Dark Hauntings: A Paranormal Times Novel

by C C Solomon

  He shrugged, sitting down on the couch. “Some of us did. I did. Azrael did not. I only came into that knowledge recently.”

  “Why not tell me?”

  Carlos tilted his head and gave me a patient smile. “He’s a demon lord of Hell. Despite what you are, you’ve been slowly working your way to a path of light. Reconnecting you two was not ideal. However, if I’d known he’d have the power to return your memories, I would have rethought things.”

  “Thanks,” I said dryly. I was pissed but I had to remind myself he was an elite angel, he wouldn’t do me any favors if it involved connecting to a demon.

  Carlos leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. “I’m sorry. And I’m sorry I haven’t been around lately.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m not a child. I don’t need to be up under you.”

  He pursed his lips together. “And now that you have your father, you don’t need me anymore.”

  I huffed out a breath. He did look sad. Had he really thought of me like a daughter? Despite his role in my memory loss, I’d forgiven him and I mostly trusted him since I understood how his angel mind worked. “Of course, I need you. I got a demon dad and an angel guardian. I feel balanced.”

  He patted me lightly on the cheek. “I must have done something right; you’re still going to help those in need even though you have what you wanted.”

  That thought wasn’t lost on me. Honestly, I wasn’t a monster. I’d been so self-absorbed the past few months but maybe seeing that little girl in the kitchen and even dealing with Yusan got me thinking about helping those in need for nothing more than it was the right thing to do. Heck, even hearing about how my father went after evildoers was a somewhat noble cause. I couldn’t make my life perfect right now but I wasn’t going to waste my gifts while I was finding my way, either.

  “Listen, I also came over to tell you that the other angels might be a little late in today’s fight,” Carlos continued.

  I blinked rapidly, confused. This was Monica’s deal, how was she not fighting? “Excuse me? Two of the people we are trying to rescues are her angels.”

  “I know, I know. The thing about Monica is, she believes that angels are of the highest order. So, they should be used sparingly. In this case, the good people of this town are willing to go in and fight.”

  I was surprised we’d gotten anyone to fight with us at all. St. Michaels really wasn’t their problem. However, Silver Spring had recently earned the reputation as a place that helped those in need. Especially other paranormals. Right now, we had two angels and several other stuck tourists- paranormal and human- that needed our help. The fact that there were child killers was enough to get the town’s attention on its own.

  “Just because these people are willing to risk their lives to help those in need doesn’t mean the angels are off the hook. I think it’s pretty messed up that she roped us into this and then backed away for us to do the dirty work. That is not what I would think an angel should do. They’re supposed to protect us, right?”

  Carlos looked up at the ceiling, as if searching for a response. “Angels protect humans and each other. She is allowing Azrael and myself and a couple of other angels to assist.”

  I squinted my eyes, hearing what he wasn’t saying. “Angels don’t protect paranormals. She is supplying just enough to get her angels out of there and any of the few humans. The rest are on their own. Right?”

  He nodded.

  “Your boss is a bitch.” I looked away, not wanting to spend any more energy on the discussion. The more I learned about angels, the less I liked them. “Felix put a move on it. We have some lives to save!”

  Felix appeared a minute later. “All right, I’m read-” He suddenly keeled over, grabbing his stomach.

  I took a cautious step toward him. “You okay? Stomach ache?”

  He looked up at me, still bent over, eyes watering but he didn’t speak.

  I saw Carlos get up and walk over from the corner of my eye. “Let me heal you.”

  Before he could get closer, Felix’s body cracked and broke apart. I couldn’t quite describe what I was seeing. It was like he was turning into a puzzle of himself. Soon those pieces separated and scattered to the floor, dispersing into dust before disappearing.

  My mind froze. Unable to process what I was seeing, I dropped to my knees in shock. “What the fuck just happened? Is he dead? Did he just explode?”

  Carlos placed his hands on my arms and guided me back to my feet. “No. He was teleported away.”

  “I’ve never seen any teleportation like that.” I fought between relief and disbelief. I’d seen teleportation go wrong before, with only part of a person’s body crossing over or the body combining with something else like furniture. This was just as horrifying.

  “Looked evil. Teleportation shouldn’t do that to someone.”

  “You think Yasmine or Olivia did that?” I refused to believe it was my father. However, I thought Yasmine allowed Felix to leave willingly? What had I missed? “I’m getting him back, now.”

  “That was the plan, let’s go get the others.”

  I shook my head quickly. “You tell them what happened. I’ll meet you there,” I replied before teleporting myself away.

  Before going to St. Michaels, I went to Nadia’s house where I put on my fighting gear and grabbed some weapons. I was still angry I didn’t have my sword. If Yasmine had gotten rid of it, I was going to enjoy killing her even more.

  Nadia offered to help me fight but I told her to just go on standby. We both needed to be conscious of the fights she entered. If her people thought they were doing battle without any direct benefit to them, they would lose faith in her and demons weren’t above being disloyal. It was always a precarious thing to be a demon leader unless you had an insane amount of power. Nadia was strong but she wasn’t at Herrod’s level or possibly even Yasmine’s.

  When I left Nadia’s, I arrived at the warded entrance of St. Michaels, part of the main street near a shopping center, where my father was already working on the ward after I had contacted him while at Nadia’s.

  He stood, arms wide and eyes closed. I’d expected him to recite a spell or something but he seemed just to stand there, perhaps expelling energy to force the ward down.

  “How long is this going to take?” I asked, pacing back and forth behind him.

  “As long as it takes,” he replied in a neutral tone, eyes still closed. “I know you are antsy to save your boyfriend but your nervous energy is distracting.”

  I took a step back. “Sorry. I’m just pissed. It was probably Olivia who summoned him back to get him away from me. What kind of mother is she to bring back her son in such a cruel way?”

  Herrod really looked unbothered. Of course, he wouldn’t care. “I don’t know why I’m talking to you. You’re probably glad he’s gone.”

  “Not true. However, you should be certain of who you give credit to in these things. It would help you to prepare.”

  Why did my father talk in riddles? What was he talking about? I looked around, straining my neck to see if the others were going to show up down the road. I had expected them to be here by now.

  “Daughter, do you care about what I was trying to say?”

  “No.”

  He tsked. “I was implying that Yasmine was the possible source behind Felix’s disappearance. Do not underestimate her. She is quite formidable.”

  “Do you think I can fight her?”

  “I think you can do anything you put your mind to.” He snapped his fingers. “And take this.”

  A golden sword materialized in front of me, hovering horizontally. “My sword!” I grabbed it and began to swing, testing my arm.

  He kept his eyes closed, continuing to focus on the ward. “It is a new one. To replace the one I gifted you before. No need to go in unprepared.”

  “Thank you,” I exclaimed, still practicing with my shiny new toy.

  “This one can’t magically be taken away from you.�
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  I glanced over at him but he was still focused on the ward. Nostalgia flashed through me at a vision of him surprising me with a birthday present when I was maybe eight. At the time, a toy had materialized out of thin air and danced across the air. “Can you teach me how to break a high-level ward?”

  “Of course.” He stiffened. “Wraith are on the way.”

  “Crap, no one’s here and the ward’s not down. What if they restrengthen it?”

  Carlos materialized by my side. Azrael, also in angel armor, and Faith soon appeared after him. Other Silver Spring people, including some of the Six, appeared as well, soon I was surrounded by a tiny, but hopefully tough, group of maybe one hundred people. St Michaels probably held two times that many people but I was still going to think positive. I’d gone in as an enforcer to groups where I was outnumbered and won before.

  Herrod stood back and opened his eyes. “Ward is down.” He moved over to me as if he was going to give me a hug or kiss on the head. “Do well in your battle. Remember, the sword is nice but you don’t need it. You have magic.”

  “I know. I have fae magic.”

  He placed a hand on my shoulder and stared down at me with dark eyes. “There are pulse points on some demons, not me of course, that if jabbed or stabbed can kill them.”

  I widened my eyes in surprise and annoyance. “Now you tell me?”

  He looked over to the others. “It’s not something we want others to know about.”

  “Can you make an exception for me? At least give me one point to know.”

  He smiled. “Give your father a hug for good luck.”

  My eyes widened and I stepped back. Guess he wasn’t going to tell me “No, dad. Not in front of my friends,” I cracked, although I did have a bit of the warm and fuzzies at his request. I guess a girl never got tired of having a parent’s love. Especially one you hadn’t seen in almost twenty years. I leaned back in for a hug.

  He wrapped his arms around me. “Spine,” he whispered before surrounding me in a cloud of dark smoke as he disappeared.

  I mouthed the word ‘thanks’ to the air. I then turned and caught Azrael looking at me with something like amusement, which I ignored. “Let’s go save our guy.”

  I then turned around and led us through the ward just as Sheriff Asshole appeared with several wraiths behind him. I gripped my sword, ready to swing.

  Dante gave a light snort, seemingly unimpressed at my shiny new toy. “We were expecting you.” He looked around at the large group, all in fighting stance, weapons aimed. “Tell your people to fall back if you want Felix to live.”

  “You wouldn’t kill Felix, not with Olivia all BFF with your mayor.”

  He chuckled and a few of his wraiths joined him. Really, what was so damn funny today? I’d have to change that. “We aren’t concerned about someone who’s dead.”

  My heart stopped cold. “What are you talking about?”

  Dante leaned forward. “We ate Olivia. Can’t have such a powerful demon possibly challenging our leader, can we people?” The wraiths around him gave cries in affirmation. “Plus she has really nice skin.”

  My mind was having challenges registering what he was saying. Yasmine had gone through the trouble to rescue Olivia and then used her as an enticement to keep Felix by her side. Not to mention we were sure Olivia had helped her to keep the wards strong. Unless Olivia used a symbol, which could outlast her life to form a ward, then the wards would have been weakened by her death. It took a while for my father to break it, but maybe not long enough?

  Faith walked up to my side. “I thought Olivia was a friend to you all.”

  A female wraith sneered at us. “Demons don’t have friends. They just use each other until the other serves no purpose.”

  Dante glared back at the woman, I guess not agreeing with her observation, before turning fully to us again. “Felix chose to leave his mother here.”

  “He was coming back, you animals!” Faith shouted. I could practically feel her magic simmering like a pot ready to boil over.

  “Felix made a deal with us. He could leave for a short period of time. Say his goodbyes and then he would come back to serve by Mayor Yasmine’s side. He was due by midnight. He did not return.”

  I let out a breath. He didn’t return because he was with me. He couldn’t have forgotten he had to go back just because of the news of my returned memory. Sure, that had been exciting but not exciting enough to risk getting your mother killed. Why hadn’t he said he was on borrowed time?

  I leaned toward Faith. “Did you know about this?” I asked through gritted teeth.

  “No,” she said back in an angry snarl, still glaring at the wraiths.

  Something wasn’t right. I hadn’t even caught a moment of distraction from Felix last night. He had seemed totally focused on me. Even this morning, he had seemed to not be in any sort of rush. “Did he know his mother would be killed if he didn’t return?”

  Dante gave an overly dramatic stroke of his chin, squinting his eyes up at the sky. “You know, we might have forgotten to mention that to him.”

  I thought of how Felix had just reconnected with his mother after all of these years. As much as I didn’t care for, I knew that he loved her. If he had known that his mother’s life was at stake, he would never have missed his time let alone even left. He had only left in the first place to help the poor tourist left behind. He’d done nothing for himself. Then they had brought him back just to, what, show him that his mother was dead? Disrespectfully treated as food for the masses? Anger entwined itself around me and I shot out my hand without thinking, electrocuting Dante’s lower half.

  The sheriff lifted his knees high, stomping up and down as if to put out the fire now erupting from his legs. He then stopped and wiped his hands over his body and the fire went away.

  Now that was not a wraith power. I rolled my eyes in realization. “You’re a demon, too. You guys really know how to hide what you are.”

  Dante took a step towards me and I lifted a chin defiantly, I was ready for him to try something. “You are lucky it is not your time to die yet.”

  Faith snarled. “What the fuck does that mean?”

  “You want a chance to save your friend?”

  “We want to save all the innocent people in this death trap, you piece of shit.”

  Dante bared his teeth which were now fully sharp. “We have a match that we put on from time to time to decide who gets the best skins. Sometimes it can end in death. This time, with you and your two friends joining, it will most certainly end in death. If one of you dies in the matches, you all lose and no one is saved and you all will be worn by our fiercest fighters.”

  Now that didn’t sound like a fair deal. “We are in the town now. We can just kill you all.”

  “And we will immediately kill Felix and the others before you take another step. You don’t have the upper hand here. We are offering you the chance to save people.”

  Faith made a pfft sound. “Like we would believe you.”

  “Fine, don’t take our deal. I’ll let our Mayor know. Is there a message you’d like me to give to Felix before he dies?”

  I raised a hand to stop him. They didn’t have us fully over a barrel. If they turned on their word or added some unknown stipulation that none of us knew about, we still had our supporters who could come in and fight. Both Azrael and I could teleport and Azrael would telepathically communicate with Carlos who could lead the others.

  “Can we at least see him first?”

  Dante chuckled again. I was really tired of his laughter. I was going to have to punch his teeth out when the time came. “Like we would trust you. No, you’ll see him after you accept our offer and come to the field to fight. Everyone but those in the tournament stays out here.”

  Azrael nodded. “Fine, we accept.”

  I wanted to be annoyed with the angel for accepting the offer without discussing it with us but the truth was, we all were going to accept. I wasn’t going to
let my guy die.

  Chapter 28

  Our fight, whatever it was called, was held in a grassy field near the water. Bleachers were set up around the outside of the field filled with wraiths, the fighters stood in different sections of the field, and a platform stood between bleachers facing the water where Yasmine sat in the center.

  However, it wasn’t Yasmine that I was looking at. To her side, Felix lay on the ground bound and muzzled like some wild animal. His feet and hands were tied behind his back. He lay sideways on the floor of the platform and he didn’t move but he was awake, his eyes a shocking red. I’d never seen his eyes like that before. It had to be the demon side of him. Even from a distance, I could see the tears in his eyes. It broke my heart.

  Azrael touched my shoulder. “I know you want to go over there and free him and burn this place down with damn near everyone in it. I want to, as well. However, we can’t risk it right now. Your father said Yasmine is powerful and she has to be in order to turn beings into wraiths and free Olivia from his cage. We can’t take for granted that she could kill Felix on the spot if we approach. You won’t let that happen, right?”

  I shook my head, blinking rapidly at the tears forming in my own eyes. Was I crying because it hurt to see him so broken? Was I that in love with him? Yes, yes I was.

  Yasmine stood up and hushed the crowd with a raised hand. “Today’s tournament is going to be extra special. We are fortunate to have an angel, a member of the infamous Six and a fae in our midst. They are entering as a team together and the stakes are higher than before. Our fighters will be fighting to the death. You know the deal. We will have several teams compete in brackets, resulting in three levels of fighting until we are down to the final two teams standing, who will battle to the death.”

  Faith turned to us looking all too excited. “That’s just three rounds of fighting. We can do it. We’ve already fought some wraiths.”

  I was less excited seeing as our past fights with the wraiths were not easy ones. “Uh-huh, just keep that same energy on the field. We don’t know who we are fighting. We could have just encountered the easy marks. There could be demons on the field as well. I don’t see the Sheriff up there. I see him over there.” I pointed to Dante standing with two other people to make up what appeared to be a team. “Not that I’m intimidated. I just know demons are a very different breed to fight. They play dirty.”