“Drop the keys, fucker,” he says, releasing the safety.
I smile and drop the keys. “You guys and your guns.” I focus my thoughts on the barrel of the gun and raise my hands in the air. The gun flies out of his hand and through the cheap drywall drop ceiling.
Shit.
The man laughs and starts to walk my way. I back up towards the wall, the heat growing more intense as I close in. This room will be on fire within moments. I have to get out of here. I focus on the keys and pull them to me. If I have to run, I want to have them.
“Think you can save them all before the building burns, Father?”
“Can’t save them all. But I can keep a few of them out of your bosses paws.”
He laughs, picks up a chair and tosses it at me. I drop beside the desk as it crashes through the wall above me, sending a jet of flame into the room. I pull myself up as flaming pieces of drywall rain down on me. As my head pokes above the desk I see the asshole standing in front of me, lips curling into a snarl.
“Duncan wanted to kill you himself, but I don’t think you are going to make it.” He picks me up and throws me through the ceiling. I hit my head on the support beams above and crash down on the floor below. He starts walking slowly my way. Unless I do something fast I’m gonna find myself in hell a bit ahead of schedule. He picks me up again followed by a punch to my face.
The pain is immense. I won’t be able to take to take much more of this. I bring my hands up and try to push his head up, but he laughs and throws me back against the wall.
Eunie, I could use a little help here.
I look up and notice the hilt of the gun. I raise my hands up and start to focus on it. He brings his leg up, I guess to smash my skull in. I draw my hand back and close my eyes.
I feel the gun in my hands, my finger has found its way to the trigger so I pull it back and wait for his stomp.
The stomp never comes. I look up and notice blood pooling on his shirt. I put the gun down, pull the knife out of my boot and put it up to his chest.
“Now you are going to tell me where I can find Duncan, or you are going to spend the rest of your time in purgatory.”
“Duncan left. When he saw you searching the rooms. He sent me to hold you up.”
“Where is he going?”
“I. I don’t know.” He spits up some blood. “He said he had to get out of here. His car is in the back parking lot. He can’t be far.”
I thrust the knife in his chest and he begins to scream. The last thing I want is this fucker coming up from behind.
I leave the room and walk back to the cage. “Get your family and then save as many as you can.” I hand him the keys.
Tears stream down his face as he grabs the keys. “Thank you.”
“You may want to save your thanks. I may have just prolonged your suffering.”
He turns and runs at a full sprint across the room. I hope that I didn’t fuck over the others by giving him the keys, but I have to find Duncan.
I run towards the rear exit. I kick open the back door see the car, but no sign of Duncan. He has to still be here somewhere.
Turning around, I walk into a large man. Easily six inches taller than me with short blond hair. Duncan.
“Well, well. Demontouched. So we finally meet.”
I reach down and grab the hilt of my sword. I start to pull it out when I feel a sting in my stomach followed by a charge that brings me to my knees. I try to get back up, but my muscles just won’t cooperate.
“Take him upstairs, we need to have a chat.”
-12-
They sit me down in a wooden chair in front of a wooden table. On the floor, I notice the same trap Zeke showed me earlier. That would explain the lack of restraints. I look around the room, not finding any traces of metal around at all. Someone has done their research.
Duncan places the angel blade on the table in front of me. “Very interesting seeing this on a demontouched. Not many of your kind would be willing to carry the means to their destruction so close.”
It does sound dumb hearing him say it like that. “I have a thing against long term thinking,” I say.
He lets out a loud laugh, placing the tip of the sword at my sternum “Tell me why you came up here and freed my slaves?”
“I’m here for one slave. The others are just lucky I have a soft spot for humanity.”
“Indeed.” He signals towards the door.
“Let me go!” Looking over, I see Sara being carried in over Beard’s shoulder. She is kicking away, but it doesn’t seem to be phasing the thug.
“We have special plans for this one.” Duncan reaches over and brushes her cheek with the back of his hand. “We will use her blood to open the portal. Her body will erupt and the rift will form, right from her precious little heart.”
I look over at her. Her eyes are red and bloodshot, like she has been crying for days. Her cheeks are bruised, reminding me that I have a promise to keep.
“You’ll be dead long before that happens.” I spit in his face.
He wipes off the spit and waves Beard away. “Get her prepped in the car. I’ll be down after we handle the demontouched.”
Beard walks out and a short brunette girl walks in and hands Duncan two vials. I’d bet my sword that it’s holy water. “Did you know that greater demons are resistant to the things that could potentially kill a lesser demon?”
“I thought you fucks were all the same.”
He opens a vial and pours a bit on his hand. Either that is normal water, or he is telling the truth. “At one time, I hated the feeling of this stuff.” He flicks the water in my face. The water hits my face causing it to smoke instantly. I squint my eyes, trying to fight off the pain.
“I don’t miss those days.” He puts the stopper back on top of the vial. “Now tell me, why did you destroy my warehouse?”
“I destroyed Nal’s warehouse.” I wipe my face with my sleeve. “Walking into a building doesn’t make it yours.”
“Roman? He prepared the warehouse for me.”
“Why would he hand over a key part of his territory to a fuck like you?”
“Because he works for me.”
The sound you just heard was the hammer dropping. I must choreograph my surprise because Duncan breaks out in laughter. I sigh and look up at him. “Why would he send me here to kill you? That doesn’t make sense.”
“Because he knows you will die here.” He sits up in his chair. “He was reluctant to give up his pet, but it was becoming clear that you have your own agenda. We know that you will cause us problems down the road if we allow you to live.”
“That sounds like Nal. What did you promise him? More power? More land?”
“Your demon.”
My heart sinks. Part of me wants to give up Eunie, but only if I could guarantee that I get to go topside. Right now the only guarantee is that I get to sit in purgatory until this war is over, when they finally decide to sort the souls of those left down there.
“How, exactly, do you plan on getting Eunie? If I die, he goes down to purgatory with me.”
“That does create an interesting problem.” He reaches down and grabs my backpack. “I believe you have something in here we can use for that.” He pulls out my Bible and places it on the table. “There we go.”
“I’m well beyond saving.”
“Ahh, but your friend isn’t. Inside your Bible is the key to removing a demon from a living host.”
“Exorcism? That would get him out of me, but you would still lose him.”
“That’s where this comes in.” Thigh, from the hospital, limps into the room. In his hand is a glowing white orb. “This is the Orb of Souls. With this we can trap Einuir’s spirit to use on Roman later.”
Well shit. I guess this gig is up.
“My associate here will handle things from here. I have some important business to attend to.” He laughs, leaving me in the room alone with Thigh.
“Told you Dunc was gonna fuck yo
u up,” Thigh says. His lips curl into a smile, “You’ll wish he stayed to do this. I’m gonna make sure you suffer as long as possible.”
“Still sore over getting your ass kicked in the hospital?”
Thigh reaches back and takes a swing at me, stopping about a foot from my face. “You are lucky you are in the trap.”
“Wouldn’t stop me.”
He reaches down into my bag and pulls out a few of my vials and sets them next to the bible. I guess he is too dumb to realize that he may end up sending himself into the orb too. He leans back on the rear legs of his chair and grabs my bible. He starts to thumb through it, looking for the verses to use.
This may be my only chance.
I take a deep breath and reach out and try to touch the table, expecting to hit a wall that my arms will not be able to escape. Nothing stops me so I push the table into Thigh, knocking him to the floor.
“I don’t know how you escaped the trap, but it doesn’t matter.” He picks up the angel blade and pulls himself to his feet. “Now I’m just going to have to kill you instead.”
I back into the corner as he works his way around the table towards me. He lets out a grunt and stabs the sword at me. I dodge the blow and move my way towards the table.
“You are going to have to be a lot faster than that, dickhead.” I reach down and turn the table, putting it longways between us.
“That table won’t save you.” He jumps on top of it and starts heading towards me.
I glance down, looking at the Devil’s trap on the floor. When I notice him close to the trap, I move to my right. He jumps off of the table, trying to get an easy shot. He hits a the wall of the trap and loses his grip on the sword, dropping it to the ground. I reach down and pick it up.
“You are about as stupid as they come.” I bend down and gather my stuff and the orb. “Lucky for you, I have more pressing matters.” I start to walk out the door.
“Duncan is going to have his way with your bitch while you watch, demontouched.”
Why can’t assholes like him leave well enough alone?
I turn around and stick the sword through Thigh’s chest. The wound begins to smoke. I look into his eyes, wanting to watch the life drain out this piece of shit. Smoke starts billowing out of his eyes and floats into the orb in my hands.
I look close at the orb trying to see if I can notice a change. I shrug and place it in my backpack. Zeke is going to want to look at that later.
I walk out the door and start to run down the hall. I have to get to the parking lot before it is too late.
-13-
I kick open the door to the rear parking lot and throw my knife. I Focus on the blade directing it into the front tire of the SUV. It pulls to the left, hitting a concrete light post in the middle of the parking lot causing steam to billow from the front of the vehicle.
The driver opens his door and falls to the ground, holding his head. Speaking from experience, airbags are a bitch. The other three doors open and the passengers start to exit.
“Stop right there or the girl dies.” Duncan grabs Sara by the back of her neck.
“What kind of demon hides behind a girl? Something tells me you aren’t as powerful as I thought.”
Duncan smiles and raises his arms, placing Sara on top of the light post above using some power that seems like my Magneto shit, but not as restrictive. “It’s time you find out.”
I rush forward, holding the sword in two hands. I’m nearly to the car when he pushes his hands out. I drop to my knees and clutch my stomach, dropping the sword on the ground.
“You have no idea the type of power I have.” He raises his hands and lifts me up in the air. “If you are insistent on becoming a martyr,” He spreads his fingers causing my limbs to go to the sides, “a martyr you will become.”
I feel a deep stretching in my arms and legs. Popping noises fill the air as my bones try to separate from the sockets as my limbs get pulled further and further from my body.
My head begins to go cloudy. I can feel that I am on the verge of unconsciousness. I open my eyes, trying to keep it together for one more minute.
I feel the darkness flowing through my veins. I would smile if the pain wasn’t so bad.
“Now it is time to learn your place, demontouched.” He raises his other hand, sending bolts of lighting at me through his outstretched fingers.
I scream, expecting a pain that never comes. The bolts close in and hit a barrier a few feet in front of my body. I look around the lightning being deflected throughout the sky and laugh.
“Impossible! You are not as powerful as me!” He thrusts his opened hand further, but my limbs do not respond.
“I’m not, but my friend is.” I push my hands forward and send a blast into Duncan, sending him to his knees. Released from his power, I drop to the ground and walk towards him.
He looks up and raises his hand towards Sara, a moaning sound comes from the top of the light. I reach my hand up, trying to push the post back into place.
“You are not willing to sacrifice others to reach your goals. That makes you weak.” He reaches up with his other hand causing the pole to lean. I put everything I have into keeping the light upright. He is right, I’m not as powerful as he is.
I hear a car door close. I look over in time to take Beard’s fist to my face, instantly breaking my focus. The sound of metal scraping the ground fills the air, followed by Sara’s screams. I take in a deep breath and hold my hand out, stopping Beard’s next jab.
I close my palm and watch as his fist starts to turn white as bone, tears streaming down his face. “Let me go!”
“Gladly.” I focus on the sword at my feet and pull it to my free hand. I release my grip on his fist and thrust the sword into his stomach. I watch the darkness leave his eyes and fly towards my pack. Fucker is lucky I didn’t have time for the slow route.
“Enough,” Duncan says.
I turn around and see Duncan holding my knife to Sara’s throat.
“Throw me the orb or I gut her, right here.” He holds the knife up closer to her throat. She begins to shake her head at me. She may be willing to sacrifice her life for me, but I’m not willing to let her. Not today.
I pull off my pack and pull out the orb. “At the same time.”
He nods and I throw the orb. I notice Duncan let go of Sara in order to catch it. I put my focus into the blade of the knife and thrust my hand forward. Duncan’s hand twists slightly as the blade enters his neck. The orb bounces off of his fingertips and shatters the moment it hits the pavement.
I walk up to the asshole, sword in hand. “Your thirst for power makes you weaker.” I thrust the point into Duncan’s heart. Grey smoke billows from the wound, filling air. He lets out a final scream as the last of the smoke exits his body.
I run over to Sara and untie her. She turns around and holds me tighter than ever, looking me in the eyes. “I love you.” She tilts her head in and gives me a kiss.
After a minute I pull my head back and smile. Guess this means she is completely over the stripper panties. I tilt my head back in for seconds.
-14-
I tip over my backpack, dumping the pieces of the Orb of Souls onto my table.
“Couldn’t keep it in one piece?” Zeke says.
“Duncan was more interested in the orb than the knife.” I shrug. “I was more interested in keeping us alive than keeping the orb whole.” I look back at Sara sitting on the couch. “Besides, it looked a lot sturdier than that.”
Zeke holds up one of the larger pieces to the light. “It looks like it still works.”
“Then we better find out why they had it. I find it hard to believe that they created this thing just to transfer Eunie to Nal.”
“Talking about Nal.” Zeke looks at me. “How do you think he will react when you bring him Duncan’s head?”
“Considering he might have sent me up there to die, I don’t think he will throw me a party.”
“I’ll talk to Uriel.
She has to know another way to help you get control.”
I haven’t told him that I was able to do new things when he fought Duncan. It could just be Eunie wanting to keep me as a host, but something tells me there is more to it. “That’s a good idea. She may be able to come up with another plan.” I gather the shards and put them into a bag. “You should give this to her too. It will be a lot safer in angel hands than mine. Thats for sure.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to go pay Nal a visit. Even if Uriel comes up with something, Blaine’s journal may actually have something worthwhile.”
“I should go with you. We don’t know how he will react knowing you killed Duncan.”
“Or when he finds out that he won’t be taking Eunie from me just yet, if that is what he had planned.”
“That too.”
“I have to do this on my own. If I walk in with an angel, they will know the jig is up for sure. Right now we have to assume he is still in the dark, that is, if what Duncan said wasn’t a lie. If I walk in with the head he may just think I got lucky. We may be able to play him for a bit longer yet if so.”
Zeke grabs the bag and walks to the door. “Take care of yourself then.”
“You too.”
I sit back and start rubbing my fingers through my beard. I look over at Sara and smile.
“I get it.” She smiles back. “What do you need me to do.”
“Try to find anything you can on Einuir. Something tells me he isn’t who we think he is.”
-15-
I notice the shirt is leaking blood onto my passenger seat. I wish I had thought to put the head into a plastic bag, but those are things you think about only after you cut the head off of a demon. If it wasn’t trashed enough before, I really need to get rid of the car now.
Demontouched: The Demontouched Saga (Book 1) Page 6