She glanced over at Raine. The scratches on her arms were crusting and oozing. Her face took on a demonic tint, turning her peaches-and-cream complexion to a sickly gray. Her peridot-green eyes were nothing but dark, soulless holes.
Raine laughed, but not her usual pleasant laugh. This one was deep from the bowels of hell. "That’s right, cuz, you figured it out… the demon wasn’t in Enid. I’m right here!"
21
Faster than a lightning strike, Raine grabbed a nearby lamp from a side table and tore off the shade, pointing the bulb at Issy. Piercing red flames glowed in her eyes as she aimed and shot forth white-hot bolts of electricity.
Issy screamed and huddled against the wall to avoid the flying shards of glass from the shattering bulb. Then she launched herself at Raine, determined to wrestle the demon out of her cousin with her own two hands if necessary. They tumbled across the floor. Issy grabbed the nearby discarded shade and hurled it at Raine’s head, hoping to knock her out. Raine grabbed a porcelain figurine of a frog and whacked Issy hard on the shoulder in an attempt to dislodge her, but she wasn’t letting go. There was too much at stake.
Over and over, they rolled across the floor in a tangle of limbs and red hair, ramming into furniture and knocking it askew. Issy did her best to keep Raine’s hands locked at her sides, but every so often, one would get free, and bolts of rogue electricity would sizzle through the air.
“I was never in Nikki, by the way,” the demon snarled. It seemed that it was also talkative. Just her luck. “I started out in Enid, then she ate those tainted candies, and I had to jump to a new host. Your beloved cousin here had all those lovely scratches, giving me a perfect entry point.”
Issy screeched in outrage. They rolled the other way across the living room floor, whamming into the sofa and pushing it halfway into the kitchen. “Get. Out. Of. My. Cousin’s. Body!”
“No!” the demon roared. “This is all your fault. You had to go and figure this all out and screw everything up. You couldn’t just mind your own business. You stuck your nose in where it didn’t belong. If you hadn’t, I could’ve just fed you and Ember poisoned pizza, and the sacrifices would’ve been done. I could’ve framed Enid then stayed in this realm, this host, forever. But no!”
“Wait!” Issy was desperate to distract it so she could come up with a plan. “Why redheads? And why make the dolls?”
“Why not redheads? The rules only say the victims need to have something in common. The dolls were just to keep myself occupied and to show how clever I am and how stupid you are.”
“Well, you weren’t that clever. We did figure out about the mushrooms.”
“But you never figured out whose body I was really in!” The demon wrenched free of Issy’s grip. Sparks showered through the living room. Burn marks scarred the walls, ceiling, and floor. Even Issy’s hair was singed, but still she fought.
No way would this demon take Raine. No. Way.
“Now,” the demon said, “things will have to get messy.”
The remaining lights in Enid’s house flickered. Outside, thunder boomed. Ember was still unconscious, while Enid dodged the occasional stray energy bolt or spark shower. Her litany of exclamations echoed from where she huddled behind the island in her kitchen—Oh my! Look out! Get it, Issy!
The demon attacked, knocking Issy to the floor and straddling her hips. She lay still for a second, stunned, as it reached up onto the table for a slice of pizza.
Strength lagging, Issy closed her eyes and searched for a plan to defeat this demon. Her talisman. If she could just get to her purse, maybe she could use it to absorb the electricity the demon was using to zap her energy.
She took a deep breath and heaved with all her might. The slice of pizza went flying as the demon lost its balance and Issy flipped on top.
“Oh, no, you don’t!” it screeched, pulling a plug from the wall and aiming it in Issy’s face. But Issy was faster. She grabbed a mirror off the wall just in time, directing the energy right back at the demon.
“Ouch!” Its hands flew to its face, and Issy took her chance. She lunged for her purse, grabbing the obsidian talisman and holding it up in front of her.
The demon gasped and shrunk back. She had it! Now, all she had to do was banish it back to Hades, and this would all be over.
Except when she gazed down into the demon’s eyes, she saw Raine, not a murderous hell spawn. Removing the demon could harm or even kill her cousin. There had to be another way.
Issy’s mind raced for some sort of incantation or special vanquishing spell that would get rid of the demon but leave the host unharmed. But before she could think of it, Enid’s front door burst open.
All heads jerked around toward the doorway, where Dex Nolan stood, a confused look on his face. His wide eyes jerked from the burn marks on the wall to the toppled furniture to Issy.
But it was too late. The distraction was all the demon needed to flip Issy to the ground and take control.
22
“Got you now!” The demon gripped Issy’s shoulder tightly in its clawlike hold, and the talisman fell out of her hand. The demon jerked her up off the floor like a rag doll and zipped away with her to the other side of the living room, the room nothing but a blur given the demon’s speed.
Issy swayed on her feet, feeling woozy and dazed. An odd force field of some kind glimmered around her upper body. She held her hands in front of her and frowned. An electrical field. The demon had encased her in energy, trapping her magic inside.
Dex rushed to her side, his expression concerned. He reached out, but before she could warn him not to touch her, he got zapped. The demon roared with laughter then mumbled a quick curse. Dex collapsed to the floor, flopping around like a fish as the energy sting ran through him, short-circuiting his muscles.
“That’s not fair!” Enid emerged from the kitchen, her tone angry. “He’s human!”
“You think I care?” the demon shouted. “I figured all you paranormals would want me to get rid of the FBPI agent in your midst. Maybe you don’t care, though, old woman, since you’ll be in jail and these others will be dead. Three more homicides on your hands, crone.”
The demon raised its arms, its eyes rolling back in its head. Issy wasn’t sure what it was doing, but she got the distinct impression it was summoning more energy to finish them all off.
Issy closed her eyes and gathered her inner magic, focusing on breaking the energy bonds the demon had placed around her.
“Liberatium!”
The energy field around her upper body wavered then flickered out.
“Dex!” She squatted down beside Dex, who was shaking off the effects of the energy. He pushed to his feet, shoving Issy behind him and pulling his gun from the holster at his waist. “Stay behind me. I’ll take care of this.”
“Your bullets won’t work here. Not against that,” she said, pointing toward the demon, who was now rubbing its hands together, creating an enormous arc of sparking energy. “Get down!”
She pushed in front of him, fists curled in a ball, ready to toss out a shield spell to try to ward off at least some of the energy.
“Move aside. I’m not going to screw this one up too.” Dex elbowed her out of the way.
“You can’t just shoot a demon. You don’t know what you are doing!” Not to mention that said demon was in Raine’s body. Issy knew for sure a bullet would kill her cousin, and the demon would probably just jump into someone else. She grabbed Dex’s arm and tried to wrestle the gun away.
Unfortunately, their argument had bought the demon enough time to gather itself to full strength. A loud crackling came from deep inside the demon as it unleashed a stream of dark-brown negative energy straight toward Dex.
“No!” That much energy would mean certain death for a human. Maybe for a witch too. There was only one thing that she could do to protect him. It might drain all of her energy and leave her defenseless and vulnerable for the demon’s next attack—or worse, result in full energy de
pletion and kill her—but she had no other choice. If she had to give her life to protect Dex, then she would.
She sucked in a breath and curled her fists.
“Praedisium!” She jumped in front of Dex, throwing open her fists and releasing positive energy to form a protective shield that she hoped would stop the negative energy stream.
The air in front of her sizzled, and the smell of burning rubber filled her nostrils. The shield flashed white and then turned into thousands of tiny sparks that rained down at her feet.
It was as if a Mack truck had hit her. The negative energy, now a sickly beige thanks to the lessening effects of the shield, rolled through her body like a tidal wave, throwing her to the floor and sapping her strength before fizzling out into a pile of ash on the carpet.
Issy felt the last drop of energy drain out of her, but with a smug feeling of satisfaction, she noticed the demon had been depleted of energy too. Now if she could just revive hers… But it was too late. She’d drained it down too far, and she was fading fast.
“What the heck?” Dex’s voice jerked Issy back awake, and she looked up at him. Their eyes locked just as the demon sent one last lethal surge of energy straight at Issy’s heart.
23
“Issy!” Dex stomped out the smoldering carpet then fell to his knees beside her. What the heck had just happened? His heart raced as he looked at her. Her face was pale, and she appeared to be lifeless. He checked her pulse. Thank God she had one! “Issy, talk to me!”
But she didn’t move. He checked her for bleeding. That lightning-bolt thing had hit her in the chest, but the wound was cauterized shut. She wasn’t losing blood, thankfully. His world narrowed to Issy, and he forgot about the strange things that were going on and the weird way Raine was acting. The only thing that mattered was Issy. He grabbed her hand.
Please don’t die.
Her eyes fluttered and opened for a second, and inside them he thought he saw his whole future before they drifted closed again.
A cackle sounded from the other side of the room, and he jerked his attention to Raine… or the thing that looked like Raine.
“You shouldn’t mess in matters of paranormals, human!”
Paranormals? Right. There was no other way to explain this. A million thoughts ran through his head. Stan. Area 59. But the most important one was to protect Issy from that thing. Too bad he’d already bungled that and now she was dying right before his eyes.
He shouldn’t have been surprised. He couldn’t protect a kidnapped child, and now he couldn’t protect Issy. He was a complete and utter failure.
24
Issy’s chest burned as though she’d been poked with a flaming stick. But that was good. Pain meant she was still alive.
She could hear a voice. Dex? The thought comforted her. If he was talking, that meant the demon energy hadn’t killed him.
But then another thought jolted her awareness even higher. If she was unconscious, who was going to battle the demon?
She struggled to break through to consciousness like a diver coming up from the depths of the sea, becoming more and more aware of the physical plane as she surfaced. Someone was rubbing her hand, and it felt warm and comforting.
Then she heard a grating noise that churned her stomach. The demon was amping up its power again. Her eyes shot open.
“Are you okay?” Dex was looking down at her, concern etched on his handsome face.
“Yes. You?” Issy tried to sit up, but she was still too weak.
“Yeah, but…”
The demon made another noise, and they both looked in that direction. Dex pulled his gun.
Issy shot her hand out to stop him. Her arm felt as if it were weighted with lead. “No, that won’t work.”
“What? What the hell is going on here anyway? What is wrong with your cousin?”
“She’s a demon.” Enid spoke from where she was hiding behind the doorway to the kitchen.
“What?” Dex’s gaze flicked from Enid to Issy. Issy’s stomach sank at the look of disbelief on his face. It was clear Dex didn’t believe in demons, even though the evidence was right in front of him, and if he didn’t believe in demons when one was shooting energy at him, he sure as heck wasn’t going to believe in witches.
The air crackled with electricity, and Raine laughed, rubbing her hands together. “Looks like you are down for the count, Issy. That’s too bad. Ember too. Enid’s too old to fight me, and now I have all the time I need to get rid of you folks.”
“I am not too old!” Enid yelled. “Why, I never…”
“The talisman!” Issy tried to push to a sitting position but to no avail. She pointed toward the obsidian talisman that lay under Enid’s mahogany end table.
“That egg?” Dex looked perplexed.
Dex stared at it, and Issy’s hopes fell. He wasn’t going to pick it up. She took a deep breath and summoned all her reserves, hoping she had one last surge in her.
Raine opened her palms, sucked in a breath, and blew a stream of ugly energy toward them.
Issy rolled to the right, grabbed the talisman, and came up on her knees, holding it directly in front of the energy stream.
It hit her with a jolt of electricity. Pain seared up her left arm from the volts, and soon her arm fell limp at her side, and the talisman clattered to the floor, useless. Worse, the deflected energy bounced around the room like a wonky pinball machine, leaving bowling-ball-sized holes in everything it struck—furniture, walls, ceiling, floors.
“Look out!” she managed to call to Enid.
The older woman cowered just in time to avoid a direct hit.
The bouncing energy ball whizzed past Becky, grazing the little pig’s side, and she squealed in pain.
“That is enough!” Enid yelled. She stomped into the living room, fury radiating off her petite form in waves. “Bad enough what you’ve done to my friends and my house. But you will not hurt defenseless animals, do you hear me?” Enid’s normally placid face was mottled with rage. “Why, I ought to—”
“Send it back, Enid!” Issy yelled. “You summoned it that day in the alley. Maybe you can send it back!”
“Darn right, I can!” Enid twirled her cane before her like a weapon. “Let’s see…” She closed her eyes and aimed the cane at the demon. “Fiddle dee dee. Fiddle dee dum. Get ye back from whence you come!”
BOOM!
There was an explosion of sparks and smoke, and the acrid stench of sulphur clogged the air. Issy held her breath, while Dex covered his eyes and coughed.
Please let Enid’s spell work this time. Please let Enid’s spell work this time.
Issy repeated the mantra over and over in her head as she peered through the haze to see Raine fall to the floor, limp and soot covered but still breathing. Her complexion had cleared, and the bumps and scratches on her arms had stopped oozing. The demon was gone.
Enid came over to Issy and grinned. “Guess I still got it, eh?”
25
Issy struggled back onto her knees, surprised that she had the energy even for that. The talisman must have absorbed or deflected almost all of the negative energy, and she was feeling stronger by the second.
“What the heck just happened?” Dex asked. He staggered slightly, his gun waving about as he hacked and coughed. “Issy?”
“Yep. Still down here.” She took his hand to help her get to her feet. Her left arm throbbed with pain, but she was more concerned about him. Demons were forbidden from attacking humans for a reason. One bolt of energy could be lethal to their fragile systems. “I’ll be fine. What about you?”
“I’m good.” He rubbed his watering eyes then squinted around the room. “Like I said, I can take care of myself.”
“So can I,” she said.
“Yeah.” Dex gave her a slow head-to-toe appraisal. “I can see that.”
Issy gazed around at the damage. Poor Enid. Her quaint little cottage was trashed. All the small appliances in the kitchen were sputtering and smoki
ng, including the coffee maker and the toaster, not to mention all the lamps. Gaping, charred holes dotted the room from where the energy ball had bounced, and at least half the couch was smoldering. On the dining table, the charcoal-black remains of the poisoned pizza still popped and hissed.
Ember moaned, and Issy rushed to her side. “Are you okay?”
“It’s Raine…” Ember managed to whisper. “She’s…”
“We know.” Issy smoothed the damp auburn hair back from her cousin’s forehead and smiled. “Enid banished the demon back to hell.”
“She did?” Ember sat up slowly and looked around, pressing her hand to her forehead. “Good for you, Enid.”
“Thanks.” Enid joined them, and together the trio helped Ember to her feet. “Better check on your third musketeer over there, though.”
The Quinn cousins rushed to Raine’s side, where she was slumped against the wall. Her eyes fluttered open, and Issy looked deep into them just to make sure. Yep, peridot green and no sign of the deep, dark, fathomless demon soul. Raine wrinkled her nose and scowled up at the other two. “What’s going on? What happened? And what’s that smell?”
Issy put her arm around Raine’s shoulders. “You were possessed by the demon, sweetie. Don’t you remember?”
“No.” Raine frowned. “The last thing I remember was sitting around Enid’s table when we brought over those chocolates. Then I woke up here.”
Issy and Ember exchanged a glance. Raine had no idea of the havoc she’d wreaked. How much should they tell her?
“What?” Raine looked around the room. “Are you guys serious?”
“I’m afraid so,” Issy said. “Remember how you had those scratches from the briarwort?”
Raine looked at her arms, where the scratches were quickly starting to heal, and nodded.
Spell Disaster (Silver Hollow Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series Book 2) Page 12