My last hope shatters when he shakes his head. “I already tried.”
Jeep appears next to me, panting. “I’m back, tell me what to do.”
I rest my head against the water wall and fight my tears. With gritted teeth, we watch as the demons form a circle around Kale and bend over him. Their tentacles slither over his body and I groan in frustration.
“There must be something we can do.”
“Call Quinn!” Charlie says.
I hold up my hand. “No, we can’t. If he gets involved too much, they will bring in their strongest warrior. We can’t even fight these, imagine what Beelzebub would do to us.”
Vicky turns around and leans against the wall. “It’s too late anyway.” The sorrow on her face is almost tangible.
She grabs my wrist when I turn back to see what the demons are doing. “Don’t look.” Her eyes are pleading, but I can’t help myself, my gaze drifts back to the middle of the clearing.
The two water elementals have stepped back. They watch with satisfaction as the lizard monsters pierce Kale’s body with their tentacles. I expect blood to pour out of him, but all I see is a gray mist rising up. It slowly forms the shape of a boy, and the lizards each grab onto a limb.
“Is that his soul?” Taylar asks softly.
I have to swallow several times before I find my voice. “I think so.”
A face appears in the misty figure and it opens its mouth and eyes wide. It’s screaming without sound and kicking its legs in an attempt to free itself.
Taking their time, the demons drag it from the clearing and through the trees. Galene and Nerida follow without looking back.
A couple of minutes later, the water wall evaporates and I fall face forward onto the musty ground. I don’t bother getting up. All I want to do right now is curl up into a ball of misery, fall asleep and wake up to a world without magic.
Someone places a hand on my back. I know it’s Vicky before she even speaks. “Come on, let’s go home.”
No words of comfort. I suppose that says it all. We failed miserably.
CHAPTER 41
For the first time, I let Charlie drive Phoenix. No one says a word. We all just stare out of the windows at the world that moves on without knowing what it has just lost. It doesn’t know it got one step closer to a radical clean sweep. I wish I could be so oblivious.
Mona greats us at the door, but her big expectant smile fades when she sees our faces. Without a word, she leads us into the kitchen and makes us hot chocolate.
We sit there quietly until the Cards of Death rise up out of my pocket, float to the middle of the table and turn into dust. It’s as if they want to rub in our failure. I can’t bear to watch the pieces float out of the house, so I bury my head in my arms.
After about a minute, someone gently takes my hand and folds it around my cup. I pick it up and swallow the hot liquid without tasting it.
“How’s Mom?” I ask, hoping to distract everyone’s mind, but mostly my own.
“She was awake earlier,” Mona says, “but only for a few minutes. She asked for you.”
I hold up my cup for a refill, too beaten to get up myself. “Did she remember what happened to her?”
Mona goes around the table pouring more hot chocolate, before she returns to D’Maeo’s side. “Not much, I think.”
“Good.” I try to smile at her, but it hurts my face.
“You can check on her later, she just fell asleep. It’s best to let her rest.”
I nod and take a deep breath. “Anyway, as you might have gathered already, we lost Kale. The demons took his soul.”
She rubs D’Maeo’s arm as if to comfort all of us. “I’m so sorry.”
“We were tricked,” Charlie explains. “By Simon. You probably know him. He used to be our friend.”
She nods. “Yes, I’ve seen him a couple of times. What happened?”
Charlie summarizes everything quickly, helped by Taylar and Jeep, whose face is full of guilt when they mention his fit.
“That’s not your fault, you know,” Charlie says. “I can’t imagine how hard it must be to keep those ghosts trapped in your body all the time.”
“Especially when you don’t even have a body,” I add.
The others respond with small smiles.
Mona walks to the sink and starts cleaning the kettle. “So those water elementals took Kale from the Shadow World?”
“Yes, or another air elemental like Simon, who knows,” I respond.
Vicky leans forward in her chair. “How was that even possible? I thought no one could survive the Shadow World?”
D’Maeo finally speaks up. “Anything is possible if you have the Devil on your side.”
“Or the chosen one,” Charlie comments, unwrapping a pack of chocolate cookies. “Look at me. I’m fine, too.” He gestures at his stained shorts and wrinkled shirt. “Well, almost fine.” He pushes back his chair. “I’m taking a shower upstairs.” He walks out of the kitchen, but his footsteps come to a halt before he reaches the stairs. “Unless you want to go first, Dante.”
“No, it’s fine, go ahead,” I call back.
“I want to train for a while, if you guys don’t mind,” I say to the others when Mona turns off the tap.
Vicky wrinkles her forehead. “You want to train now? Didn’t we fight enough already today?”
I slam my fist on the table. “Apparently not, since we just lost Kale!”
The pained look on her face makes me want to take back my words. But they are true and there’s no use denying it.
I rub my face hard. “I’m sorry. Look, all I’m saying is, I don’t want to lose any more souls and the only way I know to increase our odds, is to get better at fighting. So are you all with me?”
They stand up as one and pull out their weapons. Taylar is already halfway out the door when D’Maeo stops him. “Wait, there’s something we should do first.”
The white-haired ghost turns around with a disappointed expression on his see-through face. “What?”
D’Maeo looks at me. “A training session is most effective when you don’t have to hold back. You have to fight like you would in a real battle.”
“But then we’d hurt each other,” I say.
“Exactly. That’s why we need to form a ring of protection, that will make sure no one can get hurt.” He pulls open a kitchen cabinet and takes out the salt. “Vicky, do you have some incense?”
“Sure.”
D’Maeo walks to the back door and beckons us. “Follow me.”
After some instructions from the gray-haired ghost, we dig a shallow circle with a diameter of about sixty-five feet and I sprinkle salt in it. Then we fill it up with small rocks and place a white candle from Vicky’s pocket at every wind direction.
I study it with my hands on my waist. “It’s a fairy circle!”
D’Maeo grins. “Something like that, yes. Now, for the spell…” He turns his head. “Vicky? Do you have pen and paper? And the incense stick?”
Vicky hands it all to him and the old ghost writes the spell down for me.
“A friend of mine made one of these in a field where we used to play when we were young,” he explains. “It was the first time I ever saw someone cast a spell, that’s why I remember it.”
He hands me the incense stick and the piece of paper. “Step into the circle. Light the candles while chanting the first part of the spell, then move the smoke over the rocks and keep walking until you’ve called out the rest of it.”
Vicky hands me a matchbox and I walk to the first candle.
“Powers of Air, hear my cry!
Grant me your protection,
from all in earth and sky!”
I move on to the candle of the south, while the others watch from outside the circle.
”Powers of Fire, hear my cry!
Grant me your protection,
from all in earth and sky!”
The flames reach up into the sky as soon as I call out the last word. Power surges through me with every candle I light.
“Powers of Water, hear my cry!
Grant me your protection,
from all in earth and sky!”
I continue to the candle in the north.
“Powers of Earth, hear my cry!
Grant me your protection,
from all in earth and sky!”
When I reach the eastern candle again, I finish the first part of the spell.
“Powers of High, listen to my plea.
May I always be protected by thee!”
All four flames burn brighter and I light the incense stick and start walking again.
“Air protects us!
Fire protects us!
Water protects us!
Earth protects us!
Whatever may appear,
no evil will enter here!
In this circle we are safe.
Nothing puts us in the grave.
Nothing here can make us bleed.
Those who kill will not succeed.
Stones and salt protect this place.
No injury will leave a trace.”
I hand the incense back to Vicky and put the piece of paper in my Book of Spells.
My heart is heavy when I turn to D’Maeo. “We could’ve created a circle like this around Kale.”
He gives me a sad smile. “Yes, but that would have been only a temporary solution, son. You can’t keep someone in a circle forever.”
I watch Vicky walk around it, collecting the candles and dropping them into the endless pocket of her black jeans. “I know, but if we’d done that, at least we wouldn’t have lost.”
“We didn’t lose, Dante. Not yet.”
Vicky has collected all the candles and brushes her hair out of her face. “He’s right. Yes, we lost this round, but in case you haven’t figured it out yet, there are nine rounds in this war. Nine circles of Hell Lucifer has to go through. We won two rounds, and lost one. We’re still ahead. As long as we win some battles, he can’t get to Earth.”
“Great.” I lower myself onto the grass and rest my head on my knees. “What if he just starts over after round nine? What if he keeps going until he has a soul for every circle?”
Maël slams her staff into the grass in front of me. “Then we keep fighting him.”
I push my fingers against my temples. “How can you remain so optimistic? Haven’t you lost hope?”
The mighty African queen squats down before me. “No, I haven’t, because we are strong. We don’t just fight to save the world, we fight to protect each other. This gives us an advantage over our enemy. Even if we lose faith in our ability to win, we will still fight for each other.”
“Sounds more like a weakness to me. It means we’re distracted.”
Jeep places a hand on my shoulder. “It means we’re alert. And that we are able to multitask, because we are used to focusing on several things at once.”
With a sad smile, I shake my head. “I can’t tell you how much I hope you’re right.”
He taps the rim of his hat. “I’m always right.”
One by one I look at all of them. My Shield. My friends. My girl. “I’m afraid there’s just not enough of us to win this. I’m still not in control of my powers. You guys are weakened, not only by death, but by curses and enemies chasing you. If it wasn’t for all that bad luck following us around, we might have a chance, but now...”
“But it’s not just us, Dante.” D’Maeo gestures at something behind me. “We have Qaddisin as back-up.”
As I turn around, he lands on the doorstep.
Mona follows him into the garden, surrounded by sparkles. “And me.”
Tears form in my eyes. “Yes, we do, and I’m grateful for that.”
Charlie appears, all clean and colorful again, his usual grin lighting up his face. “And you’ve got me.”
He joins me on the grass and throws his arm around me. While he pulls me close, he ruffles my hair with his knuckles. “You’re stuck with me until the end, mate.”
The corners of my mouth twitch. I can’t help it, I have to smile. With two hands I turn his hair into something resembling a bird’s nest. “You’re the best best friend in the world. I’m so glad I’ve got you by my side.” I shoot the others a grateful look. “All of you. You are the bravest, kindest people I know.” With a sigh, I add, “I just hope we will be enough.”
D’Maeo straightens up. “Have a little faith, Dante. Like Maël said, we already won twice. And there are others we can go to for help, if needed. Like the ents.”
“And me.”
We all whirl around and gape as a girl dressed in red leather moves lightly around the corner of the house. She throws her shiny red hair over her shoulder with an elegant shake of her head.
“Yes, I know what’s going on,” Gisella answers our unspoken question. “Charlie has been acting so mysterious lately and I overheard part of a conversation he had on the phone. Since he told me about the most important prophecies, I put it all together and figured you were the chosen one.”
She throws her arms down and her hands change into sharp, pointy blades. “I’m ready to join in your fight against the Devil.”
All eyes turn to me. Except for Charlie’s. His gaze is glued to Gisella, and his mouth has fallen open.
I push myself onto my feet, walk up to the girl in red and stick out my hand. “We’d love to have you.”
To my relief, her blades turn back into hands before she shakes mine.
“Welcome to the club!” Taylar calls out, clearly as impressed by her as Charlie is.
They all introduce themselves, while I watch with growing warmth in my heart.
“I’d love to train with you,” Taylar says eagerly.
Gisella changes her hands back into blades. “It would be an honor.”
D’Maeo looks at me. “Are you sure you don’t want to rest first, master?”
“Yes. But I have something to say before we start training.” I look each of my friends in the eye. “You were right. It’s not about winning every round. It’s about this.” I gesture at them. “All of you, all of us. As long as we stick together, we have a chance. And if any of us loses hope again, the others will be there to bring it back.”
For a moment everyone is silent.
Then Jeep opens his mouth. “What a lovely All for one and one for all moment. It brings tears to my eyes." He wipes away an imaginary tear.
I conjure a lightning bolt in my hand and aim it at him. “How about a bolt to light up your blackened heart?”
He steps backwards into the circle and beckons me with a chuckle. “Bring it on, Master.”
I whip out my Morningstar with my free hand. “Gladly.”
What’s next?
Do you want to know what happens to Dante and his friends next? Are you curious about the remaining circles of Hell and what other evil plans Lucifer has in mind?
Then be sure to move on to book 4: Cards of Death - The Fourth Soul.
It will be released on February 1st 2020, but you can already read part of the first chapter on the next pages.
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Preview
Cards of Death book 4
The Fourth Soul
Tamara
Geraeds
CHAPTER 1
“Is that all you’ve got?” One of the skeletons Jeep has awoken jumps on my back, and while I stumble sideways to get it off me, Jeep throws his hat at me.
I see it coming, but the skeleton pulls my head back so hard that I duck too late. The hat hits me square in the face and its sharp rim is lodged between my eyes and nose.
I double over, gasping for breath. A piercing pain shoots through my head and sparks explode in my vision.
“I’m sorry!”
I blink until I can make out the silhouette of the tattooed ghost. He gets the skeleton off me with a simple wave of his hand and steps up to me. “Hold your breath.”
With my eyes squeezed shut, I do what he says. There’s a tug at my head and then the stinging feeling lifts. The blinding spots vanish and I see Jeep bending over me. “It has already healed. The circle works like a charm.”
With my fingers I examine my face carefully. I expect to find a gaping hole where the hat hit me, but it all feels normal. There’s not even a drop of blood.
Jeep hits me on the back. “Good thing D’Maeo came up with the idea of a protecting circle, right?”
The Third Sin Page 22