I only told him I planned to watch TV while he was working, if that was okay, and he seemed to relax a little. No way was I going to take off now; I wanted to see what happened when the Lord of Chaos returned.
In the meantime, I watched some shows off the satellite feed, went and made myself a sandwich when I got hungry. During all this time, Simon didn’t make an appearance. Maybe he was fasting, but since I wouldn’t be taking part in the demon-calling ceremony, it didn’t really matter whether I stuffed myself full of pastrami. I figured if he was having to redraw all those summoning circles and sigils to accommodate this new ritual, it might take hours and hours, which was fine by me. If he was occupied with that particular task, then he wouldn’t be up here, giving me more grief over the way I’d botched the first ritual the night before.
Eventually, though, he reappeared, looking tired but determined. Once again, he was wearing the long black robe, although he hadn’t yet pulled up the hood. I paused the television, noting that it was ten minutes until three. “Is it time?” I asked.
“Yes,” he replied.
“Do I need mine?” I pointed at the robe he wore. “Because it’s still up in my bedroom.”
“No, you’re not actually taking part in the ceremony, so it’s not necessary. Come on.”
Dutifully, I shut off the TV and put the remote on the coffee table, then got up from the sofa. Even though I was curious to find out what was going to happen, I still didn’t much like the idea of being tied up to a chair. Well, nothing ventured and all that.
Simon led me out of the family room and down to the basement ritual chamber. Once again candles flickered, and it still felt very cold in here, almost colder than it had the night before. Maybe the silk robe had provided more insulation than I’d thought.
Chalk markings again covered most of the floor, although the patterns looked subtly different this time. It was hard for me to say for sure, since I had no experience with this kind of magic and couldn’t begin to guess what all those symbols and arcane letters even meant. I didn’t like looking at them for very long, even though I now understood their purpose, because I knew there was a damn good reason why this magic had been forbidden.
The main difference in the room this time was the hard-backed chair that sat off to one side. “Over there?” I asked, pointing at it.
“Yes. Go ahead and sit down.”
Even though I’d been expecting this, I couldn’t quite hold back a sigh as I walked carefully around the perimeter of the chamber and then sat demurely down in the chair, which was narrow and uncomfortable, with a hard seat. At least it was a lot easier to avoid smudging the pattern this time, since I had on jeans and boots and not that stupid too-long robe. Once I was seated, Simon came over, several lengths of rope in his hands. At least it was the silky synthetic kind, something that felt soft enough against my wrists as he bound my arms behind me. Once he was done with that, he knelt and tied my ankles to the legs of the chair. During all this, I didn’t try to struggle, only stared straight ahead.
Once he was done, he straightened up and surveyed his handiwork. The smirk was back, along with a glint in his black eyes that I didn’t much like. Still wearing that unpleasant smile, he said, “You know, I think I like you like this.”
“Oh, really?” I returned, which as rejoinders go was pretty weak. But even though I’d agreed to being tied up, I realized I really didn’t like being so much at his mercy.
“Yes, really.”
In the next second, he bent toward me, pressed his lips against mine. I wanted to pull away, but since I couldn’t move, there wasn’t much I could do except try to turn my head to escape the unwanted kiss.
At once his fingers were gripping my jaw, holding me in place as he forced my mouth open with his tongue. He didn’t taste bad — if anything, he tasted of mint, as though he’d brushed his teeth right before he came to get me — but it was still foul to have him violating me in that way, to know there wasn’t anything I could do to stop him with my arms and legs bound as they were. All right, I supposed I could have bitten down on his tongue, but I knew if I pulled a trick like that, he’d only be that much angrier with me, and would retaliate in some sort of unspeakable way. Teleporting wasn’t an option, not if I wanted to keep him from going after the Castillos the way he’d threatened.
After a moment, he pulled away from me and stepped back. “Very nice,” he said. “I think I’ve already begun to forgive you, Miranda. You’re just too sweet to stay angry at for very long.”
The sandwich I’d eaten was roiling in my stomach, but somehow I managed to reply, “I’m glad to hear it. You know, you’re a pretty good kisser.”
The glint was back in his eyes. “You liked it like that…being forced?”
Think fast, Miranda! “You know, I think I did. It was sort of kinky.”
He grinned then, clearly pleased by my reply. “Well, I guess we’ll need to explore that later. For now, I’ve got work to do.”
I smiled back at him in what I hoped was a lascivious way. Really, what I wanted to do was tear myself out of that chair and find the nearest bottle of mouthwash. Since that wasn’t an immediate possibility, I settled myself into the most comfortable position I could manage, thanks to having my arms tied behind me, and watched Simon as he turned away and took his place at the far side of the circle he’d drawn.
Once more he recited some kind of spell in that strange harsh language, arms held theatrically out to either side. This time, though, I wasn’t nearly as frightened as I had been the night before. I’d met the Lord of Chaos, after all, and he wasn’t nearly as fearsome as I’d thought he would be. Oh, to look at — absolutely. But otherwise, I’d have to say the demon lord was…kind of cool.
This time it wasn’t so much a wind that came out of nowhere as a boom as harsh and loud as a thunderclap going off nearby. I winced and wished I could put my hands up to cover my ears. Almost as soon as it had come, though, the sound was gone, and standing in the basement was the Lord of Chaos.
However, he wasn’t standing in the middle of the circle, which was where Simon had meant him to show up. Only if he was trapped in the circle could he be commanded. Standing off to one side, as he was now — I could tell that wasn’t supposed to happen.
Even in the candlelight, I saw the way Simon went pale.
“Are you bothering me again, boy?” the demon demanded.
“I — ” Simon broke off there, then seemed to recover himself. Standing a bit more upright — although I didn’t see how that could do much good against someone a good two feet taller than he was — he said, “You have been summoned to the circle, demon lord. I — ”
“No, I haven’t,” the Lord of Chaos said. With one taloned finger, he pointed at the chalk circle on the ground. “Considering it is over there, and I am over here.”
“But you are here, which means you came in response to my summons.”
“I came because I was curious what you were up to.” The red-eyed gaze moved from Simon to me, and once again I heard the demon lord’s deep voice in my mind. It seems you are in an awkward position, young woman. Would you like to be free?
Oh, yes, I told the demon, sending my thoughts to him. Could you take me to Rafe?
Who is Rafe?
Apparently this Lord of Chaos was powerful, but not all-seeing. I found that vaguely reassuring. He’s — he’s my fiancé. Concentrating as hard as I could, I sent the demon a mental image of Rafe as I’d last seen him, standing in the church with his hands clenched at his sides, face taut with worry and anger. He has to be someplace in Santa Fe, although I’m not sure exactly where.
A pause, and then, Ah, yes. I know where he is.
I wanted to sag with relief, but I really couldn’t because of the way I was tied to the chair. As I watched, the demon deliberately skirted the circle drawn on the ground, then came and paused next to me. It was hard not to flinch, having him that close, but I held myself still as he touched a finger to the ropes binding
my legs, and then my arms. Each time his finger rested on its surface, the rope in that spot turned to dust.
“What are you doing?” Simon demanded. “You can’t — leave her alone!”
The Lord of Chaos cast a negligent glance over his enormous shoulder. “I fear you are in no position to tell me what I can or cannot do. You had one attempt at controlling me, and it failed. I am my own master now.” He extended an arm toward me, and I went to him and let him pick me up and hold me against him, even though all my instincts were screaming that I needed to run far away from this enormous, frightening creature.
However, I knew he meant me no harm. The long sleeveless robe he wore smelled of smoke, but it was almost a pleasant scent, like the perfume of a campfire that’s settled into your clothes after an evening in the wilderness. His impossibly muscled arm held me fast against him, and in the next instant we were gone.
The last thing I heard was Simon screaming at us in denial.
15
Awakenings
Rafe
“Louisa!” Cat exclaimed, getting up with such haste that her cell phone fell to the floor. Luckily, the bedroom was carpeted, so the phone didn’t suffer any harm.
Their sister pushed herself up against the pillows and looked around in some confusion. “I’m home. When did I get home? I don’t remember Oscar driving me back from the service.”
Rafe and Cat looked at each other. Her shoulders went up in an almost imperceptible shrug, and he said carefully, “Do you remember the attack at the church?”
“Attack? I don’t — ” Then she stopped, one hand going to her forehead as her eyes widened. It looked as though some of her memory was beginning to come back. “Oh, my God. The demons. Is Malena all right?”
“She’s…she’s still unconscious,” Cat replied. “But Yesenia says she’s doing okay, all things considered.”
“How long was I out?”
“Not too long,” Rafe said, still using that careful tone. “It happened yesterday morning.”
“Yesterday?” Louisa glanced around, probably trying to determine the level of light outside to give her a clue as to how long she’d been out. “What time is it?”
“Just around three in the afternoon.”
“My God.” She sagged against the pillows, brows knitted together, as though she was trying to piece some meaning together out of the fragments of darkness that remained after the demon attack. “I — I don’t remember anything. That is, I remember these creatures swooping down at us, but it’s all a blur after that. A dark blur.”
“We’re not exactly sure what happened to you and Malena,” Rafe said. “You just sort of…collapsed, as though the demons were attacking you both mentally and physically, and we think they had something to do with Malena’s coma, too, even if we don’t know exactly why yet. Do you remember anything of the attack?”
Louisa shook her head. “Not really. I remember a horrible kind of pressure, like someone was tightening a band of metal around my head. And then everything went blank.”
At those words, Cat glanced over at Rafe, her mouth tight, although she didn’t say anything. Louisa’s description sounded too much like the same sort of reaction Cat had experienced whenever Simon was mucking around with his demons, but Rafe couldn’t begin to guess why she hadn’t succumbed the same way his other sisters had when subjected to a physical attack. Maybe it was only that Cat’s very talent was communicating with ghosts, spirits, and what-have-you, and so her mind had already grown accustomed to working with strange energies. It wasn’t the sort of thing either Malena or Louisa had ever encountered before, although one would have thought that Louisa’s prima abilities might have made her a bit more resilient.
“Well, you’re back now,” Rafe said. “That’s the important thing. And if you’re waking up, then maybe Malena will be soon as well.”
“I can try calling Dad,” Cat said, and bent down to retrieve her phone. “He’s watching her right now,” she added for Louisa’s benefit.
That comment only made Louisa frown. “Where’s Oscar?”
“He’s on his way down to Rio Rancho to see the kids — they’re staying with Rosalie and Lewis,” Cat told her, trying to make her tone as soothing as possible. “He’s been at your side ever since you collapsed, but he really needed to get down there and spend some time with Crystal and William.”
The explanation seemed to reassure her, because she smiled and relaxed a bit against the pillows. “That sounds like Oscar. He’s so conscientious.”
Cat unlocked her phone, saying, “Then I’ll text him now, and get in touch with Dad later. Oscar’s going to be so relieved to hear you’re okay.”
Rather than comforting Louisa, Cat’s offer only made her frown. Not looking at either one of them, she said, “I’ve failed you both.”
Cat paused with her finger hovering over her phone’s screen, even as Rafe felt himself frown as well. Trying not to sound too upset with her self-defeating tone, he asked, “What are you talking about?”
Louisa was still staring at the fireplace set into the opposite wall. “If I were a prima like Mother, or like Grandmother Isabel, I would have fought back against those demons. I would have made them pay for entering a house of God. Instead, I fainted like some idiot heroine in a historical drama.”
Oh, shit. Rafe tried to tell himself that Louisa had just come out of a coma, wasn’t quite herself yet, but at the same time, he couldn’t quite suppress a stir of annoyance. They didn’t have time to waste on self-recrimination right now. They needed Louisa to get up out of that bed and be the leader of the clan she was meant to be.
“That wasn’t your fault,” Cat protested. “I mean, I collapsed, too. For some reason, the effects of the demon attack didn’t hit me as hard as they did you. No one knows why — we’re all in uncharted territory here. But you can’t beat yourself up over it.”
Judging by the way Louisa’s lips clamped together, Rafe got the impression she wasn’t buying it. And the horrible thing was, he didn’t know whether he bought it, either. On some level, Louisa was right. She should have been strong enough to stand up to those demons, to face them down, to fight back.
Sort of the way Miranda had.
As best he could, he pushed those thoughts out of his head. He had to focus on what they could do now to get themselves out of this predicament, not what had happened the day before. “Cat’s right,” he said. Whether he sounded convinced of that fact, he wasn’t as sure.
“Exactly,” Cat chimed in. “Let me text Oscar. He can’t have gotten too far down the road yet.”
At least this time, Louisa didn’t protest. She sat there in bed, expression troubled, as Cat sent off a quick message to Oscar.
Just as she was pressing the icon to send the text, something like a sonic boom sounded in the room. The glass in the mirror that hung above the dresser shattered, falling with a tinkle to the wooden surface immediately below it. Cat let out a little gasp of a scream, even as the most nightmarish figure Rafe had ever seen — or could have ever imagined — materialized a few feet away from them.
It stood well over eight feet tall, its hideous black-maned head far closer to the beamed ceiling above them than it was to the floor below. Black leathery wings flapped at the air. From them came a scent of things burning, although there was no fire anywhere.
And in its arms was Miranda. Even while Rafe and Louisa and Cat stared at her in shock, she actually smiled up at the hideous creature as she extricated herself from its grasp. She seemed to pause for a moment, taking a quick measure of her surroundings, and then she ran to Rafe. He retained enough presence of mind to gather her in his arms, although his mind was reeling. “Miranda! What the — ?”
“It’s all right,” she said quickly. She turned back toward the demonic apparition who’d been holding her only a moment before. “This is the Lord of Chaos. Simon summoned him to do his bidding, but that didn’t work out so well.”
Somehow Rafe was able to remark, �
�I guess not.”
“He saved me from him, brought me here.” She paused, and even smiled at the demon. “Thank you again. This is Rafe, and those are his sisters Cat and Louisa.”
To Rafe’s shock, the creature bowed slightly, his gaze for some reason lingering on Cat. “I am honored,” he said gravely. His voice was deep and resonant but didn’t sound much different from a human’s, except for the odd way it seemed to echo around the room.
Louisa’s face was nearly as pale as the sheets she lay upon, but Cat took a step forward, surprise and curiosity clear in her expression. “It — it was you, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” the demon lord replied. “Your street numbers and addresses mean nothing to me, but I had hoped I could provide enough information to help you find Miranda.”
Astonished, Rafe looked from Cat back to the demon. Its features were so monstrous that he couldn’t begin to read the creature’s expression, but it almost seemed that this Lord of Chaos appeared pleased with himself for throwing a monkey wrench into Simon Escobar’s plans. As to why he’d reached out to Cat, Rafe could only guess that her ability to speak to ghosts had probably made her more receptive to contact from this otherworldly creature than other witches and warlocks in the clan might be. Why she wasn’t suffering from his presence now, when ordinary demons seemed to have such an effect on her, Rafe wasn’t sure. Maybe a demon lord’s vibrations were different from those of the rank and file.
“We were working on it,” Cat said. “But it looks as though we can stop now.”
“I am not so sure about that,” the demon replied. His blood-colored gaze, which seemed to glow with its own inner fire, moved from Cat to Rafe. “Miranda is safe, but you still have an enemy who seeks your destruction.”
“He’s right,” Miranda said. “I think I saw enough of the property where Simon is hiding that I could probably recognize it from a satellite map or something, though.”
The Witches of Canyon Road, Books 1-3 Page 70