“You are?” The words just slip out. Her apology is sincere and it should make me feel better. Instead, my heart sinks. Does this mean she doesn’t really like me? Does she regret the kiss? Didn’t it feel to her like it did to me?
I could smack myself again, I feel so stupid. What is it about this girl that makes my emotions spin?
“I’m sorry I did that without your permission,” she explains. The old twinkle is back in her eyes. “But not sorry I kissed you. It was… nice.”
“Nice? That’s all?”
Her eyes bore into mine. “Why? Was it more to you?”
“I… well…” I sit up straight, trying to regain my dignity. I try a grin. “Maybe.”
She leans closer. “So you’re not mad at me?”
I try to ignore her hand creeping closer to my leg. “I haven’t decided yet.” I hold my breath, waiting for the electricity to course through my body.
“Ahum!” someone says loudly.
We both jump and turn our heads.
Jeep is standing in the doorway. “Excuse me, lovebirds. We’ve got work to do.”
Laughing like a maniac he turns and disappears.
I frown. “What’s his deal?”
Vicky stares longingly at my lips. “He’s just trying to suppress his grief. He had a wife you know, when he was alive.”
I get to my feet. “O right, I forgot.”
We walk to the kitchen together.
Taylar hides a grin with his hand when we sit down.
I ignore it. “I’m guessing you found something?”
D’Maeo folds his hands on the table. “We did, but not much.” He leans a bit forward. “George Timson is followed everywhere by those demons we saw guarding his house. It looks like Geoffrey has found himself a new ‘dog’. There’s no doubt in my mind that they will do everything in their power to prevent the brothers from reconciling.”
My heart starts beating faster. “So what do you propose?”
“We’ll have to keep those monsters busy so the brothers can have a quiet talk.”
Maël slides a piece of paper over the table. “We wrote down an invisibility spell for you. The Timson brothers won’t be able to see you when you use it, and neither will the demons. It will give us an advantage.”
My eyes almost pop out of my head. “I can become invisible? That is so cool.”
The Shield is staring at me with concerned faces.
“Oh, right, sorry. This is serious business. We’ve got a world to save.”
I pick up the piece of paper and scan the notes. A grin pulls the corners of my mouth up. “But still, it is pretty awesome.”
The answer I get consists of multiple sighs.
Vicky winks at me. “Don’t mind them. They forget the benefits of being invisible.”
“No ingredients needed for this one. Good. And we’ve already got a consecrated mirror. That saves us some time.” I look up from the notes. “Do we know how to defeat those ice demons faster? And did you find out how to kill the one that attacked us at the house?”
D’Maeo shakes his head. “We couldn’t find anything about that. Just that it’s some sort of head demon and it’s really hard to vanquish.”
“So we’ll have to improvise again.”
“Exactly.”
I push my chair back. “Then I’m getting some weapons.”
I duck into the closet in the storeroom. I wish I could take some of these shields, but that would be kind of conspicuous. I still have the athame, but I could use something that works well from a distance.
“I’ve got just the thing for you,” Taylar says, apparating in front of me.
I let out an involuntary shout. “Jeez man. Don’t pop up like that.”
“Sorry.” He gives me a sheepish smile, then rummages through the closet and pulls something out. “I have a feeling you’ll like this.”
He hands me a small ball on a short stick.
I turn it around in my hand. “What is it?”
“Lash out with it and you’ll see.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Is this some kind of magical weapon? It doesn’t look very impressive.”
Taylar grins. “Not yet.”
I turn and move my arm backward. “So I just whip it like this?” My hand flings forward. The stick extends and the ball slips off. It flies forward, tied to a chain that shoots out of the stick. It grows and iron spikes pop out of it. The ball pierces the door frame.
I gasp. “Wicked. It’s a Morningstar.”
“A pocket-sized one. Your…” he hesitates… “Your father put a spell on it.”
My grin fades a little. Then I pat Taylar on the shoulder. “It’s great. Thanks. Just what I was looking for.” I look him in the eye. “Are you ready for this? It’s going to be a hard fight.”
He runs his fingers through his white hair. “I know. I’m ready.”
“Good.” I pull the ball towards me. Wood splinters rain down on us. “Uh… how do I fold this back up?”
Taylar points to the end of the stick. “There’s a little button there.”
I push it and the spikes withdraw. The chain rolls back into the stick in a second. Now the whole thing is small enough to put in my pocket.
While Taylar selects a new shield, I collect the mirrors from the attic. Back in the kitchen I put one in the cupboard under the sink, and the other on the table. Then I take out my phone to check for messages.
Nothing. There’s an empty feeling in the pit of my stomach. It could take a while for Quinn and Simon to answer, but not this long. What is going on with my friends? Are they really all lying to me? But why?
I sigh and try to focus on the task at hand again. I can worry about this later.
I haven’t heard from Mom yet, but she’s probably having fun with Mona. She’ll call later to ask what I’m doing for dinner.
I put the phone back into my pocket. Then I freeze. “Wait a minute…” My hand clutches the device. I hold it in front of my face and look at the time. “This can’t be right. It’s still morning. Why is my phone claiming it’s twenty after one in the afternoon?”
Maël straightens her back and lifts her chin. “I fast-forwarded a little. I didn’t want the enemy to have time to prepare something worse.”
I almost drop my phone. “You can skip time for the entire world?”
“I can. But it takes a lot of strength. People will just think time flew by today. Some might think they’ve fallen asleep.”
I check my phone again. “We’ll have to hurry. The brothers are meeting at seven.”
“I know,” Maël says calmly.
I pick up the mirror and stretch my arm in front of me, the mirror facing away. I turn once, twice…
“What are you doing?”
I turn one more time before focusing on Maël again. “The spell. We’re in a hurry, right?”
D’Maeo puts his hand on my arm. “You might want to wait until we’re at the Timson office. We’ll get pulled over if no one is driving the car.”
I look at him blankly for a second. Then I laugh. “You’re right. We wouldn’t want that to happen.”
I put the spell in my pocket, pick up my keys and the mirror and hurry outside.
We arrive at the office building that houses Timson Medical Equipment and Supplies at half past six. There are only four cars in the parking lot and none of them are of the Timson brothers.
“What if they’re not coming?” I ask, while I park my car behind a large bush.
D’Maeo’s gaze is focused on the entrance of the building. “They will. They’ve got unsolved issues with each other. Even if one of them doesn’t want to reconcile, they will be happy to seize the opportunity to complain.”
I ponder that while I step out of the car. “Maybe. But what if the demons stop them from coming?”
“Why would they? I don’t think they can read. They won’t know what the Timsons are going to do.”
“Right. Until they realize they’re both here.”
“Exactly. That’s where we step in. We’ll have to keep the demons busy while the brothers talk.”
“And if they start fighting each other?”
“Then Vicky will have to step in.”
I nod. “Okay. Sounds like a plan.” I grab the mirror from the front seat and hold it in front of me, my arm stretched.
I start turning clockwise slowly, visualizing a silver-gray mist, as instructed. When I finish my second turn, I imagine my body taking on a reflection of the area around me. During the third and fourth turn I recite the spell.
Hear me now, powers that be
take my image to make them unsee
reflect my surroundings, make me disappear
so that I’m no longer fully here
keep me this way as long as needed
protect my reflection until I’ve succeeded
hear me now, powers that be
take my image to make them unsee
My outstretched arm slowly disappears, along with the mirror I’m holding. I gasp. “It’s working.”
In just a few seconds my whole body vanishes. Then it flickers and I hold my breath. Is something wrong? I put the mirror back in the car and close the door. I look down at my legs and stomach. Everything is visible again. I frown at D’Maeo. “What happened? What went wrong?”
He just smiles. “Nothing. Look at your reflection.” He points at the car window.
I bend towards it. “I don’t have a reflection.”
“Exactly. The spell worked, but you can still see yourself. It makes fighting a lot easier.” He winks.
I scratch the top of my head. “Oh, right.”
I turn towards the sound of a car pulling into the parking lot. It’s Mr. Timson. There’s a brand new demon in the back of his car.
I point at it. “We’ll have to stop that thing from going inside.”
The Shield takes out their weapons.
Then Vicky nudges me. I follow her gaze towards the road. “Oh great.”
Paul is on Mr. Timson’s tail. He’s got a tired, but determined look on his face.
“We’re not the only ones with a mission here,” I mumble.
I grab my athame and my Morningstar and take a deep breath. “Okay guys, this is it. This is the fight that matters. Our best chance to save Mr. Timson and his brother. Let’s do this.”
Jeep waves his hat through the air and hollers, “Yeehaaaw! Let’s go kill some demons!”
The others answer his call and we all storm forward.
CHAPTER 30
While the Shield keeps Mr. Timson’s ‘dog’ busy at the entrance, I sprint towards Paul’s car and pierce his tires with my dagger. He loses control of it and slams into a tree. While he’s dazed from the blow, I open the door on his side and punch him in the face before he can even blink.
With an “I’m sorry, man” I run to the entrance, just in time to witness Taylar bashing in the demon’s head with his shield.
“I thought you might need some help,” I pant, coming to a halt. I look down at the demon that goes up in smoke. “I guess not.”
He grins at me, but his eyes soon focus on something behind me. I whirl around, weapons at the ready.
Paul is walking towards us with a murderous look in his eyes.
“Stop right there!” I yell.
He just keeps on walking.
“Paul… I’m warning you.”
Vicky appears at my side. “He can’t see or hear you, remember?”
I take a step back. “Oh, right, I forgot.”
“What do you want us to do?”
I clench my fists around my weapons. “I don’t want to kill him, but I sure would like to smack him around a bit.”
She waves her hand at him. “Go for it.”
I whip my Morningstar back, ready to swing it at Paul’s legs. But before I can, someone jumps out from behind the hedge. He knocks Paul down and punches him in the face.
They roll around for a bit, hitting each other. It takes me a while to recognize the attacker.
“That’s Charlie.”
“Your friend?” Vicky asks.
“Yeah… well, I’m not sure. I thought so.”
Vicky cocks her head. “Well, he’s fighting our enemy, so…”
I snort. “And the enemy of our enemy is our friend? I’m not so sure about that, Vicky.”
D’Maeo steps through us. “Focus on the task, please.”
I shiver. “Please don’t do that.”
While Paul and Charlie roll further away from us in a ball of arms and legs, another car pulls into the lot.
Jeep flashes into view next to D’Maeo. “George is here. And he’s brought company.” He starts moving his hands through the air. I hope there’s a graveyard nearby. Or a pet cemetery. Judging by the number of demons following George Timson’s car, I’d say we’ll need all the help we can get. I haven’t spotted the head demon yet, but there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s here.
“Get ready,” I say, unleashing my Morningstar.
The demons following George seem to recognize Geoffrey’s car. When George tries to get out of his car, the monsters block the door. George isn’t able to see them, so he vents his anger on the poor vehicle. After smacking and kicking the door for a while, he moves to the passenger side. But the car is surrounded by demons. He’ll never get out of there without help.
I fling my Morningstar at the nearest demon. The spikes hit it square on the head.
At the same time, a dozen skeletons rush towards the car. The demons whirl around to face them. They spit icicles at the zombies and roar.
D’Maeo takes a step closer and holds up his hands to deflect the demon’s magic. It bounces against an invisible wall, fueling the demon’s fury.
Meanwhile, George, who doesn’t notice any of this, finally manages to get out of the car. Muttering curses to himself, he walks to the entrance of the building.
“Vicky?” I shout. “Can you do something to improve his mood, please?”
She moves like lightning until she’s in front of George. A thick fog falls over her eyes. George’s muttering stops and he starts to whistle.
“Great work,” I say, lashing out with my Morningstar again, but missing the nearest demon.
Unfortunately, George’s whistling catches the attention of the monsters.
They turn their backs on the zombies and charge after George.
“Stop them!” I yell.
But they are faster than they look. Three of them are inside before we can even move.
Luckily, the Shield has the ability to switch from place to place in the blink of an eye. They appear in front of the demons and slam their swords and shields down as hard as they can.
The monsters howl in unison as cold, blue splashes of blood paint the floor.
But they recover quickly. Hissing as they charge at their unseen enemies. Their claws and jaws miss the ghosts by a millimeter as they jump back.
Meanwhile, George is in the elevator and the doors are closing.
Behind me, Charlie and Paul are kicking each other like madmen.
I don’t know where to look and what to do.
Until the head demon bumps into me. While I hit the ground hard, the demon’s eyes narrow. It lifts its chin and sniffs the air. A low rumble escapes from its throat as it turns its attention to the spot where I’m lying.
“Oh dear,” I mutter.
The demon lifts one of its large hooves. A second before it slams into the pavement with the force of Thor’s hammer, I roll aside. I use my momentum to scramble to my feet. One dive is enough to take me to the entrance of the building, where I block the path of the rest of the demons with a well-aimed throw. The chain of the Morningstar makes a neat line and the monsters trip over it, falling flat on their ugly faces.
“Vicky?” I yell. “You need to go up and m
ake Geoffrey feel guilty. Hurry up, please.”
The black-and-blonde beauty appears in front of me. “Aye aye, sir.” She salutes and vanishes.
The demons are getting to their feet, growling and huffing. The head demon steps into the large hallway. His bulky form is reflected in the shiny marble on the floor. He hisses and all the demons sniff the air. Their heads simultaneously turn in my direction.
I reel in my weapon as fast as I can. “Uh… guys? A little help here, please?”
The demons spit icicles at me and charge at the same time. I duck and roll, wave my athame around blindly and swing my Morningstar. Something pierces my shoulder and I raise my hands in defense.
The sudden silence around me is deafening. I risk a peek between my arms and frown. Dozens of sharp icy spikes are suspended in front of me. When I lower my hands I notice all the demons are frozen in place.
Someone grabs my arm and pulls me away. “Come on. They won’t stay like that for long!”
Maël lets me go when I’m on my feet again. My shoulder stings and cold spreads to my chest rapidly. I clench my jaw, pull the spike out and throw it at the closest demon. It hits the monster square in the eye, but it doesn’t move.
“Five… four… three…” Maël spreads her feet and raises her staff.
Jeep materializes next to me, D’Maeo is at Maël’s side.
I hold my breath when the demons slowly start moving again, like puppets that need to be wound up.
The ghosts are not moving. I give them sideways glances. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not waiting until they’re fully thawed.” I don’t wait for an answer, but swing the Morningstar above my head and slice through the front row of monsters. They fall like dominoes, spluttering. Vapor coils up in intricate patterns.
“Nice job,” Jeep exclaims.
Taylar zooms into view, jumping over the bodies. “Watch out.”
Three demons are on his heels, eyes blazing and mouths greedily opened. They leap after him with their claws outstretched. Icicles whistle around our ears.
I raise my arm to whip the Morningstar, but my shoulder doesn’t budge. It’s frozen solid.
While Maël pushes me out of the way, Jeep flings his hat at the demons. It manages to cut off a claw, making one demon stop in its tracks, but the others just keep going.
The First Demon (Cards of Death Book 1) Page 20