The Protectors

by April Hollingworth

Chapter 20

  Power reverberates and curls around all of us. Snapping like a whip, it reaches out and circles around the demon king, forcing him to show his true face. A gasp echoes as if from one voice, rippling through the surrounding crowd, as bright red glowing eyes beam eerily out of a masculine face with admittedly amazing bone structure. Curving horns in a stunning golden red curve upward from his skull.

  Adramelech looks a strange mixture of sexiness and evil, wrapped in a deliciously muscular body. A tempting package, if it weren’t for his eyes. Thankfully, they happen to be a right turn off if ever I’ve seen one. Unlike his horns, which is just plain bizarre if you think about it logically.

  I’m brought back from my wondering mind in time to watch Marie strut closer to the demon, until she stops a mere foot in front of him with her right hand on her hip, in what looks like a provocative stance.

  “Is she trying to distract him or hit on him?” T.T. mutters to me out of the corner of her mouth.

  “I have no idea. I’m hoping like crazy this is some weird ploy to distract him, but going by the way she’s standing, I think we might need to come up with a plan B. Fast,” I whisper in reply.

  “Adramelech, you’ve been a bad boy. Don’t you know you’re not allowed in this realm no more?” Marie Laveau practically purrs her question at him. A slight smile eases across her face. It’s her hand twisting in circles behind her back which catches my attention more than anything else.

  “What’s she doing?” I mutter in confusion, out of the side of my mouth.

  “Grave magick—don’t forget she’s a necromancer. Or was, at least,” Felicity whispers back to me before carrying on chanting.

  Taking the hint, I keep on chanting too, weaving into my magick an extra spell to prevent any unwanted backlashes, just in case someone decides to try and double-cross us.

  “Protect us from harm

  Remove this demon from our realm.

  Protect us from harm

  Return him to hell.

  Protect us from harm

  Right all wrong caused by his release.

  Protect us from harm

  Keep all safe and sound.

  Protect us from harm

  Return Adramelech to whence he came.

  Protect us from harm

  Let no harm befall.

  Protect us from harm

  On the departure of those that do not belong.

  Protect us from harm

  Protect us all.”

  Our chanting rises to a crescendo. The earth shakes beneath our feet almost tipping us on our asses. Thunder grumbles above our heads, and darkness descends for just a moment before turning an angry purple-black with orange spreading through it. Standing as steadily as we can, we push more power into our words, as the wind picks up and screams around us.

  “You don’t belong here, demon. Don’t you feel the power of these witches surrounding you? They will send you back, and once more I’ll help them!” Marie shouts into the gale-force winds, only to receive a mocking laugh in reply.

  “You don’t scare me. I am a king amongst you. Bow down and grovel at my feet, and I may just spare your paltry lives!” Adramelech growls in a pompous voice, while pointing an imperious finger at the ground in front of him. I don’t know how I refrain from bursting out laughing.

  Thinking about it logically, it probably has something to do with the fact that he’s scary as hell when he looks directly at you. Which he’s doing right now, making my poor insides want to curl up inside of me and cower.

  This feeling feels alien to me and gives me pause to wonder why I’m feeling it. Breaking from the others around me, I move forward as I gather both my magicks to me, wrapping them around me as if they are a full shield.

  “Be gone, demon; your tricks won’t work on me,” I calmly inform him as I build up a ball of healing light, pouring hope and love into it, before trickling it out and sending it to everyone around me.

  I hear gasps of surprise coming from all around the clearing. And out of the corner of my eye, I see some of those surrounding me shaking their heads, as if coming out of a deep fog. I can totally understand, as I’d felt as if I was being held underwater and sound was muffled by my fear.

  “I said bow down to me,” the demon shouts as a flicker of uncertainty flashes lightning fast across his face.

  “She don’t listen to you; no one does anymore,” Marie Laveau informs him. “Your time has long gone, and now it’s time for you to go and never come back.”

  Standing beside Marie, I look at her and watch a look of satisfaction blaze a trail across her face as she brings her twisting hands forward, and I finally realize she’s been twisting grave dirt in her hands. Bringing her hands up to her mouth, she blows the dirt into Adramelech’s face and begins chanting, “Demon be gone; your welcome has reached its end,” repeatedly.

  All of us join in her chant, our powers linking and combining, wrapping around the dirt and expanding it in golden chains of bright healing light, binding him in its power. His face and body distort, becoming monstrous in both size and appearance until finally, with a scream of pure unadulterated rage, Adramelech combusts into a twisting mass of black smoke before being sucked into the ground.

  We keep on chanting until Marie indicates we can stop. I notice the spot where the demon had stood is now sealed over by a pentagram in a circle, with symbols entwined around and through it.

  Looking closer, I realize that the symbols represent the different magicks used to seal away Adramelech. The moon representing the werewolves. A tombstone to represent the necromancers. A smaller pentagram in a circle to represent the witches. A blood drop, which I’m assuming represents the vampires. A part-human and part-animal head representing the shapeshifters. A triangle with a lightning bolt over a line inside it and a small circle beneath the bottom of the triangle is surrounded by a larger circle represents the voodoo community.

  Feeling puzzled, I gaze at a twin lightning bolt, which I don’t understand, before glancing at the final one, a triangle in a circle with a rose in its center encased in a web design. Looking at the triangle, I believe that it represents me, mainly because the rose and web design reminds me of my brands, which then makes me wonder if the twin lightning bolts is for Janna.

  “It’s time for me to go,” Marie informs me as she peers down at the pentagram. “A word to the wise, be careful and watch your back. There is more between heaven and earth than the demon just departed.” Without another word, she disappears, leaving me feeling more confused than before.

  With a final look at the ground, I turn around and walk back toward the car with the others and then head into town for something to eat and drink. Personally, I’m starving and feeling this side of dehydrated. If I don’t get something to drink soon, I’ll be ready to be mummified. The true Voodoo Prince and his people decide to join us. Everyone is quiet, almost as if we’re all wondering if that is the last of Adramelech we’ll see.

  I feel drained and uncertain and can’t help but wonder, what exactly did Marie mean by her final comment?

  Chapter 21

  An hour later, everything feels much better with the world. Surprising what some food and drink can do to my outlook on life. I’m still no further along in figuring out what is going on. At least, though, we know we still need to go back to Paradise Falls, fingers crossed that some answers will come up between now and our arrival.

  “Okay, I know it wasn’t exactly easy per se, but did anyone else think that getting rid of one of hell’s kings was just a little too easy?” Jasmine asks, while staring into her mug of coffee, as if the answers she’s looking for might be revealed within its depths.

  “What do you mean? Do you think it was some kind of test?” I ask, staring thoughtfully at my friend while remembering everything that happened.

  “Yes. No. I don’t know. It’s just…” Shaking her head, she finally looks up and meets my eyes with her own puzzled look. “Honestly, I have no idea. It’s just that with
everything we’ve gone through already, I would have expected more of a fight from Adramelech than what he gave us.”

  “Same here,” Selene agrees from across the table.

  “Could maybe he have been surprised at us all working together or even been weakened by his previous incarceration?” I ask in a very hopeful tone of voice, even as my stomach sinks farther down, heading toward my shoes.

  “Maybe…like I said, I just wonder if it’s all over with him.”

  “Okay, how about we look over our shoulders until we know for sure everything is finished where he’s concerned. Well, in our lifetime at least. The ground was sealed over with magick where he was standing, so unless that’s broken, it should contain him. Should being the operative word, though.” I mutter the final bit, feeling completely uncertain about everything that had happened in the bayou.

  After all, it only takes one person to have worked against us in trapping the demon to make everything unravel slowly. A tiny chink in a spell can have dire consequences. Ones that might not be noticeable until it’s too late.

  “Look. Could the reason that it was so much easier than you all imagined be simply because there was so many different types of supernaturals working together?” suggests Victor, looking at each of us in turn with a slightly perplexed look on his face. “After all, that seal on the ground not only looked strong; it had everyone’s magick on it. How often does something like that happen?”

  I look at the other girls around the table and feel my lips twitch in humor. Trust a vampire to point out the obvious and in such a confused manner to boot. Bless him, he is seriously adorable at times.

  “If I’m wrong—”

  Shaking her head, T.T. interrupts Victor before he can say more. “You’re not wrong. You just reminded us all of something we managed to miss.” Letting out a little laugh of amusement, she continues on, “We’re so used to dealing with just witch and necromancer magick, that we didn’t even contemplate the effects of using all our magick, including vampire, voodoo, and shapeshifter. Those differences cause a humongous power boost, one we just never thought of.”

  “I must admit,” the young Voodoo Prince adds, “if it wasn’t for the fact that I was there to witness and partake in the magick, I would never have believed it to be possible.” Shaking his head, he looks around at everyone. “I’m still not, though I know and felt it happen.”

  “I get that,” Cedrix drawls as he watches the young man and his people through half-closed eyes, as if opening them fully would be too much effort. I’d believe it, if I hadn’t caught the sharp gaze carefully accessing everyone. “Not every day such intense magick is used. Is it?”

  I’m guessing by the quirk of his eyebrow and slightly puzzled expression, his question is a genuine one. I give a slight snort of agreement. “Hell, no, it’s not normal to use that kind of magick every day. For that matter, it’s not normal practice to use intense magick like that at all. Too dangerous,” I add, to clarify my reason.

  “Could you imagine having access to that kind of magick all the time?” purrs a young voodoo woman, as she practically drools at the thought of so much power.

  I look sharply at her and the others in her group. Each looks thoughtful and…hungry. Casting a quick glance around, I notice those in my group looking at the others warily. A whisper of wind moves around and through us.

  “Beware of bonds created by need, for they are easily broken when greed takes over. It’s time for you all to leave. Now!” Hecate’s voice is barely a whisper, but her words ring loud and clear through me. I notice the others in my group looking nervously around them, as if wondering where the voice had come from. Well, all except Jasmine, that is. She quickly rises and grabs her stuff, and with an inclination of her head, says her goodbyes and heads to the counter to pay for her lunch.

  Her sudden movement causes a ripple effect, as we all stand and gather our belongings. “It was nice to meet you all. Hopefully, we won’t need to work together in such a capacity again,” I inform the Voodoo Prince and his followers. Seeing his startled expression at our sudden departure, I quickly explain that we must go, before collecting my coat and following the others to the counter to pay.

  Once we’ve all paid, we head outside and down the street. I drink in the sights, sounds, and smells of New Orleans awakening fully to the new day. Before long we arrive back at our vehicles, pile into them, and head off toward the airport. We need to schedule our departure on Janna’s plane and head back to Ireland. It’s time to return to Paradise Falls.

  Chapter 22

  An hour later, we’ve finally climbed on board. Janna has finished doing her preflight checks, and we’ve been granted clearance to leave. I’m feeling a slight buzz of anticipation ripple through me and half wonder what exactly Hecate meant by her warning.

  “So tell me,” Victor whispers into my ear, causing shivers of longing to tickle through me. “Did you enjoy your brief stay in New Orleans?”

  Our faces are so close that our noses bump against each other’s, when I turn my head to face him. Looking into his beautiful silvery-green eyes, I can’t help the twist of longing that tightens the muscles in my stomach. “Yes,” I reply on barely a whisper.

  His eyes dilate as he stares into my eyes. I notice his throat moving as if he’s just gulped. A slight smile curls my mouth upward. I love the effect I have on him, because he causes me to have the same reaction. Fair is fair after all. And, boy, do I want this man. My body is practically vibrating with my need for him, and a small ache is quivering low in my stomach, sensually delving down into liquid heat between my legs.

  His nostrils flare as he breathes in my scent. His fangs descend as blue fire bleeds over his silvery-green eyes, swirling together as his emotions rise. I watch as if in slow motion as his right hand rises and the back of his fingers trace across the side of my face, brushing my cheekbone down to the corner of my mouth before lowering to circle my chin and raise my face to meet his eager mouth.

  Our mouths are almost touching when he quietly informs me, “I want you more each second than the moment before. You’re like a drug to me, highly addictive, sensually brightening the world around me, turning my life inside out, and I’m loving every second of it. Like an addict, I never want this feeling to stop, and I’ll never give you up.” The last he growls at me, before slanting his mouth across mine and plundering my mouth with his tongue.

  Two minutes later, the floor vibrates beneath my feet, and we’re taxiing down the runway, speeding up, and taking off. Funny how the actions of the plane mimic the emotions flowing through me.

  Chapter 23

  I read for most of the flight, though my mind keeps going back to that kiss and Victor’s words, causing a smile to flit across my mouth and my hand to brush against it every now and again. About halfway through the flight, I give Victor more of my blood to drink in the bathroom.

  We don’t make out, even though I badly want to, and going by his groping hands, he does too. Still, doing it in a bathroom that’s not mine is not on my fun list, especially in the only bathroom on a plane flying quite a bit above the earth. I don’t think the others would be sympathetic to our desires, not that I could blame them if it was the other way around.

  Feeling sleepy, I recline my seat backward and buckle myself in. Victor does likewise and pulls me toward him. I rest my head on his chest, and he lowers his chin down to the top of my head. Slowly, I drift off to sleep in his warm embrace to the gentle motion of his chest rising and falling.

  Sometime later, I’m nudged awake by Jasmine, who informs me we’re getting ready to land, so we need to raise our seats back up. I kiss my vampire lover awake, and together we return our seats to their proper position. Glancing out the window, I see the lush green grass of Ireland displayed before me. The plane swoops sideways, turning gently to position itself to line up with the runway.

  “Why are we going to Dublin airport? I thought you lived in Cork?” puzzles Roísín, from her seat across the aisle
.

  “We do, but we flew out of Dublin airport and left our cars here. So now we need to collect them and drive back to Cork,” I reply, feeling relieved to have gotten in a nap.

  “Oh. You need to learn to fly, like my mum and dad so that you don’t leave your car in the wrong airport in future,” Roísín replies in such a matter-of-fact way that I can’t help smiling at her. Kids. Everything’s so straightforward with them.

  “I do believe you’re right,” I reply, “but first I must get lessons and then a license before I can.”

  Nodding her head in understanding, she looks at me and beams a huge smile. “Yes, you must, then you can come visit me when I return home with my parents.”

  I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face and the agreement that flows out of my mouth before I even think about what I’m agreeing to. What can I say? She’s cute, and she lets me know when food’s about, so how on earth can I resist her request?

  Forty-five minutes later, we’ve exited the airport. Well, all of us except for Janna, Vincent, and Roísín who are flying to Cork airport where Victor and I will pick them up.

  The journey back to Cork takes longer than expected due to ice turning the roads treacherous. A car speeds past us—granted, that’s not hard as we’re traveling at sixty kilometers an hour—but as it passes us, it hits a patch of black ice, swerves, narrowly missing the car in front, and slows down. Other than that, the drive is thankfully uneventful. Four and a half hours later, we arrive at Cork airport, and I’m busting for the toilet.

  Victor parks the car in front of the entrance so I can jump out before carrying on into the short-term parking bay. I barely manage to dash around people instead of bowling them over as I make a mad dash to the loos. Finally, I arrive and barge into a vacating cubicle.

  “Sorry,” I call out to the woman who wasn’t exiting fast enough.

  “No problem. We’ve all been desperate at some stage,” chuckles the woman in reply. Three minutes later, I exit the cubicle feeling like a new woman. Quickly, I wash and dry my hands, before I head toward the front entrance to meet up with Victor. I quickly phone Janna. After finding out where they are, I tell her to stay put, and we’ll meet them there.