“Everyone okay?” he asked cheerfully.
Jordan didn’t know how to respond. She and her family had been healed by a demon. She had died. Nathan and Case had been through one of the most traumatic experiences of their lives. Quinn had to stand by and watch it all, helpless. For him, Jordan knew that was worse than death. Nathan had told her once that Quinn didn’t mind the idea of dying as long as he was the only one. For him to be the last man standing would have been a fate worse than Hell.
She closed her eyes. She could hear her brother mumbling to Nathan and Case, filling them in on what they’d missed while they were being used as chew toys. She thought back to what Gabe told her earlier. He should have been here. Her Guardian should have been the one to heal them, not some scrub demon. What she realized at that moment was that no matter how many times Gabe had been there for them, no matter how many times she’d leaned on him, no matter how much he may care, he was still Michael’s pet on a very long leash. All it took was one snatch on the chain and he’d go running back to his master.
What was the point of it all? Why did they form the Celadon Circle? Why try to defend this planet and the humans who call it home if, in the end, they were no more important than recycled plastic? Why didn’t the angels just stay out of it completely and let the earth die?
Because they have something to lose, she thought. There’s something here they need. The whole thing made her head hurt. The members of the Circle were simply throw-away soldiers. If she stayed on, kept risking her neck to fight evil, it would be for the innocent people she saved, not for the angels -- never again for them. From now on, she would make her own rules and she would tell her family why they should do the same.
Jordan’s anger festered through her body, rising like bubbles in a shaken bottle of pop, threatening to make her head explode. She was so confused. A demon had healed them, but only because he wanted her soul. The angels, who were supposed to be Guardians of mankind, were nowhere to be seen.
“Jordan,” Aamon reached out for her. “It’s time to go.”
Quinn was the first to react. He pulled a sawed-off shot gun from a weapons bag beside him. In one swift movement, he stood and pointed it at Aamon. “We’ve had this conversation before. My sister isn’t going anywhere with you.”
Nathan pulled Jordan to her feet and shoved her behind him as Quinn tossed him another shot-gun. Case stood to the side, uncharacteristically quiet.
Aamon seemed unruffled by the weapons. He inspected his fingernails, but the subtle nod to Ivy did not go unnoticed. She disappeared, only to pop back into reality again behind Jordan. She reached out to place a hand on her shoulder, but Nathan was there.
“Touch my sister and ride a shotgun shell back to your homeland, you psychotic hag.”
Ivy put her hand down, but whispered urgently, “Jordan, please! Aamon can make this very bad for your family. You have to go with him; you have no choice.”
Nathan frowned. Deciding Aamon was the bigger threat, he pointed his gun in the same direction Quinn was. “I thought your story was that my sister was a demon. I had no idea you were in the business of snatching kids from their families.”
The demon smiled. “Call it joint custody. Your sister is a demon and so is Ivy. By the laws you abide by in your Circle, that alone gives me the right to claim them.”
Case finally spoke up. “Where’s your proof? Jordan has fought against your kind for most of her life. She is a member of the Celadon Circle, born of humans. She is no demon.”
Aamon conjured a leather chair that looked out of place in the dingy mine. He sat down and sighed in appreciation. “That’s a fair question, Casen. I shall answer it.” A glass of amber liquid appeared in his hand. Jordan guessed it was some sort of whiskey. He swirled it around in the glass and sniffed it before taking a sip. “Can I interest you in a nip?” he asked the room. When no one answered, he shrugged. “Your loss.” He crossed his legs and took another sip of his drink. “To make a long story short, I met Richard Bailey eighteen years ago. He tried to put a silver blade in my heart. Fortunately, I had friends nearby. He did not.”
At the mention of their father, Jordan and her brothers glanced at each other before turning back to the demon.
“After a difficult night of interrogation, I learned quite a bit from the great Slayer.” He nodded to Quinn. “I see where you get your spirit from. Your father was a legend among the Circle and, even to this day, there is not a demon who has not heard his name.”
Her brother’s hands shook – the gun bobbed up and down once before he regained control. Through clenched teeth, he managed, “Was a legend? Where is my father?”
Aamon bowed his head in mock sincerity. “Unfortunately, he has passed.”
Jordan felt something tear inside her. They’d always known he was dead. Richard Bailey loved his family more than anything; only death would have kept him away so long. Still, to have it confirmed cut worse than a thousand paper cuts. Jordan had secretly nursed an unhealthy fantasy that he was still alive and captured somewhere, unable to contact them. The angels searched for a while after he disappeared, but could not feel his presence. However, they did not feel his death, either.
“How?” she choked. Her throat was closing off and tears threatened to fall. This was not the time. Later, after this was over with, she would mourn for him properly.
Aamon looked up at her question and met her eyes. “I killed him.”
Those words triggered an avalanche. Demons appeared out of the walls, surrounding them from all sides. Quinn and Nathan both fired their guns. Through the chaos, Jordan saw Ivy take silver shot to the leg and fall. The smell of sulfur and gunpowder hung heavy in the air. Jordan watched, unable to act or move. Her father was dead and the demon that killed him stood less than ten feet away. Intense hatred burned through her like a wildfire. It only intensified when she saw Case soar across the room to land in a jumbled heap. Her eyes began to ache. It felt like something was trying to push them out of her skull from inside her head.
“Enough!”
Aamon’s voice, magnified with power, echoed through the room. It bounced off the walls hard enough that some began to crumble. Guns and screams were silenced so quickly Jordan thought for a moment she’d gone deaf.
Quinn ran to Case while Nathan backed up to where she stood. He never took his eyes off the demons, who were all fairly battered – except for Aamon. Jordan focused on one particular demon slouched against the wall. Silver shot was imbedded in his face. The wounds smoked and oozed, the pellets popped out of his skin and hit the floor as he slowly healed. She recognized him as a high-profile actor whose movie franchise was one of the highest grossing in years. Too bad he didn’t have his iron suit on him when the shot was flying.
“I killed your father because he kept me from my child! By the laws we follow, I had every right to claim her; yet he stood in my way!” Aamon ran his hands over his hair, smoothing it down. Jordan inched closer. Her hands were tingling and she was itching to get them around his neck.
“You can think what you want of my kind,” the demon continued. “I care for my children. When the time comes, I bring them into the fold. If your father hadn’t gone against the very laws you defend, he would not have died.”
All eyes were on Aamon. Even the other demons were more interested in his story than in the Slayers and their guns.
Quinn spoke up. “You still haven’t told us how Jordan became this demon you claim her to be.” He aimed his gun again. “Personally, on a scale of one to batshit, I think your craziness level has reached proportions that are off the scale, but I like to hear a good joke as well as the next fellow. Make me laugh.”
Jordan gasped. All the pieces of the puzzle came together to make a sinister picture that was the beginning of her life. How could she forget what she knew about Aamon and how he managed to populate the earth with his spawn? She fell to her knees and wanted to die. Her entire life was a lie, one that her father tried to keep a secret fro
m her and the family. Oh, dear God. What he must have felt all those years before he was killed – the guilt and worry. He knew. He knew! She didn’t know if she should hate her father for not telling her the truth or feel sorry for the man who had to carry the burden all by himself. Her eyes scorched in their sockets. Between the heartache and the headache, she felt like she would split in two.
“He possessed him,” she breathed. The pain in her eyes doubled and Jordan lowered her head to her knees.
Nathan edged over to where she was. “Jordan, what did you say?”
She raised her head slowly, knowing what her brother would see. Her life would change forever. The second she heard voices in the passageway, she knew there was more than one battle to be fought this day. This would be the one she lost. She was going to lose her family.
“Aamon possessed Dad.” She stood up and looked around, making sure Quinn and Case could see her glowing, pearl-white eyes. “That’s how he impregnates the women who carry his children.”
“What the hell…?” Nathan backed away before remembering who she was. Quinn’s mouth moved, but produced no sound. He could only stare -- transfixed, as if watching a horror movie. Jordan almost laughed at the comparison and how accurate it was.
Case only looked sad. Of course he would. He’d known since the day she told Michael off in the barn. She remembered the serious conversation she’d seen him and the archangel engrossed in as she watched through the kitchen window -- and then the conversation he had with Quinn in the study later that night. So many secrets…
Quinn finally found his voice. In retrospect, she wished he hadn’t, especially when he started yelling at the top of his lungs. “What the fuck? How in the hell could this have happened? Why did you do this to my sister? “
It hurt to see him so upset. He spent so many years fighting with her, tearing her down. He had no idea how to put her back together, how to live such a breakneck life and keep them all safe. Until recently, Quinn’s only reason for living was to make sure he died first. Now, he had to deal with the realization that he couldn’t die until she did…and he was the only one strong enough to kill her.
“Quinn, it’s okay,” Jordan lied. “We’ll deal with this.”
“Okay? Okay?” He threw his hands up in the air, gun and all. “Jordan, your eyes are glowing like a stripper’s G-string under a black light! This is not okay!”
His eyes narrowed at Aamon, who sat so carefree in his plush chair. All he needed was a giant cup of soda and extra-large bucket of popcorn. “You can either go or swallow the barrel of this gun. Your choice.”
“I can’t leave without my daughter,” he said conversationally. “Besides, the angels will be here soon, I’m sure. Always late to the party, but they feel the need to make an appearance and throw their weight around when time permits.” He suddenly looked serious as he stood. “Trust me, Quinn; they will take a special interest in this case. It may be the first time in your miserable life that you don’t want to hear the sound of wings, but I can guarantee it won’t be the last.”
Quinn may not have understood what Aamon was implying, but Jordan did. She was so deep in the crapper. If she really was a demon (shit on toast!), then she just became Enemy Number One where the angels were concerned. She was part of the Circle. That meant she was privy to information the demons didn’t know, but would give their silver tongues to find out. The angels would kill her before they let that happen.
Aamon and Ivy suddenly appeared beside Jordan and she jumped. She wasn’t scared as much as she was annoyed. Why did demons have to pop into existence like that? After all, they were just standing across the room. Would it have killed them to walk? As if reading her mind (or the shock on her face), Ivy smiled. “It’s actually pretty fun.”
Jordan scowled. “I bet. It’s right up there with dismembering innocents and playing fetch with Hell Hounds.” Ivy flushed and looked away.
Aamon touched her shoulder and a jolt of electricity hummed through her body. It didn’t hurt. If anything, it only served to make her feel stronger, invincible.
“Jordan, we must go. If we leave now, we can avoid a scene – one that could get quite messy. The angels will come for you. Your family will defend you to the death. Their deaths.”
“No!”
Nathan pulled her away. He, Uncle Case, and Quinn surrounded her, sheltering her from an unknown future that could only end badly. After all, this was a life with demons – the very ones they swore to send back to Hell every chance they got. Where did this leave them? Could her family live with her, eat at the same table, share their lives with someone who was a demon? Not if they wanted to continue breathing. The angels would roll through their house like a Holy fire, consuming them, burning every part until nothing remained.
She turned to face them. The look on her face told them what they already knew deep inside: she couldn’t stay and they couldn’t come with her.
Nathan’s eyes flooded with unshed tears as he smoothed her brow. “Your eyes are back to normal,” he remarked, trying to smile.
Jordan grabbed him in an embrace, hugging him hard, trying to tell him in this one simple act how much she loved him. “I’m glad,” she whispered. “I didn’t want the last time you saw me to be with glowing eyes.” With that, the dam broke and she let her tears flow.
She was passed to Case, who forced her chin up with his calloused hand. Always the glue, he tried to hold them together, even when part of the fabric that was their family was slowly being ripped away. If she had been asked to describe that particular material before now, Jordan would have used the word leather or perhaps burlap. Instead, it was a patchwork of different fabrics, some soft and fragile, others tough and stubborn. Would the pattern make any sense after her section was gone?
“You keep your head up, you hear me?” Case’s hug was abrupt, rough. “We’ll figure something out – we always do, right?”
She inclined her head, unable to speak. Case didn’t tell her she was a demon, but he had his reasons why. Everything he did was to protect his kids – and they were his kids. They had been for years.
Quinn’s hug was the longest and most forceful. She felt as if her ribs would crack under the pressure of his strong arms. “I don’t like this,” he said, loud enough to Aamon to hear.
“Quinn,” she wheezed, as her face turned red. “I can’t breathe!”
He let her go, but kept an arm possessively around her waist, showing Aamon that, no matter what, she would never belong to him – to demons.
Jordan didn’t want to say goodbye. She and Quinn had only broke the surface where their relationship was concerned and now, the waters would grow stagnate. In time, he could forget the very reasons why he bothered in the first place. God, this sucked.
“I don’t like it, either,” she confessed. “But if you don’t know where I am, the angels are less likely to do anything to you.” Jordan put her hands on his shoulders. “I need you all to be safe. How the hell are you going to get me out of this mess if your brains are fried or worse?”
“Gabe would never let that happen, Jordan.”
If only she could believe that. She struggled with whether to tell them about the conversation she had with Gabe earlier or stay silent on the matter. Would their ignorance of his abandonment of their family help them or put them in more danger? I have no choice, she thought, glancing at Aamon. She gave them a brief overview of what Gabe told her.
Case’s nostrils flared and his fists clenched. “What the happy hell does that mean? He’s going AWOL for that pansy Michael and leaving us on our own to sort out this shit storm?”
“What it means,” Nathan growled,” is that we trust no one but us.”
“Exactly,” Quinn agreed.
Jordan knew she needed to go, but she couldn’t make herself leave them. She drank in their faces, memorizing each line and wrinkle. She never wanted to forget the way Case wore his cowboy hats pulled way down low over his eyes and watched every episode of Longmire. Sh
e wanted to remember Nathan’s smile, which always lit up the darkest spaces. She would need that more than ever now. Lastly, she would hang on with all her being to the fact that Quinn did love her. No matter what happened in the future, at least she could rest easy knowing that.
“Jordan…” Aamon didn’t finish. He didn’t need to. It was time. She hugged them all one last time, planting a kiss on their cheeks and telling them she loved them more than her own life. She squared her shoulders and walked over to Aamon and Ivy. Inside, she was filled with fear – not only for herself, but for those she was leaving behind. She wanted nothing more than to run back to the safety of their arms. However, there was no more safety -- for any of them.
When she reached Aamon, he put an arm around her. Oddly, she felt comforted. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, there was something between them. She was drawn to him. Like a moth to a flame. That never ends well for the moth.
“I promise to take care of her.” The demon motioned for Ivy to join him on his other side.
“Can we…when will we see her again?” Case was insistent.
Aamon sighed. “Normally, I would say never. It isn’t good for human-born demons to have contact with their surrogate families after they’ve joined me. However, under certain circumstances, it can be allowed.”
“What circumstances?” Nathan asked.
Aamon turned to Ivy as he answered. “Sometimes it isn’t safe.”
Quinn stepped forward. “You make it happen. If you don’t then we’ll summon you. Trust me, it won’t be for a potluck dinner, either.”
“We’ll see.”
Jordan picked up on the fact that Aamon had made no concrete promises. She could only hope. She looked to her family and blew them all kisses. “If you can’t find a way to fix…this,” she motioned to herself and Aamon, “then you know what to do the next time you see me.”
“That will never happen, Jordy.” Nathan smiled through his tears, always trying to keep her spirits up.
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