Demon Heart

by Rhys Lawless

  “That’s why you came to me,” he mumbled.

  Wade nodded.

  “Wait a sec. You went to him? When? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Since when did Wade seek help from my high priest? And why wouldn’t he tell me?

  Because I’d stop him. That’s why. I would never want him to go to Graham for help after what he’d done, and Wade was desperate.

  “Why didn’t you say so? We could have gone to her again for help. Together,” I said.

  Wade turned and his eyelids dropped in defeat.

  “She can’t help.”

  “Who are you talking about?” Graham asked.

  “And what did he do for you?” I asked, ignoring Graham.

  “He gave me”—Wade put his hand in his pocket and pulled a stone out—“this.”

  “You haven’t used it yet?” Graham asked. Wade shook his head. “What the hell are you waiting for?”

  “Well, I can’t exactly activate it myself, can I? I’m not a witch.”

  “What is it?” I asked.

  Wade looked at me apologetically.

  “It’s a magic dampener,” Graham said. “I use it for new witches until they can learn to tame their powers.”

  “I’m so confused,” Maximilian said.

  “Give it here. I’ll activate it,” Graham said and tried to take the stone from him, but Wade closed his fist before he got to it.

  “I’d rather it was Caleb,” he said and turned to me. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I wanted to make things better and give you one less thing to worry about. I was going to ask Hew to cast it on me, but then I didn’t have an episode in a week, so I thought it was all over. I should have known it wouldn’t be.”

  I touched the hand holding the spell and decided to give some privacy to this conversation.

  I don’t care that you didn’t tell me. I’m just confused why you didn’t let me help you.

  You’ve got enough on your plate as it is.

  And I’m happy to carry your problems, too, instead of having to find out like this when it’s too late to do anything.

  “Are they, like, having a moment, or have I gone deaf?” Maximilian said, and I shot him some evil glares.

  “Okay, let’s do this then,” I said and placed my palm over his, covering the spell. “The spellword?”

  “Protect,” both Graham and Wade said at the same time.

  I barely had time to open my mouth before the spell sparked to life, and the dust sparkled as Wade’s body absorbed it. That hadn’t happened before. Was it Graham’s speaking that managed to activate it or were my spell casting powers growing stronger?

  “How will we know it worked?” Wade asked.

  “It has,” Graham said.

  We just wait and see, I guess.

  “And if it hasn’t, we’ll put you under quarantine until it’s all flushed out of your system,” Graham added.

  “No one is going in quarantine,” I said.

  Lorelai stepped into the middle and lifted her phone.

  “You guys,” she said, and at that moment Corrine’s, Maximilian’s, and Dirk’s phones all broke into song at the same time.

  “This doesn’t sound good,” Wade said.

  “It isn’t,” Lorelai said and grabbed the remote on top of the bar and turned the TV on.

  The screen filled with shots of the Thames and flashing blue lights. If I hadn’t read the news headline underneath the reporter, it could have looked like a celebratory newsfeed of New Year’s Eve and the fireworks at midnight.

  Lorelai cranked the volume up, and the reporter’s voice filled the room.

  “Waves never seen before on the Thames hit the shores at Westminster. The metropolitan police commissioner has stated that at this point, the number is likely to be in the dozens if not hundreds—“

  Lorelai hit the mute button as all the agents took their respective calls.

  “What the fuck is happening?” I said. “This can’t be Christian. He couldn’t possibly cause this much destruction.”

  “No,” Graham agreed. “This can’t be him. He’s not a witch, and this is the work of witches.”

  “Who would do this? The high council?” I said. But why would they hurt humans?

  “The high council would never do anything like this. It must be the new witches that went underground.” Graham growled.

  This wasn’t possible.

  “Okay, let’s say you’re right. How on earth have four-week-old witches mastered their powers to such an extent to cause this?” I asked.

  “We’ll have to go and find out,” Wade said. “We’ve got to help these people. Whoever is causing this is not human, and the human authorities need our help.”

  Wade was right. The three MI5 agents might be powerful witches, but they weren’t enough to help with a public magical attack of this level. We had to do something. Before more people got hurt.

  Ten

  Wade

  Corrine led all of us downstairs and towards the cars parked in the middle of the street. Graham got in her car with Dirk, and Caleb followed Maximilian, only Graham stopped him.

  “Caleb, I want you in the car with me.”

  “You don’t tell me what to do, old man,” Caleb said and Graham flinched.

  If that picture I’d seen on his mantelpiece was any indication, he truly cared about Caleb and wanted to protect him, which I could appreciate. Even if he was trying to protect him from me. He needed it. And so did everyone else.

  “I need to talk to you, and I won’t take no for an answer,” he insisted.

  Caleb turned to me and I gave him the go-ahead. He responded with his eyes, and I didn’t need to touch him to know he was saying he was here for me.

  “Lorelai, you go with Maximilian,” Graham said.

  “Are you out of your mind? I’m not going in a car with a ticking time bomb,” she shrieked and got in Corrine’s car.

  Caleb mouthed an “I’m sorry” before ducking inside the car and leaving me on the street with Maximilian.

  He wasn’t a bad-looking fellow. He had blond, short hair and striking green eyes. Maximilian looked like a guy who worked out, a lot, and if he was part of MI5, I couldn’t blame him. He probably had to deal with bullshit like this more often than not.

  “You don’t have to put me in your car if you don’t want to.” I decided to make his decision easier as he walked over to the driver’s side. It was still to be determined whether Graham’s spell had worked on me and I didn’t want anyone feeling on edge because of me.

  Maximilian looked up at me and grinned.

  “I’ve had actual bombs tied on me. I think I’ll be fine,” he said and got in the car.

  He was already growing on me. I joined him in the car, and he sped off almost as soon as my door shut.

  “Have you been a witch for long?” I asked him.

  “Longer than I care for,” he said. “You? Been a witch hunter for long?”

  I wasn’t sure how he knew. No one had mentioned it when we were in the room, and I’d made sure not to show any signs that I’d once been one. But I guess the resentment Graham showed me, paired with the stuff mentioned about Christian, might have given it away.

  “Longer than I care for,” I offered back.

  “What brought you to the right side?”

  “Caleb.”

  Maximilian smirked.

  “Of course. Caleb is one hell of a guy. I’m not surprised.”

  I couldn’t help wondering if he knew from personal experience, and I didn’t know if I wanted the answer.

  “I never slept with him, if that’s what you’re wondering. But I know people who have.”

  The look I gave him must have been scary because he quickly backtracked.

  “Okay, okay. Not people. Person. One. A cyclops.”

  Caleb had mentioned a cyclops in his life, but he’d chosen not to say much about him, just enough for me to know he’d met him shortly after losing me and his memories.
/>   “So, you’re friends with Caleb’s ex?”

  Maximilian didn’t answer straight away. There was more to the story, and I knew it.

  “Well, he’s my boyfriend,” Maximilian said.

  “Oh.” It came out of me before I could stop myself. There was definitely a story there. But now was probably not the right time to find out.

  “Oh, indeed.”

  He drove us through the busy streets of London, rushing past traffic with the blue lights and siren his car came with, following Corrine’s right in front of us.

  “I can’t believe you’re a witch and you work in MI5. Witch hunter me would be livid,” I said to him.

  “Why? We’ve got to take positions within the government, otherwise our secrets and our world can be exposed.”

  “It makes sense. But that’s not why. It’s because Christian had us convinced we were a secret branch of the government.”

  “Maybe it wasn’t all lies.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We take positions in secret. That doesn’t mean the government hasn’t created a secret branch to battle the paranormal. If there’s one thing you should know about the Nightcrawler world, it’s that nothing is black and white.”

  I nodded.

  “I actually know that very well.”

  We didn’t get a chance to say anything else before Maximilian came to a stop in front of the Westminster Bridge. The commotion of EMTs was overwhelming, and when we stepped out of the car, we had to tread carefully as there were people being resuscitated or tended to everywhere.

  As with the scene at the club, there were lots of white sheets around, too, and the media was desperate to get snaps of the disaster.

  Oh, the joys of the press. No respect for the victims or those hard at work to save as many lives as they could.

  We joined Caleb and the rest of them and passed the crime scene police tape that was stopping bystanders from getting any closer.

  I touched Caleb’s wrist as we walked and checked on him.

  Did he piss you off? I asked him.

  When does he not?

  He asked about my outbursts, didn’t he?

  Uhm, no. He was trying to find out who the witch was that you went to for help.

  Of all the things I’d expected Graham to concentrate on, Mother Red Cap was not one of them.

  You didn’t tell him about her, did you?

  Are you crazy? I don’t want to suffer for the rest of my life for revealing her secret.

  Once we got to the edge of the river, the witches got to work inspecting every surface, looking for dust residue and casting spells to find out more about what had led to the waves.

  Instead of adding nothing to their research, I decided to help a first responder who was trying to resuscitate a young woman.

  “What happened?” I asked the nurse, who looked at me, panting and shaking.

  This wasn’t good. If she couldn’t keep her shaking under control, she couldn’t keep her strength in check either, and she could end up cracking the poor woman’s ribcage.

  “She went into cardiac arrest. I don’t know what happened.”.

  I tried to take over from her, but she wouldn’t move.

  “I’m trained in first aid. I can help. If you don’t let me, you’re going to break her ribs,” I yelled, and she hesitantly let go and let me take over.

  “Get the oxygen mask,” I said to her, calmly this time.

  The nurse looked around her on the verge of tears, and I knew I had to keep her under control if we were going to save the woman.

  “Look at me. What’s your name?”

  “Maria.” She trembled.

  “Maria, I need you to do one thing and one thing only. See that ambulance right there.” I glanced behind her and she followed my gaze. Maria nodded. “I need you to run there and grab an oxygen mask. Can you do that?”

  Maria nodded again.

  “Go, now,” I said, and she stumbled to her feet and raced across the pavement to the ambulance.

  “Hold on, sweetheart. Hold on,” I begged the young woman whose life was quite literally in my hands.

  I looked up to check on Maria’s progress, and I spotted a group of people in the distance that didn’t seem to be involved in any of the rescue mission. It was dark and the light was limited on them, but all I could tell was that there were four of them, and they were all huddled together, watching the events unfold.

  Maria returned with the oxygen mask, and I barely registered her as she unwound the tube and placed the mask on the victim’s face.

  “I’m so sorry. I’m new. This is literally my first shift, and we were all called out to help,” she said.

  I only looked at her for a second to reassure her it was okay, and by the time I turned my head back at the gang, they were gone.

  The woman’s heartbeat pulsed in my hands, and when I looked down at her, she was taking on the oxygen and breathing.

  “Maria, are you all right to take over?”

  “Yes, thank you. Thank you so much. You saved my life. And hers.”

  I acknowledged her gratitude with a nod, and I ran towards the spot I’d seen the gang. What was it they said about the suspect returning to the scene of the crime? Maybe they’d never left. Maybe they’d stuck behind to make sure the chaos they’d caused lasted long enough.

  I didn’t know what it was, but I was willing to find out. When I reached the spot, I peered behind me. There was a perfectly clear view of the entire bankside. I even spotted a certain silver-haired beaut hard at work.

  This was getting weirder and weirder. Was I right? Had that group been responsible for what happened here?

  I walked farther into the alley that the group must have disappeared into, but there was no one there.

  I reached a crossing and turned left, too late to realize this was a setup.

  And it was, because as soon as I took the turn, a man appeared behind me while another two men and a woman stood in front of me, full of smug faces and stupid grins.

  “Who are you?” I shouted.

  I was hoping my voice carried down to the riverside, but I wasn’t holding any hope of being saved. As far as I knew, I was on my own.

  “We are the second coming,” the woman hissed.

  “We are the new age,” the man behind me said.

  “You are psychos,” I hissed in the same manner they did. “What do you want? Why are you doing this?”

  “To end the human race,” one of the men in front of me called out, and a gust of wind knocked me off my feet and carried me across the street.

  Before I collapsed on the guy that had appeared behind me, he raised his hand, and I felt whiplash as I flew back towards the three witches. This time I came down to the ground, hard, my arm making a cracking sound and pain shooting through me with all its might.

  When I growled, I made sure to do so as loud as I could. I might have been on my own, but I still held out hope that my voice would carry down and that Caleb would notice I was gone.

  The female witch stepped closer to me and kicked my other arm, the one I hadn’t just broken.

  Her eyes glistened as she made a fist with her hand, and before I had the time to do anything, whether shout for help, cry, or duck to the side, the air left my lungs, and I was struggling to breathe.

  I rolled away from her foot with my broken arm and all—and it was definitely broken because not only did it hurt like a mother, but it was also limp and lifeless next to me—and made my entire body convulse with pain.

  I opened my mouth to scream, but instead, dust came out. The dust splattered over me and gave me my breath back. Before any of the witches could react, I coughed another ball of dust, and it floated above us all.

  The dust was dark and ominous, and it took shape within moments, moments the witches didn’t have to contemplate their next move. Spears made of shadows shot out in all directions. Countless numbers of them. I felt like I was suddenly in a medieval war film, and I was in
the middle of the battlefield.

  One by one, the witches got speared and collapsed in heaps on the ground without so much as a cry for help. Their blood painted the cobbled street red, and as if it was all a dream, the dust spears evaporated, leaving no trace of foul play behind them. Other than four dead bodies, of course.

  I stumbled to my feet and ignored the pain in my arm as I pounded down the alley to the riverside where Caleb was.

  I didn’t realize he was talking to Winston until I was standing in front of them and looking into their faces. Both were white as if they’d seen a ghost.

  “What?” I asked them, and Caleb noticed my arm.

  “Are you okay? Where did you get that souvenir?” he asked looking at my face, but the snark and worry were missing from his voice.

  I turned to Winston who looked equally terrified.

  “Win, what’s going on? Why do you look like you two got the worst paycheck in the history of paychecks?”

  “Wade,” Caleb said. “It’s Hew. Someone has taken him. He’s missing.”

  Eleven

  Caleb

  Three massive terror attacks were bad enough, but Hew being abducted? That shit was becoming personal, and I wasn’t having any of it.

  I couldn’t even begin to imagine what Winston felt like, losing his mate in that manner with no explanation as to what was happening and no way he could stop it.

  There was not much consolation for a guy who had lost everything once before.

  “The worst part is I can’t feel him,” he said.

  “What do you mean you can’t feel him?” I asked.

  We’d retreated from the Thames shores and to an ambulance where we could sit him down.

  “Since…since we bonded, I could feel him. It’s like a radar inside my head that can sense him and that gets hotter and louder the closer I get to him.”

  I didn’t imagine it was easy to describe what it felt like being mated with someone. But he was doing a damn good job.

  “Since he was abducted, I can’t feel him. It’s like someone’s cut our bond, but I know that’s impossible.”