My Soul to Take

by C. J. Archer

  "That's probably what they're discussing now. Come on, let's see."

  I walked off, but stopped when I noticed she wasn't following. Oh, of course. The baby. "You go back to the house, Hannah. I'll tell you what I learn."

  She bit her bottom lip, her gaze flicking between me and the abbey. "Come with me."

  I shook my head. "I want to know what they're planning. I'll be safe."

  She pressed a hand to her belly and sighed. If it weren't for her condition, she would have come with me. She wanted to come with me but the situation could still flare up at any moment, and she had another priority now.

  "Do you think Jack will be all right?" she asked, her voice small.

  I walked back to her and took her hands in mine. "Yes. He's strong and capable. If Myer survived it unscathed, Jack will too."

  She squeezed my hands. "You're right. Take care down there. Get away if it begins to get volatile. I don't know that I trust Myer to keep four demons under control."

  Nor did I, but I didn't express my concern. It wouldn't help her nerves. She headed back up to the house and I made my way to the ruins again. The men kept a healthy distance between themselves and the four demons.

  The creatures weren't so frightening when they were passive. They were somewhat similar to big dogs, all covered in fur, saliva dripping from panting tongues.

  Quin intercepted me as I approached. "Would asking you to return to the house make it happen?"

  "Not at this juncture."

  "I thought not."

  I curled my fingers around his arm. The hard muscles beneath his shirtsleeve twitched. "If it begins to look like Myer is losing control, I'll flee. I promise."

  Myer did seem to be holding them with his chants, but how long could he do it? What would happen if he stopped?

  And then he did stop. It was more of a pause, during which the demons remained where they were, passive and unthreatening. He looked satisfied as he tried it again, this time pausing for longer.

  "I have them controlled." The childlike wonder in his voice was odd on the whiskered middle-aged man. "Look!"

  "Good," Quin said. "Now send them back."

  "I can't do that. They have a job to perform." He began chanting again and the demons turned as one toward the house.

  "Stop this!" I shouted at him. "Sylvia is in there!"

  He broke off the chant to say, "I will instruct them not to harm her."

  "But what if Edith harms her?"

  "You can't blame me for her actions. Legally and morally, she isn't my wife."

  I threw up my hands. I couldn't believe it! He was going to march his creatures into the basement, willingly putting Sylvia in harm's way. Not to mention that Hannah had gone back into the house. I had to warn her.

  The demons lumbered toward the lawn like wound up automatons. I thought about lunging at Myer and snatching the amulet from him, but I wasn't sure if that would cause the creatures to turn on me to defend him.

  "Get back, Cara." Quin pushed me behind him and raised his sword. So did de Mordaunt. Thank God we had them both to stop this madness. I'd seen Quin defeat more than four demons, and I imagined de Mordaunt was capable with his weapon too.

  "Is your sword demon forged?" I asked him. "Can it kill them?"

  His lips curled. "It can kill demons." The grin widened. He switched his focus from the retreating demons to Quin's back, only a few paces ahead of him. "And more." He lunged.

  "Quin! Look out!"

  Quin spun round, slashing his sword in an arc as he did so. But de Mordaunt leapt out of the way, landing on the ground on his side. He rolled and leapt up onto a stone in a swift, practiced move. He laughed at Quin. Dread sickened me. Bile burned my throat.

  Quin thrust and sliced at de Mordaunt's feet. De Mordaunt jumped over the blade then jumped again as Quin repeated the move.

  Bollard raised his revolver but didn't shoot. He looked torn between going to the house and helping Quin.

  "Go!" Quin shouted, dodging a kick from de Mordaunt's boot. "Both of you! Your weapon will not destroy him."

  His words shocked me into immobility. He wanted to destroy de Mordaunt, not merely kill his body and send his soul back to Purgatory. It was so final and so cold, particularly since he'd known the man when alive. I found it difficult to believe such a dark sentiment came from my Quin. But perhaps it was understandable. De Mordaunt was, after all, ultimately responsible for the betrayal and deaths of Quin's wife and brother, and his own banishment to Purgatory.

  Bollard grabbed my arm hard, as if he expected me to resist. I did not. My presence would be a distraction for Quin, and he needed to concentrate on defeating that monster. We ran toward the house, but not before I heard de Mordaunt's accusation.

  "I would have been a better brother to him than you. You paraded your whore of a wife in front of him, tormenting him."

  The clash of metal against metal was followed by the whine of the blades rubbing. Quin didn't respond verbally to de Mordaunt, and I hoped further taunts wouldn't cause him to lose his temper and act wildly. I dared not look back to check.

  I needed to hurry. Bollard was shortening his strides so that I could keep up, but I was painfully aware of how unsuitable my clothing was for physical exercise. The demons and Myer were running now too, and we would not catch them.

  A gunshot boomed from the house. Bollard and I dropped to the ground, keeping our heads low. Although we weren't the targets, I wasn't sure how accurate Langley or Hannah would be.

  I glanced back at Quin. The gunfire must have broken his rhythm more than de Mordaunt's. He was on his back and de Mordaunt stood over him, both hands on his sword hilt, the point of his blade aimed at Quin's chest. I swallowed my scream and considered snatching Bollard's revolver.

  But in the moment I thought it, Quin rolled out of the way and de Mordaunt's blade skewered soft earth instead of flesh. I gasped in relief, and if I hadn't already been on my knees, I would have fallen to them.

  Bollard helped me to stand. My body shook, my skin felt cold and tight. He tugged me toward the house, but it was hopeless. The demons would beat us. The bullet hadn't stopped them. Perhaps if the shooter aimed at Myer…

  No, he was the only one controlling them. Without him, all of us, not just Sylvia, became vulnerable.

  I glanced back over my shoulder at Quin and de Mordaunt. They looked ghostly in the darkness, the moonlight picking out the white of their shirts and glinting off their blades. Blades that would not just kill but destroy. If Quin lost, he would cease to exist in any realm. Not even summoning him would bring him back.

  My chest constricted and my breathing became labored. I would have turned back to help him if I knew Bollard wouldn't drag me to safety, risking his own life. Hannah needed him now—needed us. So did her unborn child, as did Sylvia. It would be selfish of me to abandon them and assist Quin.

  And yet I felt like I was abandoning him.

  As if he sensed my conflict, and worried I would make the wrong choice, Bollard pulled me even harder alongside him. We broke into a run, but the demons were already at the front steps. The large doors were closed, probably locked, keeping the demons out. And us.

  Bollard stopped and raised the revolver.

  The demons suddenly changed direction, darting to the right. He aimed and fired, but the bullet merely glanced off the arm of one. It paused and swatted at its fur, as if nothing more harmful than a fly buzzed there, then turned those yellow eyes on us. One of the other demons slammed itself against the sitting room's French doors, cracking the glass panel. Two more followed suit, shattering the glass.

  "Mr. Myer! Please, stop!"

  But he didn't respond. He might not have heard me. His hair and forehead were damp with sweat; his breathing came in ragged bursts. His focus was on his creatures, and his words were strange to my ears as he continued the chant.

  Inside, another booming gunshot echoed. But the demons didn't care. They spilled through the broken door and into the house. If Han
nah was the one firing from in there…

  Oh God.

  Only three demons entered the house. The fourth kept its focus on Bollard. It came at us, and despite Myer's increasingly panicked voice, it didn't stop.

  "Mr. Myer! Control it!"

  "I…I can't." He was shouting at the beast now, his words running together. He stumbled backward, away from Bollard.

  Bollard raised his weapon, his face a mask of intense focus. He shoved me to one side, keeping me out of harm's way. I screamed and wanted to cover my face with my hands, but forced myself to watch.

  Bollard fired, just as another gunshot came from the house. The demon squealed and skidded to a halt, but not before its big paw swiped at Bollard's chest, knocking him over. The demon didn't continue the attack, but clutched at its back and chest, and I realized both bullets had hit it at the same time.

  With a whimper, it scampered after its mates, through the door and into the house. Myer followed, still chanting.

  I crouched near Bollard. He was bleeding, his clothes shredded, but he was alive. He glanced past me toward the house and nodded once. I followed his gaze and saw Hannah watching us through a window on the ground floor, a shotgun in her arms.

  "Are you safe?" I called out to her.

  She nodded. "We locked ourselves in here. Cara—" She shook her head and pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, suppressing a sob. "Sylvia."

  "I know."

  We needed Quin. We couldn't do this on our own. I had to help him, not just for his sake, but for all of ours. With Tommy and Jack gone, and Bollard injured, there was no one else.

  I put my hand out for the revolver. Bollard hesitated then gave it to me. Kill him, he mouthed.

  I hurried to the abbey ruins again. Neither Quin nor de Mordaunt noticed me. I kept the revolver at my back out of view, and slowed my pace as I drew close. They must have seen me, but neither acknowledged me. I suspected Quin was too worried to draw attention to me, and de Mordaunt didn't consider me a threat.

  I crouched behind one of the low, broken abbey walls and peeked around it. The scent of the damp earth and grass was strong, the cool stone rough against my cheek. It wasn't a good position to shoot from, so I knelt and rested my wrists on the wall, clutching the gun in both hands. I didn't shoot. I didn't trust myself to be accurate with their positions constantly changing. If I hit Quin…

  It worried me even more that I heard nothing from the house. No gunshots, no screams of agony from the demons. They must be at the basement door by now. Perhaps they had already broken it down.

  I needed to hurry, but hurrying was the last thing I wanted to do.

  I dragged in a steadying breath and willed my hands to stop shaking. I closed my mind off to the sounds of their swords clashing, the grunts of exertion. I focused on de Mordaunt. His moves were fast and perfectly executed, matching Quin's. Too fast. I needed them to be still, just for a moment.

  I fired the revolver over their heads. Both paused and spun toward me. I sighted, cocked and fired again.

  The bullet hit de Mordaunt's chest. He clutched his heart and stared at the blood seeping through his hands. Shock rippled across his face. Tears clouded his wide eyes.

  Quin thrust his blade through de Mordaunt's stomach. Blood poured from the wound and spilled from de Mordaunt's mouth. He coughed up even more, spraying an arch into the air. His damp eyes settled on Quin and his top lip curled in a sneer. "You…needed…a woman. Soft." Then that gaze flicked to me and hardened. "Bitch."

  Quin reached into the dying man's chest and pulled out his soul. It wasn't black like the souls of the spirits escaped from Hell had been, but gray and sick looking. I supposed de Mordaunt was a spirit like them, his body not really belonging to him, but granted by the Purgatory administrators, and so his soul had to be removed in the same way. For demons, Quin would have simply left the creature to disintegrate.

  De Mordaunt's body and soul crumbled to dust, and his sword vanished. Quin wiped his hand on his trousers and came to me. His body slammed into mine and his arms circled my waist, holding me tight. His breathing was ragged and his chest heaved.

  He'd been more worried about losing to de Mordaunt than I'd realized. Or maybe ending the afterlife of a man he once knew well played on his mind. De Mordaunt's soul no longer existed anywhere, in any realm.

  I pulled away first, although it was hard to do so. "We work better as a team than apart," I told him. "No more trying to push me away to safety."

  His answer was a grunt, and I suspected he would never stop trying to guarantee my safety. I supposed I ought to expect nothing less from him.

  I took his hand. "They need your help at the house. The demons are inside and Myer is struggling to keep them under control."

  "He's a fool."

  "Go ahead of me. You'll be faster."

  He took my chin in his hand and kissed me hard on the mouth. Then he ran up to the house. I glanced back at the spot where the portal lay, hidden and calm now. I prayed that Jack and Tommy were all right, and brought the book back with them soon. I abandoned my plan to go through and find it for myself. Tommy and Jack were there now. They would succeed. They had to. For Sylvia's sake.

  I ran after Quin, but reached the house well behind him. He climbed through the broken sitting room door and disappeared into the room beyond. When I reached the door, I peered through, checking that the room was empty of demons, then followed. Squealing and snarling greeted my ears from a distance. I crept out of the sitting room and edged along the dark corridor toward the service stairs. My hands shook and my palms grew damp with sweat. I clutched the revolver tighter and cocked it.

  "Cara." I jumped, despite recognizing Hannah's whispered voice. She emerged from the shadows of a doorway and hugged me.

  "Are you all right?" I asked.

  She nodded. "We stayed in here when we saw Quin coming." She moved aside, revealing Mrs. Moore and Langley gathered around the sofa. Bollard lay on it, his jacket and shirt open, a cloth pressed to his chest wounds. "He'll be all right," she said. "He wants to go and help Quin, but we won't let him."

  "I'll check and report back."

  "Cara, you mustn't go. It's too dangerous. Let Quin deal with the situation now."

  Even as she said it, another demonic squeal ripped through the house. It set my nerves on edge, even though I knew it meant Quin was battling them. Still, what about Sylvia? Had any of the demons breached the door?

  "I won't get close enough for them to see me," I told her.

  "Those things will smell you."

  "Myer is directing them to the basement and his wife, not us."

  "And we can all see how that is working out." She waved at Bollard.

  "I'm not just checking on Quin, Hannah. I want to see if Sylvia is all right too."

  As if I'd summoned it, Sylvia screamed. A shiver clawed down my spine. Everyone turned toward the door. Langley's head drooped into his hands. Bollard reached out and touched his master's knee. He cast a pleading glance at me.

  I clutched Hannah's arm briefly. "I'll be careful."

  She let me go. I continued to creep along the corridor. It grew darker, the further into the house I got. I found the entrance to the service stairs and removed my shoes. They would be too loud. I felt my way down the narrow stairwell, one hand on the wall, the other holding the revolver. How many bullets were left? I couldn't think how many had been fired, but I didn't think there'd been enough for it to be empty.

  I reached the bottom without breaking my neck in the darkness. Scuffles and grunts came from my left, where the basement stairs were located. I swallowed heavily, but it did nothing to dislodge the fear clogging my throat and pressing down on my chest. Quin was capable of killing four unarmed demons, but what if he was exhausted from fighting de Mordaunt? And why had Sylvia screamed?

  I peeked around the corner and saw the pale glow of lamplight from the basement stairwell, but could not see the stairs themselves from that angle.

  "Hurry, Quin!"
Sylvia's voice! She was alive, thank God. And she also knew Quin was there, trying to get to her. "She's coming! Please, hurry."

  "Myer!" Quin growled. "Stay."

  "You fool!" Myer shouted back. "You bloody fool. They were our only chance!"

  Did that mean the demons were all dead? I tiptoed to the basement stairs and peered round the corner. Myer stood on the second step from the top, his back to me, lamp in hand. Quin stared at the closed door, hands on hips, his shirt torn and a bloody claw mark across his broad back. Four piles of dust littered the steps.

  Quin took a step backward and turned his shoulder to the door. He was going to attempt to break it down.

  "Wait," I hissed.

  He glanced up as Myer spun round. Both opened their mouths to speak, but I put my finger to my lips. Myer eyed my weapon and swallowed hard.

  "I won't shoot you if you do as we say," I told him. "You won't get through that door, Quin. It's too thick and the bolt is enormous."

  Quin climbed the stairs to me. "What are you doing here? Go back upstairs."

  There was no time for arguing. Sylvia's voice had sounded terrified. Edith could already have killed her, although I doubted it. Sylvia was her bargaining chip. "Do you know what's happening in there?"

  "When Edith heard us and the demons, she became distracted," Quin said. "Sylvia managed to free herself from her bonds and arm herself, I think with a bottle of wine."

  "She won't be able to hold her off much longer. But perhaps we can still trick Edith." I waved at the piles of demon dust. "Their presence might have actually helped us."

  "How?" Myer asked.

  "Because if the demons are here, it means the portal was opened, and the portal could have been opened for someone to retrieve the book. Does she know it's in the otherworld?"

  He nodded. "I told her. But I also said she'd never get her hands on it. She won't believe I'm now going to hand it over to her. You said yourself she won't fall for tricks. She'll want to see the book first."

  "We have to try. It's our only choice. You're still going to refuse to hand it over to her. Loudly."