Curse of Night

by Emily Goodwin

  “She’s astral projecting to the coven to check things out.”

  Lucas steps up behind me, hand landing on my hip. I let out a breath, leaning against him. The room falls silent, and we all look at Tabatha, waiting for her to come back.

  Another few seconds tick by before she sits up, visibly shaken by what she’s seen.

  “What is it?” Naomi asks, gripping her twin’s hand tightly in hers. “What did you see?”

  “It’s Ruth.” Tabatha gets to her feet, straightening out her dress. “She’s inside the Covenstead and is trying to get demons and vampires inside. We have to go. We have to stop her before she breaks through the door.”

  “We’re too far,” Ruby says, voice cracking with fear. “We won’t get there in time.”

  “I’ll drive,” Lucas says, pressing his fingers into my hip before letting go. “I can get us there in half the time.”

  Lucas has driven me back to Thorne Hill in record time, and we can cast a safety spell to keep us from crashing and burning and from getting pulled over.

  But we still might not make it.

  “Take me there.” I pull my hands out of Abby’s and look at Julian. “I know you can. Take us.”

  “If I take the humans, they will become sick from flying,” he says, and I remember the first time Michael transported me to a beach on Australia. It was like stepping off the spinning teacups at Disney World after half an hour of constant spinning. “You half angel, Callie,” he explains. “You’re able to withstand it, but it would leave the others too exposed.”

  “Then take me,” I plead, moving away from Lucas and Abby. “Ruth is only doing this because she wants me. She has no issue with the coven.” I swallow my pounding heart, nerves prickling along my spine. “The Academy is full of students. If she gets the doors open and unleashes the demons…” I can’t finish my sentence. My breath leaves in a ragged huff, and I grab Julian’s hand, looking into his eyes. “Take me.”

  “Callie, no,” Lucas protests. “You can’t walk right into the line of fire.”

  “I have to!” I counter. “I’m the only one who can get there before it’s too late!” I look back at Julian. “Please. It’s what my father would do, isn’t it?”

  A moment of understanding passes between us. “And your mother,” Julian says and grabs my hands. In a rustle of feathers, darkness closes around me, and everything spins, faster and faster, until it fades from view.

  The next thing I know, I’m standing in my back yard. Julian holds my hands, making sure I’m steady on my feet before letting go.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asks.

  “I have no choice,” I tell him. “She’s after me, and I can’t let anyone else die because of her.”

  Julian’s brows furrow, and he nods, holding out a hand. The dagger appears in his grasp. “If she has vampires with her, she must have them under her control.”

  I nod and shiver, wishing I’d grabbed my coat before having Julian fly me out of Lucas’s estate. And put my shoes on. Shit. I didn’t think this through.

  “Yes, which makes them even more dangerous.” I turn, waving my hand at the house to magically unlock the back door. “Keep watch. I need shoes.”

  Julian nods and looks at the forest. I sprint inside, skidding to a stop at the base of the stairs. I run up them and burst into my room. The leggings I had on yesterday are on the floor, and I frantically pull them on. I shove my feet into a pair of combat boots and grab a leather jacket on my way out.

  My heart is racing, and I suck in cool, night air. I leap down the porch steps, conjuring strings of blue energy around both hands.

  “Let’s go fuck up some demons.”

  Julian’s lips curve into a smile, and he starts forward, moving silently through the yard. An eerie silence fills the night, as even the forest knows something dark is taking place.

  “Can you feel that?” Julian asks me as we get deeper into the forest.

  I nod. “Demonic energy.” I close my fists, lessening the amount of energy I’m holding onto. The light is a dead giveaway, but I can’t see in the dark.

  My heart speeds up, and anger surges through me. Ruth has no idea what she’s got coming. She hurt my family, and now she’s going to pay. The air vibrates around us, and Julian holds out his hand, stopping me. He looks up, and right as I follow his line of sight, someone jumps out of of a tree.

  Julian pushes me out of the way at the last second, and the man lands hard on Julian’s back, knocking them both to the ground.

  “Julian!” I shout as the man pops up and rounds on me, mouth open as a gurgly growl comes from deep inside his throat. Frothy saliva drips down his chin, and black eyes reflect the light from my energy ball. It’s a demon possessing a human body.

  Humans can’t survive demonic possession for very long. There’s a chance the demon has already killed this poor man from the inside out and is wearing his skin like a suit. But there’s also a chance he’s still in there, aware of what’s going on and being helpless against the demon’s grasp.

  Julian is back on his feet in seconds and throws a hand out in front of him.

  “I cast you back to the pits of Hell,” he says, and golden light glows around his fingers, shining on the man’s face. He drops to his knees, screaming, and black ooze pours from his mouth and nose, sizzling like acid on the ground.

  The man pitches forward, coughing and gagging for air. Julian lowers his hand and goes to him, helping him up.

  “Run,” he tells the man, who’s still struggling to breath. “Run if you want to live.”

  The man staggers away, looking back at us.

  “Lower-level demons,” I say, looking at the remnants of the demon on the dry forest floor.

  “Yes.” Julian pushes his shoulders back. “There are more. I can sense them.”

  “Can you sense if the humans they’re possessing are alive?”

  “Not from here, though demons are ruthless. I wouldn’t count on finding many survivors.”

  “I know.” I twist the strings of magic between my fingers and start forward again. We’re halfway to the Covenstead door when someone screams. It’s high pitched and strained, sounding like a young girl.

  Julian eyes me, and we both start running, tearing through the forest. We’re almost to the door when a vampire speeds forward, crashing hard into me. I fall, landing on my back. The wind gets knocked out of me, and the vampire moves on top of me before I have a chance to get up.

  His eyes are glazed over, as he’s under Ruth’s control. He opens his mouth, flashing his fangs, and goes to bite me.

  I bring my hand up and send a pulse of magic right into his chest, making him fly off of me. I scramble to my feet and conjure a big, blue ball of energy in my right hand. The vampire is back up, fighting against the ripples of magic going through his body.

  “Take me to dinner before you bite me, asshole.” I throw the energy ball, hitting him square in the chest. I turn, throwing up a telekinetic shield right as he explodes.

  “Get down!” Julian yells. He has one hand outstretched, yellow light pouring into the eyes of a demon. Another vampire rushes at us, and Julian throws his dagger, sinking it right into the vampire’s heart.

  A fiery explosion erupts from inside the vampire, and he collapses in a pile of ash and bone.

  “Nice,” I say and bring the dagger to me. My fingers wrap around the hilt, and it’s like this dagger was made for me. The blade is long, but everything is perfectly balanced, and it’s almost as if it doesn’t weigh anything at all.

  The woman in front of Julian collapses to the ground as the demon is cast out. But she doesn’t get up, and I can tell by the dark purple color of her lips that she’s dead.

  I give Julian the dagger back and step over the body, picking my way through a narrow path in the woods. Firelight flickers ahead, and the same girl screams. Heart in my throat, I pick up the pace, terrified of what I’m going to see when I get to the door.

 
There are kids inside the Academy, kids who don’t know how to defend themselves yet against demons and dark magic. Kids who have trusted the walls of Grim Gate to keep them safe.

  I’m not letting Ruth take that away from them. The Covenstead was my home. My sanctuary. It’s stood against dark forces before, and I’ll be damned before it falls tonight.

  The magic sparks around my fingers, fueled by my rage. The girl screams again, and oppressive energy drifts through the forest. More demons.

  Julian tightens his grip on the dagger, and I add more energy to the magic sizzling around my fingers. If Ruth is inside, then hopefully the demons and vampires are all out here still.

  And we have a chance to save everyone.

  We move behind a large tree, peering through the forest. Then I see someone laying on the ground, face down in the dirt. It’s Sister Selena. I run to her and drop to my knees. Maybe Julian can heal her. Desperately, I roll her over and gasp. She’s been sliced open, navel to sternum, and her intestines have been pulled out.

  There’s no way Julian can save her. She’s dead.

  Julian comes over, eyes narrowed as he looks at the body. Removing organs like this is some sort of necromancy, and Julian seems to recognize just what spell it will be used for.

  “Callie,” he starts in warning but is too late. Ruth steps from the shadows, holding her hands out in front of her. They’re covered in blood, and she’s muttering a spell. Julian reaches for me right as Ruth claps her hands together, and something reverberates through the forest.

  It passes right through me, and I fall back, pain rippling through my body. It’s like I’m being ripped in half, like someone is trying to yank my heart right out of my chest. I scream in pain and force my eyes open, looking for Julian.

  He’s nowhere to be found.

  My body convulses, and the pain intensifies as if every bone in my body is being broken at the same time.

  I can’t breathe.

  I can’t see.

  My ears are ringing, and my head is pounding, and I know it’s too much. My eyes roll back in my head, and I slump down, body going still as everything turns black.

  Chapter 42

  Callie.

  I try to open my eyes and fail. I’m cold, so cold my fingers ache and my toes have lost all feeling.

  Callie.

  The voice is familiar. It’s close and far at the same time. I take in a breath, but it hurts. It would be easier to just stop breathing all together. To give in.

  You have to wake up.

  Leaves crunch under someone’s feet, and the sickening smell of sulfur wafts through the air. A soft breeze rustles my hair, and the sounds of twigs snapping echoes around me.

  The woods. I’m in the woods. But why? I don’t remember anything. And I don’t want to. I just want the pain to end.

  Open your eyes, Callie.

  Whoever was walking by me pulls a dagger from its sheath, and the metal on metal cuts through the night like a harsh whisper. The tip of the blade presses into the flesh on my forearm. The cut stings, and the blade slowly slices through an inch of my skin. Blood trickles down my arm, warm on my frozen skin.

  I’m so cold. So tired. The pain is overwhelming.

  Wake up, Callie.

  I can’t.

  Yes, you can. Look at me.

  My eyes are still closed, but slowly, my eyes begin to focus on the fuzzy outline of a man.

  You are strong, my daughter. Look at me.

  “Dad? Is that really you?” I don’t say the words out loud, but he can hear me.

  Yes. You have to wake up. You have to break the spell.

  “Spell?” What spell.

  Ruth cast a spell that banished angels. Being only half angel, it didn’t physically banish you.

  “Help me.”

  I can’t. I’m not really here. Open your eyes, Callie.

  “I can’t.”

  Yes, you can. Do it for her.

  “Her?” I ask, but Michael is gone. More leaves crunch, and I hear someone whispering a Latin incantation. “Dad?”

  He doesn’t answer, but I’m becoming more aware of my surroundings. Ruth cast a spell to banish angels. That’s why Julian disappeared and why I felt like my soul was being ripped out of my body.

  Do it for her.

  Michael’s words echo in my head. Did I imagine him? No, I know I didn’t, and the her is my baby. A girl.

  Lucas and I are having a baby girl.

  I suck in a breath and take in the smells of the forest. The leaves. The dirt. The fire from the torches outside the Covenstead door. I can do it for her. For Lucas. For us.

  More comes into my awareness. I’m standing with my back against something hard. Something that digs into the skin on my wrists. I’m cold because my jacket has been removed. I curl my fingers into fists but can’t move my arms.

  I’m bound to something…a tree, I think. Yes, it’s a tree. I slit my eyes open again, and blue light from the Covenstead door glows before me. Ruth is kneeling before it, mixing something in a bowl. Two demons and three vampires stand behind her, unmoving as they wait for her next command.

  I twist my wrists, pulling against the chains, and try to conjure energy balls. But nothing happens. Dammit, she’s bound my powers, and with the sigil keeping angels away, I’m powerless.

  Come on, Callie, get it together. I blink several times, focusing my vision, and look around for the sigil. She did something…her hand were covered in blood. And then she…she…shit. I don’t remember.

  “Open the door,” Ruth tells someone and gets to her feet. “Bring her to me.”

  One of the vampire puppets turns around and grabs a young girl by the wrist. I don’t know her name, but I’ve seen her at coven gatherings before.

  “No!” the girl screams and fights against the vampire. “No, please, no!”

  Ruth picks up an athame and waits for the vampire to hold the girl still, forcing her arm out in front of her. Blood is required to open the door, and only those who are members of the coven can get in and out of the door.

  Unless the protective spells around it are broken, which is what Ruth is trying to do. And if she succeeds, she’ll let the vampires and demons into the coven.

  I yank against the chains, trying to muster up the strength inside me to use some sort of magic. The girl screams in pain as Ruth drags the dagger down her arm. She plunges the blade into the earth before the door.

  “Say the incantation,” she hisses, but the girl can’t stop crying. “Say it!” she yells again and slaps the girl across the face. “Useless girl.” Ruth shakes her head, turning and picking up the dagger again. The vampire holds out the girl’s other arm. I can see the dirt on the blade as Ruth plunges it into her skin, cutting down to the muscle. She smears the blood all over the blade and holds it up to the door.

  “Say it now, before it’s too late.”

  The girl is sobbing uncontrollably, too hysterical to get a word out. Ruth throws the dagger down and gives the vampire a curt nod, telling him to bite her.

  “No!” I shout right as the vampire’s teeth rip into her skin. She cries out in pain, and several other students who are on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs scream.

  Ruth is going to keep killing witches until she finds one that can get the door open long enough to get her demons through.

  “Wait,” she tells the vampire, who jerks away from the girl, blood running down his face. Ruth’s eyes lock with mine. “She’s awake.”

  “Yeah, and I don’t know what kind of kink you’re going for, but I’m not one for bondage. Untie me now before it gets ugly.”

  Ruth laughs. “What are you going to do? Your powers are bound, and I’ve cast the fallen angel from here.”

  The fallen angel? What—oh my god. She thinks Julian is a fallen angel, much like Lucifer. She doesn’t know what I am.

  “I’m going to make you regret ever laying a finger on anyone in this coven.”

  “Yeah? Well, get
on that. Because from where I’m standing, your powers are bound, your guard dog has been banished, and your vampire is nowhere to be found. All you’ve done is take a twenty-minute nap.” She picks up a jar full of blood.

  My blood.

  “Though you did provide me with this.”

  Twenty minutes? If I really was out for that long, then Lucas and my friends will be here soon. I have no doubt Lucas drove a hundred miles an hour and can get from his house in Lincoln Park to Thorne Hill in record time and will run through the woods to find me.

  And will be right where Ruth wants him.

  “What are you trying to do?” I ask, pulling against the chains. I’m sure the metal has been enchanted with dark magic, but if I can figure out where the freaking sigil is, I can muster up enough strength to break free.

  “You know what I want,” she snaps and unscrews the lid to the jar of my blood. “Come here,” she tells one of the demons and dips her finger inside the blood and uses it to draw some sort of symbol on the demon’s forehead.

  I know what she’s trying to do, and if I can figure out how to use my angelic powers, I can stop her. Because her plan just might work. She’s already gotten herself through the door after the warding was changed to keep her out. It was changed to keep me out as well, but she either doesn’t know or doesn’t care, and she’s tying to use my blood to cheat the spells and sneak the demon through the door.

  But my blood isn’t witch blood.

  “Hold her up,” Ruth tells the vampire, and I’m forced to only watch in horror, bound to the tree, unable to help, as she sweeps her hands over the girl’s neck, smearing her blood all over her fingers. “Now say the spell,” she tells the girl, who’s going in and out of consciousness. She’s lost too much blood. She’s not going to make it much longer. “Say it!” Ruth demands, and the girl opens her mouth but can’t get the words out.

  “Bring the next one!” She holds up her hands, chanting, and the vampire discards the girl on the ground. She lands with a thud, eyes open and body still. My heart is in my throat, and I pull against the chains again, desperate to get out and put an end to this.

  “Stop!” I scream when the vampire steps over the girl, going to bring Ruth another student. She’s going to keep killing them until she gets what she wants. “You want powers from Lucifer? I’ll get you powers. Just don’t hurt anyone else.” I slowly twist my wrist, feeling a hagstone pendant wrapped around the chains. If I can only pull it off…