someone had thrown a brick at it.
Bound by Time: A Bound Novel Page 15
