He got up from his crouch and moved into the forest, keeping himself low. I did the same, always keeping the crossbow ready, though it still had not armed itself.
He stopped and pointed far ahead. I couldn’t see anything under the layers of shadows. Except—yes, there was movement ahead. The crossbow knew exactly who it was. The poison-tipped bolt was now at the ready.
Erasmus seemed to be asking me if I had a clear shot at it. I wasn’t sure, because as soon as I took a bead and closed my other eye, I lost the creature in the tangle of shadows and foliage. I tried it with both eyes open and still lost it. I shook my head.
He pressed his hand to my shoulder and motioned for me to follow. We were going to get closer.
I could barely breathe; I was that scared. Or excited. Or both. This was a new experience for me—life or death. I didn’t actually know if I’d survive the evening. And there were quite a few things I was regretting never having done yet. Though one…I stole a glance at my demon companion. I didn’t regret sleeping with him. But I did regret not having the chance to do it again.
I wanted to tell him…what? That though it might have been a mistake I wouldn’t take it back for anything? I wanted him to know that before I died.
But there was no time. The succubus was on the move and didn’t seem to have detected us yet. I kept her in my sights and moved as stealthily as I could. We were obviously downwind of her because I could smell her, but she didn’t seem to be able to smell me. My confidence rose and I stalked forward…and promptly cracked a twig.
Red eyes instantly glared at me and she suddenly shot straight up into the trees.
“Shit!” I pointed the crossbow upward, aiming for tree after tree, but by the breaking of branches and pine needles showering all around us I could tell she was hopping from one to the other. And getting closer.
“Kylie!” said Erasmus. “Run!”
I didn’t stop to think. I turned tail and ran. But not fast enough.
She landed on me hard and her claws dug into my shoulder blade again. A scream tore from my throat and cascaded up and down the mountainside.
Instinctually, I rolled over and over, trying to dislodge her. Erasmus must have come to the rescue because she was suddenly gone. Well, at least not attached to my back any longer. She crouched in the distance between the trees, red eyes flashing, tail whipping the air.
“Now, Kylie! Shoot her now!”
I pulled the crossbow up to aim but my shoulder stabbed with pain and I dropped it. With a grunt, she pounced off again.
Erasmus was by my side in an instant. “Kylie, what’s wrong?”
“My shoulder. Hurts like a son-of-a-bitch.”
He tore off my coat and pushed up my sweatshirt and t-shirt. His fingers touched my naked back, probing. “Seems she knew just where to strike you. She reopened the wound she inflicted before and dug in deeper. Can you go on?”
“I…I don’t know whether I can shoot this thing. I can’t lift it higher than my waist.”
“Beelze’s tail!” He stalked back and forth while I gingerly pulled my jacket back on.
I offered him the crossbow. “Can’t you do it?”
“No. I am not the Chosen Host. It would do no good.”
I let it drop. I felt like a failure. Just when I had her…
“Don’t despair,” he said. “There will be other opportunities.”
“No! You don’t get it. I want this over with. I can’t keep going on like this. It has to be over!” I slapped my hand into the dead leaves around me and sprayed them up into the air with my sweeping arm. “Dammit!” Hot tears burned at my eyes and spilled over, wetting my face. I let them fall, didn’t even wipe them away.
Erasmus stopped pacing and crouched beside me.
“I had plans, you know,” I went on, my voice shaky with tears. “I was going to have my nice little shop in this nice little town. Everything was finally going to go my way. And then this!” I laughed bitterly. “And you. You come into my life and screw it up. Sheriff Ed is a nice guy, and I deserve a nice guy after the idiot I’ve been dating for two years. I mean Sheriff Ed is good-looking. He’s got a decent job. He’s a gentleman. But what do I do? I throw it all away on a one-night stand with you.”
He sat back on his haunches and took a deep breath. “You haven’t thrown anything away. He is still there, waiting for you.”
“I’ll have to tell him. It isn’t fair to him.”
“You don’t have to tell him anything. How absurdly stupid of you! Whom will that assuage? Only you. Selfish, foolish mortals. He’s best not knowing.”
“Why are you defending him? You don’t even like him.”
“You seem to. And he is better for you…than me.”
His dark eyes glittered in the scant light. He was looking at me sadly. I leaned over, took his cheek in my hand, and kissed him. There wasn’t any pretense of his holding back. His arms slid around me instantly and held me tight, angling his head to kiss me deeper. I opened to him, teasing my tongue along his. I nipped at his lips before he dropped his head and licked at my neck.
“Erasmus…” I sighed.
“We shouldn’t be doing this…” His voice was low and husky.
“No, we shouldn’t.” I dug my fingers in his unruly hair and dragged his face upward, taking his earlobe between my lips and nibbling, licking the shell of his ear.
He had a rather silly look on his face when I pulled back. But soon his expression grew serious. He held me at arm’s length. I winced at the ache to my shoulder blades. “No. I won’t let you do this.”
“A selfless demon,” I said. “Who would have thought?”
He sneered. “Yes. Who would have thought.”
As much as I wanted to continue, I admired his fortitude.
“Help me up.” He offered me a hand and I rose, trying to roll my hurt shoulder but crying out, breathing through my teeth. “Crap, that hurts.”
“You should have that doctor of yours look at it.”
“Yeah. After. After you take me to the museum. I need to see if they need help.”
“You should go home.”
“I can’t. I failed here but if they need my help I have to give it.”
“Stubborn, foolish female,” he mumbled.
“Take me.”
He glared at me until his eyes dropped to the amulet around my neck. He grabbed my hand, and the world darkened and chilled around me.
• • •
We reappeared without a sound, not in front of the museum as I thought we would, but somewhere behind it. “That’s still weird,” I muttered, shaking it off.
Then I heard the sounds. Unearthly noises issuing from the depths of the building. “We’ve got to go in!”
I headed for the back door, but Erasmus grabbed the back of my coat. “Not that way. This way.” He took my hand and the dark and cold encompassed me again before I was instantly standing behind the Wiccans, and they were chanting like mad while the vortex in front of them swirled and howled.
Surrounding the vortex on the floor was a circle of salt. Beside the Ordo’s black candle stubs the Wiccans had placed their own white candles that flickered with each turn of the vortex’s central spiral. I noticed the willow wand and some bundles of herbs and what looked like a pyramid of soil also within the circle of salt.
“Is it working?” I yelled.
Jolene, who was reading off of her tablet, whipped around. The others did, too.
She shook her head. “It needs something to complete the circle,” she cried above the din. “But I don’t know what.”
I thought of the protection pentagram they first performed at my house. “It wants blood,” I shouted. I looked at Doc. He seemed to be working it out, and then referred to an old book in his hand. Jolene swiped through her tablet. “You might be right,” she said.
“It wants mine,” I told her.
“That’s insane!” Nick yelled.
Seraphina shook her head. “That’s not a go
od idea, Kylie.”
I shrugged, wincing at the effort. “I know. But I gotta do it all the same. If the Ordo conjured this to get rid of me, it makes sense that my blood is what’s needed.”
I turned to Erasmus, and close to his ear asked, “Should we take it from the succubus wound?”
His eyes widened, but he nodded. “Yes. That would be best.”
“Okay, everyone. Um, Nick, Doc, could you please turn around?”
“Why?” asked Doc.
“Because that damned succubus wounded me before it got away and Erasmus agrees that the blood from my wound would work best. And I…uh…have to take off my shirt.”
“No!” said Nick. “No way. Don’t believe him.”
Jolene frantically searched on her tablet.
“Jolene?” asked Seraphina. “Is it safe for Kylie?”
She looked stricken. “I don’t know. I can’t find out anything.”
“Look, we don’t have any more time. Just turn around, you guys.”
Reluctantly, Nick and Doc turned. Seraphina helped me off with my jacket and then each shirt. But she stopped when she looked over my shoulder. “You turn around, too.”
She was talking to Erasmus. He snorted. “I’ve seen it all already.”
I glared at him and he raised a smug brow. Way to let the cat out of the bag.
Seraphina scowled and continued to lift the shirts. She gasped when she saw the gash on my shoulder blade. “Oh my God! You have to have Doc look at that right after this.”
“If there is an ‘after this,’” I said.
She motioned to Jolene. “Get a cloth. A clean one.”
Jolene dug in her bag. “Hurry up,” I said between clenched teeth. Not only was the room cold, but the vortex seemed to take a fancy to me and was reaching out with misty tentacles. I wasn't excited about getting snatched into it.
Jolene got a white cloth and brought it over.
“Dab the wound,” Seraphina said as calm as any nurse. “And then take it to the circle.”
Jolene gently dabbed, even as I jerked away from her touch.
“Sorry!” she said. She dabbed until I couldn’t stand it and then ran to the circle of salt, reached over, and tossed in the cloth. “Now, chant!” she cried.
I righted my clothes as the others began to chant loudly. It was not Latin and not that strange guttural thing Erasmus had used to argue with the other vortex. I had the feeling it was just as old, though. It grew louder and more intense and this time, it looked like the vortex was paying attention. It seemed to pulse, the swirling slowing down.
“Pick up the salt!” said Seraphina. The Wiccans stooped and each took up a handful of the salt around the circle and on the count of three, hurled it toward the vortex. Something within it screamed, the candles blew out, and there was a loud thunderclap.
It sucked in on itself and for a moment my eardrums felt the pressure. We were all drawn forward. The vortex pulled inward until it was one bright dot, and then that suddenly winked out of existence with a loud pop. I felt like a string was cut and I wobbled back on my heels.
Silence fell all around us.
My ears felt normal pressure again. “Was that it?”
Erasmus moved forward, steering clear of the salt. “Yes. That was it. It is closed. I must say…well done.”
Nick gave a muted laugh. “We did it. We really did it.”
Seraphina took him into a hug. “We did!”
“By Godfrey!” said Doc.
Jolene shook her head. “That was awesome.”
I agreed. But something was wrong. It was all getting dark again, as if Erasmus were transporting me somewhere. Except the only place I was going was the floor.
Chapter Twenty
When I woke again I was in my bed and Doc was bending over me. “There she is,” he said cheerfully. “Better?”
For a fleeting moment, I thought it might all have been a dream. But my shoulder felt packed with bandages and though there was no pain I could still feel a deep ache somewhere in the distance. “Yeah,” I said, my throat scratchy and dry. “Could I have a drink of water?”
“Of course.” He had one ready and offered it. I took the glass and drank it all. “That’s better. I used an old-fashioned poultice. I must say, you have a wonderful inventory of herbs. I hope you don’t mind that I took some.”
“Not at all.” I could actually move it. It felt numb but good. “Dare I ask what you used?”
“A little of this, a little of that…and some Novocain. No use in going overboard.”
I chuckled and relaxed. “We closed the portal?”
“All closed. But as far as the succubus…”
I shook my head, angry and frustrated all over again. “I didn’t get her. She got me first and when I tried to shoot—”
He laid a gentle hand on my arm. “Calm down, Kylie. It’s all right.”
“It’s not all right! I’ve still got this creature hanging over my head.” I looked up in the rafters just to make sure she wasn’t literally doing that. “And my grand opening is tomorrow.”
“We’re staying here tonight to make sure you’re all right.”
As soon as he said it I could hear movement downstairs, furniture being slid across the floor and pots and pans rattling.
“Really? You’d do that?”
“Of course. You’re the Chosen Host. We can’t let anything happen to you. And besides, I want to see this business a success!”
I smiled.
He grabbed my desk chair and brought it over. Sitting, he put his hands on his thighs. “Now. There seems to be something we need to discuss. I think you know we can be honest with one another, especially after all that we’ve been through lately.”
I nodded. “Yes. Absolutely.”
“Then you won’t get your hackles up when I get a little personal. Kylie?” He looked me in the eye more like a father to a daughter than a doctor to a patient. “Did you sleep with that demon?”
Direct and to the point. I gulped. “Uh…yes.”
He slapped his thigh and swore. “Young lady, I do not know what to say to you.”
“I know, I know. It was monumentally stupid.”
“You got that right.”
I knew I was furiously blushing. “It was sort of the moment. I mean, he has this…sex appeal…”
“And it didn’t occur to you that this might be his demon’s wiles working on you to get you in his power?”
I searched my thoughts. “No, it’s not like that.”
“It’s exactly like that. We have a little more experience with this than you have. Well, at least in theory.” He settled himself on the seat. “I want you to make a promise to me. I want you to promise you won’t have any more relations with that creature.”
Doc was right. Even Erasmus agreed with him, though he couldn’t seem to keep his hands off of me either. But what if all this sex appeal was to get me to do what he wanted? Maybe it was the same thing that drove Constance Howland off the cliff. He had said he hadn’t pushed her, but maybe he didn’t have to.
My heart ached. I didn’t know what I felt, but it was mixed up in a little betrayal. Just like Jeff all over again.
I wiped a loose tear away and nodded. “Okay. I promise.”
He patted my hand and rose. “Good girl. Remember, you’re dating Ed Bradbury, who happens to be a friend of mine.”
“I feel bad enough about that. You’re not going to tell him, are you?”
“No. No reason to. As long as you keep your promise.”
I nodded.
“Good. At the moment, that demon can’t come into the shop because of Jolene’s potion and I recommend keeping it that way. Until all this is over anyway.”
I nodded again. “You’re right. Okay.”
He smiled and rose. “I think you need to get some sleep. You’ve got a big day tomorrow. We’ll be downstairs if you need us.”
He switched off the light and headed for the door. “Goodnight, Kylie.
” He went through the doorway, and closed the door but not all the way. A strip of reflected light on the stairwell gave the room a warm glow. I listened to the low murmur of their talking downstairs, and though I knew I should be trying to sleep, my mind was aflutter with everything.
Everything.
• • •
I hadn’t slept but for a few moments here and there. My shoulder ached but not like the stabbing pains of earlier. As day filtered in through the window I smelled coffee wafting up from downstairs and though feeling a bit weak, I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed.
A creak at the stair and Seraphina’s face peered in through the door. “Mind if I come in?”
“Sure. I could use the help. I’m still a little wobbly.”
She came in and closed the door. “Long night, huh?”
“Do I look that bad?”
“I’ve seen you look perkier. Maybe a little breakfast will help.”
“There’s so much to do. I’ve got deliveries coming from Moody Bog Market.”
“They already arrived. Jolene is slicing and putting apple pecan loaf on plates. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Mind?” I slowly rose and she was there with a supporting arm. “I’m very grateful to all of you.”
She waved her hand in dismissal. “We’re friends now. As Nick would say, ‘that’s how the coven rolls!’”
I laughed as I walked slowly to the bathroom. “Yeah, okay.”
“One thing, though.”
I held onto the doorjamb and turned back to her.
“About Mr. Dark.”
My cheeks warmed again and my gaze fell away from her. “No need for a scolding. I already got that from Doc. I’ve sworn off demons, okay?”
“That’s good. I want you to know you can talk to me if you need to. I’ve had my share of…troubled relationships, too.”
I offered her a grateful smile. “Thanks. I appreciate it. Is, um, Erasmus still around? He promised to…”
She sighed with an irritated sound. “Yes. He’s outside, patrolling, for want of a better word. He can’t get in.”
“So I heard. Okay then. I’m going to take a shower.”
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