by J. A. Saare
Sonja blanched. “That isn’t part of the deal.”
“It’s my deal. Take it or leave it.”
I didn’t want to rush, but the clock was ticking. “Eight or nine minutes left,” I informed her.
“Consider it done.” She sounded pissed. “I will exchange my offering, you will tell me if you see the soul I am attempting to locate, and we will no longer have contact or my soul will be forfeit. I agree to your terms.”
“Very well.”
The stink of sulfur penetrated the room as Krull came through the mirror. The kitten hissed and started thrashing. Sonja tossed the small bundle into the air and Krull caught it. I gasped and took a large step back when the demon opened its mouth, its lips widening farther than they should have. It devoured the poor thing in one chomp.
“Mmm,” Krull hummed, chewed several times, and swallowed. I watched, mortified, as a large ball traveled down the length of its throat and vanished. “Delicious.”
Every time a demon is summoned, a kitten dies. Please God, save the kittens.
I did not just see that.
“Seven minutes.” I sounded as petrified as I felt. The fucking thing didn’t want the kitty as a toy or pet. It wanted to fucking eat it.
Sonja went to the circle first, traced the line of the circle with salt, and hauled ass to the caged chicken. After she had a decent grip, she hauled the squirming animal out of the cage, rushed back, and cut its throat. Blood splattered as she hung the still twitching birdie upside down, infusing the salt with the gushing red liquid.
She didn’t bother placing the chicken back in the cage when she finished. Instead she tossed it aside, stepped into the circle, and started invoking the spell. Her rushed Latin was impossible to make out, so I didn’t know she was finished until she quit talking. She rotated slowly, gazing around the room. I quickly did the same.
“Do you see him?” Sonja demanded, searching for Baxter inside the space.
“He’s here,” Krull said, smacking his lips as if savoring the taste of his meal.
“Where?” Sonja stared at the demon, her face a combination of anxiousness and fear.
“I said I would tell you if the soul was here, not where he was.”
“Damn it!” she yelled. “No games! Not right now!”
“No games. Only the terms of your bargain. You should have been more specific. Blame Rhiannon Murphy for rushing you before you could clarify the terms specifically.” Krull swiped the corners of his lips, bowed in a courtly manner, and smiled. “I have fulfilled my end of the agreement. Farewell, Sonja Wheaten. Summon me again, and you’ll regret it.”
“Wait!” Sonja almost stepped out of the circle that would keep the spell in place. “Don’t do this.”
The demon walked to the mirror, started passing through to Hell, and peered over his shoulder at her. “You’ve been summoning me to do your will for two years. Consider this my way of showing you how it feels to be under the authority of another.”
The mirror distorted as he crossed, displaying a desert wall with raging tornados, and returned to normal.
“No!” There was so much anguish in the cry, so much misery. I knew she loved Baxter. Although we didn’t share much, I was aware of how important it was that she do this for him.
The time I had was dwindling away to nothing. I grasped the amulet under my sweater. Using it was becoming more and more of a habit, something I didn’t want. Like Gollum and his One Ring To Rule Them All, I’d start craving the power if I wasn’t careful. I realized as my fingers surrounded the jewel that the hold was already too strong. When anything happened, I reached for it.
Just like now.
I stopped thinking about that and did what needed to be done, drawing on the power of the stone. I had to go, time was short. I didn’t have the luxury of worrying about anything aside from what was happening right now.
“Vim corporem, potestatem praesentiamque tuam da mihil! Libere tibi me do!” Present me your force, physical strength, and presence. I freely give myself to you.
I’d only called on the full force of the amulet twice. The first time punched through my soul. The second time felt as if the power merged with my anger. This time, the feeling was unadulterated bliss. I rocked on my heels as an invisible wind swept through me, wrapping me in its embrace, erasing all my fears.
Why had I waited so long? Why had I fought this?
“Rhiannon?” Sonja sounded so far away, so distant. Then she became louder. “Rhiannon! Snap out of it!”
Holy hell, it was hard, but somehow I managed to do as she requested. This time I rotated in a circle, searching for the lost soul of Baxter Lomen, and then I saw him. He was standing against the wall, mouth moving as if screaming. Then it came to me that he was screaming, only no one would ever hear him. He was hidden in his realm, behind a wall necromancers couldn’t see.
“I see him,” I said and started in his direction.
“You do?” Her voice was strained. “Where is he?”
“Here,” I said and reached out for the spirit who would spend an eternity in banishment without our help. The moment of contact was slightly different, and I felt a disgusting shadow cross over my skin. It warred with my ability, trying to keep Baxter contained. The power of the amulet overcame it, backing my necromancy, breaking the spell. The feeling vanished and Baxter became solid under my fingers. I stepped back, maintaining contact, and he literally ripped from the wall.
He met my gaze, then focused over my shoulder. When Baxter was alive, he always worried vampires couldn’t go to Heaven. It was his biggest fear and the one thing he fixated on. Judging by the wonder in his eyes, I knew he’d just learned even lost souls were given a second chance.
I didn’t jump when I felt Sonja grasp my free hand. Necromancy talents could be shared by touch, and I had a feeling she’d want to say goodbye. After several seconds, I knew she saw him. She dissolved into tears.
I released Baxter and moved so she could get closer to him. I knew from past experience it was harder than hell to deny Heaven, but Baxter managed. He turned to Sonja and his expression changed, almost heartbroken. I held my breath when he lifted his hand. I could touch him, but would Sonja be able to do the same using my necromancy?
The sob Sonja released when his fingers brushed her face almost broke me. Tears always were my weakness. I wanted to leave them alone, give them privacy, but there was nowhere to go. Without holding onto me, they couldn’t have this—a final and bittersweet farewell.
“You were right,” he whispered, cupping her cheek. “Heaven does exist. Even for us.”
I didn’t have to see Sonja to know that, while she was relieved he could see the light, she was also devastated. It was official. He would cross over, and she would be left behind.
For the two of them, it was over.
A familiar ache formed in my chest, wrenching my heart. The finality of the moment was one I was familiar with. Vivid memories of my own anguish assailed me, of a time when Disco was dead and I would have done anything to be with him again. I felt empty, as though I’d lost a part of myself. My soul had been ripped in two, leaving behind a person that functioned but didn’t truly live.
The depth of emotion between Sonja and Baxter was too much. I wanted to be anywhere but here. It hit too fucking close to home.
“I’ve missed you so much. I’ve had dreams about this very moment. Now that it’s finally here...” She fell into Baxter, weeping into his chest. “I don’t want to let you go.”
“I know.”
When Baxter’s eyes darted in my direction, I turned my head and stared at the wall. This was more than uncomfortable. It was unbearable. I knew how Sonja felt right now. Her heart would feel like an anchor, but her mind would keep screaming to wake up because it was all just a bad dream. When you don’t want to let someone go, or you don’t want to believe that they are gone, you’ll grasp onto something—anything—to convince yourself otherwise.
Their reunion was short-li
ved. I couldn’t see the beams from Heaven, or hear the voices and music that would cause a sinner to beg for forgiveness, but I knew Baxter could. It wasn’t long until he was no longer focused on the crying woman leaning against him but the space across the room.
Lowering his face to her hair, he whispered, “Walk with me.”
So that’s how it went. Sonja took his hand while holding onto mine and together we closed the distance to the place that would allow Baxter to rest in peace. Again, I turned away, wanting to give them a moment. My eyes caught the bloodstain on the floor, and I remembered how Disco had saved my life, unwilling to let me go. That reminder made me even more uncomfortable. The weeks after my attack he had pampered and cared for me as no one had since my parents had died. Those weeks were some of the happiest of my life. There was no fear, no anxiety, no worry of what came tomorrow. It was just the two of us, getting to know each other, spending night after night talking and teasing each other like any other couple.
I missed that so fucking much.
I missed him.
Then, I heard Baxter whisper, “It’s so breathtaking, everything I hoped it would be. Thank you,” and I was back inside the room, listening to their goodbyes, caught in the shared moment I shouldn’t be a part of.
A soft sound and a whimper told me they were sharing a parting kiss, driving the phantom stake in my heart a little deeper. I didn’t want to think about Disco and what he’d done. I didn’t want to forgive and forget. He was someone who’d hurt me, broken my trust, and didn’t deserve a second chance. But deep down I knew if he persisted I’d eventually break. Seeing him all the time, remembering how good it used to be between us, would send me into arms.
I miss you.
I’m sorry.
All I want is another chance.
I’m asking for forgiveness, even if I don’t deserve it.
Call me, Rhiannon. Please.
How stupid I was, thinking I could keep him away, that my animosity would continue despite my love for the man. Disco was right. My stubbornness was the roadblock. I couldn’t teeter-totter on the fence. After all, neither of us knew how much time we had left. The future, no matter how much I wanted to change it, was never certain. Yet I had wasted the time, using my anger to keep him at an arm’s length, even though it wasn’t what I truly wanted.
“I love you,” Sonja whispered.
“I love you, too. So much.”
I felt like a lovelorn voyeur as I watched Baxter take a step with Sonja clinging to his hand, imagining myself and a certain vampire in their place. The image of the two of them was a permanent firebrand etched into my mind, making it a moment I would never forget. Their fingers slid against one another’s, until they held on by the tips, and then the physical contact was gone. Baxter walked to the wall, into the light we couldn’t see, and vanished. Sonja released my hand and fell to her knees, sobbing. What she didn’t know was that I was weeping right along with her, my tears invisible, my cries silent.
Done. It was finally done.
I had seen to a promise I made months before, but back then, the notion seemed idealistic. Help a man cross over to the other side, do a good deed, and feel happy about it for the rest of the day. Who wouldn’t want to save a lost soul? What I couldn’t possibly have known at the time—what I hadn’t even fathomed—was I wouldn’t be doing Baxter a favor at all. It was the other way around. When I helped him cross over, he’d returned the gesture full force, giving back a part of me that I thought was there but had been tossed aside, making me cold and bitter, detached from everyone and everything around me.
It wasn’t Baxter’s soul who needed saving.
It was my own.
Chapter Twelve
I was late by the time I made it to Disco’s—well over thirty minutes after the timeframe he’d given me. Although I was dead on my feet, I paid the cabbie and climbed out. The front door opened as I scurried up the stairs to the ginormous house. Goose appeared, and he didn’t look the least bit happy. I wanted to ask questions, or get a general idea of what I was up against, but the way he shook his head and narrowed his eyes told me to keep my mouth shut.
The door closed with a snick and I was just about to relax when I was literally thrown across the room. I hit the wall on the opposite side of the door, saw stars, and slid to a heap on the floor.
“Where is it?” Marius thundered, rushing over, eyes furious.
“Let me talk to her. Don’t do this.” I lifted my head and saw Disco striding toward me, distressed and worried. The family stood at his back, watching everything from the sidelines. I couldn’t tell if they were concerned or angry, not with Marius heading in my direction.
“No,” Marius snarled, “and don’t you dare open your mark to her. When I am here it is my home, my rules, my way.” Marius grabbed the front of my sweater, lifting me off the ground, and got in my face. “It’s time your human learns she is nothing more than what we allow her to be. She does not come and go from this home at her leisure. Her life is ours to dictate.”
“This isn’t like her, it’s—”
“The amulet, I know.”
Marius wrapped his hand around the leather at my throat and the stone became hot against my skin. Just as the surface of the pendant started to burn, he ripped the leather apart and yanked the amulet from my neck. He thrust it into my face, making sure I saw it in his fist.
“You’ve done wrong by your master for the last time. I’d kill you if he didn’t plead so strongly for your life. From this moment forward, you are nothing more than a servant, a beholden necromancer to our family. You’re going to wish you’d taken things more seriously before I’m finished with you, and you have no one to blame but yourself.”
Grasping a handful of my hair, he revealed my neck and bit me—in the same place Disco had earlier. It hurt worse than any bite I’d ever received. Marius wasn’t gentle or caring. He was cruel and vicious, tearing at my skin, causing the circular wounds created by his huge canines to broaden. After the blood started flowing, he ripped his teeth from my throat and allowed blood to torrent down my throat. He smeared the hand holding the amulet over it, and my heart sank.
He was initiating a blood rite—the only way he could prevent the magical jewelry from returning to my possession.
“You can’t have it!” I screamed, struggling hard against his hand, uncertain of where my rage came from. “It’s mine!”
“This is for the best, Rhiannon. It was time you let that thing go. I’ve told you it’s no good,” Goose said softly.
I gaped at my confidant in shock, growing sick with dawning comprehension. He was the one who told Marius about the amulet and how he had to take it from me. The betrayal was unlike the one I felt with Disco, harsher in a bizarre way.
“I trusted you!” My shout echoed off the high ceilings and rang in my ears.
“I told you I’d do whatever it took in the best interest of the family.” He wouldn’t meet my eyes, lowering his head, a lock of hair resting on his forehead. “The amulet is dangerous. It’s making you dangerous. It’s time you let it go.”
“She doesn’t let anything go. She gives me what I want, when I command it,” Marius corrected.
He moved me from the wall, held me midair, and thrust me back. The base of my skull kissed the hard surface, creating little stars in my vision. I was trying to blink and see clearly when fingers were buried in my face, forcing me to look into the eyes of a vampire who wanted to see me suffer.
“The knife,” he demanded, the words a harsh whisper. “Give it to me.”
Maybe it was because I didn’t have anything left to lose, or maybe it was because I would be left defenseless, but I knew I couldn’t give him the dagger. If he’d attacked me like this, the battle had already been waged. I’d lost one valuable weapon to him. I wasn’t giving him another.
“I don’t have it.”
Marius dropped me and I sank to the floor, a shattered heap at his feet. I brought my fingers to the back
of my pounding head, rubbed the wet, stringy surface and placed them in front of my face. Blood greeted me. Lots and lots of blood.
“She said she would bring it with her.” Goose shifted from confident to uncertain. If it wouldn’t have given me away—revealing my determination to defy Marius by any means possible—I would have laughed in my former ally’s face.
“Why didn’t you bring it?” Disco asked.
“Attacked,” I blurted, studying my fingers and the blood staining the surface of my skin. “Outside the club.”
Disco came to me then, shouldering Marius aside. “What?”
“Deena was attacked by the men who were killing strippers. I was leaving when it happened and got caught in the middle. Things got nasty before the cops arrived.”
“They took the knife?” Marius sneered. “Is that what you’d have me believe?”
“No.” I winced as Disco urged me to lean forward so he could see the back of my head. “I didn’t have time to retrieve it after the attack. The police came. That’s where I was this morning.”
“Convenient,” Marius retorted.
“She wouldn’t lie about something I could so easily discredit,” Paine said as he came into the room. I could see the anger in his eyes, the absolute outrage over my rough handling. “I have an informant at the station. It would only take one phone call to learn if she’s telling the truth.”
“Make the call,” Marius barked.
I heard Paine leave. Disco was shaking—hard. Our mark opened just enough for me to know he was furious. “I’m going to close the wounds on your neck. Stay still.”
I closed my eyes as he ran his tongue the length of my throat—one, two, three laps. His hand covered mine and squeezed as he silently offered me comfort and support. The blood I’d taken from him was already working on my body, but it was a slow process. I’d drained a lot of my energy fighting off murdering rapists and using the amulet.
Fuck me. The amulet.
I searched for the vampire who had taken it from me. When my gaze rested on Marius, I wanted to rush him, tackle him to the ground and take necklace back. He saw me staring and slipped the amulet into his pocket.