by Harley James
Makoa’s eyes flashed dead black to green, and then back to black again, over and over. “Let…me go,” he gasped, toppling into the deep end of the pool. His body undulated underwater, his massive legs kicking him toward the bottom, his mouth opening like he was screaming.
Ari streamed to the edge of the pool, a cold sensation flooding through him. He squatted down to peer into the blue-lit water, not entirely sure if it was the man or the demon who was attempting to drown the body. Something about the way he fought. When humans were gaining the upper hand in a physical possession, it was a jerky business—like learning how to drive a stick shift. But when demons were winning, the movements were smoother.
Everyone said Makoa was the purest soul on staff, but then how come he was the one invaded? Was his ‘let me go’ plea meant for him—as in, don’t bother saving me?—or was it a final entreaty to the demon trying to wrest his soul from him?
Ari pushed air bubbles down around Makoa, shoving oxygen into his lungs, maintaining a steady stream of air in and out his nose and mouth to prevent him from drowning. If he couldn’t defeat the demon, Ari wouldn’t let him anywhere near Kat.
Ari was about to enter the water to start the exorcism when Makoa surfaced, sputtering. His eyes were now green, his body still shaking, but not in that jerky, I’m-waging-a-battle-for-my-soul kind of way.
Ari hadn’t seen the demon’s mist form leave Makoa’s body in search of its next victim, but it easily could have in that bubble bath he’d created trying to keep the big man alive underwater. Plus, the pool was huge. The demon’s shade could’ve shot away underwater and exited behind the swim-up bar.
“You good now?” Ari grabbed him by the back of his shirt and hoisted him out of the water, not because he was feeling particularly friendly, but because he wanted to touch the man to see if he could register any evil still circulating in his body.
Strangely, he didn’t feel much of anything—human or demon.
He frowned, pulling Makoa along, the large man as weak as a child, protesting and stumbling as he tried to keep up with Ari’s long strides. Ari passed the Devil’s Trap and the charred, sodden embers of the DJ booth, rejoining Kat and the others at the bar.
Everyone was wet and cranky. Stark was…
Sanctifying a vat of water in a terra-cotta pot.
“Well, holy shit. Look at that.” Ari’s lips curled up in spite of the situation. He deposited Makoa on one of the low-backed leather couches nearest the bar, then turned to Kat. “You finally got a priest on staff. About time one of you Unholy Inc partners got smart about that. Why haven’t you used him in the exorcism rites?”
Stark looked up with a glare as his lips spoke life-affirmations at the water. Kat’s gaze stayed on Makoa. “Stark finished his seminary program only a few months ago. He needs experience and time to mature before I ask him to do such a hellish rite.”
Stark closed his Bible and tucked it under the bar. “I can do it. I survived the hell of heroin withdrawal. I can damn well square off with a demon.”
Ari nodded. “Good. Go get your vestments, or whatever you need for the ritual. You can start tangling with your first one shortly.”
Kat swung around. “No.”
Ari raised an eyebrow at Kat, but pointed at Stark. “You’re babying him, and I’m sure he doesn’t appreciate it. The man spent years of his life to become a priest, so let him do the work he’s called to do.”
“I’m not babying him, I’m protecting him. Jesus, Ari, you know how vicious exorcisms are,” she shot back.
“Which is exactly why you need the help. You’re sick, woman. You should’ve been able to deal with that stage fire with one hand tied behind your back, but using your water element sucked nearly everything you had. I doubt you can even do an exorcism right now.”
“Nice to know you have such faith in me.” She stalked up to him, her lips in a tight line. “Well, just watch me.”
She marched away, obviously intending to go to the possessions in the Devil’s Trap, but Ari grabbed her hand. “Stop your ridiculous tantrums,” he whispered harshly. “Don’t mistake love and concern for faithlessness. Everything I’m doing here is in support of you.”
They stared at one another for a long while—or rather, he stared and she glared.
Ari kept the air pressure in the room high so he’d be able to detect the slightest movements of anyone coming or going. There was something not quite right about Makoa even though Ari couldn’t detect evil in him anymore.
The young man remained slumped on the sofa, his wet clothes plastered to his body, his face relaxed, his eyes glassy, but their normal color.
Konani wiped her eyes as she fumbled with the stopper on a holy water flask, then went to sit down next to her brother. “Is he okay?”
“I’m not sure,” Kat replied slowly, turning to look at Ari. “What happened outside in the pool?”
“He almost drowned.” He pushed the thought at Kat so Konani wouldn’t be upset, quickly following up aloud with, “He fought the demon well, but I’m not sure where it went, or if it went at all.” He could tell by the tightening of Kat’s lips that she wondered the same. He looked at each member of the Aqua team in turn. “Has he been depressed or mentioned any personal issues lately?” He paused. Then when no one said anything, “How about suicidal comments?”
Konani’s indrawn breath broke the silence. “Why do you ask such a thing?”
Ari grabbed a bottle of holy water from the stash behind the bar, uncorked it, and splashed a stream onto Makoa before anyone could blink. The young man’s body bowed on a great bellow. Skin steaming, he panted and snarled, gnashing his teeth at Konani who jumped way from him. “His demon is still here? Why couldn’t your Guardian senses tell?”
“Maybe it’s a fallen angel,” Jade said. “Get him in the Trap!”
Kat paced while the others steered Makoa into the Devil’s Trap with sprays of holy water and blessed objects. “Not so much water, Jade, you’ll hurt him. His skin’s already starting to smoke,” she snapped.
“Well, excuse me, but he’s gotta have some low-down dirty secrets if the demon was able to take him over so easily,” Jade said.
Kat stopped pacing to plant her hands on her hips. “I’m getting really sick of your judgmental ways, Jade.”
“We don’t need your high and mighty ways either, but you don’t see me bitchin’, do you?”
“From where I stand it sure looks a whole lot like bitching, but far be it from me to know everything like you do. For future reference, though, what do you call it?”
“I call it motivational speaking, baby. Now let’s all just simmer down.” Jade’s pointer finger jabbed at the air, punctuating her syllables.
Bad move, lady, Ari thought. Kat hated people pointing in her face.
A muscle jumped in Kat’s cheek. “Screw you, Jade.”
Ari stepped between the women. “Hey, let’s focus—”
“Kat, dammit! I hate this. Can we just start over?” Jade tried to push Ari out of her way, but when she couldn’t, she resorted to jumping up and down to see Kat’s reaction.
Ari suddenly felt a wave of lightheadedness. A quick glance at Kat’s pale face made him realize the sensation came from his connection to her. Using his element, he brought more oxygen-rich molecules into his respiratory system, doing the same for Kat as he grabbed her and hoisted her in a cradle hold.
“What are you d-d-doing?” Her teeth chattered like she’d been dumped naked in a snow bank. He streamed to her bedroom, setting her down on the edge of the mattress and wrapping her in a blanket rumpled by their loving. “Fighting with Jade isn’t going to make you feel better.”
“They sh-shouldn’t have been able to g-get in. None of them. I s-set reverse-wards.” Kat’s teeth clacked together and her lips were turning blue. She blamed herself. She always did. He started taking her hair down from its severe bun so it could lay warm against her neck.
“D-don’t do that,” she scolded.
She sighed in pleasure. He seized the opportunity to place his hands on her thighs.
“You make me look bad in front of my staff when you manhandle me. Don’t ever do that again. But…thank you for stopping…you know.”
He did know—stopping World War Z between her and her best friend. His hands tightened on her thighs before she brushed them off. She was weakening, and it was more than physically. She seemed a shadow of her old self, much like she had when he’d first arrived. She still had those abrasive edges that made her seen invincible, and she worked to keep people at a distance. But the closer he probed, she seemed…
Fragmented.
He wasn’t the worrying type, but this was deeply troubling. She should be getting stronger, better, happier the longer they were together.
Before he could figure out what to say, they both heard a scream followed by shattered glass.
Ari was about to demolecularize, when she grabbed his shoulder. “Take me along. I’m too tired to stream.”
“If you’re too tired to stream, you’re in no shape to fight.”
“Then you’ll have to pick up the slack. Besides, that breaking glass sounded like my nude silhouette behind the bar. I have serious ass to chew if that’s the case.”
Instead of arguing, he latched onto her essence, streaming them both downstairs where the silhouette had indeed been broken and three new humans ran around the room with various weapons raised in outstretched hands like they were part of a low-budget horror flick. It was almost comical until he saw their black eyes. They had become full-fledged demon, and the only way they would stop hurting others was a miracle…or death by Guardian.
A dozen more black-eyed demons followed in their wake. “Where are they coming from?” Konani yelled, stepping over a chunk of glass.
“My wards have utterly failed. I’m either dying, or this is the beginning of the End Times.”
Kat’s telepathic words reverberated in Ari’s mind. Maybe she’s right. Kat’s wards were second in potency only to Alexios’s. “You are not dying. You still have eons to torment me.”
Where to attack first? He materialized his ax and hacked his way to Kat, killing two demons on his way to the temporary Devil’s Trap Jade had scribbled in black marker in the second-row seating area, next to one of the stripper poles.
“Jade, how many do you have?” Ari asked.
“At least five, and they’re getting bloody. Bastards!” Jade looked over Ari’s shoulder. “Kat, look out!”
Ari spun wide to shield his soul mate from whatever Jade had seen. Struck from behind, pain slashed from his right shoulder diagonally to his left hip. He staggered, looking up to find Siolazar standing behind him, the notorious Rephaim’s red eyes and leathery gray face smiling with satisfaction.
No wonder Kat’s wards had been breached.
Ari threw a gust of pressure to disorient the Rephaim, then rolled away in a new rush of wind that unbolted tables and sent chairs and champagne ice buckets flying. From the corner of his eye he saw Kat rushing toward him. “Stay back!”
Siolazar used his long, skeletal fingers to tear into Ari’s windpipe, then he slammed him in a choke hold up against the wall. Ari’s neck tissues shredded for several seconds before they began repairing themselves. Too slow. Something’s wrong. His vision started going dark.
“Use your element, Ari! Oxygen!” Kat yelled in his mind.
Oxygen. Yes. He marshalled the air. In a rush of energy, the darkness faded, his muscles responded, and he pulled at the hands of the demon trying to strangle him. A jet stream of Kat’s holy water singed the back of Siolazar’s bald, gray skull, making the walls shake with his bellow and his skin begin to slough off his body.
Still the demon’s fingers were crushing Ari’s neck as fast as it was repairing itself.
“Now would be a good time for that nasty Viking sword of yours!” There was panic in her voice.
Ari blinked the holy water out of his eyes and materialized his ancient Ulfbehrt. At these close quarters, he couldn’t deliver a killing blow, but he swung the sword as hard as he could at Siolazar’s body. The demon roared again, dropping to his knees. Kat’s holy water stream was keeping the Rephaim rooted to the spot, his skin melting down his body like a thick, sludgy oil spill, but it wouldn’t hold him for long.
“We’re going to need something stronger than holy water for this bastard,” Ari said.
“Finish this, Ari. I need to protect the Chains.”
The Chains of St. Peter.
Of course, the fallen angel wanted Kat’s relic. If Siolazar managed to steal it, he’d take it to his brother, Lucifer. Everyone assumed Lucifer’s cage would only break open with the power of multiple relics. But what if it only took one holy relic—one key—to free Lucifer? If that was the case, no one could know which relic was the key that would unlock the cage.
Either way, the loss of any relic threatened Armageddon.
Siolazar hissed amid the steaming slide of his gray skin. Ari shouted orders for Kat’s staff to guard her as he swung his sword in wide arcs. The Rephaim were taller, faster, and stronger than most Guardians, but they could usually be outsmarted. Ari stabbed and swung, breathing heavily, lulling Siolazar into believing he was weakening and getting backed into a corner.
Five more feet and the demon would be in perfect position under a Devil’s Trap inscribed on the ceiling.
A new scream splinted the air, pulling Ari’s attention to the main entrance. Through the filtered dust and debris in the besieged club, a horde of black-eyed demons poured into the building to flank their leader Siolazar. Ari risked a glance up and swore. The Devil’s Trap wasn’t large enough to encompass all of them, and worse yet, while he was distracted, Siolazar ripped a stripper pole from its base and smashed it against the ceiling to break the circle. The Rephaim opened his arms as though offering a macabre embrace. “How does it feel to be the loser, Viking?”
“Vikings don’t lose, you warmongering son of a bitch.” Ari tried to dematerialize and stream to a better location, but Siolazar compressed the air molecules to such a degree that Ari’s form wouldn’t fit through. Fuck. The Rephaim held his raw belly and threw his head back to laugh, the sound like a wire brush scraping across a chalkboard.
Ari glanced at the bar where Kat’s security team was holding their own, but their supplies were dwindling. “Kat, you’d better be in the sanctorum by now.”
He threw his sword upward at the light fixture over the demons, bringing the light down on top of three of them in a cloud of dust and glass. He dropped and rolled under the nearest table, then stood explosively to launch the table at Siolazar and the demons who were still standing, barreling them off their feet and smashing them against the nearest wall.
Ari took advantage of the precious seconds he’d bought to charge down the hall toward the sanctorum. The door was wide open. Inside, Kat stood by the reliquary door, which led to the inner chamber where she kept the relic. She’d formed a protection arc around the doorway with chrism oil, so demons shouldn’t be able to break through it. But it was clearly draining her.
Anger and confusion rushed through his blood again. Why hadn’t her rejuvenation lasted? And why the hell hadn’t he forced her to complete the bonding ritual when they waited for their child to be born? A mistake he’d always regret.
Standing in the sanctorum doorway facing the hall, he materialized his sword once more, ready to fight off whatever came their way. “When this is all over, you’re in my bed for a month,” he barked over his shoulder.
She ignored him, her lips chanting ancient wards. He could feel her desperation—like the breathless listening at a fallen comrade’s chest—as he lunged into the hall and raised his sword against the first demon sprinting his way. The host body crumpled, the demon’s black mist evacua
ting through the human male’s nose, mouth, and ears, shooting back down the hall in search of a new host before time ran out and it was sucked back to Hell.
Their damn black eyes. They were so unnatural with no white, no emotion.
No soul.
As the centuries wore on, it seemed more and more humans were losing the battle for their souls. Which meant more exorcisms were necessary, yet the powers that be didn’t seem to be creating enough Healer Guardians to pick up the slack.
Another black-eyed demon stalked down the hall in front of a renewed Siolazar, who now wore a blood-red bodysuit over his gray skin. Ari manifested a protective shield around himself and Kat, then built the air pressure to skull-crushing levels in the hallway. The demon crumpled with a hideous peal, but Siolazar continued forward, unaffected. The Rephaim leader raised his right hand and the walls of the hallway began to liquefy, the gold paint running like shiny tears down the gypsum plaster of the sagging and warping drywall.
As the heat continued to spike, a roaring from below shook the now-naked wall studs. Ari dropped his sword and summoned his ax as he lunged toward the fallen angel. He attempted to cross out of the safe circle, but found himself bound inside. He hissed in frustration and spun on Kat. He could override her power binding, but it would hurt her. “You don’t need to protect me,” he said. “You’re only draining what little reserves you have left. Release me before he awakens an entire legion.”
“He’s feeding dark energy into the walls to scramble our thoughts. I can feel the darkness calling me. Almost like it’s inside me. Eventually we won’t be able to communicate.”
Ari’s gut bottomed out. “What the fuck do you mean ‘like it’s inside’ you?”
Kat shook her head as though chastising him for speaking out loud. “No time for discussion. You can’t fight him alone, Ari,” she responded in her thoughts.
“Kat!”
He would have grabbed her to make her answer. To make her reassure him that she was exaggerating. But she blasted him back with a surge of energy she shouldn’t be expending, goddammit. Then she turned on the emergency sprinklers, spraying holy water throughout the hallway to counteract the melting of the walls.