Demon Witch (The Ternion Order Book 2)

by Daniel R. Marvello

  She returned Kyle’s embrace and buried her face in his chest. “I’m sorry. Thanks to me, neither of us is getting any rest.”

  “Maybe you should see someone,” he said softly.

  She pushed back from him. “You mean like a psychiatrist? They would lock me away if I told them about my failed mission to save my werewolf brother.”

  “Doesn’t the Order have psychiatrists?” Kyle asked. “They must have alternatives to normal shrinks for stuff like this.”

  “I honestly don’t know. I’ll ask Noreen about it. But even if they do, I doubt they’d happen to have one in Sandpoint.”

  “How about a regular MD? A doctor could probably prescribe something stronger than that over-the-counter stuff you’ve been taking to help you sleep.”

  Amanda rolled onto her back and let out a big sigh. “I’m sure you’re right although drugging myself senseless every night so I can get some rest doesn’t seem like a good long-term solution.”

  “The dreams might go away with a little more time.”

  “That’s what I keep hoping, but no luck so far. You know what’s weird? I thought for sure I’d be having nightmares about what happened to Reggie at the Foundation, but I’m not. It’s always those dreams where I try to reach him but can’t.”

  Kyle thought about that for a moment. “At the Foundation, you thought he was dead. That would be a very different kind of dream …”

  Amanda nodded. “I think I see where you’re going. Dreaming he was dead would probably mean I had accepted that he was gone—or at least beyond my help.”

  Kyle raised an eyebrow in response, having nothing more to add. They were guessing, and it was getting them nowhere.

  “Whatever,” Amanda said, shaking her head. “I just want a decent night’s sleep.” She threw the covers to the side and headed toward the bathroom.

  A few minutes later, she found Kyle in the kitchen standing next to the coffee maker, which was gurgling through its cycle.

  Noting that it was still dark outside, Amanda glanced up at the clock and did a double-take. “Oh, my God, it’s four AM!”

  Kyle captured her in his arms. “Good morning to you, too.” He tried to kiss her, but she put her hand over her mouth.

  “Later, lover boy,” she said from behind her hand. “Morning breath.”

  Kyle smiled and released her. She sat at the kitchen table, resting her elbows on the surface and holding her head in her hands. “I swear I’m trying to let go. All the signs say it’s over.”

  “Signs?”

  She ticked them off on her fingers. “The Order banned the exorcism, we don’t know where the wolf skull is, and Blackstone has gone back to wherever he came from.” A note of exasperation crept into her voice. “You know, I get that the werewolf treaty is important, but it pisses me off that they totally caved and gave Marcella everything she wanted.”

  Kyle carried two cups of coffee over to the table and sat down. “You and me both. And Blackstone too. You could tell he wasn’t happy about Marcella’s pardon or the ban. Take me out of the picture, and it’s like the exorcism never happened.”

  “Except we did manage to rid the world of one lupusdaemon.”

  Kyle’s eyes met hers. “Yeah, not so much.”

  “What are you talking about? Clarissa is dead and I sent her demon to the abyss.”

  Kyle fiddled with is cup for a moment before speaking. “That’s true, except I think the demon is back.” When Amanda didn’t respond, he continued. “I’ve been trying to find a good time to tell you this although I’m not sure it really matters. Marcella teased me about snuggling ‘like old times’ when I grabbed her in the moon shrine.”

  “But you’ve never met her before,” Amanda concluded with a slow nod.

  “Exactly. I think the demon that shares Marcella’s body is the one we once knew as Clarissa.”

  Amanda sat back, unsure of what to think about Kyle’s revelation. If he was right, his exorcism had been half wasted. The half that saved his life was no small thing, but the return of Clarissa’s demon made their current situation that much more frustrating. It also explained why Marcella had tried to kill her multiple times.

  But as Kyle said, it didn’t really matter anymore. She looked over at him, but he kept his attention on his cup. He was probably feeling either guilty or embarrassed.

  She leaned forward and caught his eye. “You’re going to have to show more restraint, you know. You can’t keep going around hugging werewolves. It’s dangerous.”

  He smiled at her ribbing. “What about witches? Are they off limits too?”

  “All except this one.”

  “I can live with that. I’m sorry I didn’t find a way to tell you sooner. As far as I’m concerned, the exorcism was a smashing success. I think that what really burns me most is that your exorcism saved my life, and now it can’t be used to help anyone else.”

  Amanda sighed. “The Order has always tolerated lupusdaemon possession as a sort of gray area related to the treaty. When I came up with the exorcism ritual, they weren’t sure what to do with it. The Order never interfered with First Moon in the past partly because they didn’t have a way to do so. Before the exorcism, their only options were to imprison or kill the werewolf. That wouldn’t bring the human spirit back. All it would do is start a war with the werewolves.”

  “It still feels wrong to me,” Kyle grumbled. He took a careful sip from his hot mug. “What about Cara?”

  Noreen and Amanda had been keeping a close eye on Cara since her rescue. Other than a few moments of panic that turned out to be nothing, Cara was having none of the side effects that Kyle had experienced after being possessed by a lupusdaemon: she wasn’t having weird dreams, and her aerobics practice hadn’t revealed anything noteworthy about her physical abilities.

  “She’s fine,” Amanda said. “She alternates between relief and disappointment when she shows no evidence of becoming Super Girl.”

  Kyle laughed and shook his head. Then his tone turned serious again. “Maybe you’re reading the signs wrong.” He copied her method of ticking off his own points on his fingers. “The lupusdaemon known as Reggie survived that fall. I’ll bet anything that the wolf skull is tucked inside Marcella’s room at the Foundation. And, finally, you’re still dreaming about saving Reggie. You have motive and means. All we need is opportunity.”

  “That we have the means is debatable,” she argued. She appreciated Kyle’s support, but she couldn’t believe he still thought they had a chance. “Are you seriously suggesting we try again all by ourselves?”

  “Well, not today. Give the situation time to cool down. In the meantime, we’ll gather all the information we can about their behavior patterns. All we need is fifteen minutes when no one is in the east wing to retrieve the wolf skull. Depending upon where it’s hidden, we might even be able to take it without anyone knowing it’s gone. Then we figure out the best place to tackle Reggie. He’s already back at work, which increases his exposure.”

  Wow. Kyle had obviously been thinking about this. “You sound like an assassin planning a job,” she said half jokingly.

  Kyle sipped his coffee with a thoughtful look. “Yeah. Kyle Nelson, Demon Assassin. I like it.”

  For a minute, Amanda thought about what Kyle was proposing. Could she get her hopes up again? Could she defy the Order and use the exorcism? Even if a miracle happened and everything fell into place, would the exorcism work to bring her brother back? Or would that be expecting too many miracles?

  She let her breath out slowly. Kyle talked about retrieving the wolf skull as if it were just a step in a process, but it wasn’t. They couldn’t even be sure it was at the Foundation. If she’d been smart, Marcella would have destroyed it the moment she acquired it. Although Amanda’s exorcism had worked on Kyle, that meant little when it came to Reggie.

  “We need to stop wasting time on this,” she concluded. As the words left her mouth, a weight lifted from her shoulders. “There are too many unk
nowns. At some point, it doesn’t make sense to risk both of our lives for a chance to help Reggie when the exorcism probably won’t work anyway.”

  Kyle squinted at her with a look that said he didn’t trust what she was saying. He probably thought she was going to try leaving him behind again and continue on alone. “None of that is new news,” he said. “What changed?”

  She stared at him for a second before answering, putting as much sincerity into her tone as she could muster. “I’m sick of this mission. There are too many obstacles and unknowns. I somehow have to accept that Reggie died two years ago and someone else is walking around who happens to look just like him.”

  Kyle sat back in his chair with both eyebrows raised. “Okay. What will you do instead?”

  The question took her by surprise. All she had thought about for the past couple of years was saving Reggie. She’d put all of her spare time into it and trained her magic skills around it. Her job had been nothing more than a necessary distraction that covered expenses.

  “I have no idea,” she admitted in wonder.

  A loud knock at the door brought Kyle to his feet. “Don’t go anywhere,” he said.

  Amanda picked up her coffee cup and smiled. “I’ve nowhere to go.”

  Kyle started toward the front door. “Yeah, that’s what we still need to talk about.”

  Amanda sat and sipped her coffee, feeling at loose ends for the first time since she could remember. She could do anything she wanted. Maybe start a hobby or put some effort into her career.

  Kyle reappeared at the kitchen entryway. Jonathan and Jessie stood beyond him. Strain and worry deepened the wrinkles around Jonathan’s eyes and mouth. He had his arm around Jessie, who was as pale as a ghost and appeared to be shivering. It looked like she was about to cry or throw up or both.

  “We have a problem,” Kyle announced in a tone that suggested his words were a serious understatement.

  Jessie huddled against Jonathan on the living-room couch while Kyle made a fresh pot of coffee. Amanda sat in a chair opposite the desperate couple.

  “How did you figure out Jessie was … in trouble?” Amanda asked.

  Jonathan gently caressed his wife’s hair as he answered. “It started with bad dreams, but we didn’t think much of that, after everything that happened at the Foundation. But then yesterday, Teddy, our youngest, threw a toy car at his older sister. Jessie had been facing away from the children at the time, but she turned and snatched the car out of the air at full-arm extension. A major-league baseman couldn’t have caught that line drive.”

  “The kids both giggled and applauded,” Jessie said with a sob. “But I knew what it might mean, and I nearly fainted. Now, I feel sick every time I look at their little faces and think about what I might become.”

  Amanda had been worried about Cara while Jessie was the unfortunate victim all along. But Jessie had no obvious bite or scratch marks at the end of the rescue mission. Her only bleeding wound had been a scrape on her cheek. Which, Amanda suddenly realized, was completely healed. They could check one more symptom off the list. Still, without a scratch or bite, it didn’t make sense—unless they didn’t know as much as they thought they did about lupusdaemon possession.

  The unhappy couple were watching her process the situation. “How?” was finally all she could think to ask.

  “We don’t know,” Jonathan answered. “The sun had to be up by then, so being underground must have made a difference. I doubt Skyler had the strength to scratch or bite, but Jessie already had an open wound and had been knocked unconscious. We’re guessing that Skyler touched the wound with her fingernails and that was enough contact.”

  Jonathan’s description brought an image to Amanda’s mind. “Yes! Dr. Rutlinger was looking at something when he checked on Skyler and found her dead. I think she had blood on her fingertips, but he chased me out before I could get a clear look.”

  Kyle came into the room with filled mugs and handed them out before sitting down. The house was small, and the kitchen opened up into the living room, so he had been able to hear the conversation. “I’m sorry, Jessie,” he said as he handed a mug to her. “I know exactly how you must be feeling right now.”

  “Thanks, Kyle,” Jessie said. “At least you had the prospect of a cure.”

  “True,” he allowed. “But that cure didn’t exist until practically the last minute, and we didn’t know it would work.”

  “Now we know it works,” Jonathan interrupted bitterly, “but we can’t use it.”

  Everyone was silent for a minute.

  Jonathan took a deep breath and then said, “Which brings us to why we’re here.”

  “You haven’t told the Order about this yet,” Kyle guessed.

  “No, we haven’t,” Jonathan confirmed.

  “Because you need our help,” Amanda said.

  “Exactly,” Jonathan confirmed again. “I’m not going to argue with the Order about the exorcism ban. We don’t have time for that, and I won’t risk putting the Order on alert so they can try to stop us. It will be hard enough as it is. But no matter what, Jessie is not going to become … one of them.”

  Jessie locked eyes with Amanda. “I don’t have the right to ask you to get involved,” she said, “but I have to get this thing out of me.” She rubbed her husband’s arm. “Jonathan is speaking as if you have already agreed to help us. I may not be sworn to the Order, but I understand what he’s asking of you.”

  “Of course I’ll help,” Amanda said without hesitation. How could she not? Jessie’s condition was yet another consequence of her mission to save Reggie. This was her fault even if indirectly. She could see in Jonathan’s eyes that he thought so as well. His unspoken accusation and expectations were irksome, but not unfair.

  “I’ll help too,” Kyle said.

  Jonathan smiled for the first time since he’d arrived. “Thanks, Kyle. I knew we could count on you. No one could understand what Jessie’s going through better than you.”

  “I do have one request, however,” Kyle added.

  “Name it.”

  “Help us find a way to use the exorcism on Reggie as well.”

  Amanda turned her head quickly to look at Kyle. It wasn’t his request to make, but he must have known she wouldn’t bring it up herself.

  Jonathan gave Amanda a sly smile. “You were planning to ignore the ban anyway, weren’t you.”

  “No, actually,” Amanda answered truthfully. “Just before you arrived, we agreed that Reggie’s cause was hopeless. I thought we had given up on that idea,” she said pointedly to Kyle.

  Kyle waved a hand toward their guests. “This changes everything. Once we help Jessie, we’ll have everything we need to try with Reggie.”

  “Except for Reggie,” Amanda pointed out.

  Kyle tilted his head toward Jonathan. “Our odds of dealing with that part of the problem just went up astronomically.”

  Jonathan nodded his agreement. “As long as Jessie is the priority, I’ll do whatever I can to help you with Reggie.”

  Amanda looked around the room at her friends. “Just to be clear, Jessie is the priority because we know we can help her. If we can arrange it so I can try the exorcism on Reggie afterward, so much the better.”

  “Then I’m in,” Jonathan said.

  “We’re in,” Jessie said, squeezing Jonathan’s arm.

  Amanda took a deep breath and tried to organize her thoughts through a storm of emotions. After days of despair, she had finally accepted that Reggie was beyond her help. Now she had to face the horror that Jessie’s life was at stake and yet her friend’s misfortune had also resurrected her hope for her brother’s return.

  Jonathan had been right not to tell the Order about Jessie’s condition. Their new mission to exorcise her would be difficult without the backing of the Order, but it would be next to impossible if the Order interfered. They would have to be careful about how they moved forward.

  Amanda wondered if she could enlist anyone else to
help. Who could she trust with this information? Noreen would be a valuable ally. But would her loyalty to a member of her coven supersede her loyalty to the Order? There was no way to know. Tanya wasn’t in the Order, but she also wasn’t exactly courageous. Cara might be willing to help, out of revenge against Marcella if for no other reason. But Cara wasn’t much of a team player.

  It might be up to only the four of them. Somehow, they had to break into the Foundation again and steal the wolf skull from Marcella’s room without her knowing about it. Then they had to perform a banned exorcism ceremony on Jessie. And maybe Reggie, too. The mission had to be completed in less than three weeks, and they had to make sure the Order didn’t discover what they were planning.

  Chapter 28

  Hostile Takeover

  Now what does she want? Adolphus Rutlinger wondered as he followed Cyrus to the Foundation’s conference room. Marcella had become insufferable since the incident with the Order the week before. He still couldn’t understand how she had managed to parlay the near disaster into such a strong influence over the local packs.

  He entered the conference room, noting that Reggie and Marcella were already seated. The meeting table consisted of three folding tables arranged in a “U” shape against an exterior wall. Cyrus took the seat at Marcella’s right, as usual. Adolphus sat across from them, as far away as possible. Reggie sat along the base of the “U” between the two unfriendly parties.

  “Don’t pout, Woreblin,” Marcella said. “It doesn’t become you.”

  “Never call me that,” Adolphus demanded. “Names have power, and you never know who is listening.”

  “I suppose you’re right, Adolph,” she replied sourly. “But you seem to have forgotten what you are, and a reminder was due.”

  He didn’t bother correcting her diminution of his name. It would only give her the satisfaction of having irritated him. “You have no business reminding me of what I am, witch. What do you want?”