by AJ Myers
Too terrified by the idea of hosting a demon house party to move, I stood there and stared as Grams started to chant softly in a language I had never heard before. As she chanted, my cross started to glow with a bright, golden light. It rose slightly off the page, then, before my widening eyes, the three-part knot in the center started to swirl like a whirlpool. Then, from out of nowhere, a violent wind tore through the living room and I felt a sucking sensation tear at my hair and clothes. Pushing my hair back I saw that the symbol on my necklace was gone. In its place was a shimmering, sickly-looking light.
I nearly screamed at her not to touch it when Grams reached out for it, but the second she wrapped her hand around the cross the portal she had opened disappeared and it was once again just a pretty piece of jewelry. Too awed and astounded to speak, I could only stare at her. Seeing the look on my face, she grinned.
“Now, how about you give it a try?” she said, walking over and holding the cross out to me. When I didn’t take it, she placed it in my hand herself and curled my fingers around it.
“Why is it so cold?” I whispered. It felt like she had just handed me a lump of ice.
“The lost plane is neither warm nor pleasant,” Grams explained with a solemn expression. “Those that are banished there… Well, let’s just say they’re not on vacation and leave it at that.”
Yeah. Good idea.
“Now,” Grams said brusquely, leading me to the center of room, “What I would like you to do is close your eyes and clear your mind.” Knowing she was going to summon a demon? Yeah, right. “You will need a clear head and a great deal of focus to open the portal I created for you. There is amazing power in you. You must reach deep down to access it, however, due to the bind.”
I closed my eyes and did as I was told. No matter how much I tried, though, I couldn’t seem to call up that buzz of power. All I could think of was the terror I felt. I was going to open my eyes. There was going to be a demon standing there. And I was going to die.
Before I could really start to panic, I felt Nathan’s hands on my shoulders. The second he touched me, I felt this amazing rush of peace and calm flow through me, washing away my fear and doubt. With that one touch, he grounded me, making it possible for me to think.
I’ll be right here, love, he whispered to me silently. You don’t have to be afraid. I’ll keep you safe.
“Just stay close,” I whispered aloud. Then, to Grams, I said, “Let’s do this.”
“All right,” she said, sounding nervous suddenly. “When the demon appears, I want you to envision the portal and focus all your energy on your cross. That kind of magic is called spirit magic, because it draws on the power of your soul. Only that kind of power will activate the portal.”
“Focus all my energy,” I repeated, eyes still closed. “Got it.”
“Nate, get out of the way,” Grams said when Nathan stayed right there behind me, his touch keeping me calm and relaxed. “She has to do this on her own.”
I could feel his reluctance in the slow way his hands slid away from me. I missed that contact acutely when he stepped back and away from me. I wanted to turn around and grab him, keep him right there within my reach, but I forced myself to remain still. Grams was right. I had to do it on my own.
Unfortunately, that didn’t work out so well.
The first demon Grams summoned was the ugliest, most terrifying thing I’d ever seen. The second he appeared I felt my heart thud to a stop. His twisted, misshapen form was covered in brownish-green scales. The talons at the ends of his mutant fingers were yellowed and I saw stains on the tips that looked entirely too much like blood for my taste. And his fangs… I still feel nauseous when I think about those razor-sharp, blood-stained incisors.
I found a whole new definition for the word ‘terror’ as the thing turned its mutated head and its eyes focused on me. Unlike when Jack forced me to meet his gaze, I didn’t smell smoke or feel like I was burning. What I did feel, though, was little better. Pure, undiluted terror gripped me so hard I felt like I was encased in an icy block of it.
“A witchhhhh,” it hissed, sounding entirely too much like a snake. “It’s been so long since I had a witchhhh.”
For what? Dinner? Or a nice human suit? Either way, I didn’t want to be on the menu. I instinctually started backing away, my fist gripping the cross in my hand so hard that I could feel the edges of it cutting into my palm.
“Focus, Ember Leigh!” Grams shouted. And I really tried. I swear, I did. But I couldn’t think through the panic that was one second away from turning me into a blubbering idiot.
Just as the thing made a swipe at me with its knife-like talons, it shattered. Like, shattered. With an eardrum-rupturing screech, it blew into a million tiny fragments. As I watched, the pieces remaining disappeared in little wisps of inky-black smoke.
“Is that what you call focus?” Grams yelled, stomping over to stand right in front of me, just as the last of them vaporized.
“Leave her alone, Shea,” Nathan said from just behind me. “What did you really think would happen? She’s not ready, damn it!”
When he pulled me into his arms, I didn’t try to stop him. Instead, I turned and buried my head against his chest. My whole body was shaking hard enough to vibrate the floor beneath my feet. Nathan just held me closer in response and started rubbing his hand in soothing circles on my rigid back.
“Well, she’s going to have to get ready!” Grams said in a biting tone of voice. “She has to learn to focus despite her fear and the only way she will do that is to face it.”
The second demon she summoned wasn’t any prettier than the first—and I didn’t do any better at banishing it. That particular little monster was nice enough to give me a rather graphic description of what it was planning to do with my dismembered corpse before making its move. Though I tried to do what Grams said and focus through my fear, I still couldn’t activate the portal.
The third demon, on the other hand, changed everything. It wasn’t that I was less afraid—if anything, I was more terrified. But there was one very big difference between that demon and the two before it.
Instead of coming for me, it went straight for Nathan.
I didn’t have to focus to find my power. It flowed through my veins like a river of lava. The cross in my hand that had felt so cold was suddenly burning hot. Without thinking about it, I knelt down and slid it across the floor toward the charging demon. My timing couldn’t have been better if I’d planned it. Just as the demon leapt over it, its sole focus on Nathan—who didn’t even move from his leaned position against the wall. I swear, he almost looked bored—the portal broke open. Unlike when Grams activated the portal, the blast of light that shot out of it was almost too bright to look at.
The howling, sucking wind coming out of the portal still wasn’t enough to cover the sound of the demon’s screech of rage as it froze in midair. As we watched, the sucking void of the portal pulled it in as it fought and clawed at thin air trying to save itself. When the last of the disgusting little monster was sucked into the swirling portal of light emanating from my cross, the portal snapped closed again.
“Well done!” Grams crowed happily once the howling wind of the void faded away.
When I tore my eyes from the cross, though, it was Nathan I searched for and found. He was standing right where he had been the entire time, but his gaze was fastened on me. The soft, warm expression on his handsome face had me dropping my eyes quick. I didn’t look up again until he walked over to stand in front of me and held out my cross.
“You dropped something,” he said softly. I looked up to find him giving me the sweetest smile I’d ever seen. When I blushed and took the cross from him, he caught my face between his hands and tilted my eyes back up to his. He leaned down to kiss my cheek and I swear I turned into a damn Christmas tree as every nerve in my body lit up. Moving to my ear, he whispered, “It’s nice to know you care, Em.”
He backed away from me slowly, letting hi
s fingers linger against my jaw, and I stood there in stunned silence. By the time I shook myself out of it, he was already disappearing down the hall. I watched him go, totally at a loss for words. When he was gone, I turned to find Grams watching me with this really devious little smile.
“That was amazing focus you displayed there,” she said, making me blush a little hotter. “Now, let’s see if you can do it without Nathan to motivate you.”
“What?” I groaned. “I have to do it again.”
“Yes,” she said, chuckling, “You have to do it again.”
And again. And again. And again. By the time Grams took pity on me and called it quits for the night, I had banished seven demons to the void, was totally exhausted and covered in sweat, and had a headache that was starting to make me feel like my head was three times its normal size.
“You’re doing amazingly well, sweetheart,” Grams said when I sank onto the sofa with a moan. “Tell me, what were you thinking about while you were focusing your power to open the portal?”
That was easy. I was thinking about Nathan. Every time Grams summoned a new demon, I would imagine it going after Nathan instead of me. To my surprise, it had worked every time. Even when I was so exhausted that the thought of trying to call up any power made me want to cry, the thought of Nathan becoming a demon snack pack would give me the boost I needed to open the portal again.
But was I going to tell Grams that? Uh, no.
“I was thinking about a shower and the nice, comfy bed waiting on me upstairs,” I lied, keeping my eyes closed. “Are we done? Can I please go?”
“Of course, sweetheart,” she said, smiling and coming over to pull me up off the couch. “We’ll start again bright and early in the morning.”
With that cheerful thought echoing in my mind, I trudged up the stairs, muttering about crazy old witches and stinky demons—seriously, every single one of them had stunk to high heaven. I was halfway up when I heard Grams call my name behind me. I turned around slowly, sure that she’d changed her mind and decided I had the time to vacuum one more demon into the void. Instead, I found her climbing the stairs behind me, my cross dangling from her hand.
“You forgot something,” she said, chuckling at the ‘Don’t you dare!’ expression on my face. “This is your new favorite piece of jewelry, sweetheart. You need to always have it on.”
She placed it in my hand and I felt a jolt of surprise when the staircase disappeared and I found myself outside. The chilly breeze felt wonderful against my flushed cheeks as it rustled the leaves overhead and I could smell that spicy aroma of fall in the air. I took a deep breath of it to calm my racing heart. I recognized the spot as the one where Nathan had found me that first night in Washington, but I had no idea how I had gotten there.
But what really got my attention was the man standing in front of me.
Nathan had his hands shoved deep in his pockets and he was staring up at the moon through the break in the trees like it could give him the answers to the questions in his heart. The smile on his face was a thing of beauty. It was sadness and joy and a heartbreaking kind of resignation all rolled up together and I felt my heart ache just looking at it.
“Just a little longer,” he whispered up to the heavens as a red tinged tear slipped from the corner of his eye. “I just need a little longer to earn her trust, then I’ll tell her, I swear. But not until she trusts me.”
Just as I started to ask him who he was talking about, I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, and as suddenly as I had appeared in the woods I found myself back on the stairs. Grams was shaking me slightly, a concerned frown drawing her eyebrows down in a deep V. I stared at her, too stunned by what had just happened to even speak.
“What did you see?” she asked, surprising me so much that I just gaped at her.
“What do you mean, what did I see?” I finally managed to get out, pulling my arm away from her. I wasn’t really sure why, but I didn’t want to share that moment with her. It was too…personal, somehow. “I didn’t see anything. I just zoned out for a second. Guess I’m more exhausted than I thought.”
I could see she didn’t believe me, but I forced my trembling lips into a smile and then turned and continued up the stairs. With each step, I heard Nathan’s words echoing in my mind, saw that sadly beautiful smile. My hand flew up to my neck when I felt a tingling sensation zing across my mark, followed by a rush of sensation similar to the flow of power I’d felt while banishing demons to the void. It was more than that, though. It was like a physical touch. Nathan’s touch.
I knew, in that moment, that I was the mysterious ‘She’.
And I also knew that, whatever he was hiding, I didn’t want to know.
Tantrums and Teleportation
After my weird out-of-body experience and the revelations it had brought me, I avoided Nathan like the plague. If I walked into a room and he was there, I turned around and walked right back out. If he chased me, I ran faster. If he made an appearance in my dreams, I woke myself up. In other words, I did everything in my power to distance myself from him.
And, in the end, I failed.
The night before I was supposed to go home, I found one of Grams’ old cardigans and went for a walk in the garden to try to get some perspective. The air was crisp and clean and I could smell the rich aroma of the surrounding forest in the breeze blowing my curls against my cheeks. I walked slowly, going over everything in my mind again and again, like a bad song you just can’t get out of your head.
It’ll all be over tomorrow, I thought as I walked. One more day, and I can get my life back.
In less than seventy-two hours, I had become a demon-banishing machine. Grams had drilled me so much I could have probably called up the portal around my neck in my sleep. Our plan was simple. I would go home and lure Jack off somewhere so no one would witness the fact that I was sucking a demon into a swirly pillar of light. Then, just when he thought I was going to give him what he wanted…bam! He’s stuck on the lost plane and my life goes back to normal.
If it worked.
“It’s going to work,” I told myself. “It has to.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
I spun around on my heel, my raw nerves on red alert, to find Nathan standing right behind me. The expression on his face was unreadable, but there was a shadow of fear in his eyes as he looked at me.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you were out here. I’ll just go…”
I let my voice trail off, keeping my eyes averted. Seriously, I couldn’t shake him no matter how hard I tried. All I had to do was look up, and there he was. It was frustrating to an extreme I hadn’t even known existed.
“Answer my question first,” he said softly, reaching for my hand as I turned to go. “What if it doesn’t work, Em? What then?”
“It will work,” I said, trying to pull my hand away, but he wouldn’t let me go. “Now, if you don’t mind…”
“But I do mind,” he interrupted, looking sad and frustrated. “I mind very much, actually. I mind that you’re taking on a demon when you’re nowhere near ready for it. I mind that you don’t have a single shred of self-preservation in your whole body. I mind that you won’t let me protect you.
“Please, Em,” he begged softly, using his iron grip on my hand to pull me toward him. “You don’t have to do this. We can leave. Tonight. We can be on the first available flight to anywhere you want to go.”
“And when he finds me there?” I asked, trying to pull my hand away again. I should have saved my energy. It would have taken power tools to get out of that grip. “What then, Nathan? Do I just keep running? And how long do you think it’s going to take before you get tired of running with me?”
“When do you suppose you’re going to stop running from me?” he countered, sounding as fed up as I felt. “I would run with you for the rest of your life, Ember. I would do it gladly. But you won’t give me that chance, will you? Tell me the truth, Em. Doesn’t it bother you at all, staying away from me?�
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“Oh, have I deflated your ego?”
There was no way in hell I was answering that question. It did much more than bother me to stay away from him. It hurt, a deep ache in my heart that nothing and no one could ease but him. But I couldn’t tell him that. I couldn’t even think it because then he would hear it.
“Is that what you think?” he asked, releasing my hand and turning away. “You think this is about a wounded ego?”
“What else could it be, Nathan?” I was so tired. I was tired of being confused all the time, tired of fighting myself and him. “I won’t lie; I can understand why you would have a problem with rejection. I’m sure it’s not something you’ve ever had to deal with. But if you care about me even a little bit, you’ll leave me alone. That way, I can get over you and…”
I never saw it coming. One minute, he was standing a few feet away, the next he was right in front of me and his arms were wrapping around me and pulling me close. And that look in his eyes…oh, sweet mother of God. He was going to kiss me. I knew it. I wanted it. And, at the same time, I wanted to push him away from me and run like hell.
“You’re never going to get over me, Ember,” he murmured, his voice so soft and persuasive that my insides melted into goo. “Never.”
“Let go, Nathan,” I whispered.
“No,” he breathed against my lips. “Misery loves company. If I’m going to be miserable, it’s about damn time I had some company.”
The second his lips met mine, the world exploded around me and a new one began. His lips were soft and silky and tasted every bit as yummy as they looked. When he moaned deep in his chest and pulled me closer, deepening the kiss and sending adrenaline-laced blood surging through my body, I stopped resisting him and melted against him with a sigh. It was better than I could have ever imagined. It was everything I had ever wanted and more.