by Zoë Archer
“No!” shrieked the geminus, yet it already was happening.
Her teeth bared, Anne fought to direct the wind. It poured into the vault, scouring it, rattling the shelves within, even tipping the heavy tables lining the middle of the chamber. Souls were caught up in the storm, picked up by the powerful winds so that they danced upon the air, glimmering and shining like fireflies. The sight almost distracted her with its beauty. Yet she could not waver from her purpose.
She shouted with effort as she forced the tempest to return to her. It felt like struggling with an entire herd of wild horses, her arms shaking, sweat filming her body. Anne pulled hard on the energy, calling upon every reserve of strength. The wind swirled through the vault and then, finally, rushed toward her.
Torrents of biting air churned out of the doorway, back into the corridor. As they battered her, souls also came flying out, borne aloft on the wind. The hallway filled with dozens and dozens of shining souls. Their radiance filled the corridor, spreading light.
The geminus gave a furious scream. It clawed at the air, attempting to grab the souls as they crossed the threshold. Yet they evaded the geminus’s grasp, flying away in all directions. Searching out their owners.
The final soul came spiraling out of the vault, gleaming brighter than the others. Instead of winging off to find its possessor, it stopped in front of Leo. Anne dropped her hands, and the tempest abruptly halted. Enervated, fascinated, she swayed on her feet as she watched Leo look wonderingly upon the soul. It bathed him in warm radiance. He gazed at the soul, awestruck, reverent, and reached out a shaking hand. Slowly, like a wary animal, the soul approached.
It was his soul.
All of the souls had been lovely, but Leo’s was so beautiful, so full of brilliance and possibility, tears gathered in her eyes.
Movement in the corner of her sight caught her attention. She turned to see the geminus leaping to intercept the soul.
Livia flung out her hand, and the geminus stumbled back, forced away by unseen magic. Though Leo winced from this impact, he remained standing, and held himself still as his soul drew nearer. Yet it hovered inches from his chest, as if uncertain.
“My vow to you,” Leo whispered, speaking to his own soul. “Never again will I give you away. I promise.”
Anne held her breath, waiting. She had done what she could. This moment belonged only to Leo and the soul he had relinquished. She had the distinct impression that the soul was assessing Leo, judging him. Seeing into the deepest part of him, where there could be no manipulation, no falsity. Only Leo, and the truth of his heart.
Leo, too, waited, his expression torn between hope and fear. He had never looked more vulnerable, and her own heart ached for him. As if sensing her emotion, his gaze found hers. This is because of you, his eyes said. Whatever comes afterward, it is you that made this possible.
With a sudden, darting movement, the soul shot forward. Right into Leo’s chest. He sucked in a breath, his whole body going rigid. Radiance filled him, an inner light that shone brilliantly. A smile of profound amazement and peace curved Leo’s mouth. Even as the light dimmed, the smile remained, and Anne felt the paths of tears tracing her cheeks.
“We’ve done it,” she murmured, awed.
He turned silver bright eyes to her. “You did it, Anne.” He drew himself up fully. “And I will thank you properly. Later.” Turning to the snarling geminus, he gave a predatory grin. “The gloves are finally off.”
The geminus ran.
A look of utter panic on its face, it shoved past Leo, past Anne, and plunged through Livia as it sped toward the front of the house. For a moment, Leo could only stare in astonishment. He had not anticipated the creature would run.
But he would not allow it to escape. He sprinted after it. Anne’s footsteps sounded behind him.
The spectacle in the entryway nearly stopped him in his tracks.
“Oh, my God,” whispered Anne.
Whit and Zora faced a pack of demons—scaled beasts with long, beaked faces and serrated tails that gouged the floor and walls wherever they struck. Numerous creatures swarmed through the collapsed door. Whit struck at the demons, his saber engulfed in flame, and Zora brandished a whip of fire. Both Whit and Zora made impressive sights as they combated the monsters, their movements sharp and deliberate, felling the seething horde as it tried to advance.
Of all the sights Leo had anticipated seeing in this marble-floored, elegant foyer, he never thought to observe a battle between flame-wielding humans and vicious beasts from Hell.
Immediately, Livia joined the fight. More demons swarmed into the house through the windows, and the ghost used her magic to hurl them aside like so much kindling. Some of the creatures sprawled on the ground and lay still, but others instantly clambered to their feet and charged.
A demon rushed at Whit, approaching him from behind. The entryway echoed as Leo shot the creature, its dying scream merging with the bang of the pistol.
Whit spun and saw Leo standing at one end of the foyer. Whatever he saw in Leo’s face made him smile. “So it’s done.”
Leo nodded. This was not the moment, nor had he the time, to examine how he felt now that his soul had been restored. Yet he sensed its presence within him, a wholeness that had been missing for so very long. Right now, what he felt was the need for vengeance.
He looked for the geminus. Blocked from escaping by the thick mass of brawling demons, it vaulted over the banister and ran up the staircase. Leo glanced back and forth between the ascending geminus and the battle going on in the entryway to his house.
Another surge of demons attacked. Whit swung at one beast with his fiery blade, and the creature’s head went rolling. The snap of Zora’s whip severed the arm of another, and Livia hurled demons to the walls and ceiling. Plaster dust rained down in clouds as Leo’s costly house was being decimated—and the sight filled him with vicious satisfaction.
“We have this front,” Whit yelled above the chaos. “The geminus is yours.”
Leo glanced up at the geminus. It had reached the top of the stairs and was starting down the hallway. Frustration welled—even if Leo ran full-out, he wouldn’t be able to catch the damned thing.
“I need your trust,” said Anne.
“You have it,” he said without hesitation.
Her eyes widened briefly at his immediate acceptance. Then she drew in a breath as if steadying herself and lifted her hands. Suddenly, Leo found himself surrounded by powerful currents of air. It was everywhere, all around him, and then it was beneath him. He started as he lifted up off the floor, his boots hovering above the marble floor.
Holy hell, he flew.
For a moment, he struggled against it. Then he saw Anne, and how her eyes widened with wonder at her own power. This was her doing. He was borne aloft by the wind Anne conjured.
Her awe did not last, for the geminus was getting away. Leo forced his body to relax. And then the stairs scrolled under him as he was lifted higher. The sensation was amazing—air all around him, flying up the staircase like a hawk. But all too soon, it was over, and his feet touched down at the top of the stairs, the wind dispersing.
He glanced down to Anne, still at the foot of the staircase.
“Go,” she called.
He did. Leo kept his gaze trained on the geminus’s retreating back as it ran down the corridor. It sought escape, yet every door it approached banged shut on a gust of wind. More of Anne’s doing. But her power did not reach the last door in time, and it ran inside. Into the master bedchamber.
The sounds of combat retreated as Leo sprinted along the hallway. His lone focus was the geminus. Reaching the doorway of the bedchamber, he growled when he saw the creature pushing the mattress aside to uncover the loaded pistol Leo always kept beneath the bed. Of course, the damned thing knew his secrets. It was him. Or had been.
Leo stepped inside. The geminus waved its hand and the door slammed behind him. He tugged on the doorknob. It would not move. He was
barricaded inside with the geminus.
It had transformed from his double to his distortion, its features twisted, snarling mouth full of jagged teeth, its eyes solid black and awash with bitter hatred. Looking at it sickened Leo, knowing that what he saw now was his own darkness, his own hate.
He and the geminus faced each other, both with weapons drawn and aimed.
“The opportunity was yours,” spat the creature. “To rise above your station. To possess unlimited power. But, vulgar peasant that you are, you pissed it all away.”
“I never needed magic to forge my way in the world.”
“You could have had more.”
Once, that was all he wanted. More of everything. More wealth, more influence. More respect. But none of those things held value. Not when he couldn’t find peace within himself. Only Anne had given him that.
“I have everything of value.”
He fired. The geminus shot at the same time. Yet at that precise moment, the house shook with a massive impact. Both bullets missed, Leo’s hitting one of the bedposts, the geminus’s lodging in the door frame.
Before Leo could grab his musket, the geminus launched itself at him. Talons now tipped its fingers, and as he found himself grappling with the creature, its claws raked across his face. He barely felt the blaze of pain. All he knew was this fight, a fight he must win.
He and the geminus rolled across the floor of the bedchamber, slamming into furniture, trading brutal punches. This was a fight unlike any other he had known. The brawl during the theater riot was a nursery game by comparison. Now, he and the creature were vicious, relentless, determined to prevail by any means. Leo took punishing blows to the face, the chest, to any part of his body the geminus could reach. And he attacked the creature with the same ruthless cruelty.
A shriek sounded close by. Leo spared a glance to see that a demon had flown through a window, and now leapt forward to join the fight. The damned monster stood over him, slashing at his undefended back. Pain flared. He hissed as the demon screeched triumphantly. Though he struggled to hold both the demon and the geminus at bay, he was only one man.
Suddenly, the demon was hurled across the chamber, the solid bedchamber door flying off its hinges and plowing straight into the creature. As they flew through the air, the demon’s wing scraped across the geminus’s shoulder, sending it rolling across the floor. Both the door and the demon smashed through a closed window, the glass shredding the monster as it flew. It screamed once as it fell, then came a thud as its body hit the ground outside.
Leo glanced over toward the doorway. Anne stood there, hands outstretched. Her hair spilled over her shoulders, and her eyes blazed with righteous fury. She had torn the door from its hinges, throwing it and the demon across the room and through the window. She had protected him from secondary attack. And she looked ready to face any and all enemies.
“Behind you,” he panted.
Anne whirled around as four demons advanced, claws out, eager for blood. Dodging their talons, she held them back with sharp, targeted blasts of wind. It amazed Leo that she was the same woman who had shaken with terror on their wedding night, yet it made perfect sense. That fierce spirit had always been within her, merely waiting for the proper time to make itself known.
“Admirable, yes,” hissed the geminus, getting to its feet, “yet futile. Like your friends downstairs, she will be slaughtered, and you shall spend eternity reliving her last agonizing moments. Over and over again.”
Rage, brilliant as an inferno, tore through Leo. He slammed his fist into the geminus’s sneering face. The creature spat blood, then struck back.
As Leo and the geminus were locked in combat, he heard Anne holding back the onslaught of demons, throwing the monsters into the walls, thrashing them with her power. Exhausted and battered as he was, his whole body aching, he drew strength from hearing her fight. Though they were each engaged in their own battles, he felt their unity of purpose, of heart, and felt a surge of power course through him.
Staggering to his feet, he hauled the geminus to standing and rained punches upon it. The creature tried to fight back, but Leo backed it into a corner. Desperate, furious, the geminus struck out with its claws. Yet it weakened.
The geminus suddenly launched itself at Leo. He acted instinctively, grabbing hold of its lapels. He swung its head toward the marble mantel. A wet crunch sounded as its head collided with the stone. Blood coated the marble, a dark smear dotted with clumps of hair, and the geminus fell to the carpet.
Leo strode over to where the creature lay on its back. It stared up lifelessly, its gaze already glazed and vacant. Taking up his musket, Leo placed the muzzle directly between its eyes and pulled the trigger. The smell of blood, brains, and gunpowder filled the room.
He did not waste time standing over the body. In two strides, he was beside Anne, still holding back the demons.
She glanced from him to the geminus. Though she blanched at the grisly sight, a small, victorious smile curved her mouth.
“An ungentlemanly fight,” she said.
“I’m no gentleman.” He swung his musket around, holding it like a club.
“Oh, I know that very well.”
The remaining demons, seeing the geminus’s inert body, turned and fled. Yet sounds of combat continued to rise up the stairs. The battle was far from over.
He walked to Anne, and held out his hand. When she took it, sliding her palm against his, he felt a hot, purifying rightness.
Together, they headed downstairs to join the fight.
Chapter 18
Chaos reigned at the foot of the stairs. Aside from the riot at the Drury Lane Theatre, Anne had never seen such destruction. The few pieces of furniture lay in splinters. The chandelier hung crookedly, swaying like a glittering pendulum above the melee. Demon bodies were everywhere, sprawled across the marble floor or slumped against the walls.
In the midst of this stood Lord Whitney and Zora, standing back-to-back. Hard to believe that Lord Whitney had ever been one of the idle elite, wasting time and money at the gaming tables, for now he fought like a born warrior, his fire-wreathed sword hacking down three demons.
Zora, too, made an awe-inspiring sight as she snapped her flaming whip, felling two creatures and pushing back two more who sought to advance. Distant crashes in the front chambers of the house revealed Livia locked in combat with more demons.
“This cannot be Bloomsbury,” Anne murmured as she and Leo stood at the top of the stairs.
He quickly readied his pistols and musket, tamping down the powder and loading the bullets. “It’s the first circle of Hell.”
And so it looked. Two humans fought at the center of a dozen writhing, snarling demons, with a specter providing reinforcement.
Leo brought his musket up to his shoulder, took aim, then fired. A demon attacking Zora fell as the bullet shattered its chest. The Gypsy woman looked up and offered a nod of thanks.
“The geminus,” she called up, “is it dead?”
Lord Whitney glanced toward Leo, then answered before Leo could. “Aye. I suffered the same wounds sending my geminus back to Hell.”
Anne and Leo hurried down the stairs. Leo used his pistols to take down two more demons, then wielded his musket like a club, knocking the monsters down with brutal efficiency.
“Most of the demons have fled,” Lord Whitney shouted above the din. “These are the holdouts.”
“They’ll regret their obstinacy,” growled Leo.
Anne guided her magic, throwing demons into the walls. The creatures twitched, then fell, landing in broken heaps. She directed gusts of wind to take up tongues of flame from Zora’s whip and set several of the demons alight. Their screams echoed in the vaulted room as their bodies burned, filling the air with noise and the stench of charred flesh.
And then, suddenly, the humans outnumbered the demons. Only two monsters still lived. With terrified screams, the demons clambered toward the door, anxious for escape. Anne and the others
found themselves standing in the middle of the entryway, panting and bloodied, but alive. Leo’s coat was torn, revealing angry gouges across his body, he had a cut across his cheek, and crimson dripped down his hand to mingle with the black pools of demon gore. Yet he stood tall amidst the destruction.
“The final retreat,” Zora said, staring at the open, empty doorway.
“A wise decision.” Leo glanced at the walls.
Anne gasped. Fire crawled up the walls in a blazing webwork, catching on draperies. The banister became a line of flame leading up to the first floor.
Zora’s whip of fire immediately disappeared. “Apologies.”
Yet Leo merely shook his head. “Couldn’t be helped. But we need to get out. Now.”
Smoke filled the entryway, and Anne coughed as it saturated her lungs. She took Leo’s offered hand, and together they ran from the house. Lord Whitney and Zora followed, with Livia meeting them on the sidewalk outside. The street glowed in the lurid illumination. Soon, the fire inside the house would find its way outside.
Anne turned to Livia. “We cannot let the house burn, or it will spread to the other homes.”
“Air will merely encourage the fire to burn,” the specter answered.
“I’ve another idea.” One she was not certain would work, but she hoped the natural science lecture she had attended long ago had been accurate.
Closing her eyes, Anne focused all her energy on the power within her. She held out her hands, calling to the air. She sought not to create air, but to draw it into herself. This was a new challenge, one beyond anything she had attempted before. It took every ounce of her will, fighting to drag the air out of Leo’s house. Her teeth clenched with the effort and sweat dampened her clothing as she struggled.
She cracked open one eye. Her heart leapt to see the flames within diminish. Yet it took far more strength to smother the fire than she knew she possessed. Abruptly, the burden lessened. Anne glanced over to see Livia also working to draw out the air. The ghost’s head was thrown back, and her image flickered, taxed almost beyond endurance.