by Misty Dietz
“Kai, stop this madness. You are goodness and light. Fight this.” Kat’s voice was thready. Ari glanced sharply at her, his pulse climbing. Her cheeks were rapidly draining of color, her eyes becoming a washed-out blue. Impossible. She shouldn’t be so exhausted after such a minor encounter. Certainly not after three days in his care.
Over the air, the sound of sirens grew steadily louder.
“Oh, great!” Jade added a layer of salt to the Devil’s Trap circle.
Can you make the emergency responders turn around? Kat pushed weakly to Ari.
I thought you didn’t like my use of mind control.
Only when you use it on me.
I wouldn’t ever make you do anything you don’t want to do. Unless it was for her own good. He was almost ready to call on Alexios to force Kat into an ether sleep until he figured out why she was so compromised.
Just do it now! she snapped.
He compressed his lips, but sent out a massive pulse of ‘all’s well’ to the emergency responders, then created a vacuum around what remained of the blaze, immediately depriving it of oxygen. The fire went out in an instant. Next, he created an air pressure lasso around Kaikoa, pulling him snarling and jaw-snapping toward the Devil’s Trap.
Jade and the security team got the last of the partygoers outside where Ari did a quick, group mind wipe, while Kat, Maddox, and Stark moved to defensive positions in case Kai figured out some manner of escape. When Ari came back inside, Kai looked unhinged, groaning and holding his head with both hands as he lurched forward, finally pitching into the Devil’s Trap.
“Kai, stay with us. You are strong, kaikaina. Aloha au ia 'oe.” Konani’s golden skin was pale, the shadows under her eyes pronounced as she moved to the edge of the Trap and pulled out a rosary. Kai wailed when he saw what was in his sister’s hands. Konani shook her head, glancing at Ari. “I don’t understand. Out of all of us, my brother should have been the least vulnerable to invasion.”
That had been Ari’s initial impression as well, but over the centuries, he’d learned that people hid all manner of disturbing secrets behind seemingly serene exteriors.
Suddenly the front door of the building caved in and half a dozen possessed clubbers scattered inside like ants fleeing a toppled colony.
“Heads up!” Jade yelled, chasing in on their heels with a crucifix in one hand and a St. Michael medallion in the other. “A posse of demons were waiting for hosts out there, and guess what, those bastards found em after you finished the mind wipes, Ari.”
“Raven-starving bacrauts!” Ari grabbed one by the back of the neck as another pair of newcomers tore into each other, nails rending skin, teeth biting, falling half-in and half-out of the Devils Trap, breaking its protective circle. Ah, shit—
Ari didn’t make it in time before Kai escaped the Devils Trap by trampling over the fallen bodies. Ari shoved the man he was holding into a chair in the Trap, then used air pressure to push the fallen possessed clubbers the rest of the way inside the circle, reinstating its binding power. By the time he turned around, Kai had found the one place that didn’t have counter pressure holding him inside the building—the dead air zone by the DJ booth where Ari had suffocated the blaze.
Kai spun around beside the cabana closest to the swim-up bar, his possessed senses immediately alerted to the Guardian at his back. His whole body twitched with the strength of the war being waged inside. “You’re nooo good for her.”
Ari knew as well as the next Guardian it didn’t pay to engage in verbal skirmishes with demons, especially when they were in that near-feral state, trying to stake their claim on a host. But he wasn’t a hold-back kinda guy. “You presume to know what’s good for Kat?”
Kaikoa walked stiff-legged toward the edge of the pool, his body jerking every couple steps like he didn’t want to ambulate, but didn’t have a choice. The demon was probably whispering to him that if he didn’t give over, he’d drown his body, then find another host. “Sheeee doesn’t like to be c-c-called Kat.”
Once upon a time she did. Could she have changed so much?
Stop. This is exactly what demons did. Mess with your mind until you didn’t know which end was up, and you fucked yourself without any extra help from the demon.
Ari sent his senses inside the club to gauge other threats as well as the progress the team was making to manage the possessed. Kat’s group was getting the last of them into the Trap, but there was something dark gathering around the building. You feel that? he pushed at her. Outside in the front.
I do. Just stay with Kai. Don’t let anything happen to him.
I might, he thought, but didn’t let Kat hear it. The young Hawaiian would have to prove his worthiness. Ari looked up, gathering the wispy nighttime clouds high above them, swirling them violently as a distraction for Kaikoa’s demon. It would be best if the young man could overwhelm the demon himself so they didn’t have to exorcise him. It’d give him confidence in his abilities to aid and protect Kat. “It’s time for you to go back to Hell, demon. My compar won’t be happy if I let you take over her pet employee, so you can either leave peacefully, or I’ll make you howl on your way out.”
Kai’s eyes flashed dead black to green, and then back to black again, over and over. “Let…me go,” he gasped, toppling into the deep end of the pool. His body undulated underwater, his massive legs kicking him deeper toward the bottom of the pool, his mouth opening like he was screaming.
Ari streamed to the edge of the pool, a cold sensation flooding through him. He squatted down to peer into the blue-lit water, not entirely sure if it was the man or the demon who was attempting to drown the body. Something about the way he fought. When humans were gaining the upper hand in a physical possession, it was a jerky business—like learning how to drive a stick shift. But when demons were winning, the movements were smoother.
Everyone said Kaikoa was the purest soul on staff, but Ari was tempted to disagree. Or at least probe further. Was Kai’s ‘let me go’ plea meant for him—as in, don’t bother saving me?—or was it a final entreaty to the demon trying to wrest his soul from him?
Ari pushed air bubbles down around Kai, shoving oxygen into his lungs, maintaining a steady stream of air in and out his nose and mouth to prevent him from drowning. If he couldn’t defeat the demon, Ari wouldn’t let him anywhere near Kat.
Ari was just about to enter the water to start the exorcism when Kai surfaced, sputtering. His eyes were now more green than black, his body still shaking, but not in that jerky, I’m-waging-a-battle-for-my-soul kind of way.
Ari hadn’t seen the demon’s mist form leave Kai’s body in search of its next victim, but it easily could have in that bubble bath he’d created trying to keep Kai alive underwater. Plus, the pool was huge. The demon’s shade could’ve shot away underwater and exited behind the swim-up bar.
“You good now?” Ari grabbed him by the back of his shirt and hoisted him out of the water, not because he was feeling particularly friendly, but because he wanted to touch the man to see if he could register any evil still circulating in his body.
Strangely, he didn’t feel much of anything—human or demon. He frowned, pulling Kai along, the large man as weak as a child, protesting and stumbling as he tried to keep up with the Guardian’s long strides. Ari passed the charred embers of the DJ booth and the Devil’s Trap in the middle of the dance floor to rejoin Kat and the others at the bar. Stark was sanctifying a vat of water in a terra cotta pot. Ari’s lips curled up in spite of the situation. He deposited Kai on one of the low-backed leather couches nearest the bar, then turned to Kat. “You’ve finally got a priest on staff. About time one of you Unholy Inc partners got smart about that. Why haven’t you used him in the exorcism rites?”
Stark looked up with a glare even as his lips spoke life-affirmations at the water. Kat’s gaze stayed on Kai. “Stark’s only been out of seminary for a year. He needs time to mature into that type of hellish rite.”
Stark closed his Bible and tucked
it under the bar. “I said I can do it. I survived the hell of heroin withdrawal. I can damn well square off with a demon.”
Ari nodded. “Good. Go get your vestments, or whatever you need for the ritual. You can start tangling with your first one shortly.”
Kat swung around. “No.”
Ari raised an eyebrow at Kat, but pointed at Stark. “You’re babying him, and I’m sure he doesn’t appreciate it. The man spent eight years of his life to become a priest, so let him do the work he’s called to do.”
“I’m not babying him, I’m protecting him. Jesus, Ari, you know how vicious exorcisms are,” she shot back.
“Which is exactly why you need the help. You’re sick, woman. You should’ve been able to deal with that stage fire with one hand tied behind your back, but using your water element sucked nearly everything you had. I doubt you can even do an exorcism right now.”
“Nice to know you have such faith in me.” She stalked up to him, her lips in a tight line. “Well, just watch me.”
She marched away, obviously intending to go to the possessions in the Devils Trap, but Ari grabbed her hand. “Stop your ridiculous tantrums,” he whispered harshly. “Don’t mistake love and concern for faithlessness. Everything I’m doing here is in support of you.”
They stared at one another for a long while—or rather, he stared and she glared. Ari kept the air pressure in the room high so he’d be able to detect the slightest movements of anyone coming or going. There was something not quite right about Kaikoa even though Ari couldn’t detect evil in him anymore. The young man remained slumped on the sofa, his wet clothes plastered to his body, his face relaxed, his eyes glassy, but their normal color.
Konani wiped her eyes as she fumbled with the stopper on a holy water flask, then went to sit down next to her brother. “Is he okay?”
“I’m not sure,” Kat replied slowly, turning to look at Ari. “What happened outside in the pool?”
He almost drowned. He pushed the thought at Kat so Konani wouldn’t be upset, quickly following up with, “He fought the demon well, but I’m not sure where it went, or if it went at all.” He could tell by the tightening of Kat’s lips that she wondered the same. He looked at each member of the AQUA team in turn. “Has he been depressed or mentioned any personal issues lately?” He paused, then, “How about suicidal comments?”
Konani’s indrawn breath broke the silence. “Why do you ask such a thing?”
Ari grabbed a bottle of holy water from the stash behind the bar, uncorked it, and splashed a stream onto Kai before anyone could blink. The young man’s body bowed on a great bellow. Skin steaming, he panted and snarled, gnashing his teeth at Konani who jumped up and away from him. “His demon is still here? Why couldn’t your Guardian senses tell?”
“Maybe it’s a higher order demon,” Jade said. “Get him in the Trap!”
Kat paced while the others steered Kai into the Devil’s Trap with sprays of holy water and blessed objects. “Not so much water, Jade, you’ll hurt him. His skin’s already starting to smoke,” she snapped.
“Well, excuse me, but he’s gotta have some low down dirty secrets if the demon was able to take him over so easily,” Jade said.
Kat stopped pacing to plant her hands on her hips. “I’m getting really sick of your judgmental ways, Jade.”
“We don’t need your high and mighty ways either, but you don’t see me bitchin’, do you?”
“From where I stand it sure looks a whole lot like bitching, but far be it from me to know everything like you do. For future reference, though, what do you call it?”
“I call it motivational speaking, baby. You like that?” Jade’s pointer finger jabbed at the air, punctuating her syllables.
Bad move, lady, Ari thought. Kat hated people pointing in her face.
A muscle jumped in Kat’s cheek. “Screw you, Jade.”
Ari stepped between the women. “Hey, let’s focus—”
“Screw you more, Kat!” Jade tried to push Ari out of her way, but when she couldn’t, she resorted to jumping up and down to see Kat’s reaction. Ari suddenly felt a wave of lightheadedness. A quick glance at Kat’s pale face made him realize the sensation came from his connection to her. Using his element, he brought more oxygen-rich molecules into his respiratory system, doing the same for Kat as he grabbed her and hoisted her in a cradle hold.
“What are you d-d-doing?” Her teeth chattered like she’d been dumped naked in a snow bank. He streamed to her bedroom, setting her down on the edge of the mattress and wrapping her in a blanket rumpled by their loving. “Fighting with Jade isn’t going to make you feel better.”
“They sh-shouldn’t have been able to g-get in. None of them. I s-set reverse-wards.” Kat’s teeth clacked together and her lips were turning blue. She blamed herself. She always did. He started taking her hair down from its severe bun so it could lay warm against her neck.
“D-don’t do that,” she scolded.
“Stop talking, you’re going to bite off your own tongue with your shivering. This is not your fault.” He condensed the water vapor around her, releasing heat against her skin.
She sighed in pleasure. He seized the opportunity to place his hands on her thighs.
“You make me look bad in front of my staff when you manhandle me. Don’t ever do that again. But…thank you for stopping…you know.”
He did know—stopping World War Z between her and her best friend. His hands tightened on her thighs before she brushed them off. She was weakening, and it was more than physically. She seemed a shadow of her old self again, much like she had when he’d first arrived. She still had those abrasive edges that made her seen invincible, and she worked to keep people at a distance. But the closer he probed, she seemed…
Fragmented.
He wasn’t the worrying type, but this was deeply troubling. She should be getting stronger, better, happier the longer they were together.
Before he could figure out what to say, they both heard a scream followed by breaking glass.
Ari was about to demolecularize, when she grabbed his shoulder. “You are going to take me along. I’m too tired to stream.”
“Dammit, woman, if you’re too tired to stream, you’re in no shape to fight.”
“Then you’ll just have to pick up the slack. Besides, that sounded like someone broke the artwork behind the bar. I have serious ass to chew if that’s the case.”
Instead of arguing, he latched onto her essence, streaming them both downstairs where the glowing nude silhouette had indeed been broken and three new humans ran around the room with various weapons raised in outstretched hands like they were part of a low-budget horror flick. It was almost comical until he saw their black eyes. Past the point of no return, these humans had lost the battle against evil and could no longer be exorcised. They had become full-fledged demon, and the only way they would stop hurting others was a miracle…or death by Guardian.
A dozen more black-eyed demons followed in their wake. “Where are they coming from?” Konani yelled, stepping over a chunk of glass.
My wards have utterly failed. I’m either dying, or this is the beginning of the End Times.
Kat’s telepathic words reverberated in Ari’s mind. A small part of him wondered if one of those scenarios was true because it was well known in Guardian circles that Kat’s wards were second in potency only to Alexios’. You are not dying. You still have eons to torment me.
Where to attack first? He materialized his axe and hacked his way to where Kat had moved by the bar, killing two demons on his way to the temporary Devil’s Trap Jade had scribbled in black marker on the second-tier seating area, next to one of the dancer’s poles.
“Jade, how many do you have?” Ari asked.
“At least five, and they’re getting bloody. Bastards!” Jade looked over Ari’s shoulder. “Kat, look out!”
Ari spun wide to shield his compar from whatever Jade had seen. Struck from behind, pain slashed from his right shoulder
diagonally to his left hip. He staggered, looking up to find Siolazar standing behind him, the notorious Rephaim’s laughing red eyes and leathery gray skin tight with satisfaction.
Almost as powerful as archdemons, the Rephaim and Nephilim were two classes of fallen angels who’d been kicked out of Heaven when they rebelled with Lucifer. Fallen angels who were now powerful demons. Unlike the inwardly-focused Nephilim, who chose to crumble a human from the inside out, the Rephaim spawned public chaos and commanded serial killers.
No wonder Kat’s wards had been breached.
Ari threw a gust of pressure to disorient the Rephaim, then rolled away in a new rush of wind that unbolted tables and sent chairs and champagne ice buckets flying. From the corner of his eye he saw Kat rushing toward him. Stay back!
Siolazar used his long, skeletal fingers to tear into Ari’s windpipe, then he slammed him in a choke hold up against the wall. Ari’s neck tissues shredded for several seconds before they began repairing themselves. Too slow. Something’s wrong. His vision started going dark.
Use your element, Ari! Oxygen!
Oxygen. Once more he called upon the air. In a rush of energy, the darkness faded, his muscles responded, and he pulled at the hands of the demon trying to strangle him. A jet stream of Kat’s holy water singed the back of Siolazar’s bald, gray skull, making the walls shake with his bellow and his skin begin to slough off his body. But still the demon’s fingers were crushing Ari’s neck as fast as it was repairing itself.
Now would be a good time for that nasty Viking sword of yours.
Indeed. Ari blinked the holy water out of his eyes and materialized his ancient ulfbehrt. At these close quarters, he couldn’t deliver a killing blow, but he swung the sword as hard as he could at Siolazar’s trunk. The demon roared again, dropping to his knees. Kat’s holy water stream was keeping Siolazar rooted to the spot, his skin melting down his body like a thick, sludgy oil spill, but it wouldn’t hold him for long.