by Michael Todd
Before he could stand, a loud scream echoed through the house and Damian immediately knew it was Brenton. He scrambled to his feet and raced through the kitchen door and down the short hallway, then skidded to a stop. In the foyer floor, at least five demons crouched over Brenton and literally ripped him apart. He was in terrible shape and his intestines protruded from a hole in his stomach. Blood spewed everywhere and added to the horror of the scene.
He knew there was nothing he could do to save him at that point. All he could do was put him out of his misery. He crossed his chest, drew his gun, and raised it unflinchingly. His face impassive, he aimed and shot him in the head. Ravi went completely silent.
Damian walked out the front door. Behind him, Brenton’s body lay surrounded by piles of ash. He shoved his pistols into their holsters and glanced around.
Ravi cleared her throat quietly. Are you all right?
Yeah. I’m fine. I just—
Distracted, he turned toward the first house and stared in awe as Max and another person tumbled down the steps and past the window. A dramatic thud was followed by silence for several moments and he actually held his breath. Suddenly, both men crashed through the downstairs side window and rolled in a furious tangle of limbs.
He moved closer, folded his arms and watched as the apprentice wrestled wildly with the Damned. They rolled across the lawn and back again with grunts and hisses like a bad soundtrack. Max was finally able to lever himself on top of his adversary and delivered a steady stream of punches in a rhythmic right-left sequence. The orderly resisted and simply endured the blows while he continued to try to take a bite out of the young priest.
As he punched his opponent, Max recited the exorcism in harsh, determined tones interspersed with the odd grunt. Ravi muffled a laugh. I have no words for this right now. No words.
Finally, the exorcism concluded, and the man went limp as the demon screeched and rocketed out of him. Damian shrugged. Hey, whatever works, right?
The trainee stumbled to his feet and wiped the sweat and blood from his face. He looked up and noticed his mentor the first time. “Oh, hey. Is everything okay?”
Damian’s mouth twitched, and he motioned at the house behind him. “Brenton was pinned down and there was no way I could save him, so I put him out of his misery and killed every last one of those sonofabitches.”
Empathy suffused Max’s face. “I’m sorry, man. That’s rough.”
Uh…I don’t mean to break up this warm and fuzzy moment, but about eight demons have you two surrounded right now, Astaroth warned.
Immediately, Max drew his daggers and stepped closer to Damian. The older man checked his guns and quickly scanned the creatures, who had already begun an aggressive approach. “Well, it looks like they are still hungry.”
The trainee sneered. “These assholes really gotta stop obsessing over me. I’m a priest. There is no future for us.”
Damian laughed and shot him a swift glance. “That was funny. I won’t lie.”
The demons moved inexorably closer and the two priests nodded at each other. Damian ran one way and Max the other to fling themselves at their attackers. The younger man crossed his arms across his chest as he approached the first and yanked them back apart. The blades carved through the demon’s neck and its head toppled instantly.
Max planted his foot in the headless demon’s chest and shoved hard. He spun and swiped his left arm outward to catch a second in the throat. The third bounded up and grabbed his arm but he smacked his elbow into the beast’s throat and stabbed with a vicious thrust between the eyes. He gripped his adversary’s shoulder and hauled on the knife, and the blade slid free a second before the creature turned to dust.
A fourth tried to leap on him, but the young man was faster and managed to spin out of the way. He vaulted upward and used his momentum to drive his daggers into the monster’s chest. With a crow of satisfaction, he jerked the knives out and glanced at his mentor, who stood and watched, surrounded by four piles of ash.
Damian pursed his lips. “That was pretty sweet. You really are catching on to this game, dude.”
Max thrust his daggers into his belt and grimaced at the dust that lingered in the air. “I’m trying. At least I know I am not completely useless now.”
“Dude, you were never useless. You merely needed some good old incursion time. Although this didn’t turn out as therapeutic for me as I had hoped.”
Ravi screamed a warning. Watch out! To your right.
The priest whipped to his right, but before he could prepare himself, a demon hurtled into him to roll them both across the yard before they came to a sliding stop. He bashed his head against the fence, and he cursed and wiped some of the blood off the wound, then scowled at his attacker.
The beast lurched on top of him and with his nose at Damian’s waist, he began a long, sniff up his body like someone would for a hearty meal. He expected it to smirk, smile, or even bite, but it hissed immediately and scrambled off him. The creature looked wildly at him for a moment, its eyes burning red.
It sniffed again and screeched, “You.”
Did he just… Ravi sounded as confused as he felt.
Damian nodded and dragged himself up onto his butt. The demon wavered and jerked for a moment. The young priest raced toward them, his gun ready. The older man raised his hand. “Wait.”
Max stopped in his tracks, confused. The demon hissed again and lurched away to flee across the lawn. The priest scrambled to his feet and walked in the same direction. He reached out to stop him but he broke into a run in pursuit of the odd creature. Max yelled his name behind him, but he needed to know who the hell that demon was.
The other team members all spilled outdoors, having eliminated the last of the demons. They stopped and watched as Damian raced across the yards and down to the end of the street with the demon still ahead. Max stumbled forward and drew alongside Jericho, and they stood silently for a moment, unsure of what to do.
Astaroth groaned. I think your mentor has finally lost his mind. It clearly snapped right there. Not that I blame him. He just had to shoot a merc in the head.
Shit, Max hissed when he recalled that no one else knew yet.
He realized that, with Damian off after a demon, he would have to be the one to break the news. His mentor would definitely owe him for that. Unless, of course, he became the next course for the demons.
Damian hurdled a bush and shoved through others as he followed his quarry down the side of the main building and into the back sanctuary room. He used his hand on the side of the building to swing out into the opening. The demon slowed and looked at him before it barreled head first into a portal.
The gateway slammed closed directly in front of the priest. He put his hands on his knees and panted as he tried to catch his breath. Slowly, he sank onto his knees and his gaze drifted unseeingly over his surroundings.
Ravi sniffed. I’ve never sensed him before but he definitely knew who you were. What the fuck does that have to do with anything?
Still out of breath, he shook his head. I have no fucking clue. I’ve never had that happen before. Maybe its got to do with Katie and her team. I don’t think there is even a way to find out.
I think it’s time to call it a day. Maybe end it with a bottle or more of scotch, she suggested.
Damian shook his head, stood on shaky legs, and turned toward the street. The team had gathered in the middle and appeared to console each other over the loss of Brenton. Max stood to the side, arms folded, and watched his mentor emerge from behind the building.
For once, I might not actually argue with you on this. I could use more than a couple of glasses of something right now, and it won’t be tea. He was officially done with the whole day.
Chapter Twelve
The house outside London had never felt quieter and more relaxing than it was after they returned from a battle of that magnitude. Before leaving the scene, they helped to gather Brenton’s remains and Damian paid his respec
ts. The team was thankful for what he did. None of them thought they would have been able to do that, no matter how much they loved him. Or perhaps because they loved him so much.
Inside, the priest had put on some light music, closed the blinds, and helped Max get settled while Astaroth healed him. His demon was awesome with fighting, advice, and sniffing out the enemy, but his healing times were almost human.
Seated in one of the high-back chairs, Max had his feet soaking in hot water, a compress on his head, and had just finished attending to small scratches and cuts with ointment and band-aids. He definitely looked the worse for wear and every time he shifted, he grunted and groaned from the pain in his ribs.
Astaroth was both exasperated with him and humored by his injury. Hey, do you remember that time your mentor was being sniffed by a demon and a three-foot-tall one came up and jammed his tiny fist into your ribs? I remember that. The little demons kicked your ass.
Max rolled his eyes. It was a sucker punch. And aren’t you supposed to be healing me and not rambling on?
The demon jabbed him from the inside and he jumped. Watch it. I may hold the key to healing, but I can make it hurt really good if I want to.
You are a tyrant. An invisible, angry, no good tyrant, he replied and settled more comfortably on his chair. And for your information, they were at least four feet tall. They wouldn’t have even been able to reach my ribs at three feet. And you saw them! You didn’t even warn me.
I have to get my comic relief where it shows itself. I can’t sit around waiting when I have a meat sack like you, priesty. Astaroth cracked up, He had found that picking on the young priest helped to ease Max’s inner angst over the dead merc.
Max finally decided to stop listening to Astaroth. There was no reason to get all upset after he’d done his personal best the night before. He glanced at Damian, who was reading a book in the other chair. “I am personally proud of how I did at the fight. I saved every Damned I came across, saved two old military vets, and even managed to survive a roll down the steps and a crash through a window, all while wrestling a big-ass demon and exorcising him at the same time. Had that happened six months ago, I would have been demon food, but today, not so bad. And the right hook I gave that one demon at the end, the small one…it was legendary.”
He smiled thankfully to himself more than anyone else. “That little jerk lifted five feet off the ground. I think that more training like the mercenary training would do me good in this line of work. I actually saved more Damned because I was prepared to fight the demons off, and I wasn’t scared of them. Which is an improvement on its own.”
Damian’s gaze shifted from what he was reading and he peered over his glasses. A hint of appreciation sparkled in his eyes. It was nice, for once, to hear Max sound proud of how he did during a battle. He knew that failures weighed heavily on him, even if his mentor didn’t consider them failures but rather learning experiences. Ways to grow. And growing was exactly what he was doing.
Max shrugged. “I know I have more to learn but last night gave me the confidence to think that maybe, I actually could be better than merely good enough. That maybe I could actually be a force in this war. And although I know it’s a serious situation, I’m not so scared about the wizards now.”
Ravi giggled. Someone is feeling better. Although I do have to give it to him. That crash through the window was something out of a damn movie.
It was, Damian replied and chuckled inwardly. I was slightly stunned by it. He definitely is coming along. Now, we need to keep him alive through this wizard thing and he might have a future with all of this. I never doubted it, though.
“What do you think, Damian?” Max asked and dragged his mentor from inside his head. “I mean honestly. I can take it. I want to get better.”
He shut his book and removed his glasses before he took a sip of his tea. “I think I’ve never seen you so good. And like you said, if you have come this far from where you were, you will definitely become a force to be reckoned with. I think if we continue to train you like that and improve your skills with weaponry, you could really make a dent in this war. Of course, I’ve always thought that. You were the one who needed to recognize it.”
Max smiled and looked encouraged. “Thanks. So, where did you run off to at the end? What was all that about?”
The older man sighed and put his book on the side table, folded his glasses, and slid them into his shirt pocket. “Honestly? I don’t really know what that was all about. The demon jumped me, ready to feast, and took a long sniff. Then, he backed away and under his breath, he muttered, ‘You.’ It was honestly confusing so when he bolted to run off to the portal, I followed. I wanted to see if there was something behind it.”
Max wrinkled his nose. “Man. That is weird. Do you think there is a bigger entity trying to find you? Or maybe he is kin to the wizards? I mean, I know I’m no veteran, but I feel like that is not something that happens every day.”
Ravi snorted. He had a whiff of your old man cologne and mistook you for Burt Reynolds or Wilfred Brimley—two characters demons hate.
That’s the two choices? Wilfred Brimley or Burt Reynolds? I feel like those are two complete opposites, Damian replied and laughed internally.
Ravi didn’t understand it either. Maybe it’s the mustache. It’s probably mustache envy. Although you don’t have one so I don’t know how they mixed you up.
He didn’t want Max to worry any more than he knew he already was, even if he acted brave at the moment. “Who knows what it really was? Honestly, with the way demons go back to hell, it could easily have been a demon that I either killed or exorcised in the past. I’ve been at this for a long time. I’m not sure how quickly they are recruited again, but it’s possible.”
Max nodded and a sense of relief eased his shoulders. Damian smiled and fixed his gaze on the fireplace. Although the words had come out of his mouth, he wasn’t sure he believed them in the least. With so many demons and so few mercenaries, he found it hard to believe that kind of coincidence could happen. It was strange—the whole thing—and he didn’t like it in the least.
I don’t like it either, Ravi said, her tone firm. The likelihood of that is slim to none. It takes most demons decades—even centuries, depending on their intelligence level—to climb out of the depths they are sent to when killed or exorcised. Take it as a warning, for sure.
The young man wrinkled his nose. “But what if there is more to it? You know? What if there is something more nefarious behind that reaction? I don’t think you should simply blow it off.”
Ravi giggled. Smart boy. Immediately on the right track.
Damian sighed. “Well, as of right this second, there isn’t really anything we can do about it. Without walking into hell and demanding answers, I don’t know if we’ll ever figure it out. So, there is a point where I stop worrying about it. It ran off into hell and the portal slammed shut. The end.”
Max opened his mouth to dispute him when a knock echoed from the front door. He sighed and gave Damian a resigned smile. The priest grunted as he stood, walking to the door, and peered through the peephole. With a broad grin, he unlocked the door, opened it, and put his arms out in welcome. “Rose, it’s so good to see you. And you brought someone with you.”
He stepped aside as Rose entered, paused, and gave him a hug. “I did. Boys, I would like you to meet Catherine, my daughter.”
A woman around Damian’s age with long blonde hair and a bright smile walked in the door carrying a tray of cupcakes. “Hello! I’ve heard probably more about you than I’ve heard about any single person in my life.”
They both laughed as he shut the door. It was almost strange to see them stand beside one another. Catherine was the spitting image of Rose, only younger and taller. It was like looking into the past. She was a beautiful woman and there was a spark in her bright blue eyes.
“Come in, come in,” Damian said. “Let me take that tray from you.”
Catherine relinquished t
he tray with a giggle. “Thank you.”
Rose pointed at the array. “We brought you tea and cupcakes for an afternoon snack.”
Her daughter, her cheeks red, leaned in with a slight whisper. “My mother told me what her demon would have her do. She thought having me here would be the perfect time to bake you something and have you not be scared to eat it.”
Damian looked at Rose and burst into laughter. Max turned in his chair. “If they are even half as good as the poisoned ones, I may never stop asking her to bake. It’s interesting when you almost question whether you are willing to take the repercussions of poison simply to taste her baked delights.”
Rose gasped. “Max, what in the world?”
The priest set the tray down and rearranged the chairs. “He had a little spill through a window, but he’ll be okay. Catherine, this is Father…uh…this is Max. Sorry, I’m used to introducing him as a priest rather than a person.”
Max had pulled his feet out of the tub and dried them off and now moved the tub to the side. He yanked his button-up black shirt over his white t-shirt. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t dressed appropriately for company. But that’s better.”
He wiped his hand on the side of his pants and shook Catherine’s. “It’s nice to meet you, Max. My mother adores the both of you, especially after what you did for her.”
He chuckled nervously. “That was all Damian. But I appreciated it a lot. No more falling pots.”
They all laughed and took a seat while Damian poured them a glass of tea. Rose took hers and smiled thankfully at him. “It’s so nice to feel back to my old self. I know I keep saying that, but my life has been exciting and interesting—at least until the demon went wild.”