Reluctantly, I followed.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Laughter, low and menacing, echoed on every side of me, coiling and twisting around the corners and furniture as I made my way across the room. I expected to find demons at every step—from the hallway to my right or bursting through the open basement door. I felt them watching.
Daniel and Banning were already in the kitchen along with a couple of demons when I entered. Then, I saw my sister and Pete.
Pete did a little dance and laughed gleefully. At least, it looked like Pete, although not entirely. A demon had possessed him, just as Daniel had done to the guy on the bike. The demon shone through his eyes, making them cold and distant. Pete had given me the creeps before, but this new Pete made my skin crawl. I also understood the saying that the eyes were the windows to the soul better than ever.
Worse, though, was the other demon, the one clutching my sister in front of him like a shield, one taloned claw against her throat. His skin was blackened, as though he’d been through the worst of hell’s fires.
“Let her GO!” I demanded. Of course, I knew it wasn’t that simple. Not even if I’d said please.
“Come to watch her bleeeed?” Pete taunted in a low, thick voice that clearly wasn’t his own. On cue, the demon pressed his talon into my sister’s neck and a small trickle of blood trailed down her throat.
Jordan trembled, her face pale.
“Easy, Sunshine,” Daniel said. “It’s no big deal. It’s not like they can kill her, remember?”
I glared at Daniel for his insensitive remark. My fists clenched in anger, even as my knees shook with fear. True, they couldn’t kill her, but they would hurt her. They’d cause her pain far beyond what the living could bear. No one could stand by while a loved one was tortured—repeatedly. I turned my attention back to the demon.
Since I was no match for the demon, anger wouldn’t help me at the moment. I swallowed the rage inside me, deciding to try a gentler approach. “Don’t,” I pleaded.
“Maybe you’d rather watch something else?” Pete asked. He eyed my sister longingly. As if responding to Pete’s words, the demon kissed the side of my sister’s face, gently, seductively.
I wanted to throw up. Jordan was trying to be brave but I could see the sheer terror on her face. Clearly, reasoning and pleading weren’t working very well.
Pete’s eyes glittered in delight. “Nice party, isn’t it? Since I’m the host, let me explain how this will go. You and your sister here love each other so much that you’ll each offer up your souls just to prevent the other from suffering. I instruct the demons who suffers and how much while the other is helpless to do anything about it. Jordan will offer her soul to prevent anything from happening to her dear sister, won’t you, my sweet?” He grinned at Jordan.
“Don’t touch her!” Jordan shouted.
Pete held up a hand. “Quiet now! I’m not done talking. Don’t be rude,” the demon inside Pete said. “Keely can stop all this anytime she wants. All she has to do is ask the demons to kill Pete. Once she does, I’ll leave his body. It’s a win-win situation. My master gets four souls—the reaper and both of the sisters, and Pete gets his wish to spend eternity with both girls.”
“It’ll never happen!” Daniel argued.
Pete scoffed. “Oh, but it will. It will.”
I charged Pete, not caring anymore. All I wanted in that moment was revenge. “You son-of-a—”
“Keely, no!” Banning grabbed me.
Pete wagged a finger. “You’re an earthbound, remember? What do you think you can possibly do to this body? Especially with a demon on the inside. Really now, I thought you were smarter than that. Weren’t you listening? Tell these nice demons what you want.” He motioned to the nearby hell spawn.
I struggled against Banning’s hold. “The hell with this stupid test!” I twisted free, glaring at Pete. “I’ll kill you, you bastard!”
“Lovely. Then the sooner Pete will be with the both of you,” Demon-Pete said with a maniacal grin.
Banning had both hands on the scythe, his blue eyes burning brightly. “Don’t, Keely. He’s bluffing. He can’t take your sister. He can’t bend the rules.”
“About those rules, Reaper. You’ve bent a few yourself.”
Banning drew himself up, clearly not denying what the demon in Pete said. “I’m not the one on trial here.”
Pete folded his hands together, as though we’d reached some big agreement. “So, Keely. You’ll have to ask yourself what you believe. Can I take your sister when she’s clearly not part of the original deal? Even if I’m lying, does it really matter in the scheme of things? Even if she doesn’t offer her soul to keep you from harm, she’ll still suffer, and you and the reaper will still join me in hell.” His eyes flicked to Jordan. “If you won’t join us this time, maybe soon, right? Angels have fallen before, my love. I’ll wait.”
“I’m not your love!” Jordan spat.
The demon holding her stroked her hair and Jordan struggled against him.
“I hate you,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Tsk, tsk. Sticks and stones.” He waved a dismissive hand. “Now, let’s get the party rolling.”
Laughter erupted from some of the demons.
“We’ve been waiting for you, Keely. Couldn’t start the festivities without you.” Pete flashed a look of stone-cold insanity. “Let’s start with you first, shall we? Make the deal now, or your sister suffers instead. Repeatedly. While you watch. It’ll be our pleasure. How much do you think she can handle before she begs you to make the deal?”
No way would I let him touch her, threaten her. Threaten us. I couldn’t breathe. I would not let him get away with this. Not again.
Jordan was trembling harder now.
“You okay, Jordan?” Daniel asked.
Finally. A little compassion. Jordan half nodded. Of course she wasn’t okay! She was terrified. Couldn’t he see that? I gave Banning a desperate look, pleading with him silently. Couldn’t he take out the demon inside Pete as well as the one holding my sister?
Pete laughed. “Neither of your friends can help you now, Keely. The reaper can’t banish me as long as I’m inside ol’ Pete here. It’s not my buddy Pete’s time until you say so. Even then, it’s only by the hands of the demons. And Daniel? Don’t kid yourself. He’s the reason your sister’s here right now. He lied to you. That’s what he does. You can’t trust him. See how he hides behind the human he’s possessed?”
Daniel glanced at Banning. “She could—”
“No.” Banning said. “Not yet. We’ll work this out. We’ll get Jordan back and we’ll all get out of this.”
“Yessss,” Pete hissed. “You will get your dear sister back, Keely. Eventually. You got her back last time, didn’t you? You got her back cold and rotting. But Pete is an amateur compared to us. And, ohhhhh! The things she’ll endure before we’re done.”
“I’m sorry, Keely,” Jordan said, her tone desperate. “I thought I could end it.” Tears filled her eyes. “I didn’t know it’d be like…like this.” Her eyes darted about the room. She had no way of knowing this would happen. Hell’s funhouse as Daniel had put it, where not even the rules of purgatory applied.
The demon traced a talon along Jordan’s abdomen.
I stepped forward, and the demon pressed his talon to Jordan’s skin harder, drawing a thin line of blood. She didn’t cry out, but I did. “Oh, God, no! Please. Leave her alone.”
The corner of Pete’s mouth twitched. “No God here, Keely. Just you. What do you say? Play God for me? Pete here wants you to do it.”
Pete was sicker than I thought, which was really saying something.
Jordan struggled against the demon, but he barely noticed. “No, Keely! Don’t do it!” she wailed.
Daniel leaned close to my ear. “Hang in there, Sunshine. You can’t touch Pete, but biker dude can. We’ll beat the demon right out of him.”
I nodded.
Daniel scanned the
room. “Where are the others?”
“That’s the problem,” Banning said. “For every one I banish, more appear. They’re in the walls, the attic. Everywhere.”
“Keeeely,” Pete’s inner demon said in a long whisper. The words swirled around me, snaking into one ear then sliding around and into the other. “End this foolishness now. Let us be your brothers. What do you say?”
I resisted the urge to scrub the skin on my arms, to scrape away the filth dripping from that voice.
Without warning, the demon punctured my sister’s abdomen with a talon. Jordan’s scream of pain and terror pierced my heart.
“NO!” I screamed.
The demon slid along the wall, dragging my sister with him. Pete followed, his eyes as dark as the soul behind them, his lunatic laugh filling the small room. A loud crack sounded behind Pete and two more demons emerged, their faces scowling, eyes glaring.
Pete’s head cocked in a quick, jerky movement, and a slanted grin formed on his face. “More demons for you, Reaper! More demons to join the game.” He cackled madly.
Even more demons rounded the corner, and Banning swung at them. One shoved another into Banning’s path and his scythe caught the demon between the shoulder blades. The demon howled and dropped to the ground before vanishing.
Screaming and scraping erupted all around me, like it was coming from inside the walls of the house. Banning was right—the house was crawling with them. No, infected with them. The lighting fixtures overhead swayed slightly and an overwhelming stench of sulfur burned my nose, making my eyes water.
Demon heads and arms emerged from the wall, and the fiend holding Jordan relinquished her to them. Jordan struggled, but the demons were far too strong. They pinned her against the wall. Their hands clutched her, pulling her toward the ceiling, handing her off from one minion to the next. Jordan screamed, punching and kicking, but it did her no good. I watched helplessly as my sister disappeared into the wall as though it were water, and I heard her screams from the next room.
Without assistance, the kitchen door opened. Pete’s stare fell on me. “Care to imagine what we’re going to do next? I bet my imagination is better than yours.”
Pete gave a brief nod to a small group of demons. They grabbed me and ushered me out of the house. Banning caught one of them before another wave of demons appeared, blocking his path. Behind me, my sister screamed my name. I strained against the demons. They howled with glee before shoving me to the ground and setting me free. I scrambled to my feet. Why had they let me go?
Daniel barreled out of the house and into Pete hard enough to send them both sprawling onto the small concrete patio. Daniel pummeled Pete, slamming his fists into Pete’s face again and again. Pete didn’t fight back. The other demons cheered him on. I hadn’t asked Daniel to defend me, but if I let Daniel kill Pete if I watched him die by Daniel’s hand and did nothing, would Banning and I still go to hell? I wanted to scream with frustration. My sister was inside, defenseless against a legion of demons, and even Banning couldn’t fight them all off alone. From inside the house came another thundering crack, announcing the next wave of hell’s minions.
I ran to the window next to the kitchen—the room where I thought the demons had taken Jordan. She was on the floor, clinging desperately to the leg of a bed as demons tugged at her. One stomped on her hand and she yelped and let go, continuing to fight, kicking at them as they pulled her across the floor. As they made their way to the hallway, Jordan grabbed hold of the doorframe.
She looked up and saw me through the window. “Keely,” she panted. “Don’t. Give. In.”
With a final tug, her grip loosened and the demons dragged her around the corner and down the hallway, her screams trailing through the house. Where had they taken her? I didn’t care who went to hell over this. I wouldn’t let them take Jordan. I glanced back at Daniel who still had Pete under control. I only hoped Banning was doing as well.
I started through the window to go after Jordan, but demons emerged from everywhere to stop me. They clawed their way from the floor and the walls. A few of those shadow-like things pried themselves out of the ceiling and dropped to the floor with a splat like thick, fat-bodied spiders. I made for the back door instead, thinking Banning might still be nearby.
The door slammed shut in front of me. A demon’s face bulged from within it. “Care to join me? Say the magic word and we’ll become one...”
“Banning!” I screamed. “Let me in!”
Behind me, Pete laughed.
“Daniel!” I screamed. “I can’t get in! Daniel, help me!”
Daniel jerked Pete to his feet and shoved him toward the door. “Order them to open it,” he growled.
Pete grinned and wiped blood from his busted lip. “Jordan,” he shouted. “Little pig, little pig, let me come in.” He laughed until he howled. “Or little one here will raise more dinny din din!”
I kicked the door. “Open the damn door or so help me—”
Demons collected close to Pete, waiting on my command.
“Do it!” Pete urged. “You don’t believe that rubbish about thou shalt not kill, do you? Take your revenge. What are you waiiiiting for?” he taunted.
“This!” Daniel grabbed Pete and dragged him to the floor-length dining room window, took hold of his jacket collar and threw him. Pete crashed through the window and hit the dining room floor.
Daniel motioned for me to follow. “Tuck and roll,” he said.
We went through the broken window together, barely missing Banning’s scythe as it sliced through the air and into an oncoming demon’s midsection. The demon doubled over, then disintegrated into ash and smoke. I took in Banning’s appearance—his torn duster, the blood trickling from a cut on his left cheek. He was hanging in there, better than I expected given our circumstances, but still, this had to end.
A demon charged Daniel. Daniel held up his hands and pushed the demon backward as though some unseen barrier was present. “Only room in here for one demon, pal. Get your own.”
However Daniel had done it, it took a lot out of the biker guy—he bent over to catch his breath and his face went grey.
Pete continued to cackle madly from his place on the floor as Banning whirled again, taking out yet another demon behind him. He’d already dispatched so many and yet we were still badly out-numbered.
I looked for Jordan, ducking as yet another demon, this one sporting talons that matched Banning’s scythe, sliced the air in front of me. Knives on the center work island began to vibrate and spin wildly like an out of control compass. One finally stopped, then flew from the counter straight for Daniel.
“Watch out!” I yelled.
Daniel ducked and the knife embedded itself into the wall.
“Thanks,” he said. “That would have been bad for biker dude.”
A newly emerging demon lunged and grabbed Banning. He shoved it off and swung the scythe, catching the fiend mid-chest. The demon imploded in a burst of bile-green flames.
I didn’t know how many demons Banning had taken out, but at the moment, there were three, maybe five left.
Jordan’s screams were louder now. I ran past Daniel, stopping when I came to the living room. A tall, thin demon sporting a goatee was leaning against the wall. He reached into the wall and pulled the upper part of my sister through the plaster by her hair, his dagger-like nails digging into her scalp. He poised one free claw over her face.
“That’s right, Keely. Come to me,” he coaxed. “Let’s put the finishing touches on this deal, shall we?”
“I’ve been through worse,” Jordan managed to say. One of her eyes was swollen shut. “Not one word, Keely.”
“Say it,” the demon growled, stroking a nail threateningly along Jordan’s cheek. “Give the order and join us.”
From behind me came the sound of Banning’s scythe making contact with yet another demon. Banning grunted with the effort of each swing. He was getting tired, and Daniel, or more accurately, the guy he posse
ssed, was looking more exhausted by the minute. He staggered into the room after me. They couldn’t keep this up forever.
“Two minutes,” the goateed demon warned. “Two minutes and I gouge out her eyes.”
Pete stepped into the room. “This is such fun, don’t you think?” He ground the remains of a potted plant into the rug with his boot and gave a dramatic sigh. “But, sadly, playtime is over. Maybe she’ll listen to you, Reaper. Tell Keely what she needs to do.”
Daniel and Banning exchanged a knowing glance. “Do it, Banning, tell her! It’s her only chance. And you know it.”
Things were worse than I thought if Daniel was telling me to surrender. Unless, he was on their side after all.
No, he wouldn’t do that to me. And neither would Banning.
Banning tucked the scythe behind him and whirled, his form becoming a smoky blur with the motion. Tendrils of black mist feathered outward, reconstructing back into Banning’s form as he stood right beside me.
“Listen,” Banning whispered softly into my ear. “Listen very carefully. I’m going to tell you how to trick the devil.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
I listened as Banning spoke.
When he finished, I turned to him and nodded.
Banning’s winter-blue eyes were filled with concern. “You don’t have to do this, Keely. We’ll figure something else out.”
But, I wanted to do it. Oddly, I was sure this was the right thing to do. It was both thrilling and terrifying, and it might actually work. “Is this where you tell me I have my whole life ahead of me, Banning? Because I don’t.”
“What are you telling her, Reaper?” Pete’s eyes glittered, beetle dark and distrustful.
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