Paranormal Magic (Shades of Prey Book 1)

by Margo Bond Collins

“You don’t want to do what you’re thinking.” she said.

  I ignored her, focusing on Damian. “How are the demons getting through from hell?”

  He blinked at me and shrugged and I moved my gaze to Steve’s.

  “If Paradise Cove is a portal to heaven, then Black Cove must be a gate to hell.”

  He paled and so did Jennifer. “We closed that,” he said but the hesitation in his words belied the confidence in his statement.

  “You killed one demon,” I said. “But did you really close that gate?”

  “I don’t think it’s one location,” Damian said thinking back on how easily Michael showed up wherever he was called. Lucifer could do the same before he was vanquished to hell.

  “Demons aren’t angels,” I answered his train of thought. “They have to be escaping by some means, and from your memories, they existed back when you were turned. But they haven’t overrun the earth, so they have to have limited access topside.”

  “They aren’t escaping. They’re following orders.” Damian said.

  “Either way, they’re getting here through some sort of portal. It isn’t through the same means that an angel has of just popping in whenever they damned well feel like it.”

  Faces stared at me with vacant eyes and the anger in my soul flushed a heat over my skin that scalded. I had to stop this madness. I was not going to live in fear for the rest of my life and the only way to do that, was to do what I had said to Valerie in the car.

  I was going hunting.

  I turned toward the closet and pulled out my coat. “They want a fucking war, they got one,” I muttered.

  Steve shot to his feet and grabbed my arm before I got out the garage door.

  “Don’t,” he started and I yanked the fabric out of his grip.

  “I have to. We...” I twirled my finger around pointing to everyone in the house. “We will never know peace if I don’t do this.”

  “Chris,” Valerie said, approaching me.

  I turned my angry gaze in her direction. “I want the fucking fairytale.”

  She stopped her approach and just stared, pleading with her beautiful eyes and I gritted my teeth.

  “It’s hunting season,” I growled, repeating the words my father had said many years ago. I glanced at the sudden paleness in Steve’s cheeks before turning away. I didn’t wait for a reaction; I stormed to my car and slid inside, willing everything in my way to yield. When the garage door opened, I had a clear path out of the house and I punched the gas, leaving a spray of gravel, dirt, and exhaust in my wake.

  Each mile that passed ratcheted my anger and people on the highway gave me a wide berth, and in some ways I felt like Moses parting the Red Sea. The power smashed through my veins in time with my heartbeat and throbbed in my temple. By the time I pulled into the driveway at the cottage, I was in an all-out frenzy.

  I had never ventured to Black Cove and the only way I knew how was by following the small brook from Paradise cove. I trudged across the snow toward the lake and slowed at the singe spot, growling low in my throat at the sight of it. He was still messing with our lives and I was damned if I’d allow that.

  I stomped through the trodden path to Paradise cove where the moss was still clear and the ice at the edge of the water was beginning to thin enough to see the water underneath. I turned my back on the beautiful prisms in the water and focused on the stream trench that disappeared to the right of the entrance.

  “You’re not going to win with that much anger ruling your emotions,” The voice broke over the cove like soft rain, shocking every nerve in my body. I turned and swallowed the sudden lump in my throat.

  “I have to try,” I said, staring into my father’s preternatural eyes and he smiled that knowing smile that bit under my skin.

  “I know you do. But you’ve got to get a handle on your fury, otherwise, they’ll use it against you. I really don’t want to see you up here yet... if you get my drift. Neither does your mother. She wants grandkids,” he said and flashed that smile again. “So do I.”

  Just seeing him reinforced my belief that the portals exist.

  “Is Black Cove the only one?” I asked and he shook his head.

  “There aren’t many, just a few dozen around the world,” he added. “But trust me when I say they’re harder to find than Black Cove is.” he sighed. “I know they exist, but I don’t know where they are.”

  I nodded and turned away, stepping toward the woods.

  “Son?”

  I glanced back at him.

  “I’m proud of you,” he said.

  “I haven’t done anything, yet,” I said and he faded into the layer of fog that crawled across the ground. Leave it to my father to make me feel completely inadequate at a time when I needed strength. I stepped off the moss into the snow, willing the thick brush to yield to my passage. I couldn’t have cut a cleaner path had I had a machete in my hand, and I used the time to build the power and temper the fury to the point rational thought ruled.

  As I got closer to Black Cove, the air thickened. Unwelcomed fear licked my skin, leaving it tacky under my coat and I shifted. If my father could show up in Paradise Cove, could Lucifer appear in Black Cove? I glanced down at the chain holding the pendant over my heart and prayed that if Lucifer appeared, that chunk of rock would protect me from having my heart ripped out.

  The combination of fear and fury does funny things to a man. With each step, my heart drove faster and the evilness of the landscape penetrated my coat, chilling me, and drawing sweat from my pores. I knew the distance was a little under a mile, but in the thick brush, it seemed longer, and I had a new appreciation for Steve.

  He’d carried Jennifer’s unconscious body the entire way, without the benefit of any supernatural powers to cut a clear path. He ran on tenacious willpower, the drive to get her to safety, and he nearly bled-out in the process.

  The forest echoed with unfamiliar noises, some sounding more like screams of the dead than forest creatures, and I slowed, knowing I was approaching the perimeter. The stench of brimstone settled on the air and I put my hand to my nose to stop an unwanted sneeze. The last thing I wanted to do was announce my presence in the area.

  I closed my eyes, pulling the details of the landscape from Steve’s sketchy memories. If I mapped out my approach correctly, I would come in on the narrow path next to the sink hole. There was no maneuverability if I was attacked there and I had a feeling that sink hole wouldn’t be a pleasant place to fall into.

  I thought about just sending out, from where I stood, a rolling wave of destructive power across the landscape, clearing it clean; but that was unreasonable, especially if I miscalculated and went farther than the reach of Black Cove. Killing a human being wasn’t on my to-do list. I had done it once, granted it was warranted, but it still haunted me to this day.

  Which left me the option of cutting through the thick woods until I was parallel with Black Cove’s rotting moss bed. A twig snapped to my left and I froze. Demons weren’t the only things Lucifer commanded and I set a deadly cocoon around me. If anything grabbed for me, they’d find themselves roasted to a crispy corpse.

  I worked my way slowly through the woods, quietly carving the path. I’m sure my electrified safety net was enough of a disturbance to announce my presence but I kept my thoughts masked. I curved back towards the cove, ignoring the drop in temperature. My adrenaline acted as a body warmer, setting my blood on overdrive enough so that even my palms were covered in a light sheen of sweat.

  The dense forest thinned and I saw my first slivers of the setting sun penetrating the trees. A thread of fear bit into me. I really didn’t want to be here after dark and looking at the progression of the dying rays, I knew I wouldn’t have a choice. Twilight was on the horizon and with it would come things just as nasty as demons.

  Chapter 22

  The moment I stepped onto the black moss, I knew I’d made a mistake coming alone. There must have been fifty demons just waiting for me and when I b
reached their domain, they parted, one by one, stepping to the side until I faced Lucifer’s back.

  Every memory of Damian’s flooded my brain, terrifying me, and when he turned in my direction I had to get a hold of the fear, otherwise I was going to pee my pants like a scared little kid. My gaze dropped to the gaping hole in his chest and I shivered.

  When the first demon reached out and actually touched my shirt, my heart leapt in my throat. My safety net was gone and now I was at their mercy. Muscle memory guided my every move, parrying blows away, executing throws and kicks powerful enough to kill an ordinary man. I don’t know how many I took down, but they just kept coming and my knuckles were scraped and bloodied by the blows I got in.

  The muscles in my arms burned, but I kept going, snapping bone and dropping demons. But they didn’t stay down long. It was like battling a horde of zombies from World War Z and I was one in a sea of many.

  Most of them didn’t know the art of self-defense, so I had that going for me, but that’s where my benefits ended. These fuckers were strong and relentless. The demon spirits in their bodies were not susceptible to the frailties of the human body. Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for me.

  I faltered and the first real blow hit my kidney, driving me to my knees. I rolled into a clear space and dodged another blow, trying like hell to let loose some of the destructive power locked within my flesh. Nothing happened and the first tendrils of panic settled in, making my strikes less effective and my blocks either too early or too late. I couldn’t seem to regain my center and each blow that connected had one goal; to break what it hit. I missed the next block and a fist connected with my ribs, cracking at least two of them, by the crushing pain.

  I bellowed my pain, striking out and breaking a nose before stumbling back with my arm locked over my side to protect them from being hit again. I didn’t get my arm up in time and a fist smashed my lips, splitting both of them and loosening several teeth, but I remained on my feet, shaking off the shock.

  I knew if I went down, that would be the end; I wouldn’t have a chance to get back up.

  The next blow smashed my cheek and I stumbled, losing the battle with gravity. I landed on the side with the cracked ribs and yelled out. Pushing to my hands and knees, I tried to dodge the kick coming at me and served only to give someone on the other side a better shot of my back.

  I curled and covered my head, screaming through the pain as over a dozen boot clad feet connected with my body. And then everything stopped. For a moment I thought I’d died, then hands grabbed my arms, lifting me and bringing me back with a ferocious dose of agony.

  Each step they took sent a jolt through my body and I couldn’t help the tears. I’d welcome blacking out right now, but I knew if I did that, Lucifer would take control over my body, knocking my soul who knows were and the world would end.

  They dropped me on the ground in front of Lucifer and I struggled to my hands and knees. One of his lackey bastards grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled my head back.

  “You’re on my turf now, boy, or hadn’t you noticed?” Lucifer asked and I just stared at him. He crouched down in front of me. “You can end this. All you have to do is surrender.” he said in a perfectly reasonable tone. He tilted his head and studied me like a poor lost stray.

  “Fuck you,” I hissed spraying blood with my words.

  “You sure about that? You think you’re in pain now, I can make it infinitely worse.” He stood, towering over me.

  A cloud passed over the path of the dying sun, creating a dark shadow on the trees behind Lucifer that reminded me of an eagle... or a hawk and I blinked the sudden vertigo away. I let out a raspy laugh at what must be a last ditch hallucination. I was sure I was one punch away from death anyway, and if I died, my powers went with me.

  “Game on, motherfucker,” I glared through my only open eye, energized by the strength of my voice. It reminded me of my father and his steel nerves.

  Lucifer gave a nod and the hands holding me disappeared. I dropped to my hands and knees and a painful flare from impact seized my muscles and I groaned. My forehead dropped to the ground, landing on the scratchy moss. Instead of clenching my eyes closed, I scanned the number of shoes surrounding me and forced an inhale. Too many for me to fight off, but I wasn’t going to die kneeling on the ground. Lucifer’s black steel toe boots circled me and I pushed up, forcing myself to my feet, blocking the pain from overriding me. When he appeared in my peripheral vision, I turned my gaze toward him, stepping into form. I spit a wad of blood on the ground and glared in his direction.

  If I couldn’t influence matter around me, I damned well could look inward. The power was still there, brewing in my chest, filling my skin with the ability to remain standing. Tapping my mental reserve, I filled every inch of my broken body with strength and narrowed my good eye at him.

  “Let’s see what you got.”

  He tilted his head and my pinky snapped, pulling a groan from my chest that I clamped between my teeth.

  I glanced at my pinky, willing the bone to reset, and damned if it didn’t. It was still broken, but not at an angle I couldn’t curl into a fist. I did just that and smiled my best ‘fuck you’ smile.

  “I may not be an archangel, but I’m a force to be reckoned with.”

  Lucifer leaned his head back and laughed and I threw a punch aimed at his throat. My fist stopped less than an inch away and my arm slowly twisted, peeling a growling scream from my throat when both my ulna and radius snapped. Flashes of light filled my vision and I blinked them away even as he continued to twist.

  “Your powers are useless here,” he smiled as I knelt helplessly at his feet watching the skin start to tear around the breaks.

  “His may be, but mine aren’t,” a familiar voice rocked the landscape and the smell of singing moss filled my nostrils. The crowd surrounding us evaporated to dust, leaving Lucifer, Damian and me on the playing field.

  Lucifer let go of my arm and I collapsed to the ground, pulling the pieces to my chest, my breath wheezed in and out and I did the same thing I did with my finger, screaming my pain to the heavens. I clung to consciousness by a thread as the last direct rays of sun disappeared.

  Lucifer’s boot pressed down on my throat and black spots filled my vision. My father’s words echoed in my head and tears leaked from the corner of my eyes. He would be so disappointed in me for dying like this.

  Something inside me broke and with it whatever wall blocked my ability to harness and wield the power engulfing me shattered into a million pieces, and I let loose like I have never done, knocking Lucifer across the Cove. I struggled to my feet, unable to harness this fury or the fire ripping through my skin.

  Damian’s expression matched the absolute shock on Lucifer’s face. The ground shook under us, crumbling under Lucifer’s feet. Trees started toppling, sucking into the sink hole, scraping the evil off the land and filling it with white light.

  I had a moment, a quick glimpse through Damian’s eyes and what I saw fueled the power. I shined like a celestial being, one made to purify the land and I was hell bent on destroying this portal, even if I lost my life doing it.

  If I could destroy Lucifer in the process, that was just a bonus.

  He charged at me and I put my hand up like a traffic cop, targeting the power. I don’t think he knew what hit him and he went down into the giant crack like a fly slapped in a hurricane. Trees amassed over the crevice, crackling and snapping as the white light surrounded us, peeling away the evil and scrubbing the land from edge to edge. Every last bit of shrub and moss scraped down to the dirt and the debris slid into the giant whirlpool where the sink hole had been, slipping through the crack until there was nothing left, and then the crack slammed closed, fused with light, closing this portal to hell forever.

  The light faded and I stared at the perfectly round, perfectly flat, and perfectly clean patch of land that reminded me of those strange alien crop circles in the mid-west. None of the devastation r
emained and what was left waited for a harvest of new life. I turned my gaze to Damian.

  “So that’s what happens when I lose control,” I whispered and then everything went black.

  Chapter 23

  Muffled sounds and darkness.

  Sobbing then silence.

  Bright light then blackness, again.

  A steady machine-like beep.

  Hushed whispers.

  Music.

  Moments lost in the dark.

  Where the hell was I?

  Who the hell was I?

  All fractional pieces of the puzzle that my brain couldn’t wrap around.

  There were no answers, just darkness and silence and nothing.

  Chapter 24

  I opened my eyes and everything around me was a blur. After a few blinks I stared at a hanging bag of liquid, the slow drip captivated me. Drip, drip, drip. I peeled my eyes away and turned my head. Lights bounced across a screen, just as hypnotizing as the drip above me. Spike up, back down, pause, spike again over and over like an endless steady earthquake. It took a few minutes for me to connect the timing of the spikes to the pounding in my chest. I moved my hands to the source and a hard smooth object lay in the spot I thought my heart should be and then my fingertips slid off whatever it was onto warm skin.

  My brain was slow to understand and it was a struggle to think clearly.

  My nose tickled and I reached up to scratch it, pulling small tubes from my nostrils in the process. I stared at the thing, blinking as air flowed into my eyes. Why was it so hard to know the words for things? I turned my head away from the machines and they landed on a man slumped in a chair.

  I didn’t recognize him, just like I didn’t recognize names for the things around me. Should I know him? Logic wasn’t working and I shifted uncomfortably in the bedding. His eyes blinked open and he stretched, rubbing his scruffy face. Then his gaze landed on me, his eyes widened and met my gaze, and then widened some more.

  “EA?” he said and my brow creased. “O o ow whe oo a?” he asked and his hands moved along with his speech, none of which made a lick of sense.