Waltzing into Damnation

by Rita Stradling

“The other side also has seals, seven seals,” Cassidy explains. “Those horsemen are on Earth because the first four have been lifted. We can only hope the rest of the seals are opened long after we have a chance to fix this mess we’re in.”

  Linnie’s brow furrows. “By killing Andras?”

  “Permanently, and others.” Cassidy’s gaze drifts away. “Andras’ demons would remain leaderless on Earth, unable to buy souls, sovereign unto themselves. It’s likely that they’d be more concerned with preventing greater demons from taking a body to claim Andras’ disbanded armies for their own. The Leijonskjöld, at least, used to believe that if we can head off a demonic takeover, then Heaven won’t deliver their final judgments on humankind nor send their angels until the next incarnation of the anti-Christ. That could delay the apocalypse for another thousand years.”

  Linnie’s eyebrows shoot up like I haven’t already explained our plan a thousand times to her. Obviously, an English accent added something to the explanation.

  We’d started planning Andras’ assassination nine months ago, but unfortunately, Albert put a five-month delay on it.

  “And, so we’re going to summon a demon?” Linnie asks.

  We both hush her, waving our hands. Of course she remembered that detail of our plan.

  Linnie throws a thumb over her shoulder toward the window, looking exasperated, but lowers her voice. “Nicholas is still outside, guys.”

  “We’re not going to summon the demon. That involves sorcery and conjuring, something none of us can do. We’re going to entice him into our circle and bargain with him.”

  Of all the books Albert kept, one that even hinted at how to summon demons wasn’t among them. Seven months ago, when I’d expressed my dismay at this to Cassidy, she had patiently explained to me that her demon infection gave her one power and one only—shifting into a lion. Even if Albert had ten books on demon conjuring, neither Cassidy nor I were natural witches, and gaining the power to do that type of spell unnaturally would have crossed even my blurred moral lines. So, we were doing this the old-fashioned way.

  Cassidy sits up straight, rolling back her shoulders. “Well, we had better get started then, hadn’t we? I’m thinking any break is a blessing we shouldn’t count on. I suggest we start in their kitchen to see if they have enough salt. As the original plan to catch one of Andras’ infected birds now looks to be impossible, one of you will need to do the bloodletting—”

  “Linnie,” I say, interrupting Cassidy and making Linnie look over, startled. When we make eye contact, I continue. “It’s not going to be you. Could you go distract Nicholas?”

  “I can do the blood.” She sounds too nonchalant. Examining my expression, she pauses and then points back at the window, her brow furrowed. “He’s acting all stealthy, circling the property. If I go out there, he’ll just realize something’s up.”

  “Pretend like… you want him to train you to be a look-out. Try to get him to tell you if anyone is coming. It’s really important that we know.”

  Linnie regards me with narrowed eyes. “Raven, I—”

  “Please.” I chew on my lip, waiting for her to leave.

  After a second of hesitation, Linnie turns and hurries out, closing the door softly behind her.

  Cassidy leans in to meet my gaze. “She’s right, you know. Nicholas will realise that something is up the moment Linnie steps out there.”

  “I don’t care. I already have my ticket to Hell; there’s no way I’m going to let her come with me,” I whisper back. Though I say the words darkly, I feel a small amount of relief. When I think about what I’ve already decided to do to defeat Andras, what I’ll have to do to save Stephen, it is almost a comfort to know that no matter what I do in this life, I’ve already been sentenced to purgatory.

  I’ve been thrust onto a dark path, and the only light at the end of my tunnel is a fiery demise.

  She regards me levelly. “I’ve missed these little lighthearted chats of ours.”

  I look away. “Sorry, I’m pretty sure I was born cynical.”

  “Well, according to the Leijonskjöld, we’ll be sharing an infernal flat. So, all right, let’s go get the salt. Hopefully the former owners of this place were the types to stock up for years.”

  They were, thank all that was holy. Not only do we find three canisters of salt in the downstairs pantry, in the kitchen there’s long metal flashlights, matches, candles, and first aid supplies, along with other essential survival gear.

  “Are you hungry?”

  I look up from the large junk drawer where I’m fishing for working batteries. “I’m actually starving.” Weird that I hadn’t even noticed until now.

  Cassidy holds up a small package. “Well, I have lunch, a packet of instant noodles.”

  “Awesome…” I squint at her. “But how are we going to boil the water?”

  She blows out a laugh. “I forgot that you never did the real uni life thing. You can just eat it plain if you’re desperate.” After chucking me one of the packets, she opens hers and breaks off a piece. “This isn’t going to be close to enough.” While crunching through the dried noodles, she says, “Do you want some beans, too? They have all kinds of stuff: flour, sugar, cans of this and that. Most of them are no use without a way to cook them. I suppose we should take them all with us—”

  Cassidy and I turn as a low, loud rumble ripples through the air, growing with ever-increasing volume.

  “Shit, they’ve followed us!” Cassidy springs to her feet as I climb to mine.

  The sound is instantly recognizable, an unkindness of hundreds of thousands of ravens heading our way.

  I sprint across the worn-in wood floors, my legs complaining at every movement as we race down the hall toward the front door.

  Right before Cassidy reaches the door at top speed, she pulls short and the door slams open.

  Linnie practically falls through, Nicholas right behind her.

  “They’re coming!” Linnie shouts as she hurtles forward, almost going horizontal through the air.

  Cassidy catches her, hands going to her shoulders and fingers digging into Linnie’s loose sweatshirt.

  A loud slamming sound makes everyone jump as I catch up to the group.

  Nicholas turns from the door he just closed, shouting, “Cassidy.” He blinks twice as if he didn’t expect to see Cassidy already here. Giving a slight shake of his head, he lowers his voice. “They’re passing straight over us. I don’t know if they saw us or not.” His gaze fixes on me, blue eyes bright and fierce in his angelic face. “We should break for the car. There are too many access points in this house and no time to secure it.”

  “Raven can control them,” Cassidy says.

  Nicholas’ gaze snaps to mine as shock falls across his features.

  “We don’t know that,” I say, shaking my head. “Not for sure.”

  Linnie’s head pops up, though she looks to be perfectly content in Cassidy’s hold. “They didn’t attack any of us when they flew by us in the road.”

  “I—I thought they might follow my orders, but I could be totally, and fatally, wrong. Let’s break for the car.”

  “You mean the car that’s running on fumes?” Linnie points out.

  “She’s right,” Cassidy says. “And if we go out there, they’ll definitely mob us. We won’t be able to drive anywhere with thousands of birds on the car. There are resources and weapons in here.”

  The noise outside grows so loud, I doubt the car is even an option anyway. We fall silent, no one needing to be told to quiet as a thundering shushing sound interspersed with shrieking caws surrounds us.

  From where we stand, no window directly points at us, but we all press ourselves against the hallway walls regardless. It seems like forever until it drains away. My shoulder blades ache, and I realize I’d been digging them into the wall in an attempt to sink into it.

  “They must have passed,” Nicholas says after a few minutes of silence. His gaze, which had fixed on me more than
once in the short forever that stretched on while the birds passed us, narrows at me. “It would make sense if you could control them. It would be somewhat surprising if he didn’t bestow some of his power on you with the control he took. That’s how demon marks work; they always have to give you something to take something from you.”

  My hands go to cover both the black kiss mark on the side of my neck and the mark at my nape, the small flying bird I had been born with. “I thought they just stood for a deal.” Even as I say the words, I look down to where Räum’s mark hides under the sleeve of my sweatshirt. If a demon mark only stands for a deal, I probably wouldn’t keep having psychic dreams.

  There’s a sudden, heavy silence in the room like I said something inappropriate or dumb.

  Linnie must sense it too because she looks between us. “What?”

  Cassidy straightens, her words coming out so fast, it’s as if she wants to get the explanation over with. “A demon mark is an open channel. Like a tether between you and the demon. If you make a deal with a demon, they’ll mark you in order to ensure you keep your end of the deal.”

  “Andras and Räum have an open… line to me? They can see what I’m doing?”

  “No,” Nicholas says.

  At the same time, Cassidy shakes a hand at me. “They can’t see you or hear you… or anything like that. But either of them could find you at any given time. They would know if you broke any deals with them the instant you did. And the more demon marks you get . . . the more powerful they all become. They multiply each other’s power exponentially. At four demon marks, the Leijonskjöld registers and monitors you as a threat to humanity because of how much demonic power you have access to. They consider you part demon.”

  “Why does no one tell me these things?” I whisper.

  Cassidy rolls her eyes, exasperated. “Because Leijonskjöld is full of tossers who think women are idiotic vessels of sin that need to be controlled for their own good.”

  “That’s not true. It just wasn’t something Albert thought would help you at this time.” Nicholas mumbles the words as if even he knows how ridiculous they are.

  “No way,” Linnie draws out the words. “How would information about demon marks help a girl who has three demon marks?”

  Honestly, I’m over it. Albert couldn’t possibly betray me, as he has absolutely none of my trust. For that matter, Nicholas has none of my trust either. In my mind, it isn’t whether Nicholas will try to kidnap me and return me to his brother; it’s when it’s going to happen.

  Unfortunately, that probably means after Cassidy and I get our answers tonight, our group will have to split down the middle. Or perhaps I’ll head off on this one alone.

  Looking from face to face, I know it will be better for each of them if I do. Now that I know two demons have their strings attached to me, I feel even more like a marionette doll, dancing to the devil’s tune. Whether I want to protect them or not, sooner or later their proximity to me will get them all killed.

  Pushing off the wall, I try to leave my dark thoughts behind me. “I’m thinking we should stay just tonight.” I don’t look at Nicholas, but the comment is for him. Crossing over to the front door, I peek out of the peephole and immediately jump back. “Holy shit!”

  Three heads turn abruptly to me.

  I step up to the peephole again and look out at the side of a bird’s face. It must have been holding onto something on the door, as its eye looks steadily back at the peephole. I doubt it can see me, but it’s damn trying.

  “What is it?” Cassidy whispers, suddenly beside me.

  “A raven.” Obviously, not all of them left.

  With a sudden fluttering sound, a bird hops into view at the end of our hallway. We all spin to it as Nicholas lifts his rifle, aiming it straight at the bird.

  Another fluttering sound precedes three more birds flying into our space and stopping beside the first bird.

  “Raven, where’s your gun?” Nicholas asks in a low voice.

  “Upstairs…”

  Cassidy and I move in sync, stepping in front of Linnie, who doesn’t object.

  Six more birds flutter into our space, all their beady little eyes fixing straight on mine, or so it seems.

  “This is a good opportunity to test your abilities, Raven,” Cassidy whispers in a rush.

  “Stop, don’t attack us,” I say.

  The birds don’t move, which might mean absolutely nothing, as they weren’t moving or attacking us before I told them not to.

  Licking my dry lips, I say, “Hop.”

  Simultaneously, they all hop.

  “Oh my god,” Linnie whispers, her head peeking out from around my arm.

  “Hop twice,” I say as I shift fully in front of my sister.

  Their claws make soft scraping sounds against the wood flooring as they hop twice in place.

  I swallow. The birds stand still, watching like they want something from me.

  “Hop,” Cassidy calls out.

  The birds don’t move, not even shifting a feather. With a loud flutter and chaos of black feathers, the entire hallway and what I can see of the room beyond fills with birds.

  “Turn around, leave,” Linnie calls.

  Again, they do nothing.

  “Turn around,” I call.

  Immediately they turn, looking like a hundred small wheels on a great machine.

  “Tell them to fly away,” Nicholas says, his eye still sighting down his rifle.

  “No, wait.” Cassidy steps up next to me. “Ask them to fly away.”

  I glance at her, and then back to the small army of black birds with their backs to us. “Will you please fly away?”

  The birds swing their heads from side to side in a discordant movement. I’m not sure if they’re shaking their heads to mean ‘no’ or just looking at each other. A few spring up and fly off after a second of delay, spraying dust up with the beat of their wings.

  “Weird,” Linnie mutters.

  “Don’t attack us, any of you,” I order as I think it worth reiterating.

  “I just thought of a very big problem…” Cassidy gestures out to the birds. “Besides the obvious. If all these birds flew down here from Arcata and directly to you, then—”

  Nicholas turns abruptly. “We need to leave, right now.”

  “Why?” Linnie and I say out of sync.

  “Look out the peephole, Linnie. Tell us what you see,” Cassidy says, though she doesn’t turn from where she still stands in a defensive position in front of Linnie.

  I don’t turn from the birds, but I hear a rustle as Linnie moves. “Holy… what the…”

  “Hundreds or thousands?” Cassidy asks.

  I turn back as Linnie goes to her tiptoes, peering out of the hole as her hands splay across the wooden door. She says, “There are thousands, maybe more... they’re covering everything. Like, every single space I can see.”

  Nicholas grabs my arm, his voice sounding far away. “All these infected birds fly to Arcata. They used to… we thought it was because it was the largest remaining population center in the quarantine zone.”

  Cassidy nods. “And they haven’t flown away in months, and then they all fly away at once, following directly behind us.”

  “Meaning, all infected birds fly straight to me,” I say, understanding what they’re getting at.

  Great. I’m the demonic bird Pied Piper.

  Images skirt across my mind. Andras, dirty, young and calling himself Andrew, always feeding his birds. His bright green gaze met mine just before he ordered them to attack the man who held a knife to my throat, and the birds did. Andras’ roof in Rome, covered in birds, waiting for him as we emerged. The moment he ordered them to go, they flew away. At Copenhagen City Hall, when I told the thousands of birds that had been waiting just outside to go to hell, they left immediately.

  They follow me, and they obey me, just as they do him.

  I straighten up as an idea occurs to me. I look down to the birds cluttering
the hallway, standing in wait, staring up at me. “Don’t let anyone get close to this house. If people or cars are coming, stop them.”

  Nicholas glares. “Raven, what about my brother and men?”

  I hesitate but turn to the birds, who still watch me intently. “Don’t hurt anyone or attack anyone, but don’t let them close to the house.” When the birds don’t move, I order, “Go.”

  At once, and in perfect sync, the birds fly away.

  Nicholas follows closely behind, rifle swinging back and forth. We follow Nicholas all the way to the back door that sits open. The birds funnel through, crowding close together until the last bird disappears into the day.

  I point at the kitchen door. “That wasn’t open before.”

  “Looks like the birds can open doors, lovely.” Cassidy leans against the kitchen cabinet.

  “Unless someone else is in here.” Nicholas raises his rifle again. “Two of us secure the entrances, two check for intruders. Raven, you’re with me securing the house. Linnie, you go with Cassidy. Raven, tell Cassidy where your gun is. She knows how to use it—and she’s the most capable person here to keep us all alive.”

  My hackles would be rising at the dismissive way he’s talking to me if it wasn’t by far the best plan. Cassidy is probably eighty times the markswoman I am, and I can’t help noticing the small smile that twitches on her lips as Nicholas pays her the compliment.

  I gesture. “The gun is in the room upstairs, by the closet.”

  Cassidy nods. “We’ll check upstairs. You do downstairs.”

  Nicholas and I secure the first floor, disassembling the cabinets and interior doors before nailing them over the windows. Well, more Nicholas yanks the wood down, throws it at me and I hold the slabs up as he hammers it in with almost violent strikes. As we head upstairs, a loud crack resounds.

  Nicholas grabs my wrist, yanking me down, his arm going over my head.

  “It was from outside,” I say, pushing at his arm.

  A moment later, a loud tittering sound rings out, followed immediately by a scream. The tittering erupts again, like a spray of bullets from a machine gun.

  “Stay here and stay down,” Nicholas says as he continues to push me into the floor.