by Sara Snow
I let my hand slide back up a bit, toying just beneath the hem of her shirt, feeling her whimper softly against my mouth as I trailed my hand up her bare stomach to slip my fingers over the lace of her bra.
In that moment, I would have killed to get those clothes off of her. I knew how sweet what was waiting beneath them would be. We were both ready, and all of the blood had already rushed from my head to my groin, making my thoughts swirl in my head like clouds. When I pulled away from her suddenly, gasping for breath as I reminded myself of the mission, it was nothing short of a miracle.
“Wait, Georgia, wait,” I panted, even though waiting was the last thing I wanted to do right then. “We really need to rest. There’s too much at stake here and it’s already so late.”
She pouted a bit, exaggerating her disappointment a bit theatrically with a pointed “hmph,” as she let her shoulders fall. Her hair was still hanging down just beside my face, the sweet scent of her shampoo wafting in the air around me, and it really took everything I had not to give in.
She didn’t hang the temptation over my head long, though, rolling off of me and cuddling up to my side instead, burying herself against me with her head resting comfortably on my shoulder. It wasn’t exactly the contact I had been craving, but it was incredibly calming to be able to just lay there with her in my arms.
“I’m sorry, Georgia,” I said. “Trust me, I want to do this more than anything, but it’s just not the right time now. When we get out of here, we’ll have as long as we want together.”
She sighed against my chest. “You’re right. I know you are. But when we get back, you’re not gonna be able to keep me off of you,” she said deviously.
“Is that a promise?” I asked, returning her tone.
“Mhmm,” she answered, nodding against me.
“Good.”
I rested my chin against her head, leaning down to kiss her smooth black hair and squeeze her tightly. It was nice to be like that with her, comfortable and warm. It felt safe, but more than anything, it felt right. It felt like it was the way it was supposed to be.
I thought it would be difficult to lie like that with Georgia while ignoring my urges, especially after how heated things got, but the comfort I found in it won out and we quickly fell asleep entangled in each others’ arms.
13
Jacob
I found myself going to the training room more and more frequently while Carter and Georgia were off in Paimon’s palace together. I already had a consistent workout schedule that I’d stuck to for years, but with the pent-up anger that I found overwhelming me more often than not, I craved a way to release it. My bloody knuckles, destroyed boxing gloves, and tattered punching bag seemed to be the physical evidence of it.
So much was going wrong. I was missing my dad, whose advice I needed more than ever. I was missing Georgia, too. Even though she wouldn’t look at me the way I looked at her, her presence still made me smile. It made me angry that I let her get to me like that, but I couldn’t help it. I didn’t choose to love her, and though I could make the choice to remain friends with her despite her romantic disinterest in me, that little bastard Carter’s existence drove me up the damn wall. Like every moment they spent together was a direct attack intended to mock me.
The only other thing that had brought me any comfort recently was reading in my dad’s library. If I was going to remain the leader of the Venandi, I had to do my studying. There was so much to go through and so little time before all of this knowledge would be crucial. I had started with a few open books that my dad had apparently been in the middle of reading, absorbing as much as I could from them.
A few things stuck out to me from those books and from a few others that I had found on his many shelves. One detailed a practice for banishing, a way to more powerfully and effectively banish demons from the world that must have been closer to the method my father used. I studied it, rehearsing its phrasing when I worked out in the training room, practicing manifesting the intention in my head.
Another thing that I found in the books made sense of something I’d been wondering about ever since we left El Paso. I was still hung up on the priest, the cops, and the mechanic who believed me instantly when I told them about our cataclysmic fight with demons, which even I knew sounded insane. According to the book, it seemed to be some sort of specific power, which my dad’s writing referred to as “angelic veracity.”
There was a lot to decipher, but the main points seemed to be that this power existed as a residual from the angels’ important service as messengers of God. According to my dad’s notes, the ability was the foundation of their communications with humans back when that sort of thing occurred more frequently. Since angels could only tell the truth, it seemed that God saw fit to bypass a human’s need for critical thought when being told something divine, making it much easier to give messages to them. The notebook specified that the power was reserved for full angels, and some notes from my dad seemed to deduce that if a half-angel were to develop the ability, they would be able to use it as long as they told the truth without revealing their part-angel status to the human they were trying to influence. My dad seemed to conclude that it was a sort of handicap implemented by the Big Man himself to keep half angels, who were capable of telling lies, from corrupting his communications with humans. If a half angel could tell a human that he was an angel, then whatever lie they told after would have seemed trustworthy enough even without the power of angelic truth behind it, and that issue needed to be quashed before it began.
That kind of brought that old conversation with my ex back into perspective—she didn’t believe me because I told her the truth about my identity, so my power no longer would work on her. It all seemed to add up. I didn’t mention that fact to the cop, the mechanic, or the priest, and it worked on them, even though I didn’t exactly realize why at the time.
The thing that was mentioned several times in the notes was that supernatural creatures, who already knew about the existence of God and angels and thus had no faith in them, couldn’t be affected by the power. So I guessed that made it a bit useless as far as the kings were concerned. But now that I knew what it was, at least I’d have it in my arsenal the next time we found ourselves in a pinch.
I had to wonder why my dad never told me about this power before. Maybe he hadn’t even been sure I’d develop the ability at all. He’d probably never had the chance to test the theory since I doubted that he’d ever seen me say anything to humans that sounded even mildly unbelievable—not anything that was the truth anyways.
The idea of this new ability excited me. The thought that my powers in general were growing made me eager to learn even more about what I could do. I was half human, but I wondered if the more powerful I became, the more I’d grow into my angelic side. I was eager to do more reading and see what other secret powers or skills I could uncover.
In the meantime, though, I had to keep training and reading until I could finally try and send Paimon’s army straight back to hell for good.
14
Jose
I had been having more dreams about Paimon lately. They were a bit strange, much clearer than my usual dreams, and much less symbolic. I wasn’t sure how, but I could tell that they weren’t far-off visions—they were much closer to the present, possibly even taking place in the present. Either way, they were foreboding and I could feel that things were getting more dire. An image came to me in a dream that made that perfectly clear. I could see Paimon with Abalam and Bebal at his side, standing near an old gate that seemed to open to nowhere but blackness. Paimon raised his scepter, shouting something that I couldn’t hear. At his command, the ground around the gate rumbled, and demons began emerging—walking, crawling, marching through as Paimon and his fellow kings inducted them into their army.
I could see Paimon laughing. Even when I woke up, I could remember the look on his face, his glaring red eyes so full of delight as he watched his army grow exponentially before him.
Bebal mentioned something to him that I could barely make out—only just above a whisper.
“The mortals are nearly outnumbered,” he said in a grim murmur. “The Revalare will soon be imminent.”
The shock of his statement nearly woke me up, but I was in too deep. The vision moved me elsewhere—to Paimon’s castle. I watched as the Venandi fought the demons, me at their side. It was a hard fight, but we were coming out on top, with Georgia taking down a number of high-ranking lords in a blazing inferno.
When I was finally released from the dream, early morning sunlight was streaming through my bedroom window. I felt propelled by the urgency of my vision, throwing off the covers and quickly changing so I could hurry and find Eli and Jacob. I was scared. I’d been taught to fight since I joined the group, but I’d never actually gone into any real battles before and I didn’t know if I’d be able to hold my own for real with the others. The consequences of losing this battle would be permanent, and I obviously didn’t want to die just as much as anyone else. I needed to start training again, and I needed to start soon. There wasn’t time to waste, so I set out to find Eli and Jacob. I didn’t have to look hard—they were right where I needed them to be.
I found them sparring in the training room, practicing take-down techniques with towel-wrapped stakes against each other. It was still early, but they seemed to have been at it for a while, already out of breath.
Eli noticed me, turning to wave, nearly letting Jacob land an attack that would’ve been fatal if he was a demon. He quickly maneuvered out of the way, using his momentum to throw Jacob to the mat and disarm him in his surprise.
“Good morning,” Eli said, panting. “You’re up early. You have a dream?”
“I did.”
They came over and listened to my story of Paimon’s rapidly growing forces and the upcoming fight in the palace. They seemed distressed by it all.
“That’s all going to happen soon?” Jacob asked.
“I think so. That’s why I want you guys to train me up again,” I said, a bit shyly. I had never expressed an interest in taking part in battle before. “I know it’s been a while since I practiced for real with you guys, but I think it’s time.”
“You want to fight, Jose?” Eli asked, surprised. “We mostly taught you for self-defense in case it ever came to that. Are you sure you want to do this?”
I nodded. “This fight is going to be big. I can’t keep sitting on the sidelines. We’re going to need as much help as we can get.”
He seemed to be thinking it over, but I could tell he didn’t agree. I knew Eli felt protective. It was understandable, considering that he’d already lost his wife and son to demons. He wasn’t my dad, but he always looked out for me and I had almost come to think of him as a brother. We were close, and I sometimes wondered what it’d be like if he really was my older brother. I knew he didn’t want to put me in danger and he wouldn’t put me in any situations that could possibly get me hurt, but I couldn’t avoid fighting anymore and I didn’t want to let him and the others down.
“I’ve been feeling stronger than ever since Georgia, Jacob, and Olympia came back from El Paso. I keep seeing myself in my visions fighting with you guys, so I know it has to be done,” I said, straightening. “I’m ready, Eli.”
“No, Jose, you’re too young,” he said finally. “This is dangerous, and if you get hurt, I’d never be able to forgive myself.”
His answer disappointed me, but I couldn’t back down. I put my foot down. “I’ve seen it already, Eli. I will fight. There’s nothing you or I can do to change it. But what we can do is make sure that I’m ready for it when it comes.”
Eli seemed surprised. It made sense. I was never that bold, especially not with him. This was different, though. I had never felt so confident in what I had to do before in my life.
Jacob watched, perplexed. He probably didn’t know why Eli felt that way, but regardless, he stepped forward.
“Maybe he’s onto something, Eli,” he said. “I’m not trying to argue with you guys, but if this battle is coming as soon as he thinks it is, don’t you think we should do our best to prepare him? If he does well in training and can come with us when we take on the army, then isn’t that good?”
“He’s just a kid, you think I’m going to let him get himself killed at sixteen just because he dreamed it?” Eli was raising his voice, getting worked up.
“Eli, please,” I said. “We should have known that this was coming, and I’d prefer to choose to fight rather than have it forced on me when it’s already too late.”
Eli paused, and I knew my confidence was starting to get through to him. “What if you die, what then? Have you thought of that, Jose?”
“Of course I have. It’s all I’ve thought about since I made this decision, but I can’t let that stop me. You guys don’t have to worry about me. You’ve seen me fight before and I’m not bad at it. I know I haven’t trained with you guys at all lately because my visions have been draining me a bit, but I need to get in as much practice as I can. I need to be ready for this,” I said.
There was a tense silence and Eli’s eyes seemed to soften, but the worry was still there. It was unmistakable.
Eli sighed. “Alright. Alright kid, you win,” he said, a bit of his playful affection returning to his voice. “But you better be ready to train hard. If you’re gonna do this, we’re gonna do it right.”
I nodded, a smile bursting across my face. “Okay! Thank you, Eli.”
“Don’t thank me just yet. If you do, the way your muscles are going to burn tomorrow will make you regret it,” he joked.
There was still the lingering worry in him, but I was glad to finally be on the path to be a real fighter with Jacob and Eli at my side. Eli tossed me his prop stake.
“You can show him the basics, Jacob. I’m gonna take a break,” Eli said, heading out of the training room. He probably still needed time to process all of this, and I couldn’t blame him. As long as I got to train with someone, I was happy.
Jacob had me start stretching while he went over some of the basics of demon hunting with me, telling me about the proper places to hit them with stakes to kill them, general techniques for disabling an enemy in a pinch, things like that. It had been a while since I’d done any training with the expectation of actually going into a fight on purpose, so the refresher was nice.
“Where’d you learn to fight like this, Jacob?” I asked.
“Just things I’ve picked up over the years,” he said. “Growing up around this stuff meant I had a lot of exposure, especially with my dad and Carter around all the time. I guess I just kind of learned by proxy. I spent a lot of time in this room when I was a kid. Eli has taken some time since I got here to go over things with me and not to brag, but he says I’m pretty good. You might have a tough battle for top student around here,” he said with a sly smirk.
He seemed pretty light-hearted until a moment’s pause where he seemed to be thinking about something else.
“You see a lot of the demons in your dreams, right? Can I ask you something about them?” Jacob asked.
I chuckled. “I didn’t think I’d get to teach anyone anything during my training, but yeah, go for it.”
“Why can’t the humans see them yet? There are so many of them all over, but humans don’t seem to notice.”
“They don’t want to be noticed,” I said with a shrug. “Humans without supernatural gifts or powers can’t see a demon until one reveals itself to them. Only then can they see them. Naturally, though, most humans who lay eyes on a demon don’t make it far enough to see many more.” Jacob seemed a bit on edge at the explanation. “That’s the point of the Revalare. They’ll make themselves visible to the human world, and then it’ll be too late to stop them. They’ll already have taken us over before we even know it.”
Jacob nodded gravely. “And your dreams say we can stop that from happening?”
“My dreams don’t really tell me many specifics. I couldn’t
guess whether or not we’d win that fight,” I said honestly. “I’m here to ensure that I’m able to help and hopefully increase our chances when that time does come, though.”
“You’re a smart kid, Jose,” he said with a smile.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Alright, enough talk about that stuff. Sorry for derailing. You ready to keep going?”
There weren’t enough words to accurately convey how ready I was.
15
Georgia
I woke up slowly, unwilling to part with sleep. I had slept so well in this bed the day before yesterday, but with Carter there, our limbs entangled, I realized that I’d never slept that well in my life. He was still asleep, breathing heavily next to me, his arm draped over me as he curled up behind me. I slid my hand under his and let our fingers lace together, enjoying the comfort while I could.
He shifted in his sleep, moving closer to me, and I could feel his warm breath on the back of my neck as he cozied up even closer to me. I never wanted to wake up any other way ever again. I was on the verge of falling back asleep when a knock came at my door. Carter and I both shot up, and almost reflexively he reached for his stone on the nightstand, shifting into smoke, the blankets falling limply where his sleeping form had just been.