by Lisa Olsen
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not with Jax like that anymore, I love Nick.”
“Then why did you kiss him?”
Anna’s mouth fell open in shock. “You saw that? Ruby, I didn’t… he kissed me, not the other way around.”
“You didn’t exactly slap him for it though, did you?” she smirked.
Annoyance and a smidge of guilt pricked at Annaliese’s temper. “Look, even if I was with Jax, what business is it of yours? He’s an adult, and since when does he have to check in with you on who he sees anyway? You’re acting like he’s your boyfriend, not your brother.” Her hand closed around a pen. It was pathetic as weapons went, but it was all she had.
“Oh, you did not just say that to me.” Ruby’s eyes went flat and deadly as she began to chant something low and guttural that Annaliese couldn’t quite make out. There was no mistaking the swirl of dark power in the room and the evil intent in her eye as she stalked toward her, razor blade in hand. Annaliese felt a tickle gather in the back of her throat, but when she went to cough, she couldn’t breathe. Terror set in as all she could do was cough out, her lungs refusing to draw in any air. The chant tripping from Ruby’s lips let her know what was responsible, and Anna fought to keep the panic at bay long enough to concentrate and defend herself the only way she could.
Tiny pinpricks of light swirled behind her vision as Annaliese ignored the pain in her lungs to focus her power, relieved beyond belief when Ruby’s skirt caught fire and she was startled enough to drop the incantation. Anna sucked in a greedy breath, hissing in pain when Ruby lashed out, the razor slicing the back of her forearm. It didn’t hurt much, but hot blood ran freely from the cut, enough to be alarming.
“You’re stronger than I thought,” Ruby said, holding the razor tightly. “Let’s see if you’re strong enough for this.”
Annaliese braced herself for another slashing attack, but it was her own arm that Ruby cut into, tracing the well practiced sigil into her flesh. “Vos obsecro, domine mi profanum,” she began to intone.
Not wanting to stick around to see what happened next, Anna pushed past her, taking the stairs at a fast clip. The sight of Rose’s unconscious body on the kitchen floor derailed all thoughts of flight, and she fell to her knees beside her, desperately feeling for a pulse. It was there, shallow but steady, and Anna tried to decide if she could make it to the car in time dragging Rose’s body with her.
Instead, she grabbed her phone, speed dialing Nick even as she noticed she had three missed calls from him. “Nick!” she yelled once he picked up.
“Annie, where are you?” he demanded. “No one at the hospital knows where you are…”
“I’m at home. You’d better get here. It’s not Natalie, it’s…”
“Ruby, I know. I’ll be right there.”
“It won’t do you any good.” Ruby’s voice came from the top of the stairs, but it sounded different… almost alien. “I’m no longer content with scraps, my time has come.”
Like a moth to the flame, Anna was drawn to the bottom of the stairs, afraid of what she’d see above. “Mael?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
“I could live for a year on the light inside of you, child,” Ruby smiled, stepping into view. There was no physical change, no demonic glow to her eyes, nor had she sprouted horns, but energy crackled in the air around her, shimmering like a nimbus of heat. “Come to me, I hunger,” she beckoned.
Instead, Annaliese focused her power to set Ruby on fire, hoping to shock the demon into leaving her altogether, but the fire danced over her skin and she gave a shudder of delight. “More, please,” she gave a mirthless laugh, blocking the rear exit. “I long for the fires of my world.”
“Shit.” Defenseless, Anna backed away, the counter digging sharply into her side. No, not defenseless, she realized suddenly. Making a grab for the shaker on the table, Annaliese ducked past her, running deeper into the store, her fingers scrabbling over the stopper on the bottom. “You’ll have to catch me first,” she taunted, heart thudding loudly in her ears as she played her dangerous game.
The demon either wouldn’t pursue her and she could make a run for the front door, or he would, and she might be able to trap him. The clop of Ruby’s boots from behind told Anna that her plan was working, and she turned into what would’ve been the dining room if the store had been left as a traditional house. The room had two entrances, and if she could run fast enough, she stood a chance of trapping the demon in there.
Skidding to a stop at the archway on the opposite side of the room, she bent to pour a white line of salt, murmuring words of protection as she went. It would only work if she could move fast enough for the demon not to catch on to her plan, and she barely finished the line as Ruby came into view. Throwing a last panicked look over her shoulder, she ran like mad in a circuit of the house until she reached the first doorway again, just in time to see the demon slam into the invisible barrier on the opposite side, trapping him in the dining room.
Anna crouched to draw the other line of salt, praying to the Goddess and all the stars above that she had enough in the shaker to complete the line before Ruby turned around and came after her. The last words of the spell hovered on her tongue as the final grains of salt were laid across the floor, and the demon gave a howl of frustration as he came upon the barricade that kept him from his prey.
Chest heaving as she rolled onto her back, Annaliese couldn’t help but stare across the line of salt as the demon wailed and ranted, pulling down item after item to hurl against the barrier. Books, statues, and curios sailed across the archway to smash against the floor, and Anna scooted back to avoid being hit. He could destroy her entire inventory for all she cared, as long as he stayed trapped in there.
There was a slam of a car door from outside and Nick’s heavy steps on the stairs before he tried the door and she hustled to unlock it before he put his shoulder to it. No need for words between them, Nick caught her up in a tight hug and she lost herself in the comfort of his embrace until she could breathe again without the burn of panic beneath her breast.
“What’s going on? Where’s Ruby?”
“She’s trapped in there.” Anna pointed to where Ruby watched them with baleful eyes, stalking back and forth across the archway like a caged lioness.
“Trapped?” He spared a few moments to study the doorway, but gave up when he couldn’t figure it out. “Jesus, your arm is bleeding,” Nick realized with a sudden grimace of worry laced with fear.
“It’s not that bad,” she replied, far more worried about the danger Ruby posed than the cut on her arm. The blood had slowed to a sluggish trickle, and she grabbed a thin, gauzy scarf to bind the wound. “It’ll be fine, see?”
“I still think we should get you an ambulance. I’m calling for back up.”
“No, you can’t take her, not like this. She’s too strong.” Anna pulled his hands away from his pocket where he reached for the phone. “They won’t be able to deal with this.”
Ruby let out an earsplitting shriek, smiling when Nick startled visibly.
“And we can?” he blinked.
“Yes, we can. We just have to get the demon out of her first.” She’d never done it before, but the principles were sound, and Annaliese had all the tools right at her fingertips to pull an exorcism off. “Rose is out like a light, I need you to help me.”
“There’s a demon…” Nick muttered, eyes glued to Ruby.
“Yes.”
“Inside of her.”
“Yes,” Anna repeated patiently, searching the shelf behind the register for the book she had in mind.
“Right now.”
“Yes!”
“How does it fit? She’s a bitty little thing.”
“Nick, this is serious!” She whirled in exasperation. “Are you going to help me or not?”
“I don’t know how to do this.” Nick gave her a helpless shrug and she came over to take his hands.
“Just be stro
ng for me. Can you do that?”
Nick met her gaze, some of the wildness going out of his eyes as they breathed together. “I can.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“I need to assemble a few things before we can do this,” Annaliese said, going back to the book. Black tourmaline to deflect negativity and keep her safe. Angelica and basil to drive the demon out, with a little Dragon’s blood to give it extra power. A protection amulet like Jackson’s to keep the demon from entering her body without permission. A decorative mirror framed in silver to trap him. Anna assembled them all along the counter along with a fat onion, cut in half.
“Are you going to make her cry?”
“Something like that,” she allowed, mixing the herbs together with a mortar and pestle.
“Wait, you’re not going to go in there with her, are you?”
“It’s the only way to get the demon out.”
“What if I shoot her, would that get it out?”
Anna looked up, frowning over the speculative look on his face as he studied Ruby. She’d fallen silent, watching them warily. “It might, but then it’d be free to harm others. This way I can trap it once and for all.”
“Can you do that?”
“Probably.”
“Probably?” His brows came up. “I think I’d rather take my chances with shooting her.”
“No, Nick, we’ve got it trapped in there, we can’t waste this chance. Now, it’d be better if we had a whole coven of witches here to do this, but at the same time, you’re only as strong as your weakest link, so maybe it’s for the best this way. I can control the situation better.” In fact, maybe having Rose passed out wasn’t such a bad thing at all. There was a chance she’d be distracted by Ruby and not be able to do what needed doing.
“Wait, but that makes me your weakest link,” Nick frowned. “What if I do something stupid in there?”
“You won’t have to go in there at all.” She said it lightly, waiting for him to object as she added enough vinegar to the mixture to turn it into more of a tincture than a paste. The objection didn’t come, but as she looked up, she found him watching her movements, an odd look on his face. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Well, I mean, apart from the whole craziness of what you’re contemplating doing here. You do know what you’re doing, right?”
“Yes, I do,” she replied with more confidence than she felt. “I might not have ever done this before, but I’m completely familiar with the idea behind it and how it works. If everything goes well, I’ll force the demon out of her and trap it in this mirror here. Then you can go in and arrest her and it’ll be over.”
“And if it doesn’t go well?”
“Then you can shoot her,” she quipped, pretty sure he knew she was joking. When she was sure the mixture was ready, she transferred it to a plastic bottle with a nozzle at the end, snipping off the tip to be sure it wouldn’t clog. Nick’s pacing was driving her to distraction, but she tried to block out his movements, studying the text carefully to make sure she wasn’t leaving anything out.
The language gave her pause. Ordinarily she was pretty informal in her rituals, focusing more on intent than creating spells that rhymed or used fancy languages, but all the books she’d ever read on exorcism agreed on one thing – Latin was the way to go. She repeated the passages in her head over and over until they were fixed, not just the words but the meaning behind them.
Finally, she was ready to begin and motioned Nick over. “This is the part where you come in. What I’ll be doing is borrowing some of your energy to help me charge this tincture, making it more effective.”
“Ahhhokay,” Nick said, eyes riveted to the plastic bottle and the black candle beside it. “How would I go about loaning it to you?”
“All you have to do is give me your hands and relax, I’ll do the rest.”
“Relax, right. I can relax,” he muttered, tilting his head first one way and then the other until it cracked on both sides. “Here’s me relaxing.”
“Nick,” said Anna sharply. “It’s okay. You don’t have to do anything, just close your eyes.” She took his hands in hers, concentrating on sending him calming, soothing vibes before she began, and was gratified to see some of his jitteriness subside.
It took just a glance to light the candle with her ability, and then Anna cast the protective circle around them, needing that extra peace of mind to help her focus when Ruby began banging her head on the wall, softly at first, but with growing vehemence.
Focus, she had to focus.
Drawing from Nick’s energy, she allowed herself to bathe in his quiet strength, taking comfort in it before she sent it with her own into the mixture. These words she crafted to rhyme, only because it made it easier to chant. “I give you strength and potency. As I will it, so mote it be.” Over and over she repeated the phrase, feeling the power gathering in her hands like a tangible thing.
To her great surprise, Nick began to chant with her, his baritone sliding under her voice, matching her rhythm and inflection perfectly. His giving made it easier to take, and Annaliese focused her attention on infusing the potion with their joined intent, squeezing his hands when she delivered the final words.
Nick let out an explosive breath as the energy left them, blinking at her in wonder. “Whoa… that was…” His eyes closed for an overlong blink and she could tell he was a bit woozy.
“Take it easy,” she cautioned, leading him to one of the easy chairs. “I hadn’t meant for you to get so caught up in it like that. Have a seat.”
“Don’t worry about me. Are you okay?”
“Sure, I do it all the time.” If anything, she felt more powerful and alive, ready to do battle.
“That’s it?” he said, taking a deep breath.
“That’s step two. Now comes the biggie.” Ruby had ceased banging her head and watched them suspiciously, eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “We’ll need to leave the candle burning, but here, I want you to take this.” She handed over an antique fireplace poker covered in flecks of rust, the gargoyle shaped handle gaping grotesquely. “If she gets past me somehow, hit her with this. Demons can be hurt by iron.”
“Shouldn’t you take it with you then?”
“No, I’m going to have my hands full with the exorcism.” Sticking the halves of the onion in her pockets, she gathered up the plastic bottle in one hand and the mirror in the other.
“I don’t like this,” Nick scowled. “I’m coming in with you.”
“I can’t risk you like that,” she shook her head, not considering it for a moment.
“Well, I can’t risk you going in there alone.”
“I won’t be alone, you already gave me your strength,” Annaliese smiled, laying a gentle kiss to his lips. “I’ll be fine, I promise.”
Nick looked like he might argue for a long moment, but instead he reached into his pocket and drew out the protection sachet, tucking it into her waistband. “For luck,” he said with a tight smile.
Anna nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Slowly, she approached the salt barrier, gathering her power around her like a cloak. From behind the safety of that protection, she began the incantation, flinging a stream of the mixture at Ruby. “Immundus spiritus, audite et scire timor...” The girl instantly shrank away from the offending liquid, pulling a display shelf between her and Annaliese to huddle behind it. Anna was forced to cross the line to reach her, but she’d always known she’d have to do it to finish the exorcism.
The air felt different on the other side of the barrier, the scent of charred flesh making her gag, but Annaliese continued the words, sending another squirt over the display case where it hit Ruby with a shriek of agony. A thrill of success went through her. In that same instant, Ruby began a chant of her own. Blue flames raced along the perimeters of the room, splitting her concentration, but the words continued to tumble from Anna’s lips.
Annaliese was confident she’d only need to divert a small amount of power to do
use the fire, but these blue flames resisted her control. Instead, they spread, licking hungrily at the bookshelves and wood trim. It wasn’t the stock she cared about, but some of the items in her store were irreplaceable, things she’d found over the years. A flicker of panic made her stumble, and she had to fight to find her place again, the words harder and harder to say, the longer she went on.
The case Ruby had been hiding behind suddenly shoved aside and she stepped out, arms and face pocked with scorch marks from wherever the potion had touched her. Her arm shot out, catching Annaliese by the throat, bringing the incantation to a screeching halt. “Not so powerful now, are you?” she cackled, eyes glowing with hatred.
Annaliese dropped the bottle, scrabbling at the hand at her throat, nails digging, but Ruby was too strong for her. The mirror grew heavier in her other hand, any moment now and her hold would slip, sending it to shatter along with their hopes of trapping the demon.
Nick charged into the room, cracking Ruby upside the head with the iron poker hard enough to snap a normal person’s neck. Ruby absorbed the blow, but it was enough to make her let Annaliese go, turning her attention to Nick.
“No, Nick, get out of here!” Anna cried as the demon advanced on him, but Nick hit her again and repositioned the poker to stake her through the heart like a vampire. Ruby’s hand came up to deflect the blow and the poker sank right through the sigil tattooed on her arm. Ruby collapsed, head thrown back in a silent scream of pain.
“Do it now!” Nick coughed, ripping a Celtic cross tapestry down to beat at the flames.
Stunned by the rapid turn of events, Annaliese found the discarded bottle among the rubble. With a final squeeze, she emptied the last of the tincture onto Ruby’s body, croaking out the words, eyes streaming from the smoke. “Hostis humani generis, vitae raptor, tu malorum radix vitiorum seductor hominum, proditor innocentes auctor invidia, avaritia, causa discordiae. Exorcizo te de cortice eius. Alligo te in umbras ubi tu sollicitent non spiritum liberum sempitérna sæcula. Ubi constringo vos, ut non nocent.”