by D. G. Swank
“You can’t go yet,” he said, sounding pissed. “We have to pull the rest of the swords. Since you can see them and I can’t, why don’t you get the swords, and I’ll find the spear?”
“No,” I said, the heat growing more intense. “It has to be me.” I started for the door.
“You can’t just leave,” Collin barked. “We’re not done, and I have more claim to that spear than you do.”
I turned back, surprised at the dark anger in his eyes.
“It’s my fucking spear,” he spat. “It’s meant to be wielded by the Manteo keeper. Now help me grab the rest of the damned swords for this fucking battle you insisted on.”
The pressure in my chest disagreed with this plan, but I stopped to think how I’d feel if my daggers were in the basement. I wouldn’t want Collin leaving me behind while he retrieved them.
I strode over to the cabinet and pointed out three more swords while I grabbed one off a shelf.
“Fingerprints, Piper,” he snarled. He grabbed a pair of gloves out of his bag and tossed them to me. “I hope to God we don’t get caught, but if we have to ditch the weapons, we don’t want to leave a damned calling card.”
He was right, and I knew it, but part of me didn’t care. I was too enraged to care about anything other than going to the basement to see where Hudson had been murdered.
“Piper, you don’t need to go down there,” Hudson said in a surprisingly calm tone.
“Yes, I do,” I said as I shoved a hand into a glove.
“Jesus,” Collin said as he grabbed one of the swords I’d pointed out to him. “You freak me the fuck out talking to that ghost.”
“You fight demons, but you’re afraid of ghosts?” I asked, the tightness in my chest easing slightly.
“I can see the demons,” he barked, then gestured to the case. “And I’m not afraid of ghosts. What else?”
There were only a few more spelled weapons left, so we grabbed them together. Collin wrapped all the spelled weapons in the thick blanket he’d laid on the floor, then stuffed them in the larger bag.
“What will you do with them now?” I asked, pulling off the gloves and stuffing them into Collin’s bag.
“Toss them out back then head to the basement. You and Father Jack can swing back and pick me up as soon as you’re finished with your chat and tea.” His eyebrow shot up. “Speaking of tea, don’t you think you need to get back?” He wanted to find the spear on his own.
I hadn’t planned on staying this long, and I knew I needed to get back, but there was no way I was skipping out on the basement. Although I didn’t want to see the place where Hudson had taken his last breath, something down there was calling to me.
“Yeah,” I said as I headed to the door.
“Dammit,” Collin groaned. “You’re not going back to make your pot of tea, are you?”
“Not a chance.” I shut the door behind me, realizing that I’d never told Collin where to find the door to the basement. He’d figure it out on his own.
I headed to the kitchen with Hudson following behind me. “Piper, do not go down there.”
“He’s down there, isn’t he?” I asked, not bothering to keep my voice down.
“Piper, please,” Hudson pleaded.
The closer I got to the kitchen, the more the heat in my chest bloomed. I couldn’t stop myself if I’d wanted to. The teapot was starting to whistle, so I turned off the burner and slid the kettle to a different burner. As I headed for the basement door, I noticed a salt and pepper shaker set on the counter. Grabbing the salt, I dropped it into my coat pocket, then closed the distance to the basement door.
“Nothing good will come of this,” Hudson said as I started down the stairs.
I stopped halfway down and turned back to look at him. “You’re not coming?”
He shivered, his face drawn. “No.”
“Good. I don’t want you anywhere near this. Wait for me upstairs,” I said as I grabbed Ivy and pulled it from my thigh strap. “This won’t take long.”
I’d only been down to the Cordens’ basement once. When I was a teenager, Nana had sent me down to get a bottle of wine from their makeshift wine cellar, which was really half the unfinished basement.
The basement was an odd assortment of concrete walls, half of which were still lined with racks filled with wine bottles, but the pentagram drawn on the floor was a new addition, as well as the unlit candles lining one section of the space. A spear was propped against the corner, but I wasn’t interested in the spear. Not anymore.
“Come out and play, Robert,” I growled, the pressure in my chest making it difficult to breathe.
He didn’t answer at first, not that I was surprised.
“Why am I not surprised that you’re a fucking coward?” I sneered. “You had my father killed, but you made sure not to dirty your own hands. Hell, you couldn’t even kill Hudson, could you? You let the demon attack him instead.”
“It wasn’t my place to kill Jack,” a man’s voice said behind me.
I spun around to face him, Ivy at the ready.
“You can’t kill me,” Robert said, looking slightly amused. “I’m already dead.”
I slowly slid St. Michael from its sheath and held it out toward him, the hilt lying across my palm. “Did you ever see the daggers? The ones you had my parents killed over?”
His gaze lowered to my hand, and I could see he was dying to get closer.
I held Ivy out the same way. “So much trouble. So much heartache over two stupid knives,” I said, my words heavy with bitterness. “And you never even got a chance to see what I could do with them.”
He took a step forward and the mark on my hand began to burn. I stood up straighter, and my soul leapt at the prospect of facing a demon.
“Come out to play, little demon,” I said, wrapping my hands around the hilts of my daggers as I took a step back and surveyed the room.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” the demon answered from the dark recesses of the basement. I took a few steps closer and saw a dog-like demon trapped in a small pentagram in the corner.
I turned to Robert, flashing an evil grin. “Keeping a demon as a pet, Robert?”
He started to speak, then stopped. “It belonged to the Great One.”
“Lies,” the demon spat.
“You’re the liar,” Robert shouted. “You said our plan would work, and now you’re trapped there forever, because I’ll never let you go.”
“I don’t believe either of you,” I said. “And neither of you will be trapped for long.” I lifted a dagger for Robert to see. “Watch what you sacrificed my parents for.” Then I turned and killed the demon with a single thrust.
It fell into a pile of ash, leaving behind a glowing orb. I pricked it and watched as dozens of souls floated free like fireflies. My own soul ate the energy in a greedy gulp, hungry for more. Much more.
When I turned back, Robert looked stunned.
“Why so surprised? You wanted me to be a demon slayer, am I right?”
His gaze lifted to mine. “Not entirely.”
“Then what was your purpose?” I asked, taking a step toward him. “What noble cause did my parents die for?”
“Our plan was to control the demons. To harness them for our own purposes. You can control them.”
“Well, aren’t you the fool?” I laughed bitterly. “The only control I have over them is life and death.”
He stared at the pile of ash, suddenly looking uncertain. “Sometimes that is enough.”
“You and your buddies really thought you could harness demons?” I asked in disbelief. “You truly were deluded.”
He grimaced and gestured toward the remains of the dead demon. “Things got out of hand.”
“You think?” I said. “Now, let’s move on to the real reason I came down here…to send you on to your great reward.”
He gave me a defiant look. “You can’t send me if I’m not ready.”
“Oh, Robert,” I said in a lilting tone.
“You know absolutely nothing.” I shoved both daggers into their sheaths and pulled the sage stick and lighter out of my jacket pocket.
Collin hit the bottom of the stairs just as I lit the stick, white smoke wafting into the air.
“You’re a little early with the congratulatory cigar,” Collin said.
“You’re standing about six feet from a ghost destined for his eternal reward,” I said, dropping the lighter into my pocket. “I suggest you get your spear and get out before shit gets real.”
Collin grabbed the spear, jolting as soon as he touched it. His eyes were fixed on Robert. “Who’s your friend?”
“You can see him?” I asked in shock.
“Yeah.” Then disgust washed over his face. “Fuck. It’s the damn ghost, isn’t it?”
“Take a closer look at him,” I said.
Collin studied his face. “The joker from the warehouse. What are we going to do with him?”
“Don’t worry about that. I have it covered.” I handed Collin the salt shaker. “Pour this across the bottom step, then leave or stay at your own risk.”
“I’ll stay,” he said as he poured the salt.
Robert licked his bottom lip, his eyes darting from me to Collin. “Piper, I’m sure we can work something out.”
“Yes,” I said as I walked to the corner by the stairs. “We definitely can.”
“Do you want money?” Robert asked, his voice rising in pitch.
“How the hell can you give her money if you’re dead?” Collin asked with a short laugh.
“Loretta—”
“Won’t give me a dime,” I said. “Not even if I let her see you. She’s currently crying her crocodile tears over your death.” I started to chant, hoping the saging would work without my shell and feather, but somehow I knew it would. “Fire, earth, air, water. Cleanse this place of negative energy.”
“Can I do anything to help?” Collin asked, sounding less cocky and more respectful than before.
“Yeah,” I said. “Stand behind me and guard my back.”
He gave me a questioning glance but said nothing as he walked behind me, keeping his gaze on Robert. “He looks more real than I expected.”
“You expected a translucent, shimmering image? They used to be like that in the beginning, but now they look and feel real. Like Tommy,” I said, wafting the smoke along the wall with my free hand.
“But different than your friend in the library,” Collin said.
His comment reminded me of my own observation of Hudson, how his spirit was different from the others. I was about to ask Collin to explain, but Robert cut me off. “You look like an intelligent young man. You were a great leader in the warehouse.” When he saw he had Collin’s attention, he said, “I meant what I said about money. I have a lot of it. It’s no good to me dead, but you are very much alive…”
“How much money are we talkin’?” Collin asked in an exaggerated drawl.
I glanced back at him to see if he was serious, and he gave me a wink.
“Millions,” Robert said. “All you have to do is get control of Piper and stop her from doing this.”
Collin laughed. “Control Piper…”
I could feel the pressure in the room build as I continued chanting and saging the walls. I’d saged houses for months, but this was the first time I’d felt the physical effects of it.
Abel was right. I was changing and growing stronger. I wasn’t so sure if it was a good thing, but I was powerless to stop it…if I even wanted to. Besides, we needed all the strength we could get for the battle tonight.
Robert was becoming more desperate in his negotiations with Collin, raising his bribe with my every chant.
When I was halfway around the room, I could feel the atmosphere change again, both physically and psychologically. The pressure was now making my ears hurt and my soul ached for something I couldn’t define. Robert must have felt it too because he began to curse.
“You fucking bitch!” He grabbed a bottle of wine from the rack and threw it at me. “You’re not sending me to hell!”
Collin pushed on my shoulder, dropping me to a squat right before the bottle hit the concrete wall. Glass shards sprayed outward, landing in my hair and splattering me with red wine, which ran down the wall.
“Holy shit,” Collin said, momentarily relaxing his grip on me as I stood upright and continued my chant. “Things took a turn for the ugly. Forget your meds, Robby?”
“You need to go,” I shouted at Collin as the sound of wind began to fill the room. “All this noise is going to get Loretta’s attention, and you can’t be caught here.”
“No,” Collin said. “You need me to watch your back. I’ll go out the storm cellar door when you’re done.”
I hadn’t known there was a storm cellar door, but I only cared insomuch that it was a potential exit for Robert, not that he seemed to be rushing for it.
I reached the third corner, wafting the smoke of the sage stick toward the wall. “Fire, earth, air, water. Cleanse this place of negative energy.”
Robert began to shriek as a mass of dark gray swirling clouds appeared on the last wall.
“What the hell is that?” Collin shouted.
I shot him a grimace. “Correct word choice.”
Robert was furious. He grabbed another bottle of wine and threw it at me, but Collin shoved me to the side at the last moment, holding me up with his firm grip on my arm.
“Fire, earth, air, water. Cleanse this place of negative energy.”
Robert began to wail, his face elongating and contorting, and I felt a shift in the air around us. A tear in the veil that separated our plane of existence from the spiritual.
“Holy fuck,” Collin said, taking a step back. “Is that what I think it is?”
I cast a quick glance to the vortex and stifled a gasp. The last time the portal had appeared, the interior had been hazy and undefined, all-black clouds threaded through with flashes of fire and lightning. Not so this time—I saw a barren landscape studded with countless stone pillars. Thousands of emaciated people were chained to them, while giant birds swooped down and pecked at their heads and bodies. Lightning flashed across the angry red and blue streaked sky, and a terrible coldness seeped from the opening, chilling me to my marrow. But it was the wailing that set my nerves on edge, thousands and thousands of sobbing, moaning, begging souls.
“Yep,” I said. “It’s absolutely what you think it is.”
Robert began throwing things in earnest, but to Collin’s credit, he protected me, using the spear and his forearm to block the wine bottles. As I reached the last corner, the vortex wide open now, I began the final line of my chant. “Fire, earth, wind, water. Clear this place of Robert Corden.”
He released a scream and I barely recognized his face as I advanced on him with my sage stick. Collin walked beside me as though he were my second in battle.
“It’s time for you to meet your destiny, Robert,” I said, my voice calm and clear. The first time I’d sent a spirit to hell, the guilt had nearly choked me, but now I felt only pure satisfaction. The bastard was moving on to his great reward.
“No!” Robert shouted, reaching for my neck with both hands.
Collin started to thrust at him with the spear, but there was no need. The vortex began to spin, creating a wind that spun loose debris on the floor and pulled Robert toward it.
“No!” Robert shouted again, reaching for a steel pole and holding on.
I considered repeating the chant, but deep in my soul, I knew it wasn’t necessary. It was nothing but a medium for the power that lived inside me. The power that had been hidden for so long, but which was now burning like an ember of coal, setting my entire body aflame.
“Piper,” Collin said. “You’re…”
Glowing. My entire body was glowing as I struggled to contain the power inside me.
“Go,” I said. “You need to get out of here.”
He gave me a questioning look, and for all his prev
ious bluster, I knew he’d stay with me until the end if I asked. I could have attributed it to his promise to Tsawasi, but I knew his conviction went deeper than that.
“Go,” I said with a reassuring nod. “We’ll meet you in the back.”
He nodded, then shot to the dark recesses of the basement, taking his spear with him.
My control over the vortex was stronger than I would have thought, because the wind only picked up once I was sure Collin was gone. Bottles of wine shimmied loose from the shelves and began flying around the room, smashing into the walls. My hair whipped around my face.
Robert let go of the pole and leaned forward against the wind, trying to walk toward the stairs.
“Robert Corden,” I said in a grave tone. “In life, you committed yourself to the advancement of evil. First you paid with your life, now you must pay with your soul.” I withdrew Ivy from its sheath and pointed it toward him.
“I won’t go!” he shouted. He now resembled the demons he’d worshipped. He’d commune with them again soon enough.
I gave him a hard shove toward the vortex and the wind caught him.
“No!” he screamed, grabbing hold of the edge of the wall and hanging on as his feet were swept into the air. “Piper! Have mercy!”
I moved closer and gave him a cold stare. “I’ll show you the same mercy you showed my father and mother.”
I swung my hand in a wide arc and shoved Ivy into his gut.
His eyes flew wide and he sucked in a pained breath.
“I’ll show you the same mercy you showed Hudson as you watched the Great One kill him and possess his body.” I withdrew the blade and tucked it into my belt beneath my long coat, then started to pry his fingers from the edge of the concrete wall.
A horde of demons approached the portal from the other side, scuttling across the desert by the hundreds and reaching for his legs.
“You’re supposed to save us!” Robert shouted, his face pale and his eyes round with fear. “You’re Kewasa!”
“Deliverer,” I said in a tone so cold I didn’t recognize my own voice. “I’m delivering you to where you belong.” The demons were pulling on him now, trying to tug him in, and I pried off the last finger. “Enjoy hell, Robert.”