Of Ash and Spirit: Piper Lancaster Series

by D. G. Swank

  Squatting, I set the daggers on the pavement and made quick work of the clasp. As soon as I pulled the pendant a foot away from my body, my inner vision sprang to life. I could feel the two demons closer to the bridge. They were together and they became alert as soon as I sensed them. They knew I was here. They were curious and excited.

  I stuffed the necklace into my jeans pocket, picked up my daggers, then stood. Since I needed this showdown to take place close to the bridge, I boldly walked up the road toward the two men.

  When I was about twenty feet away, I called out, “I hear you have my friend.” My voice sounded so much stronger than I would have expected.

  The two demons were above me to my right. Watching. Could I take on the two of them together? Doubtful.

  I was in big trouble, but I already knew that.

  “Are you the demon slayer?” a man called out in a wary tone.

  “I prefer the term demon mediator. Slayer has such negative connotations.”

  “Can you destroy them or not?” the other guy snapped.

  “I don’t know,” I said, not slowing down. “I’ve never tried.”

  “Your friend’s life depends on it,” the second guy said.

  I gave him a scathing glance as I came to a stop next to them, about ten feet from the bridge. “I suspect your lives depend on it too.” I scanned the hill banks on either side of us. “Have you seen them yet?”

  “The demons?” the first guy asked.

  The second guy gave the first a sharp elbow jab. “Of course the demons.”

  “No,” the first guy said warily.

  “They’re up there.” I pointed to the edge of the bridge over our heads. “They’ve been watching you for a bit. They’re curious about why you’re here.”

  The first guy gulped.

  “So what are the rules?” I asked. “How do we do this?”

  “Simple. You kill the demons . . . we give you back your friend,” the second guy said, glancing down at my hands before looking back up at me.

  “Why’d you try to steal the daggers this afternoon if you wanted me to do this? Or was this plan B?”

  The second guy shook his head. “What are you talking about?”

  “The attempted mugging this afternoon?” I said. “Outside the bank. My friend showed up and made violent death threats. Ring any bells?”

  “But we want you to use the daggers tonight. Why would we try to steal them?”

  “How am I supposed to know how your dastardly plans come together? If you didn’t try to steal them, then who?” I narrowed my eyes. “Y’all are with the Guardians, aren’t you?”

  They remained silent.

  “I’m going to take that as a yes.” I looked them over again, then glanced down the road to the other side of the bridge. “Why doesn’t your friend come join us? There’s no need to keep watch. The demons know something’s up, and they’re keeping people away. No one’s going to drop in unexpectedly.”

  Or at least I thought so. Jack had seemed pretty certain, and it seemed likely he was right since I still hadn’t seen any cars.

  “What about your friends?” the second guy asked.

  “You kidnapped one,” I said. “And the priest and I aren’t exactly seeing eye to eye.”

  “How about the other two?”

  “One of them is at home, and the other . . .”

  I felt a sudden presence beside me. “Is here,” Abel said in an ominous voice. It held the threat of violence.

  Where had he come from? He was dressed in dark leather pants and a tight-fitting, black short-sleeved shirt, and a short black leather jacket. He didn’t have any weapons, but his entire countenance screamed danger. Abel was weapon enough.

  Anger radiated off him in waves, and I resisted the urge to shrink back from him, unsure if he was pissed at them or at me. Probably both.

  The two men in front of me looked terrified, and the man on the other side of the bridge froze in his tracks.

  “It would seem there’s a competition underfoot,” Abel said in a playful tone that sounded menacing.

  The men remained silent.

  “Piper,” Abel said in a mock-patient voice. “Why don’t you bring me up to speed?”

  That answered any lingering doubts I had about Abel’s involvement. Or his involvement in this, anyway. “They kidnapped my friend Rhys and said I could get her back after I killed the demons.”

  “And where is Rhys now?”

  “Somewhere safe,” the second man said.

  “That’s for me to determine,” Abel said. “I want to see her for myself. And I want your other friend to join us. If he refuses, I’ll take it as a sign of poor hospitality.”

  The second guy appeared to be the man in charge, because he motioned for the third guy to join us.

  The third guy took a few hesitant steps before swiveling around to run.

  “Stop,” Abel said, the order delivered in an unmistakable tone of command. I could feel the power behind it. So it wasn’t only demons he could control . . .

  The man came to a full stop.

  “Come to me,” Abel said in the same tone.

  The third man slowly turned around and started walking toward us, his eyes wide with terror.

  The other two shifted their weight, realizing they were no longer in charge of the situation.

  The third man stopped about ten feet in front of us, and I realized he was the same man who’d tried to steal the daggers earlier.

  I turned my anger toward his two friends. “You lied to me. You did try to steal the knives.”

  They looked shocked by my accusation.

  “No, Kewasa,” Abel said, his jaw hardening. “This one acted on his own, didn’t you?”

  The third man’s eyes bulged.

  “Answer me,” Abel said.

  “Yes. I was told if I brought them to—”

  “I warned you.” He didn’t raise his voice, but the danger in his tone was unmistakable. “I warned you what would happen if I saw you again.”

  Abel cut off his explanation. Was that intentional?

  “Please,” the man squeaked.

  The threat was fresh in my mind—he’d pretty much promised to behead him. “Abel,” I said in a questioning tone.

  He cast me a glance, his body tight with tension, but then his expression eased ever so slightly. Turning back to the man, he said, “Piper wishes to give you mercy.”

  The man’s gaze pleaded with me.

  “I will not touch a hair on your head,” Abel said.

  The man’s body relaxed as his invisible bonds apparently fell away. He tumbled to his knees, gasping for breath.

  He obviously thought he was free, but I had caught the trick in Abel’s words.

  The demons were still overhead, watching.

  Abel turned to the man’s two friends. “You wish to see Piper fight the demons?”

  The man in charge nodded, but looked wary. “Yeah. We’re supposed to make sure she’s the one.”

  “There is no doubt she’s the one,” Abel said with a haughty air. “But you shall not be delivering the message.” He released a guttural command into the air, and everything went still. It was as though Abel ruled the world around him, and the living things in it had no choice but to obey his commands.

  All except for me. While I felt a slight tug, it was more of a yearning to possess his power, not an urge to obey it. Every fiber of my being was drawn to him.

  My mind panicked and I searched for a way to break the invisible thread reeling me in, but Abel turned to face me, as if sensing my struggle, and said something I didn’t understand. The connection snapped.

  “What are you?” I asked in a whisper. What kind of being could have this kind of power? Then I remembered what Jack had said about demons appearing as humans. “Are you a demon?” But it felt wrong even as I said it. I couldn’t sense his presence any more than I could sense Jack’s or Rhys’s.

  He gave me a wry smile. “No, Kewasa. I am n
ot a demon, although you may believe I am before our partnership is done.” Then he pulled me backward several feet as the demons released snarling sounds up on the hill.

  I realized what he was about to do. “Abel! You’re going to murder those men!”

  “Not me. The demons will kill them.”

  “Abel!”

  His entire body could have been chiseled from granite. “Those men were part of a group responsible for your parents’ murders. Would you not seek justice?”

  “Not like this! Their souls will be bound to hell.”

  His mouth tilted up on one side. “Not if you free them with your daggers.”

  Was this a test?

  Then the tension in the air dissipated. Panic filled the men’s eyes as the demons bounded down the hill and charged toward them.

  They screamed in fright and took off in different directions—the guy who’d tried to steal the daggers headed for the other side of the bridge, while the two from this side split up, one trying to scramble up the hillside and the other taking off down the opposite side of the road.

  “Watch,” Abel said. “Watch how the demons attack. Learn how they kill their prey. You can use it to your advantage when you fight them. If you wish to beat an opponent, study their behavior.”

  I stared in mute horror as the demons quickly caught up with their prey. Thargos went after the man who’d tried to steal the daggers, while Valvad slashed the throat of the first man. The man in charge took off running, but Valvad reached out its impossibly long arm and slashed through his shirt and down his back.

  “Abel. Stop this,” I shouted.

  “No.” The word was full of power, and I could tell he’d hoped to control me like the others, only it didn’t work. I didn’t have time to think about that. I was trying to figure out how I could save them without getting killed in the process.

  “What do you notice?” Abel asked in my ear.

  I shook my head. I wasn’t going to study these men’s murders like they were lab rats.

  “Piper. Do not waste this opportunity. It’s in both of our best interest if you survive; now what do you notice?”

  “Uh . . .” I fought to focus. “Valvad is lazy.”

  A grin tugged at his lips. “True, and it tires easily, but as you saw when it came running down the hill, it is capable of bursts of energy. What do you notice about Thargos?”

  I cringed. Thargos kept letting the third man escape a few feet before cornering him and sending him running in the opposite direction by inflicting a slash on his arm or leg.

  I turned away, but Abel’s hand encircled my bicep. “You will see worse things than this before we are finished. You have to face this.”

  “You could stop this massacre!”

  “No. Not if this will help you.”

  “Studying their technique?”

  “Yes, and by wearing them out and satiating their hunger.” His voice turned harsh. “Make no mistake, Piper, those men would have gladly ruined you. Now tell me what you notice about Thargos.”

  “It likes to play with its food,” I said in horror as the demon continued to play with its victim.

  “Yes, and believe it or not, the two demons hate one another.”

  “But they were watching together.”

  “Because they didn’t know what was going on. You’ll need to pit them against each other when you fight them.”

  I jerked to look up at him. “I’m fighting them together?”

  “I doubt one will wait patiently while the other attacks the slayer. Both of them will want bragging rights.”

  “I’m not the slayer,” I said, fighting hard to keep my terror out of my voice.

  “You are.” He sounded so certain I almost believed I could do this.

  “Aren’t you going to help me?”

  “No. You must kill them on your own, but I can coach you and give you direction.”

  Valvad had its second victim pinned to the ground, its claws buried deeply in the man’s shoulder. The man screamed.

  I wasn’t sure I could handle watching much more. “I can’t do this, Abel,” I said, starting to panic.

  “You can, Kewasa,” he said softly. He cupped my cheek and turned my head to face him. “Find your courage deep within. I’ve seen it. It lives. It breathes. It mingles with your power. Join them together, and you will be invincible.”

  “And if I can’t?”

  A shadow crossed his face. “You know the answer.”

  I swallowed hard and watched Valvad collect the soul of the second man. Thargos had grown tired of its game and threw the third guy to the ground. It went for his throat while the man thrashed and flopped beneath it.

  “I want a favor from you,” I said breathlessly.

  “I can’t help you, Waboose,” Abel said, and I felt relief at the regret in his voice. Based on the gentle way he said my nickname—the one I still didn’t know the meaning of—he did care for me in some small way. I was counting on it.

  “I know, but I can’t die like that,” I said, flinging my arm toward the demons. “If you can see I’m going to lose, I want you to kill me.”

  Shock filled his eyes.

  “I know you can do it. I’ve felt what you’re capable of. You can squeeze my heart, and I’ll die instantly. I won’t be tortured.” Gill had suffered tenfold more because it had thought he was the demon slayer. I had no doubt the demon would make me suffer too.

  Pain filled Abel’s eyes, then surprise. “Piper.”

  I grabbed his arm. “Abel. Please. I’ll do everything I can to kill them, but promise me you won’t let me suffer.”

  His face darkened and I was sure he was going to tell me no, but instead he said, “A promise must be paid by a promise.”

  “You want me to promise you something?” I asked. “You want the daggers?”

  “You know I have a purpose for you,” he said, his words thick. “I want your promise that you will fulfill it when the time comes.”

  “What is it?” I asked warily.

  He glanced to the side and a sly grin tipped one side of his mouth. “You’re not in a position to negotiate.”

  He was right. Both demons had finished with their prey and were watching me with interest.

  Abel lifted his hand. “Stop. Wait.”

  The demons growled, but they did as commanded.

  “You can make demons obey you, but you can’t kill them?” I asked, getting angry. “I call bullshit, Abel.”

  “In this instance, it’s true,” he said, his gaze on the demons. “Perhaps in the future, I can assist you, but you must do this on your own, although I had expected there would only be one for you to fight.”

  He wasn’t sure I could do this either. “Don’t let them torture me, Abel.”

  He turned his head slightly, looking down at me with a mixture of anger and sympathy and something else I couldn’t figure out. Something soft, a word I didn’t associate with him, yet there it was nonetheless. “A promise for a promise, Kewasa. Made with a blood vow.”

  “A what?”

  “Make your decision quickly. They are tired from their attack, but the souls they have taken are even now giving them strength. You don’t want to lose your advantage.”

  Damn him. I had no doubt I’d die here. But if I didn’t promise I’d do as he asked, my death would be slow and agonizing. Had he planned this? The thought disgusted me. “Okay, I’ll promise.”

  Abel leaned to his side and pulled out a dagger of his own with a long skinny blade and a shiny silver handle. “Transfer the dagger in your left hand to the right.”

  After a bit of fumbling, I did just that. He reached down for my left hand and pricked the center of the circle in my mark. A droplet of blood filled my palm as he pricked his own left hand and held it next to mine. Then he laid his own dagger across our side-by-side open palms, covering the drops of blood. He began to speak in an ancient language, nothing I recognized, yet I could understand the words in my head.

 
; “A promise for a promise,” he said. “I will kill you before I let the demons needlessly torture you, and if you survive, you will fulfill my purpose, when the time is right. We offer the essence of our life as fealty to our agreement. With this blood oath, our promises are sealed.” Then he removed the knife and clasped my hand with his, our blood mingling.

  A rush of power shot through my arm and into my chest. I felt alive and alert and was filled with more energy than I’d ever had before.

  “What . . . ?” I asked him in confusion, realizing he’d found a way to give me an advantage against the demons.

  He leaned forward, his lips barely above mine, our hands still clasped. “And now you are mine.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  What did he mean I was his? For the promise, right?

  My body was ultra-aware of this man who was so close yet so removed from me. Every nerve ending was on fire, some parts of me burning hotter than others. His breath mingled with mine as our blood joined, and I felt an increased certainty this bond had added a new element to our connection. I ached to reach out and touch him, yet I held back, unsure I’d be able to stop if I gave in to the urge. Which wouldn’t be a good thing since there were two demons waiting to kill me.

  That brought me out of my trance.

  I pulled back, but Abel still clasped my hand, and I felt the power exchange lessen. “That is all I can do to help you.”

  “Thank you.”

  His eyes darkened. “Don’t thank me yet. I still might kill you.”

  “No,” I said, pulling my hand from his. “I’m stronger now.”

  As soon as Abel’s surge of power began to fade, the demons’ gaze landed directly on us. Had Abel made us invisible?

  “We can smell your power, demon hunter,” Valvad said. “We are hungry for it.”

  “As I said . . . ,” Abel said. “I may have cursed you more, but it was worth the risk. I wanted you to have an advantage.”