When she lets out a low growl, I understand.
I press the Ouija board firmer to my side. “Oh, what wonderful timing these curses have.”
CHAPTER 29
As fast as possible I shove the board under a closet and carefully approach Vicky, who is thankfully no longer imitating the kid from the Exorcist.
“Babe, can you hear me?” I hold out my arms to her, but she smacks them away and bares her teeth at me.
I step back with my hands raised. “Okay, apparently not.”
She turns and jumps towards the dummies. Before I can think of a way to stop her, she has sunk her teeth into the arm of a doll.
At that moment, Craig and what must be his coach enter the room. The crab man’s gaze shifts from me to the munching girl. “What the hell are you two doing here?” His eyes quickly move to the secret door before returning to me.
It takes me just a second to put on my innocent face. “I’m sorry. We were hoping to get an autograph, but my girlfriend suddenly went crazy. She ran past the dressing rooms and attacked that dummy. I don’t know why.”
He steps closer and puts a mouth hand on my shoulder. “Are you sure that’s your girlfriend and not some shapeshifter?”
“Wouldn’t a shapeshifter attack me instead of a doll?”
Vicky grabs the head of the dummy and pulls it right off. She throws it over her shoulder with force.
Craig’s coach steps aside to avoid getting hit.
“Good point,” the Snapper says. He starts walking in Vicky’s direction. “I’ll get her.”
While I’m praying he doesn’t hurt her or discover why we’re really here, a strange noise reaches my ears. It comes from the hallway and makes me think of an animal following a trail. It sounds like sniffing combined with claws scraping the walls. When a soft crackling is added to it, my chest tightens. Falling sand.
I reach inside myself and with a jolt my power awakens. “I think we have a bigger problem.”
Craig looks back as two sand demons appear in the doorway. “Oh, don’t worry about them. They’re my guards, they won’t attack you.”
Two tongues shoot out of the mouths of the lizards, to taste the air. They lick their lips and lean forward. Sand jumps from their skin and moves in my direction, catching fire on the way.
“I’m not so sure about that,” I yell at Craig, while his coach moves out of the way.
The demons approach me with long strides and eager expressions. Their tentacles slither along the floor, trying to grab my legs.
I jump back and summon a lightning bolt. “Can you please call them back?”
Craig leaves Vicky to demolish the second dummy and turns back to us.
“That’s enough!” he bellows. “Leave him alone!”
The two monsters throw him a sideways glance, but keep sliding forward. Sand flows from their scales.
“I don’t understand,” Craig says. “They should only attack when someone threatens me or when they find the ch…”
He narrows his beady eyes at me. The mouths in his hands have fallen open. “Wait, wait, wait.” He throws his head back and laughs. “You’re the chosen one?”
On first instinct, I want to deny it. But this crab hybrid is not stupid. He has figured this out fast and I’m guessing he’s not patient or amused enough to listen to my lies.
So I lift my chin. “Yeah, so what?”
He slams his claws together with a clang and cracks his neck. “You don’t look so tough. I can beat you up without breaking a sweat.”
I can’t stop a grin from spreading over my face.
Behind Craig a sword is raised. I recognize Taylar’s white-haired head just before he slams his weapon against the crab’s human legs.
There’s a loud clang and with one swing of his arm, the Snapper throws Taylar across the room.
My lightning bolt hits the boxer square in the chest and he falls backward.
He’s still laughing. “Is that all you’ve got?”
Anger courses through my veins and when I stick out my arms again, ice creeps up from the ground, quickly covering the crab like body. His face scrunches up with the effort of breaking through the cold.
“Better,” he pants. Slowly he brings his scaled arms down and slams them against his legs. Shards of ice fly in all directions. “But still not good enough.”
He drops his arms and turns to me with a grim expression.
I ball my hands into fists and think of a snow storm. But while the power inside me builds up, Vicky appears between me and Craig. Her face is inches from his and I know she’s staring into his eyes, trying to meddle with his feelings. A deep frown forms in his large, orange head as he fights her power.
Craig’s coach takes a step closer, but before he can say or do anything, the rest of my Shield drops down out of thin air and blocks his path.
“Let’s get rid of these demons,” D’Maeo says from beside me.
It takes me a second to understand what he’s talking about. I’ve been so preoccupied with the Snapper, that I forgot all about the sand demons. Unfortunately they didn’t forget about me.
Two tentacles shoot out at me and the old ghost, wrapping around our ankles and pulling us face forward off our feet. I hold out my hands to break my fall, but they disappear into the floor.
“Where did the floor go?” I ask no one in particular.
My breath catches in my throat as I look up. A waterfall of sand cuts D’Maeo and me off from the rest of the group. The two demons hold on to our legs like glue while we slowly glide down a slope that wasn’t here a second ago.
“Jeep?” I yell, not wanting to disturb Vicky’s hypnotizing.
At the same time, D’Maeo calls for Maël. Neither of them answer or show themselves.
I turn my head to look at the old ghost. “Can you deflect this magic?”
He shakes his head. “I already tried.”
More sand drops down from the ceiling as I reach for the buzz within me.
While D’Maeo kicks the tentacle holding his ankle, I hit the monster holding me again and again with lightning.
It ducks sideways, screeching, but the fourth bolt hits it square in the chest and it flies backwards and disappears into a heap of sand.
From a distance I can hear Vicky and Taylar calling out. When I open my mouth to answer, another tentacle wraps around my waist and squeezes the air out of my lungs.
In a reflex I let go of another bolt, but it misses its target, because the slope of sand suddenly gets steeper. My hands flail for some form of support while we slide down and I cry out when I see the black hole beneath us.
“Apparate to safety!” I shout to D’Maeo when the sand demon lets go of him.
With clenched jaws he reaches for me.
We’re seconds from getting swallowed by the hole, so I tell him to leave me. But my words are drowned out by a loud whoosh.
It’s like a whole desert is dropped on top of us. I close my eyes and squeeze my mouth shut.
The feeling of sliding down seems to go on forever. Eventually I have to inhale and I blink in confusion when I don’t choke.
Turning my head left and right I try to make sense of where I am. The gym is gone. So is the black hole. I’m still sliding down, close behind D’Maeo and the two sand demons. A bright red sun shines down on us, making everything look like it’s covered in blood.
I try to turn my body to look behind me, hoping the rest of the Shield is with us. Sand and sky are the only things greeting me.
My anger flares up again and I slam my fists into the sand beside me. It does nothing to slow me down, just hurts my arms as the hot sand scrapes the skin.
In front of me the two demons shriek with joy. They rest their lizard heads against the sand and push their tentacles up. D’Maeo and I watch in wonder as they stand up like straws for a second and then punch themselves deep into the sand all around them.
With a jolt, the de
mons come to a halt, creating a wave of sand. Meanwhile D’Maeo slides on at full speed, with me close behind him. There’s no avoiding the demons, that are waiting with their mouths open, their tongues shooting out hungrily.
But D’Maeo has a surprise for them. Just before he reaches the monsters, he apparates.
When he reappears behind the demons, he slams his sword into the body of the monster closest to him. The other struggles to free itself from the sand. Its head shoots forward and it tries to sink its teeth into D’Maeo’s arm. But the old ghost is faster. He jumps out of its reach and brings down his sword again. It cuts straight through one of the tentacles and the monster hisses violently. It snaps at him again, quicker this time, and D’Maeo’s weapon is knocked out of his hands. He vanishes, but the demon seems to sense where he’s going. It lifts itself out of the sand and dives forward.
I don’t wait for the outcome. Still sliding down, I summon two lightning bolts, one in each hand. As quickly as possible, I aim and release.
The demon doesn’t even get time to scream as the bolts cut two large holes into its upper body. With a soppy sound, the monster collapses in the sand, inches from the place where D’Maeo reappears.
As if on cue, the ground levels and I can finally slow down. D’Maeo walks over and helps me up.
I wipe the sand off my clothes and shake my head, spraying reddish grains everywhere. “What happened? Where are we?”
A sudden cry of anguish freezes us to the spot. The red sun seems to burn even hotter when more human voices answer the first.
D’Maeo swallows visibly. “I think the demons took us to their circle of Hell.”
CHAPTER 30
“You’re saying we’re in the seventh circle of Hell?”
The cries have died down and we both look around, trying to see beyond the endless carpet of sand.
“It sounded like it,” D’Maeo says. “And it looks like it.”
I scrunch up my nose. “How do you know what it looks like?”
“I made a calculated guess.” He gestures around us. “We know the sand demons come from the seventh circle. There’s a decent chance that their world consists of sand, like this one. Also, in case you missed it, tortured souls just called out to us.” He raises a finger before I can utter a response. “And I think these demons can only open portals to their own world and to ours.”
I cock my head. “Maybe you’re right, but there were other beings with us just now. Craig the crab man could’ve opened a portal to another world or dimension or whatever.”
“I don’t think so. Vicky was keeping him busy.”
My shoulders sag. “I hope she’s okay.”
The old ghost slaps my back hard. “Of course she is. She’s one of the toughest girls I’ve ever known. And she has help.”
I sigh as I realize Vicky is probably safer than we are. We’re in a strange world, without back-up.
“Okay, what do we do now?”
“Try to find a way back?” D’Maeo offers.
I grin. “Obviously, but I meant how do we do that.”
“Well…” He looks around with his hand above his eyes. “We could wander around in the smoldering heat, or we could call Qaddisin and ask him to get us out of here.”
My feet are starting to feel like they’re on fire and I bury them deeper into the sand. “I like that second plan.” I look up at the sky and call out. “Quinn! Can you help us?”
A chorus of exited howls greets us and in the distance the sand is disturbed.
I free my feet and take a couple of steps back. “Any time now, Quinn.”
I repeat his name in my head over and over, but still there’s no sign of him.
D’Maeo pulls at my arm. “We’d better get out of here. I don’t think Quinn can hear us here. We’ll have to come up with another plan.”
I gulp when my gaze locks on the shapes coming our way. They have the same heads and upper bodies as the sand demons we fought before, but instead of tentacles, they have the lower bodies and legs of a cheetah. Their long tails stick up straight, the sharp tips pointed at us like a scorpion’s, ready to strike.
I copy D’Maeo’s reluctant expression. “Running is probably our best option right now.”
“Agreed.”
We turn and make our way through the hot sand. The red sun burns into the back of my head. Sweat drips down every part of my body.
After five steps, D’Maeo is already way ahead of me. Every move I make is obstructed by golden grains. No matter how hard I try, I can’t go faster.
When I look back, the lizard-cheetah demons have covered half the distance between us.
Abruptly, I come to a halt.
“What are you doing?” D’Maeo shouts.
Steadying my breathing, I reach for my Morningstar and nudge the buzz near my heart.
The demons lift their heads and howl. There’s three of them and they are slowly moving away from each other, undoubtedly to box us in. Sand rises from the ground around their feet like puffs of smoke.
“What are you doing?” D’Maeo repeats from right beside me.
“We can’t outrun them. So I thought it would be better to save my energy for the fight.”
The old ghost pulls out his sword. “We’d better think of a strategy quickly then.”
I weigh my weapon in my hand. “Can you hold one of them off?”
“I hope so.”
“Good. I’ll hit another one with my Morningstar and try to fry the third with a bolt of lightning.”
From the corner of my eye I see him frown. “You can do that at the same time?”
My power slowly spreads through my body. I wink at D’Maeo. “I hope so.”
He grips his sword tighter. “Sounds like a faulty plan to me.”
“Well, do you have a better one?”
His eyes lock on the demon approaching him from the left. “Maybe.”
There’s no time to talk things through. From about half a mile away, the monsters jump as one.
Without hesitation I fling my Morningstar. I don’t wait to see if it hits its target, but focus on summoning a bolt. As soon as the light leaves my hand, I turn my attention back on my other weapon. The spiked ball at the end of my foldable Morningstar has punctured the neck of the demon on my right. It is down, but its tail is swaying in all directions. It almost pierces my arm and I jump sideways to avoid it.
A loud hiss right next to my left ear makes the hairs in my neck stand up. I try to back away, but a tail hits the ground behind me, scraping my back and keeping me in place.
Carefully I send power back to my hand. I’ll have to move fast, or this demon will take my head off or impale me with its tail. A tiny, hesitant spark dances in my palm. My heart beats so loud that it almost drowns out the hissing in my ear.
The monster’s tongue shoots out of its mouth and hits my forehead. Although I try not to, I shiver.
It moves even closer, the heat of its body prickles my skin.
I have to distract it somehow, so I can surprise it with a sudden attack. If it sees the light in my hand, I’ll be lost.
But when I lift my head, I know it’s too late. While the tail pushes me forward, the demon opens its mouth full of shark teeth.
My hand shoots up, releasing the energy within. But there’s no more than a sad sparkle there. It bounces harmlessly of the leathery skin.
As a last resort, I push the button on the stick of my Morningstar. I wait for the ball to return, but it doesn’t. It must be jammed too tightly into the other demon’s body.
My heart beat quickens, while sweat blocks part of my vision. This is it. The last second of my life has come. I will not see Mom again. Or Vicky. I will never play poker with my friends again, or eat nachos. The prophecy won’t come true. I can’t defeat the Devil. I can’t even defeat two demons from the seventh circle of Hell.
I knew it. I was never meant to save the world. I am not as strong as they
think.
With a sigh I close my eyes. If you can hear me, tell everyone I’m sorry, Quinn. I tried.
CHAPTER 31
A rush of air hits my face and I grit my teeth, preparing myself for the excruciating pain of getting eaten alive.
The pressure on my back recedes. Hot sand burns my feet and ankles.
When an angry growl splits the air, I open my eyes.
I am no longer trapped between the head and the tail of the demon. Instead, I am standing next to D’Maeo, several feet away from the monster. It is dripping sand that ignites as soon as it hits the ground. My Morningstar lays in the sand next to it. There’s no trace of the other two demons. They must have evaporated already.
“How did I get here?” I whisper.
“I apparated.”
My mouth falls open a bit. “You can take me with you when you disappear?”
“Looks like it.” His eyes never leave the lizard that’s swaying from left to right.
We step back when the fire reaches us and I quickly kick sand over it.
“What is it doing?”
“Probably trying to confuse us, before it leaps.” Smoke curls up as he follows my example and more flames are extinguished. “How’s your energy level?”
I concentrate on the buzz inside me. “It’s fine.”
“Good.” He places his feet firmer into the sand. “On three I’ll yell and charge. As soon as I do, you hit it with as many bolts as you can.”
“Good plan. I’ll pretend to cower behind you.”
While he counts quietly, I take a small step back and pull in my head as if I’m really scared. Meanwhile, I hold my hands behind my back and summon two bolts. As D’Maeo reaches two I get the idea of trying to freeze the bolts. I think of ice really hard and send my thoughts to my hands.
On three, I sway my arms forward. At the same moment the demon leaps. The bolts hit it square in the face and break into a thousand pieces.
It worked! I froze the bolts!
There’s no time to celebrate. Not yet. The demon is down, but not defeated. It claws at its eyes, where blood trickles out of several gashes.
Cards of Death Box Set Page 58
