Emanare (Destined, #1)

by Browning, Taryn

  The elevator ride was the most distressing of the trip. There’s nothing worse than being stuck in a metal box with a fiend, not that she was calling her good friend a savage, but Ann wasn’t exactly behaving like the poster child for Miss Manners. The more time that passed, the more beastly she became. Sam hoped Malachi and the others were successful in finding what demon did this and how to fix it.

  Thank goodness for Evrik, or Ann would be humiliated after they finally got the real Ann back. Ann was so sweet and kind. She would be horrified to know she was growling and trying to bite people. Sam didn’t know what she was going to tell Cody. He couldn’t see Ann like this. She would have to rely on Evrik again. He would have to change Cody's memory, like he had with all of the other students who had witnessed Ann's Exorcist-girl behavior.

  Sam knocked on the bathroom door leading to Vicky and Ann’s room. “Vicky, are you in there?”

  “Unfortunately,” Vicky answered.

  “We found her at McDonald’s,” Sam shouted through the door.

  “How did you get her back here?” Vicky opened the door and peeked around Sam. Ann rummaged through Sam’s micro-fridge and shoveled whatever she could find into her mouth—leftover SpaghettiO's, yogurt, a Milky Way. “Like, eww.” Vicky visibly shuddered.

  “Evrik helped.”

  “Oh yeah, his mind-control thingy,” Vicky said, waving her hand in the air.

  “I need you to baby-sit her for me.”

  “No. She’ll eat me.” Vicky turned her back on Sam.

  “She’s not going to eat you—”

  “Okay, then, she’ll bite me,” Vicky corrected.

  “She’s not going to bite you, and if she tries, you’ll know ahead of time with your mind reading ability. Aren’t you supposed to be super-strong, too? After all, you were my protector,” Sam said.

  “Super-strong, not super-stupid. I’m not going near her.” Vicky walked back over to the door and stared at the makeshift zoo Sam’s room had already become.

  “She’s your roommate.”

  “That’s not my roommate.” Vicky pointed, watching Ann attempt to bite Evrik’s hand. He removed a bottle of Bath & Bodyworks cucumber-melon from her hand. “She’s trying to drink your lotion. Your boyfriend almost lost his arm, or is he not your boyfriend anymore? You seem so indecisive lately with Chase and Evrik, and even that Cale guy—well, at least before you found out he was a demon who wanted to kill you.”

  “You’ve been reading my mind,” Sam said angrily.

  “I try not to, but it’s kind of hard to tune you out. You’re like an annoying radio station broadcasting non-stop infomercials. You’ve got too many issues. They practically scream at me. You know, they have meds for crazy.” Vicky circled her finger around Sam’s head.

  “Are you reading my mind now?” Sam fixed her eyes on Vicky, willing her to listen to her thoughts. It had been a long day. Both of her really good friends were gone. One had been abducted by a demon and the other had been possessed by one. Not to mention that the demon who had abducted Lauren also wanted Sam dead so that she couldn’t complete her transformation. She did not have the patience to deal with Vicky.

  “Hello—Sam.” Vicky snapped her fingers. “That first thing you thought wasn’t polite, and the rest, as I said, way too many issues. Anyway, I’d think nice thoughts if I were you, especially if you want me to do you a favor.”

  “You’re right. I’m sorry. Just stay out of my head,” Sam demanded lightly.

  “Send her over. I’ll watch the little beast. Where are you going, anyway?”

  “Alea just called. Malachi thinks he found something,” Sam said.

  Vicky fluttered her hand in the air. She’d obviously realized she didn’t care.

  CHAPTER 28

  Without thinking, Sam chose the cushion between Chase and Evrik on the couch, immediately recognizing the seating situation was very uncomfortable. She was relieved Vicky wasn’t at Evrik’s house to read her mind.

  Sam sighed, worried about Ann. If Ann were to get away from Vicky, there would be no telling what havoc she would unleash on campus. Ann had turned considerably less human and more demon-like throughout the day. Sam didn’t want to even think about how Ann had gotten to McDonald’s. She had no choice but to rely on Vicky. She couldn’t watch Ann and determine what had possessed Ann at the same time. Anyway, they needed the crazy-animal Ann to help them find the entrance to the tunnel. Although it broke her heart to think of using sweet Ann that way, it might be their only chance at finding Lauren.

  Alea took her usual seat on the chaise, with Malachi next to her. Draylan carried in a chair from the kitchen. He held a thick book under his enormous arm.

  Sam’s leg bounced nervously. She waited for Draylan to find the right page. Evrik reached over and touched her knee, causing her to spring up on the sofa cushion. She took in a steadying breath, noticing Draylan was laughing, Evrik was smiling, and Chase was frowning. She really had to sort out her guy feelings.

  Draylan handed Sam the Virtus Liber. “This is your demon.” He pointed to the picture of a very beastly creature.

  Sam grasped the thick book in her hands. “What is this?”

  “It’s a porcus demon,” Malachi responded.

  “No. I mean the book.” She ran her finger down the thick spine and flipped it over to examine the well-worn cover. “It’s so old.”

  “Thousands of years,” Evrik said. “The Virtus Liber, meaning a book for the virtuous. Our ancestors created this book. It has been added to over time. It lists all the demons they’ve encountered through the years, including the demons’ abilities and their weaknesses. We use it as a tool to fight them.”

  “Wow—have you showed it to me before?”

  “No, we haven’t needed it this year, until now,” Evrik answered.

  Sam flipped back to the page Draylan had marked with his pen. “Demons have existed for a long time.” She noticed that one excerpt was written in the 1600s.

  “Since Lucifer was banished from Heaven,” Malachi said.

  Sam blinked. “Are you saying you think Lucifer sent Cale?”

  “Not exactly,” Malachi continued. “Lucifer’s protégés—the Angeli Casi. Their names are Donovan, Kinsley and Nieander. They are Seraphs, like you. The Angeli Casi are considered the supreme rulers of the Infernus and are referred to as Lucifer’s children. In actuality, Kinsley is Donavan’s son. He is said to have a human mother.”

  “The Angeli Casi are very powerful, perhaps just as powerful for evil as the archangels are for good. I think this is why they don’t want angelings to take full form and ascend as divine angels. They are equals on opposite sides of the spectrum, good and evil. Everything else lies somewhere in between. With more divine angels than fallen angels, they are already outnumbered.”

  “Do you think they sent Cale to kill me?” Sam stuttered. Demons had been successful in murdering at least one of her descendants—her great-times-four grandmother. And now, Lucifer’s protégés wanted to keep her from changing into her destined form. She would be one less immortal on the good side. This new information was a lot to digest.

  “Can I see the book?” Malachi asked. He flipped to the front. The first two pages were about Lucifer. It described his expulsion from heaven and referred to him as a “fallen angel” or “morning star.” The next three pages detailed his figurative children—the Angeli Casi.

  Malachi examined the fourth page and pointed. “This Angeli Casi, Nieander, has the ability to possess or take control of a human.”

  In the photograph, Nieander stood shirtless and godlike, emitting a subtle captivating glow. He could’ve easily been carved out of stone. But his eyes, they radiated evil—resembling a tiger’s eye gemstone, deep gold with swirls of chocolate brown. His hair was dirty blond, like Chase’s, but wavy and shoulder length. Nieander’s perfectly drawn lips came together into an ornery pout over a chiseled jaw line, like no human she’d ever seen. Nieander’s wings were charcoal gray, with an en
ormous wingspan, and like her, he had six wings.

  His illustrious stance commanded greatness and power, not how she had pictured a demon would look, but then neither was Cale. Yet Cale had the ability to seduce. Cale counted on his looks to lure women. Sam guessed even demonic women had standards.

  “Ann—” Sam said in disbelief. “Nieander possessed Ann, but why?”

  Malachi thumbed through the pages until he found the page he was looking for near the back of the book. “I don’t think Nieander possessed Ann personally. He wouldn’t be bothered with a human. Humans are like bottom-feeders to him. He’d send another demon to do his bidding.”

  Sam exhaled a sigh of relief. “That’s what I was going to say. It didn’t make any sense. Nieander looks beautiful, prestigious and collected, in a dark and evil kind of way, but not messy and animal-like.”

  “This is the demon Draylan just showed you. This demon we think possessed Ann.” Malachi pointed to the beastly demon’s picture. His excerpt didn’t even span a fourth of the page, only a homely picture with a few descriptive words. “Draylan used the book to research the demon responsible based on the description Evrik gave Alea. This demon, the porcus demon, matches the description.” The porcus demon didn’t look anything like Nieander, or Cale, with his scrunched face and beady black eyes. In the picture, the demon was hunched over, perched on all fours. When Sam pictured a demon, the porcus demon best resembled the images she’d created. Nieander and Cale were entirely too gorgeous to be classified as demons, but they were, and it made them all the more dangerous.

  “Hey, Malachi, he has your hair,” Draylan teased.

  The porcus demon’s hair was spiky and black like Malachi’s, only Malachi’s was gelled perfectly in place, not in random bursts of clumpy patches.

  Ignoring Draylan, Malachi explained the porcus demon’s behaviors—the drooling, snapping, growling, and vociferous, compulsive eating.

  “That sounds like Ann,” Chase said, finally joining the conversation. He studied the demon’s picture with the rest of the group.

  “It doesn’t sound like Ann,” Sam corrected him. “It sounds like the demon who possessed her. What does this porcus demon have to do with Nieander?”

  “We think Nieander used the porcus demon to take control of Ann’s body,” Malachi said.

  “But why?” Sam asked.

  “We don’t know,” Alea said. “We are pretty sure Cale’s involved somehow.”

  “We may have been wrong all along,” Malachi admitted. “I don’t think Cale was trying to kill you last night or any of the times before. He could have killed you that first night in Baltimore, but he didn’t. I think he felt your blood to assess whether you had started the change.” Malachi marked the page with a pen and shuffled forward to the sanguis demon’s excerpt. “The sanguis demon has been used to kill those who will reach immortal status. His blood can seek the predestined immortal,” he read.

  “You’re right, Malachi.” Sam realized. After finding out Vicky was her protector, Sam learned she was vulnerable the night Cale lured her away from Canton. Why wouldn’t he have just killed her that night, when he had the opportunity, before Sam realized she had the power to defeat him? “Cale could have killed me that night. I was alone with him and under his influence, but he didn’t.”

  “If Nieander is directly involved, it has to be something much bigger,” Malachi said.

  Suddenly a tingle crawled through Sam’s body. Malachi was right, she could feel it. There was a larger plan at work. Cale had abducted Lauren, and Ann had been possessed by the porcus demon, all after Sam had reversed Cale’s ability. What if Malachi was right? What if Cale didn’t want to kill her, but wanted something else from her before her transformation? How were Nieander, Cale and the porcus demon connected, and where did she fit into the equation?

  “Alea, will you be able to create an elixir to exorcise the demon?” Sam asked.

  “I already have. We can go back to your dorm and do it right now.” Alea circled the chaise and headed for the foyer. “I’ll grab it. The sooner we do it, the better. The longer she is possessed, the harder it will be to remove the demon.”

  Evrik met Alea at the steps. “I need you to get the elixir, but we can’t use it yet. We think we know how to find the entrance to the tunnel. You were right. The closest entrance could be on Tolbert’s campus.”

  “How do you know this?” Malachi asked, joining them in the foyer, along with Sam.

  “Ann had a map of the campus. Vicky said Ann kept obsessing over finding a sewer,” Evrik answered.

  Alea turned to face the guys. “Are you saying Ann can lead us to the entrance?”

  “That’s what we’re hoping,” Chase said. Everyone had convened in the foyer, except for Draylan, who had turned on ESPN.

  “Dray,” Alea barked.

  Draylan appeared next to her within a split-second. He stared at the ceiling and inhaled impatiently, letting everyone know he was bored with the conversation. “Can you just let me know when we’re going to fight?”

  “There’s nothing else we can do right now. We have to wait until it gets dark. That’s when Cale will have Lauren in the tunnel.” Alea took Sam’s hand. “Why don’t you and Chase go back to campus and check on Ann. We’ll meet you at your dorm when it gets dark. Then we’ll let Ann lead us to the entrance.”

  “Do you really think this is going to work?” Sam asked, walking toward the front door with Evrik and Chase in tow.

  “We’ll get her back,” Malachi assured Sam. His eyes were a comforting liquid platinum. Sam knew Malachi would do his best to keep his word.

  Draylan mumbled in half-hearted agreement, already climbing the steps to his room.

  Evrik brushed his fingers through Sam’s hair. “Go get something to eat. I doubt you’ve had anything all day. You’re going to need your strength tonight.”

  She smiled awkwardly. Chase breathed down her neck, making “uncomfortable” an understatement.

  CHAPTER 29

  Sam and Chase stopped to pick up three extra-large Papa John’s pizzas on the way back to the dorms. Two for Sam, Vicky, and Chase, and the other for Ann. Chase still hadn’t said much other than, “I’ll have pepperoni,” and “I’ll go in and get the pizza.”

  “Are you going to talk to me?” Sam asked, walking briskly next to Chase. She had forgotten her coat again. With the sun setting, the cool air made her shiver.“About what?” Chase said, balancing three pizzas on his palm.

  “Something other than what you want on your pizza. You’ve hardly said a word to me.” Sam took two fast steps to keep up with Chase’s one long stride.

  They arrived at the dorm. Sam tapped her foot on the elevator floor, anxious about what they might find when they returned to the room. She ignored Chase’s cold shoulder and prayed Vicky had still kept an eye on Ann. At least Sam hadn’t noticed any police cars, fire trucks, or vans from the psychiatric facility, located so close to the university it practically resided on campus. The authorities wouldn’t have to go far to commit Ann.

  Chase lay the pizzas down on Lauren’s desk.

  Sam peered out the window—ropes of blotchy pink clouds lined the sky against a backdrop of bright orange. It wouldn’t be long before the sun finally went to bed. In a way, Sam hoped Cale had put Lauren under his hypnotic trance so she wouldn’t be so terrified.

  Sam entered the bathroom. She raised her hand to knock and the door flung open. “Finally, you’re back,” Vicky groaned, beckoning Sam in.

  “Why is she handcuffed to the bed?” Sam asked. Ann snapped at her. She jumped out of Ann’s reach. “And where did you get handcuffs?” Sam rethought her question. “You know, never mind that last question.”

  “That’s why.” Vicky extended her arm across Sam’s line of vision. “She bit me, twice.” Sam noticed two distinct bite marks on Vicky’s forearm.

  “Maybe she’s hungry.” Sam shrugged.

  “Hungry my ass, the girl’s eaten everything in both our rooms and
then some. I hope you didn’t want your little stuffed frog.”

  “She ate Frogger?” Sam said.

  “Frogger. Dear Lord…you named the stuffed croaker. Uh—you’re all nuts.” Vicky held up a pair of pink polka-dot underwear. “She got these out of your drawer. Be happy I saved your underwear—seriously, polka-dots?”

  “Give me those.” Sam wrenched them from Vicky’s hand.

  “Where’s your boy toy?” Vicky sneered.

  Sam ignored her.

  “You know who I’m talking about, the puppy you drag around on a leash,” Vicky continued, throwing Sam a towel to wipe the blood from Ann’s arm.

  “The puppy can hear you,” Chase growled from Sam’s room.

  “What happened to her arm?” Sam asked.

  “She tried to gnaw it off when I cuffed her. She’s seriously more animal than human now—Chase would know about that.” Vicky pushed by Sam. “So you brought pizza, yum.” She disappeared through the bathroom, leaving Sam alone with a drooling, growling Ann.

  “Do you want some pizza?” Sam asked.

  Ann snarled, biting into her down comforter and shaking it violently like a dog with a stuffed toy. A puff of feathers filled the air, floating slowly to the floor around her. Sam wondered how they were going to get her out of the dorm. They definitely needed Evrik.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Sam said.

  Sam found Vicky pressed up against Chase. She had him cornered against the wall. Sam cleared her throat—twice. “How do you suppose we feed Ann with her wrist cuffed to the bed?”

  “She’s got a free hand, and anyway, she’ll probably just use her mouth,” Vicky said, finally stepping away from Chase.

  “I’ll take the pizza to her,” Chase volunteered, dodging Vicky.

  Sam grabbed a handful of paper plates from her shelf, offering one to Vicky. “She drank all of my Coke,” Sam said, slamming the door to her very-empty micro-fridge.

  Vicky plopped down on Lauren’s bed. “So you’ve gotten your friends all wrapped up in the Infernus. Not only has one been taken by a sanguis demon, the other’s been possessed by a porcus demon with the help of Nieander, one of the Angeli Casi, groomed by Lucifer himself. Could you have chosen any bigger evil to unleash on your friends?” Vicky took a dainty bite of pizza.