by Holly Hook
“A huge sacrifice,” Xavier said, paling. “The ritual to bring together the worlds must require a big one.”
“Exactly,” I said. “There's going to be up to two thousand people there. At midnight. Under the full moon.” I didn't say what else he meant. Thoreau had set a date two days from now. That meant he was confident that I'd be there to help him with it. I wanted to throw up. I checked the house, making sure that he and no one else was watching us. Every sense sharpened. I heard nothing but a bird skittering around in a nearby tree.
Xavier paced and shook his head. “I thought they kept pushing the date back for the water park due to money problems. That was always the story. They were originally supposed to finish it years ago. Then they'd stop working on it. Now they're about to finish it again.”
“It's because of me,” I said. "The mayor wanted to wait for me."
Hell would spill into the world through Cumberland's Water Adventure. Then it would turn into Cumberland's Fire Adventure. I wondered if Thoreau planned to keep it open that way. I knew what he'd say: that he liked the idea.
Janine turned the TV off. “Time to hit the Internet,” she said. I checked out her teeth as she spoke, but they still looked the same. The final stage of her Turning hadn't arrived yet. She got up and fished her phone out of the couch cushions, then thought better of it and grabbed her laptop off the coffee table.
It didn't take her too long to look up the plans for the Water Adventure park. The three of us gathered on the couch, me on one side of Janine and Xavier on the other. No one else was up. The light outside got gray, then pink, as she pulled up the ground plan for the park.
It looked pretty ordinary at first. Colorful sketches of water slides and even a roller coaster filled the screen. Puffy trees dotted the landscape.
But my enhanced vision had a way of bringing out details that most Normals missed.
“It looks like--” I said.
“A pentagram,” Janine said. “It's not the upright one, either. I heard that they're only bad if they're upside down, and this one--”
“Is upside down,” I finished.
She was right. At first glance, the map of the Water Adventure park looked ordinary, like something you'd see in a brochure. But there was an inverted pentagram there if I looked at the smaller details underneath all the rides. The sidewalks. The fences. Even the trees and shrubs contributed. They formed a giant star that wasn't visible right away because some of the rides and trees overlapped the walkways. The park itself was round, and a fence encircled it all.
The big pool where the ceremony would take place was right in the center of the park. As if that wasn't disturbing enough, the attractions seemed to be a part of the horror as well.
Death's Dive was the name of the water slide at the bottom point. The water tunnel in the bottom right point of the star was called The Dragon's Lair. The one roller coaster in the entire park was in the top right point and labeled the Baron's Barbecue. It was complete with fire jets around the ride that could be illegal. To the left of the Barbecue was a water funnel ride called the Vampire's Castle and in the bottom left point of the star was a final water slide named the God of War.
I think Xavier and I spotted that at the same time. He lifted his finger and pressed it to the name, mouthing the words.
“Oh. The two of you are right. I see it now. This map is a giant ritual circle,” Xavier said, removing his finger from the screen. “All five members of the Dark Council are represented here.”
“It's got to be the biggest ritual circle in the world,” I said. “This is where the Dark Council is going to meet, isn't it? The ruins at Turkey were a distraction.”
“It has to be,” Xavier said. He wouldn't take his eyes off the God of War water slide. “This must be their improvement over their old haunt at the ruins. Way to make it modern.” His thoughts were elsewhere. He was thinking about those three words and what they could mean.
I'd cut right to it. “Xavier, do you know the origin of War Mages?"
He shook his head. “I don't know the story. We're just here.”
“Dark Mages were made by Death thousands and thousands of years ago,” I said. “How long is your history? All types of Mages had to start somewhere.”
“I don't know that, either,” Xavier said.
“Someone must have started your line,” I said. “And you said that your family is supposed to be the most powerful War Mage family out there.”
“What are you getting at?” Xavier asked. "I wasn't bragging, you know."
“The God of War?” Janine asked.
Xavier shook his head and facepalmed. “I knew War Magic was dark.”
“Hey. I'm darker than you,” I said. “My point is, we've just discovered the fifth member of the Dark Council. It's the God of War, obviously. The question is, which God of War?” I had never heard anything about gods or goddesses being real, but after I had met Death, who was probably the most basic one of all, I could believe anything. The world was stranger than I had ever imagined. A thought hit me. “Xavier, is your last name Italian by any chance?”
“Yeah. Why?” Then a look came over his face as he understood.
He was from the most powerful War Mage family in the world.
“Italy,” I said. “Rome.”
“I took mythology last year," Janine said. "We learned about the Greek and Roman gods. They were pretty much the same thing but had different names. The Roman God of War was Mars."
“You're saying my family got our powers from Mars,” Xavier said. “Really? Every time I hear that name I think of the planet. Or the candy bar.”
“We're talking about the god,” I said. “Who else could it have been? Maybe your family was the first ever to be given his power. That's why Thoreau wanted you to pair up with me, so that I'd have it, too.”
“Well, this could be why War Mages are full of themselves,” Xavier said. “The gods were arrogant and eager to smite you. Do you know what? Your theory makes sense.” He managed a smile. “The gods must be proud of us.”
“Well, of Leon,” Janine said.
“What I don't get,” I said, “is that War Magic can kill demons. Why did Mars join up with Thoreau? Why did Thoreau want to be friends with someone who made War Mages?"
“Because he didn't want Mars to destroy him?” Janine asked.
“Maybe,” Xavier said. “I could see how a god's power could destroy demons."
“I don't even get why Gaozu allied with Thoreau,” I said. “He wasn't an evil guy in the legends. He wasn't perfect, but he wasn't some bloodthirsty freak, either.” Something wasn't adding up. Death claimed to be neutral, but at the same time, she was helping Thoreau. I could see why Bathory wanted to be by his side, but that was it. Maybe the Dark Council did all miss the rule they had over Normals so long ago. Being worshipped to being in a class taught in high school was sure to make any powerful being angry and mad at the world.
“So we know who all the members are,” Xavier said. “I'm willing to bet you're right about the God of War. Anyway, we need to destroy this place before Thoreau can use it to murder two thousand people and bring his world to ours.”
I gulped. “I agree.”
“But how?” Janine asked. “We can't just drive a bomb in there and blow it up, right?”
Xavier looked at her. He was serious.
“We might be able to,” he said. “A couple of tankers might work if we get them right by the entrances or next to something the park needs to run. Blow up certain things, and they won't be able to open the park for weeks. We'll get bonus points if there are bad chemicals involved."
“But there's nothing but concrete around the pool,” I said. “It's like Thoreau made his new portal blast proof. We'd have to drop a nuke on the place to get it to go away. And wait. I'm the one who's supposed to have the dumb ideas. And won't Thoreau expect us to try to delay the opening? It's another trap.”
“I think it is, too,” Janine said. “Maybe the two of
you are better off hiding.”
“Look and see if you can find any underground plans,” Xavier said to her. "We have to keep thinking."
Janine searched until the sun was all the way up and trying to peek through the windows. She put her sunglasses back on once that happened. The sun was getting to her. Already, the daytime was forbidden, but she didn't complain. We had far worse things on our hands right now than her Turning.
Once all this with Thoreau was over, we'd have a huge problem on our hands.
And that was in addition to getting our parents back.
“I can't find anything,” she said at last. Her mother's alarm went off. It was time for her to go to work. Janine tensed next to me and pushed her sunglasses further up on her nose. We sat together, pretending to play Solitaire on the laptop while her mother shuffled through the house, too tired to notice that something was very wrong. She told Janine not to get into any trouble and headed out, purse over her shoulder.
“I can't hide this too much longer,” Janine said. Even though she tried to hide it, I noticed when reached up and felt her front teeth. She sighed in relief. It wasn't here yet.
But she was getting scared.
“I did it for fourteen years,” I said. “I'll help you. We'll go shopping for some contacts. We have only two more days until the moment of truth. After that, we'll get it done."
“The mayor won't end the world without you,” Janine told me. “You can run. Get out of here.”
I thought of the banshee finding me before, of my father who was still trapped and of all the others. Running was easier said than done. Thoreau would kill my father if I did that, then force me into the Infernal anyway. I knew it deep down. He would take his time and then he would hunt down Janine and everyone else who had ever had any connection to me. He might even go after Grandma. Her only purpose had been to bear and raise his child, after all. Thoreau had no more use for her.
I could put nothing past him. He had nearly kicked his offspring down a pit to the Underworld. He would do worse. Demons only cared about themselves.
“You don't understand,” I said. “Imagine if Thoreau had your mother.”
She winced. At one point, Thoreau had taken her mother captive. “Your dad wouldn't want you to do this."
“I know he wouldn't.” My decision wasn't entirely about him. It was about Trish and Thorne and Janine. While they lived, they would be in danger.
“Okay,” Janine said. “We think of a way to give the news another big story to report. The Mystery Explosion at Cumberland's Water Adventure. Or the Freak Earthquake at Cumberland's Water Adventure. Which one sounds better?”
“I don't know how to make the earthquake work,” Xavier said. “We'd better stick with the explosion. And if we do that, we have to strike during the day. Thoreau will expect us at night.”
“I bet there are magical wards all around the water park,” I said. “Those are going to be there even if it's noon." As much as I hated the idea of striking during the day, it might be the only option other than running. I wasn't going to sit back and let Thoreau find me. "Blowing up the entrance to the park might be enough. That'll buy more time before the rite. We should not go anywhere near the portal."
"I'm going with you," Janine said.
I opened my mouth to say something, but she gave me a look that told me there was no way I was going to refuse. We couldn't use her being Normal as an excuse anymore. She was on her way to being very not Normal, and we were running out of fighters. In fact, this might even be the last of us right here.
"Okay," I said. "The three of us should go. We'll have the sun to worry about, but we already know ways around that." I eyed Xavier's new coat. "I love that leather. And that's a nice hat."
"Hey," Xavier said, taking it off. "I'm happy to lend it to you, even if it does hide your hotness."
I slapped him on the arm and made Janine smile. "So," Janine said. "How exactly are we going to do this?"
We didn't decide at first. We waited for George to get up. He could help us. We caught him up on everything that had happened--warts and all. He grimaced as we told him about the Water Adventure and showed him the map. At about the same time, Liliana got up, too.
I wondered when George would notice something different about Janine. His sense of smell was better than mine. But he was so absorbed in the image on the laptop that he wasn't paying attention.
I wasn't, either, because there was a knock on the door a second later.
Everyone stopped and tensed. Xavier and I looked at each other.
I hadn't heard anyone come to the door at all.
And then I smelled the worst thing ever.
Sewage.
Demon blood.
We had a demon right outside our door.
Chapter Six
"What stinks?" Janine asked. It was obviously her first time smelling a demon. Normals were lucky that they didn't have to detect these things.
I didn't answer her question. One thought screamed through my mind, and it was that Thoreau had found us.
"Everybody back," I whispered.
George was wrinkling his nose, too. The knock came again. Liliana flushed the toilet in the bathroom, but she didn't emerge.
Even with his increased powers, there was no way Xavier could Transpose five people. It was on his face. He shook his head and shifted his gaze to the back door. Xavier took a step towards Liliana's room. He wouldn't leave without his sister.
The knock came a third time.
"Alyssa?" Mack asked.
I picked up his scent over the sewage. He still smelled faintly of beer and pizza. The cold cave smell had vanished, but that might be because the demon scent was overpowering.
"Open the door," Mack repeated. "I brought an old friend who's here to help."
He didn't sound angry. He didn't even sound hostile. I exchanged another look with Xavier. I could feel his confusion.
"An old friend?" I asked. "Who?"
"Allunna."
Xavier cursed. "Do not open the door."
"It smells like her," I said, loud enough for her to hear. Demons didn't seem to have sensitive hearing, so I wasn't sure.
"She's here to help," Mack said.
"I killed her once," Xavier whispered. "That's not what she's here for."
"But she also hates Thoreau now," I said. I was wondering what she had to say. "We can kill her if we have to." I was more worried about Mack. I had bitten the guy just hours ago. He'd want revenge.
But she might have something up her sleeve.
"You're not lying?" I asked. "You didn't bring Thoreau instead?"
"It's me," Allunna said in that dark, creepy voice. "Let us in. If you want any chance of stopping Thoreau, open the door."
I looked at Xavier again, every muscle tense. I made sure my sword was still on my belt. I never let it leave my sight now, not since I had lost my first one on the top of a building. Grabbing the handle, I took a step towards the door.
I had zero liking for Allunna. She had been working with Thoreau before, all because she wanted him to break her bond to an aging, about-to-die Leon. But Thoreau did not attempt to save her when Xavier killed her. Her fiery ghost vowed revenge on him before we resurrected her.
But she'd also want revenge on us. It was a matter of who she hated more right now.
"Back up," I said to Xavier. We had nothing else to go on. "Let me open the door. If she wanted to kill us, she wouldn't have knocked." I hadn't seen her since the airport, but I had the sense she would have tried to be more subtle if she was here for a kill or two.
"How do you know that?" George asked. We had told him about Allunna before.
"Because I think like a predator," I said. "Just in case, Xavier, get ready."
I opened the door.
It was Mack and Allunna, all right. Allunna had her arm curled around Mack as if they were a regular couple. She was wearing a hoodie that hid the silvery scales on the back of her neck, but it did nothing to hide h
er pure black eyes. They looked like pits of evil.
I squinted in the morning light as a headache bloomed between my ears. Even so, I could tell that Mack's eyes had changed. They were brown, and the black flecks that marked him as a Dark Mage were gone.
And then Mack smiled.
"Why are you smiling?" I asked, blocking the way inside. The two of them made no motion to come in.
"Can't you see?" Mack asked. "I'm Normal."
"You're...what?"
"I don't know what you did when you bit me," he said, "but I'm Normal. You took the Dark Magic right out of me." His words gushed with gratitude and relief. "I'm here to repay you."
"It's true," Allunna said, pulling Mack closer to her. His gaze shifted to her body. The succubus demanded all male attention when she stepped into the room. It was another reason I didn't like her one bit. When she was around, Xavier couldn't keep his eyes off her. "He is Normal. Now, let us in before the ATC spots me."
"Wait," I said. "Aren't you with Thoreau now that he and Leon are merged?"
A look of total disgust came over her. "In a way, yes," she said. "And in a way, no. Let me in." She took a bold step forward, bringing Mack with her. It was clear that she was in control here.
I glanced at Xavier again. He nodded. I could sense his gaze floating towards Allunna. I would stand between him and the demon, then.
I was curious as to what she had to say. Her exact words had been that she wanted revenge on Thoreau. It was her main reason to come back to life. Of course, she could be lying, but we had nothing else to go on.
So I stepped aside and allowed them entry.
George and Xavier remained silent. Janine stood up and moved to the other side of the room. Allunna kept her grip on Mack. Hadn't Mack said something once about knowing Allunna from before? I was pretty sure he had. How else could he have found her?
Mack was the first to speak. "Thank you," he said. "The Dark Magic is gone. You removed it. I thought Death had to take it away, but you did instead. I don't know how it worked, but it worked."
"You're seriously Normal?" I asked.
