Heroines and Hellions: a Limited Edition Urban Fantasy Collection

by Margo Bond Collins

  “Reveal door,” she whispered, her voice tight and desperate.

  A gold line streaked across the paint, outlining a narrow door before fading. Of course! A drawn door. Always a nifty spell. Forming her cast again, Aerie flicked her wrist and her index finger took on a pale green glow. She traced her finger along the outline of the drawn door.

  The wall split, manifesting a real door. It opened slightly. Aerie slid her fingers into the crevasse and pulled it open.

  “Get out of there!” The guy thumped into the doorway opposite, hands fisted and shoulders bunched, ready to pound her into pieces.

  Aerie slid through the doorway and pulled it shut, casting a hinge-sticking spell under her breath. Wouldn’t keep him out forever, but it would buy her time.

  “Good girl. Now, please. Come down and find me.” The voice was a little louder in here.

  She was getting warmer. Good. Because he was getting closer.

  A circular staircase twisted downward to a dimly lit room. Thumps on the wall behind her and the muffled yells of one very ticked-off sorcerer were all she needed to keep moving. She quick-stepped it half-way down before hopping over the banister and scaling down the side of the wrought-iron framework.

  Dropping the last few feet to the floor, she found herself in what must be the wizard’s den, his place of power. The power was everywhere, dancing along her skin, filling the air she breathed. Candles flickering from a few well-placed wall sconces lent a glow bright enough to see the display cases, the wall racks, the tables covered with artifacts and devices. How would she find the source of the voice here when she could only see enough to keep from walking into the furniture?

  “Where are you?” She twisted around, searching the room. No one in sight.

  “I am here.”

  A brush of power, like a soft tap on her shoulder, turned her attention to a small table in the corner of the room. The only thing on it was a wooden box. She grimaced. Without her compass, she didn’t have a way to detect any hidden iron.

  She had to bite the bullet. Aerie flipped open the lid. An amulet lay inside, on top of a pile of papers and scraps and pieces of fabric.

  The Asmodeus amulet. She knew it. This thing matched the sketches in Pop’s file perfectly.

  The amulet pulsed with a soft glow and that soft whispery voice echoed from within. “Now take me out of here.”

  Lifting the amulet out of the box, she palmed it, its smooth surface glinting in the soft light. A long chain slithered down through her fingers.

  The quiet was shattered by the squeak of sticky hinges and repeated thumps on the door upstairs. Running out of time.

  Aerie pulled the cold, heavy chain over her head and grasped the amulet. Before she had the chance to tuck the tarnished bauble into her shirt, it called her name again.

  She flipped it over and saw a half-dollar-sized topaz. A pale green glow oozed the crevices around the stone as if it was powered from within.

  “Touch me,” the far-away lady’s voice whispered. “Touch the stone.”

  Something about the voice made her trust it. Without hesitation, Aerie brushed the stone with her thumb.

  The jolt that passed through her felt like a shark bite. A hundred times worse than the day she thought divining rods were toast extractors. Even though the inherent magical nature of the rods prevented her from being electrocuted, her hair stood on end for a week and she never ate toast again.

  The current lit her entire body with a thumping shock that bordered on pain. It sizzled through her once before dissipating, leaving a hum of energy in its wake. A hum of energy and…something else.

  Someone else.

  “Time to leave.” The voice of the amulet didn’t come from the device in Aerie’s hand any longer. Now, it came from inside her head.

  She closed her eyes and swayed, feeling a course of power curl through every corner of her body. Her heart pounded, anxiety squeezing her throat. This was not her power. Her power didn’t feel like a river of rage.

  Opening her eyes, she scanned the room. A mirror hung on the far wall. She crossed the room in a breathless rush and looked inside.

  A layer of blue flame licked over her skin and her eyes seethed with a sullen red glow. Her reflection told her everything she needed to know.

  Possessed. She had been possessed by a demon.

  Just great.

  5

  The guy slid down the staircase like an acrobat and landed with a graceful thump.

  “There’s no way out.” His voice was low and ragged. “Drop the amulet and I’ll let you walk out on your own.”

  Aerie didn’t have to turn around to know he stood at the foot of the stairs, blocking the only way out.

  She also knew he had a baseball bat in his right hand. He was feeling desperate and intended on using it if she resisted him, although he didn’t want to hit a girl and hoped she’d be scared enough to comply. She knew all this because the demon knew all this.

  The demon also knew that he didn’t know that she knew. A dread smile snaked across her lips. What he didn’t know could really hurt him.

  Aerie drew a shuddering breath, fighting to focus. The demon wanted to shove her consciousness aside and take full charge of her body. Aerie dug her nails into her palms, struggling to maintain control. My body, dammit. Mine!

  The power flexed like a fist and she arched her back, crying out.

  “Hey. Are you okay?” He sounded suspicious.

  Her gaze slid sideways.

  Something inside her wanted to teach him an important lesson about why it wasn’t smart to mess with the demonically possessed. Something inside her wanted to see how bad things could get. Something inside her was very, very angry.

  She spun, head lowered so he couldn’t see her eyes, and jammed her hands under her arms. “Let me out. Now.”

  “Drop the amulet.”

  “No.” She clenched her teeth. Heat began to spread through her limbs, slow and deliberate like lava. It burned. Part of her relished the pain. She sucked air between her teeth, feeling the sting.

  “I was afraid you’d say that.”

  She heard him swing the bat. The demon in her watched him, fed her the visual, readied itself to spring. She ducked the swing easily.

  “You should be.” The voice that came out of her mouth was not her own. She raised her head and saw panic register on his face.

  Wide-eyed, he backed up a step. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Not half as much as what’s gonna be wrong with you if you don’t move aside.” Her voice was a growl. She’d cut right through him if he got in her way—

  She shook her head. She refused to give into it. “Stop it.”

  Her insides stretched, glowing ember red. Fury. It didn’t like being denied.

  Aerie screamed. The demon screamed back and all of it came out of her mouth. The blue licking flames engulfed her and she blazed like a gas fire.

  The ground began to tremble. Shelves rattled. Aerie squinted her eyes shut against the sting of smoke. Something was burning. Eyes closed, the demon sight focused her attention on a doorway inside her mind. All she had to do is unlock it…

  “No!” She summoned every ounce of strength and blocked it out. This time, the voice was all her own. “No.”

  “I’m tired of hearing you say that.” He shook his head before launching himself at her.

  They grappled, hands locked around each other’s necks, forehead to forehead, eye to eye.

  She knew he didn’t want to fight her. He only wanted her to back off, walk away, talk it out. That moment of hesitation was going to cost him.

  He hooked his leg around hers in a take-down move but she turned into him, trapping his leg, sweeping it out from under him. Using all her weight, she rolled him to the ground and pinned him with a forearm across his throat.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” she growled. “But she will.”

  He gasped and swatted at her head, missing. “She won’t. She knows m
e.”

  “I don’t. And I don’t care.”

  He swung again and she trapped his arm, pulling it up to her chest. Squirming, she slid her legs up his body, locking them around his shoulder. Just a little lean back—

  He yelled and shifted beneath her legs.

  How cute. He thought he could break a hold like this? She grabbed his thumb and bent his wrist, twisting, tweaking—

  This time, he yelled from the belly, pain streaking through his voice and making it crack. She had him.

  Aerie held him a few seconds more, feeling him tense up like steel beneath her, trying to keep his arm attached. The last thing she wanted to do was have to re-attach a limb. The paperwork for that would have been a total bitch.

  She released him and rolled back, onto her feet, watching him curl up, cradling his arm, breathing hard.

  Fists up, weight on her back foot, she waited. Was he done? He had to be.

  He dragged himself to his feet, a little wobbly, but recovering. She rolled her eyes. This guy would not give up.

  All she knew was she couldn’t afford to. She didn’t come this far, this close, to give up now. She had the repo. Her dream job was finally in her grasp.

  And this thing inside her was ten times more resolute. She was getting out with the amulet, whether or not she wanted it, because this amulet wanted her.

  She charged him. When he didn’t move out of her way she used her shoulders to ram him, lifting with her knees. He grunted as the air left in him in a whoosh and he stumbled back against the wall. Aerie sprinted up the steps, unsticking the drawn door and flinging it open with the slightest of gestures. She found her way through the maze of rooms as if her previous footprints had left a glowing trail.

  Aerie ran like the devils chased her. Maybe they did.

  The front door was still open, the huge fish twitching in a puddle on the slate floor. A Pomeranian tugged at its fin, dancing backwards when the fish flopped at it. Aerie leapt over them both, zinged through the door, and vaulted the porch rail, hitting the ground without breaking her run.

  She circled and cast at the van, swinging open the door, and jumped in. Another flick and a twist started the engine. Aerie slammed down the gear shift and tore off up the street without a single glance behind.

  There was nothing back there that could hurt her now.

  Now, it was all inside her.

  6

  The ride home gave Aerie an entirely new outlook on the phenomenon of road rage.

  Out of habit, she set the cruise control to a modest five miles above the speed limit but her foot never left the gas pedal. She weaved through the semis and the cars and the buses as she shot down the interstate. Unfortunately, her aggressive driving caught the wrong kind of attention.

  The splashes of red and blue in her rearview mirror led to an interesting exchange with a very confused State Trooper who decided only a warning was needed and drive safely, now, ma’am. Perhaps it was his patrol car that urged him through such a speedy confrontation. When a car blows out four tires simultaneously, even Pennsylvania’s Finest would get distracted.

  Or…maybe it was the blue flames that sprouted on the back of her hands when she squeezed the steering wheel.

  Either way, it was a short delay. On the plus side, the trip only took forty-five minutes.

  For Aerie, it was the longest forty-five minutes she’d ever endured.

  He’s gonna kill me. I just know it. First, he’s gonna kill me for being in his office without permission. Then for driving all the way up to Scranton on my own. Then for getting possessed. He’ll kill me twice, for that. . .

  The closer Aerie got, the quieter the demon became, and eventually it settled into the back of her consciousness, rousing itself from time to time only enough to urge Aerie cut someone off or flash a rude gesture. By the time she pulled into Pathering’s lot, it had reduced itself more or less to a bad case of PMS.

  Aerie doubted there was enough Midol in Vanguard to make it all go away.

  She was so intent on getting back home that she failed to pay attention to the dashboard. The van sputtered and came to a shuddering stop a few miles outside of town. Out of gas.

  Luckily, Cara was still home and could run to pick her up.

  “Look on the bright side,” Cara said. “A warning won’t put points on your license.”

  Aerie groaned. “Crap. I totally forgot about the cop. Pop’s gonna kill me.”

  Cara eyed the amulet’s obvious bump under her t-shirt. “Did you try taking it off?”

  “Yes. The demon wouldn’t let me.”

  “Let me try.” Cara reached for the chain.

  Aerie growled like a ten-foot-tall sasquatch and bared her teeth, making the other girl snatch her hand away with a yelp.

  “Sorry.” Aerie sighed. “It’s not me doing it. Maybe if I close my eyes.”

  No good. She still had her that weird demon sight, like a blueprint on the back of her eyes. When Cara reached again, Aerie grabbed her thumb and twisted her wrist in a joint lock that made Cara squeal in surprise.

  “Stop,” Aerie pleaded. “Just stop before I hurt you.”

  Cara smoothed a lock of curls back from her face. “You know it takes a lot more than that to hurt me.”

  “I don’t know how far this thing will go.” Her shoulders slumped. “I have to tell him.”

  “I can get my dad to look at it for you. He does an Intro to Spirit Manifestation class for Second Years.”

  “Why bother?” Aerie shook her head. “He’ll just tell Pop, anyway.”

  Although it was still early afternoon, the shop was quiet, the lot empty, the front parking spots vacant. At least there’d be few witnesses. “Wish me luck, swamp witch. I’m going in.”

  Despite the gravity of the situation, Cara grinned at the sound of her nickname. “Want me to go with?”

  “No, I’m good, I guess.” She got out of the car, noting the singe marks on the front seat upholstery. “Sorry about that. Call you tomorrow, ‘kay?”

  She slammed the car door and waved her off. Cara pulled away with a honk of the horn.

  The shop door was propped open, the interior dimmed to half-lights, and all the fans were blowing. Store-front awnings blocked the worst of the afternoon sunlight but the inside continued to bake with the slow, dry heat. Aerie grimaced. This place was an icebox compared to the heat this amulet had been throwing off earlier.

  Greysen turned from a shelf of books when she came in.

  “Long day? You haven’t been in at—” He stopped when he saw her and worry darkened his expression. “Child. What have you got into?”

  A spot of warmth tingled against her chest. Aerie held up her hands. “Please, Greysen, don’t come too close.”

  Undaunted, Greysen did come closer, tilting his head and raising a hand as if feeling the air around her. “Something is wrong with you.”

  “Get Pop.” She covered the amulet with one hand as if she could keep it from seeing him. “Please.”

  Greysen edged closer, his pale eyes clouding over, growing darker with a piercing glint. The air around him shimmered.

  The demon awoke when it sensed his magic, seeping its influence through her blood, submerging her senses. Feet rooted, Aerie leaned forward, swaying.

  “Closer.” The demon seethed with curiosity. “I just want a look.”

  “Aerie?” Greysen sounded alarmed now, and his magic spread out in a wider radius. The cash register began to rattle, the shelves vibrating.

  “It’s not me, Greysen. Get Pop. Fast.” The tugging grew stronger and Aerie dragged her feet in long steps towards him. “You have something I need.”

  Greysen backed up. “Oh, no. Possessed.”

  “Please.” Aerie gripped the counter and tried to anchor herself. “It wants you. Run.”

  Greysen took the long way around to the steps, keeping as much distance as he could. “Charles! Come down here!”

  The chair rolled overhead and footsteps sounded on the st
eps. “Is Aerie back?”

  “Yes,” Greysen said. “And she’s brought a guest.”

  Footsteps in the hall, on the steps, coming down. “What? She knows how I feel about—”

  The moment Aerie saw him, she exploded into inferno. Flames slicked down her shoulders, arms, dripping down her legs to the floor. Her face felt like sunburn times a million and her vision became hazy with an orange glow.

  It wasn’t her doing that. It was the amulet, which seared like a hot iron against the skin on her chest. Not painful. Just…dangerous.

  Yet, part of her loved seeing the expression on Pop’s face. He was in complete shock, open-mouthed and gaping. She smiled a lopsided wolf-like grin, completely inappropriate considering the situation. Oh, what an effect she had on him, when she burst into flame. Should have tried this a long time ago—

  “You.” Her voice bellowed. Wasn’t her. The spirit had taken over more than her surface temp. “Oh, how I’ve waited for this.”

  “Aerie?” Pop sounded worried. “What are you doing?”

  She shook her head, frantic. Felt like she was being submerged in another being, slipping farther and farther from herself. The possession was consuming her.

  The being’s emotions flooded relentlessly through her, crashing like waves against a cliff. The demon was bloodthirsty. Furious didn’t come close to describing the temper that was mounting.

  She’d drown in this thing if it didn’t stop. Throwing a desperate glance at Greysen, she mouthed two words: Help me.

  His eyes had gone completely obsidian. His lips moved silently. Small objects nearby began to levitate as he disrupted the gravitational field around him.

  He was channeling the Old Magic. Aerie prayed he wouldn’t be too late.

  The demon shoved her essence down once more. “Charles Pathering. You miserable excuse for a two-bit side show.”