DJ groaned as softly as he could and reached for one. I did the same, while Carsis kept an eye on our backs. None of the masks looked like the demons we encountered, but then again, why would they have to? If demons could take the forms of lions and dogs and rhinos, why couldn’t they take the form of a human costume?
I came to one directly in front of me that looked like a goofy demon, one that looked like the emoji you’d send in texts. Yet still, it was creepy as hell in this context. Instead of reaching for it casually, I quickly grabbed it and threw it on the ground, as if grabbing a spider.
But nothing happened.
I had to breathe slowly—
A hand grabbed my shoulder.
I whipped around and drove my forearm into something hard and muscular.
DJ’s chest.
“Sorry,” I said, my heart coming down from two hundred beats per minute. “Sorry. I was just super scared and thought you were a demon.”
“My fault,” he said, groaning. “I should’ve known better than to touch you in a spot like this.”
I almost laughed out of appreciation for DJ, but the best I gave him was a smile.
“I’ll make up for it later. That, you can count on.”
We shut the door to the evil closet behind. I would never see Halloween in the same light again.
That left just one room, one room where the scream came from, one room where whatever was here would await us.
“Same thing as we always do, guys,” I said, reaching to the handle and preparing to open it. I pushed it open and felt cold air rush toward me. We all entered and saw a bed, with someone resting on it with their back turned to us. Of course. Of course. Damnit. Just because I knew it would happen didn’t make it any less terrifying.
Carsis and DJ went to the far side of the bed while I stood near the girl on the bed, close to the door.
“Caitlin,” DJ whispered.
I nodded, sighed, steadied myself, and leaned over. I had my right hand on Ivory, just in case, while my left reached for Caitlin.
“Caitlin,” I said softly as my hand reached her shoulder.
She jumped, and as she rolled over, I half-expected to see a mutated demon face. But my nerves calmed down when I saw her normal face there, illuminated by Carsis’ flames.
“You OK? We’re here.”
But she didn’t respond, her eyes widening her only reaction. I felt a cold air surrounding me…
I felt someone breathing on my neck.
I turned just in time to see an ugly, dark red demon with a thick beard and red eyes headbutt me, his horn grazing the top of my skull and almost gorging me. I collapsed to the bed as DJ and Carsis charged the demon, but it was stronger than usual and neither men were able to get a complete hold of the monster. I unholstered Ebony but I couldn’t get a clear shot. Too much wrestling was going on and I didn’t need to add DJ or Carsis to the list of souls trapped in hell.
So I took matters into my own hands. I kicked the demon hard in the gut. It felt like kicking stone, and a part of me wondered if the demon’s stomach had broken my foot. But I ignored the pain since the demon bent over. DJ didn’t waste any time as he broke its arm and then its neck, sending it tumbling to the floor and turning to dust. Moments later, the lights came back on. Caitlin looked frazzled, while Sarah rose from the other side of the bed, only now visible.
“You’re safe now,” I said. “But what in the hell happened here?”
“We were down here when it all happened,” Sarah said, Caitlin still in a state of shock and unable to speak. “We just… I don’t know. The power went out and then we were bound together.”
I know exactly why.
“You were bait for us,” I said with disgust while trying to comfort Caitlin. I turned to DJ. “Make sure the Brits are fine upstairs. They probably are but we need to make sure.”
DJ ran without a word while Carsis looked at the girls closely, inspecting for wounds. A sense of shame overwhelmed me. Everywhere I went on this trip, I seemed to drag someone else into the fight. Someone else who probably had a perfectly normal life before we showed up.
“I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to bring our fight to you,” I said. “Last night, and now this…”
“It was bound to happen,” Caitlin finally said in an oddly casual way.
I arched my eyebrows at her but she didn’t seem to notice them. Her eyes… they hadn’t changed color, but they looked glazed. Possessed.
“The demons are coming. Whether you were here or not doesn’t matter. They are coming, and they will win.”
“Caitlin,” I said. I looked to Carsis, but his expression seemed equally confused.
“The demons are coming. And they will take all of us. We cannot defeat them. We can only hope to join them.”
I shuddered to think what the demon had done to Caitlin. Frankly, I really didn’t want to know. The thoughts of what could have happened…
No. Don’t go there. Don’t think about it. You don’t need to.
“We should join them, Sonya, we should—”
She reached for me and I pulled back. She just started laughing.
“Carsis?”
“She’s possessed, damn, hold on,” he said.
He placed his hands firmly on her shoulders and squeezed. Caitlin let out a scream that shifted from her own to a demon’s and back. Carsis suddenly yanked his hands back, shaking them as if he had touched a hot stove.
“Caitlin,” Sarah said.
“What happened?”
Sarah and Carsis explained to her the events of the past hour. I took my leave, concerned about the Brits upstairs. I ran into DJ in the living room at the bottom of the last flight of stairs.
“They are fine,” he said, much to my relief. “When the power went out, they were suspicious and decided to stay where they were.”
“Smartest move they’ve made this trip,” I said, my shoulders dropping. “At least they didn’t try and fight ‘for the lads.’”
“There was the cop with them, too. Janet. I didn’t ask anything, because—”
But I was pushing past DJ before he finished. I had questions for Janet, and I knew she would answer them. I sprinted up the stairs, barged open a half-open door, and stared at Nicholas, Richard, and Janet sharing a laugh.
“I’m glad to see you guys resemble a comedy club more than a prison cell,” I said, a smile on my face. “What the hell happened?”
“Didn’t DJ tell you?” Richard said.
“We decided we didn’t want to be heroes, love,” Nicholas said. “I have had enough of hell to last me until I die, thanks.”
“What, no ‘for the lads?’”
“Nah, the lads have had enough toasts to them.”
The boys chuckled. I looked to Janet for the official explanation, and once she cleared her throat, the room went silent.
“The lights kept flickering in this room—the only one to do so in this house, and I became suspicious immediately.”
“For real?” Richard said. “It never went out.”
So someone was lying, or the demons were presenting different visions to different people. I trusted everyone here, which made the second option more likely and incredibly terrifying.
“Yes, I promise you. I only saw this room and this building losing power. This entire street is on one power line, so it made no sense. I ran in here and the first place I heard voices was upstairs, so I went up. Turns out it was just these two talking to each other. But then the power went out and I couldn’t hear anything. My flashlight stopped working too. My radio, my phone, everything.”
Goddamn, the demons are really getting intense.
“The power of demonic magic,” I murmured.
“I decided the best course of action was to stay put and protect these two. I knew you were coming back and I could help when that happened. But I guess the power came back on before you returned.”
Even during the fight, they could change the reality.
“No, th
at’s not what happened,” I said. “A demon downstairs was doing something to the girls. We came just in time, I think, because the girls are fine. Well, they are now. But it attacked us. Not one of the normal demons, either.”
Janet shook her head.
“I’m glad you’re fine. I never imagined when I signed up for police work I would be fighting demons.”
“Yeah, well, I’m in the CIA, and I have investigated about every hoax and fantasy you can imagine and I never thought I’d be fighting demons. But here we are, in the midst of the start of a spiritual war. Best buckle up and prepare to fight.”
I had to tell that to myself as much as anyone else. Remember the days when you were going to go to Europe for vacation? Remember when it was just you and Brady going on a continent-wide tour?
Yeah, good times.
Suddenly, Janet held up a finger.
“Are things still the same? An attack is coming tomorrow?”
“Yes, we got until late tomorrow night then,” I said. “We’ll take turns rotating on guard watch here. If the demons came here now, they’ll come later. Janet, DJ and I will—”
“I will take it all,” Janet said.
That sounded like the start to a cringe-worthy death in a horror movie and a terrible idea. Janet had killed some demons, yes, but she was not trained in their patterns or experienced with them like DJ and I were.
“You need your rest for tomorrow,” Janet said, the tone of a police officer in charge coming through. “I believe everything that you tell me, and given that, you are fighting an ugly enemy you need to be fully healed for. I am not going to be needed until late in the evening tomorrow. I will nap during the day in order to be prepared for tomorrow evening.”
“Janet—”
“Sonya, I say this in the nicest way possible,” she said. “But you’re in my jurisdiction now.”
Damn. I just got TV troped.
She added a comforting smile, but she never really needed to provide it. I knew if Janet needed our help at any point, she would not try and fight the monsters herself. She’d wake up me or Carsis or DJ.
Janet did not have the “I’m gonna fight everyone myself” problem that DJ and I suffered from. OK, mostly just me.
“I surrender,” I said teasingly. I turned to Nicholas and Richard. “Don’t think I need to tell you two to stay indoors tonight, huh?”
“You didn’t before, love,” Nicholas said. “Bloody demons. I’d rather cheer for Liverpool than have them around.”
“You wouldn’t!” Richard said. “These are demons. Liverpool is the bloody devil!”
Janet and I left the two brothers arguing over where fandom ranked during the apocalypse and headed downstairs. DJ stood by himself, sheer exasperation on his face.
“The girls are downstairs. A bit terrified, but alive.”
“Are they fine?”
I already knew the answer to that question. Caitlin had looked shell-shocked when we left.
“Sarah is. She’s shaking but OK. Caitlin… she’s not, but not in an aggressive way. She’s just staring off into the distance, as if her mind is paralyzed. But she doesn’t really seem scared, just not there. At least she’s talking some.”
“The demon probably bit her and put a spell on her,” I said. “Where’s Carsis? He’d have the answers.”
“He said he was going to go do some recon for tomorrow,” DJ said.
“Did he—”
“Yeah, he made sure the girls were better before leaving.”
Though I disliked losing our spiritual guide, I wanted Carsis to do some reconnaissance—he could pass through dangerous spots as a smoky angel far better than we could. He could give us intel on the dragon and other monsters.
“You two should get some sleep,” Janet said. “That’s an order, agent.”
DJ grabbed my hand and we headed for the spare bedroom before I could argue the point. And once we started climbing the stairs, I had never felt such relief. I had no idea how long it’d been since I’d slept longer than a couple of minutes, but it was too long either way.
I had slept so little that when I hit the bed, my eyes shut and refused to open. I vaguely remember DJ kissing the back of my head, but I couldn’t say if he told me good night. I’d already passed out.
Chapter 15
My skull felt like it would crumble into a million pieces. Nuforsa squeezed it, threatening to burst it like an old piece of fruit. Pain overwhelmed my senses, and I slowly felt my body going into shock.
But I found an extra reservoir of strength, the same well that I had gone to my last encounter with Nuforsa. My hatred for Nuforsa was unleashed, and I didn’t bother to hide it. Suddenly, with a violent roar and a tremble inside, my body transformed from that of a tall, slender woman to a demon ready to unleash pure hell upon this bitch before me.
With great force, I lifted my head off the ground, through Nuforsa’s hand, and into her head, sending her careening off to the bank of the fiery lake. I charged her and placed my foot on her, stomping her face, her neck, and her chest as I sought to crush every fucking bone in her body. Blood spurted everywhere. Her guts spilled out. I became single-minded in my intent. I had already killed Nuforsa in demonic form once, and I was ready to do it again.
It didn’t take long for the awful demon beneath my feet to turn into a bloody pulp. This time, the bitch didn’t have anything left to say. She just turned to dust. I turned my attention to the next asshole who needed to die and bellowed at the skyscraping demon.
“Hahahaha,” he said. “Good, you have uncovered your hatred once more. That is good, Sonya. Doing so will make you more powerful than ever.”
“The only thing I’m more of is more certain of killing you,” I shouted, my voice mutated. “It is your turn to join Nuforsa! Die!”
The advantage of turning into a demon, it turned out, was that I no longer needed a Pegasus to fly. I had wings which would carry me through the air.
I lifted off and easily dodged his magical attacks and flailing hands. His size might have worked to his advantage when I was just a human, but having changed into a demon turned me into an almighty monster that no one in hell could stand up to. I launched myself at his left eye and extended my claws out. I slammed right into it, the iris spurting blood and other liquids as the beast roared in anger. I scratched like an angry cat, raking at every square inch on this ugly fucker’s eye.
Though the monster finally grabbed me and threw me away, I easily reoriented myself in midair and admired the work I’d done. The monster bellowed as it held a hand to its eye.
The circle of lava, the stage, the monster itself—it all shook. Far above me, I saw a couple of other rings, rings which I had already gone through—something in my memory jogged those feelings. Behind me, demons which had stood watching at the top of the hill, hungry for a human woman, now turned to flee. A few snarled, but when I snapped back at them, they quickly vanished. I could not see over the edges of this circle of hell, but I already knew my next stop.
“You bitch!” the demon cried as I crossed my arms in satisfaction. “You blinded me! I will destroy you!”
He started firing his magic in every direction, in so much pain he could not shoot straight. I just laughed at first, mocking his failures to aim. But it actually presented something of a problem, given that when he was predictable, he was easy to dodge. Now, though, the randomness worked in his favor.
But that only meant it’d be so much more satisfying when I ravaged him.
One shot of lightning grazed me, producing a smoky sensation. But I pushed on, hungry for destruction. I aimed straight for his chest, straightened my wings, and dive-bombed for his chest cavity.
I crashed into his ribs and, after rising up from the tumble, saw the creature’s blackened beating heart. With the force of my demon side, I punched and clawed the heart several times, making sure to tear out as much blood as I could out of the organ. The demon’s arms kept reaching for me, but I dodged them each time, i
gnoring its cries of pain.
When the beating heart went too fast and looked like it would explode, I jumped outward, landing at the initial spot of our battle. The heart ruptured, spilling blood everywhere, including some on my face. I watched as the demon gave a final cry of pain. It collapsed to the ground, just to the right of me, its impact creating an earthquake, and turned to dust. Behind it, it left a hole in the ground that I could traverse.
I heard a roar. The all-black dragon had decided to rejoin my adventure. I nodded to it, knowing I would need its help.
“Let’s go,” I growled, flying to the hole in the ground at the far side of the lake.
But when I turned, the dragon shook its head, remaining on the ground with its wings down.
“Sonya,” it hissed. “You need to control yourself. You will not accomplish your goal in this current state.”
“Do not tell me what to do!” I growled, my muscles clenching.
“Sonya,” it pleaded. “You know what you are capable of. But you also know what we’ve discussed. Please. Sonya?”
Something didn’t feel right. Something felt like it was flickering. But I somehow knew what the dragon was talking about.
“Sonya? Sonya?”
Suddenly, I lurched forward. I was back in Caitlin and Sarah’s house, DJ resting just a couple of feet away from me. It was still dark outside. I grabbed my phone and looked at the time. 6:47 a.m. It was much earlier than I’d intended to wake up—although, truth be told, I hadn’t set an alarm, so I wasn’t really sure when I had intended to wake up. I just assumed it was going to be after sunrise. Maybe these dreams won’t let me sleep. Wonder if they’re the future… or just my imagination focused on demons.
Then I heard the low rumble of thunder and the gentle pattering of raindrops on the roof. I groaned. This was the second straight city that a storm would come in just as demons would pierce the human realm. I looked at the weather report on my phone. They had suspected rain for some time, and it was scheduled to run through the next two days.
Wonder how recent an update that is.
Carefully, I slid off the bed, taking care not to disturb DJ. I glanced at him, such a beautiful man—but more than that, a caring, gentle, kind soul who had shown he had far more depth than just looking like a Greek God. I admired his willingness to admit his flaws, or at least not deny them when others brought them up. It was something that I struggled with. Telling him the story of Paul felt more painful than getting tortured by Nuforsa. Admitting other elements of my past—the isolation I felt as a child, the hatred that I could not get rid of toward my father, the self-inflicted physical pain, the confusion I felt now with my mother being a demon—was not something I had any intentions of doing anytime soon.
Magic Revenge: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Spirit War Chronicles Book 2) Page 16
