The Price of Possession

by Dakota Brown

  I grabbed his hand and pulled it back. "Wasn't me. Sorry, guess the prince either isn't used to being touched or doesn't like it."

  "I'm sorry I attacked you," he said.

  "I'm sorry I got you nearly killed. If it helps any, Mal, I didn't feel anything you did to me, and I knew what I was getting into." I twisted around on the stool until I faced him.

  His face was drawn, and I pulled him against me.

  The prince was basically quivering with distaste. I ignored him as best as I could.

  Mal finally reached around me and held me close.

  "Are you okay?" I asked.

  "Yes."

  We held each other for a few moments before I let him go.

  "Are we okay?" I forced out.

  Mal's lips twitched into a weak smile. "Yes. Though, I may sleep at home for a while since your guest doesn't like to be touched."

  I clenched my jaw, but nodded.

  I almost laughed at the prince's sigh of relief.

  You'd better not be sticking around long if that's the cost. I'd gotten used to being held at night.

  Ezra didn't reply.

  Mal brushed his knuckles along my cheek before leaning over and kissing my forehead. "I have to head into the shop for a while, Chris. Don't go anywhere alone and I'll call you later, okay?"

  "What about you, mate?"

  His smile widened into something predatory. "I'm on to their tricks now. They won't catch me off guard again." Then his expression fell. "I'm sorry about that. I truly didn't expect to be attacked in the middle of the square. That kind of isolation spell is not easy. Clearly this occultist is far more skilled than I had anticipated."

  "Hey, I was the one window shopping. Some occultists we are, huh?"

  "Yeah, well, now we know." He kissed me gently on the lips then turned to leave.

  "Hey, Mal. Guess we should practice some more roleplaying, since we may not be up to anything more interesting for a little while, huh?"

  He turned back to me, his eyes lighting up with delight. "I'd like that."

  I winked. "We'll have to teach the prince how to play. I'll call you tonight. Maybe a game tomorrow?"

  He nodded and this time he did leave.

  I turned my attention to Sabian. He wilted.

  "I'm sorry," he whispered.

  "You saved my life, Sabian. In theory I'm going to survive this, too. It'll be okay. Thank you."

  He looked relieved, then his gaze darted down to the hellhound. "I thought you had named him. I shouldn't have assumed. I'm sorry for that, as well."

  "It's not your fault, Sabian. I should have and my passenger informed me of my failure there. Mayhem. That's what I'm calling him now."

  Sabian's eyebrows rose and he chuckled. "Fitting, I suppose. Okay, well that's handled. You should eat your breakfast before it gets cold. Then we need to figure out what is next."

  I turned back to my plate, and groaned at the first bite. Damn that vampire could cook. "Where is Aaron?"

  "He's hiding in his room."

  "Okay. So, I'm assuming you're not going to be touching me, either?" I thought back to his absence last night.

  Sabian didn't answer, but when I looked at him, he was staring at his hands, looking upset again.

  "It's not your fault, mate. Not happy about it, but not blaming you. So, what are we going to do about keeping you from getting hungry enough to throw two random strangers into each other's arms?"

  A hint of chagrinned amusement broke through his solemn expression. "Seems to have worked out for you."

  "Yeah, but I'm not real anxious to share you, or Mal..." I broke off and frowned. Where had that come from? No, I didn't want to share them, but what the hell kind of say did I have in it? Especially since they seemed okay with sharing me.

  "You're the only woman for me, Chris Price," Sabian said, voice quiet. "And I doubt Mal feels any different. You're our exorcist. Don't worry about me. I'll figure something out. If nothing else, your enjoyment of Mal's cooking helps some."

  I patted my stomach. "Yeah, it's a good thing I have the metabolism of a racehorse because otherwise I'd have gained twenty pounds in the last few days."

  "You'd be amazing no matter how much weight you did or didn't have. But let's not worry too much about it right now. I'm fine for a few days."

  "Great. So, what's next?" I finished shoveling food in my face and put the dish in the sink.

  "We need to know what the prince knows, and formulate a plan from there," Sabian replied.

  I can draw him into our conversation so that you don't have to repeat everything I'm saying.

  I sighed and repeated that to Sabian. He nodded in reluctant agreement.

  Moments later the three of us were standing in that same blank space where I'd interacted with the demon prince before. The last couple of times I'd been distracted but this time I could truly appreciate how blank it was here. It was like standing in a white void, with only myself, Sabian, Ezra and...what the hell was that?

  The dog-like creature was nearly as tall as I was, covered in short black hair that shone in the ambient light, muscular, with eyes that glowed red with flame. Horns curled forward around his cheeks and large pointed ears jutted up from his skull. A spiky fringe of hair ran down the creature's entire back, from head all the way down to his long, spike-tipped tail.

  "Mayhem?" I said hesitantly.

  The creature turned toward me and dropped his jaw in a doggy grin. His tail flicked, more cat-like than dog like, but otherwise this creature was all hellhound.

  "Why...why on earth do you look like a Pomeranian?"

  He sat and tilted his head, as if he couldn't figure out what my problem was.

  "Never mind."

  Ezra stood behind me, and he touched my back, fingers tracing a small circle between my shoulder blades.

  Sabian's eyes narrowed, but he didn't otherwise object.

  I wanted to tell him to stop. I also didn't want to tell him to stop.

  The demon prince stilled his hand before dropping it to his side. Maybe he hadn't meant to touch me?

  Regardless, we were all here now.

  "Okay, what's going on?" I turned to face Ezra.

  Sabian came up to my side and I slid my hand into his. Ezra got a pinched look on his face like he might physically be in pain, but he was just going to have to deal.

  Mayhem came up next to me and sat, still almost as freaking tall as I was. He leaned over and pressed his body against my hip. After a moment I put my hand on his back. The hair that spiked down his body was surprisingly soft.

  "As we've already discussed, there seems to be a power play going on in the demonic realm. Lott, who you're familiar with, is a more recently elevated prince. He's also quite ambitious. There is more to it than a simple power play, but I do not yet know all the details. He seems to have aligned with these humans to bind demons and help the criminals. Honestly, it's a strange thing because the criminals can't do much for him in return. I would have thought he'd choose a more powerful group of mortals."

  "They're focusing on demons that fall under your control, right?"

  Ezra nodded.

  "They managed to summon you, yes?"

  He frowned, but nodded.

  "Seems like he might be getting what he wanted. You, and yours, tied up so you can't interfere," I suggested.

  Ezra's eyes narrowed. "Perhaps. But to what end? My territory and power shouldn't be interesting to him."

  "Is there any other sorts of power plays going on that you're involved with?"

  Ezra pursed his lips before shrugging. At least this time I couldn't feel as if he were shrugging under my skin. "Nothing of real consequence. The last strong opinions I put forth were many years ago as the mortal plane counts them. I can't imagine it's important now."

  I also got the impression he was not going to tell us what that was, so I didn't press. Not now, anyway.

  "Okay, so Lott is pushing into your territory, or at least pushing you out of it. He
's succeeded."

  "He has merely inconvenienced me. To truly take over my territory he would have to trap me on earth in a somewhat permanent fashion and show that I was incapable of defending myself and my territory. He nearly succeeded, unfortunately. Instead, I'm safe, though unfortunately on Earth."

  "That's why you want to stay. So, he can't summon you again?"

  "Yes, though my preference would have been to stay without actually being in possession of a mortal."

  "Yeah, well, same here, mate."

  Somehow, he caressed my back again, though he was facing me. He frowned, as if realizing he was doing it.

  "So, we're caught up in a power play that seems simple on the surface, but doesn't make a lot of sense, so is probably connected to something much deeper. That about it?"

  Ezra nodded.

  "First step, we gotta stop that twatwaffle occultist and get the demons sent back to hell. Right?"

  "Yes."

  "Then what?"

  "Then you and I part ways, and hopefully your involvement is done," Ezra said. "You've already claimed Sabian and you have one of my hellhounds and I will owe you that favor, so we will be seeing each other again. Though hopefully not longer than it takes for me to repay your assistance in this matter."

  I sensed hesitation as he voiced the last.

  "Sure. So, I get to keep Sabian and Mayhem?"

  "As much as I'd enjoy fighting you, Price, I have more important things to worry about. Sabian wants to be claimed, and I am not losing anything by leaving him in your possession. The hellhound is a gift. He's from excellent bloodlines, by the way."

  I had never considered that hellhounds might have breeding programs. Shaking my head, I sighed, though I dug my fingers into the creature's mane. He leaned against me a bit more firmly.

  "Okay." I didn't know what else to say to any of that.

  "Prince Ezra, what do we need to know, to fight this occultist and the other demons?" Sabian asked, voice far more respectful than I'd managed with Ezra. Perhaps that was because Ezra had outright told us I could keep Sabian without him fighting us. That had to buy some gratitude at least.

  "We have to find her. Once we destroy her, it shouldn't be difficult to use my connection to the others to track down the amulets and destroy them. Either with that clever spell the vampire had in his collection, or if we can convince the angelic one to assist, he can destroy them simply by touching them. Then either Price or the Catholic priest can send them back to my realm. They will all want to go, so the rituals will not be difficult."

  "Can I do an exorcism with you possessing me?" I shivered.

  "If I'm not interfering, which I won't be."

  "Almost seems too easy."

  "Finding the occultist and defeating her will not be easy," Ezra said. "The rest shouldn't be difficult."

  "Okay, so, how do we find this bitch and defeat her?" I hoped he had some ideas, because I didn't.

  "It may take some magical detective work to find the woman. Defeating her likely will be as simple as killing her and as complicated. She will have many defenses."

  "Great. So, what role are you going to play in this?" I was almost afraid to ask.

  "I'm going to continue to keep you alive, Price. Hope I don't need to do more than that, as I'll have to act through you. The longer I possess you, and the more I act through you, the more significantly you will feel my absence when I'm gone."

  "Do I even want to know what that means?"

  Ezra didn't reply.

  "So, you can't just step out of my body and be present on Earth?"

  "Now that I've possessed you, I'd have to return to my realm before I could be summoned again and manifest as Sabian does. If you want to go that route, I can teach you to summon me."

  "I feel like there's a catch."

  "It requires sacrifice." Ezra smiled as if that idea didn't actually bother him.

  "Right, that's a pretty big catch."

  He shrugged.

  "And if we send you back, they could summon you again and all the bad things you mentioned before could still happen, but if you're still here they can't do any of that?"

  "It is theoretically possible for them to summon me again while I am in possession of you. However, I do not think they would succeed if they tried. Assuming you fought them, anyway. You are much stronger than their occultist."

  Fight to keep being possessed. Right. That was tweaking my brain a little.

  "Yeah, okay, let's hope she doesn't try that." I really didn't want to know what that sort of battle would do to me.

  "I also hope they do not think of it. If they try the summoning they've been using, it won't work, regardless. However, if they discover you are alive, they might figure out what we've done, and that could convince them to try it. Still, you can't simply hide away if we're to stop them."

  "Yeah, right, mate. Lay low, but don't?"

  He nodded.

  "Great."

  Ezra tilted his head as if he were listening to something, then suddenly I was back in my living room, the sound of Darius' ring tone blaring from my phone.

  I did not want to talk to him. The phone stopped.

  "You guys okay?"

  I twisted around on the couch. Aaron was standing in the doorway, staring at us.

  "Yeah. We were just talking with Ezra. Got something of a plan going on."

  "Are you okay, Chris?" Aaron came the rest of the way in the room.

  I sighed and leaned back against the couch. "As okay as I can be. I'm not dead, at any rate. That's a bonus."

  Aaron sank down into the chair and stared at me.

  "Anyone have a chance to fill you in on your secrets?"

  He raised his eyebrows. "No."

  "Guess you got angel blood, mate."

  If anything, his eyebrows climbed higher. "Really?"

  The proper term is Nephilim, or half angel.

  I relayed that to Aaron.

  "But, neither of my parents..." he protested.

  Likely his father is actually an angel. Also, likely, his mother didn't know. You don't have to tell him that, however.

  "I don't know. Just, you've got angel blood. Pretty cool, actually. At least someone in this house isn't in thick with the demons." I tried to smile. It didn't work.

  "Sure. This, really is going to take a lot to process." He shook his head and hunched his shoulders. "But I suppose we've got bigger things to worry about right now. What did you learn?"

  I filled him in.

  Before he could reply, my phone started ringing again.

  "Damn it," I muttered and grabbed the cell. "What?"

  "Price, could you and your posse please come down to the sheriff's office. We've got another one you really should take a look at," Darius said, voice neutral.

  "Seriously?"

  "Chris, it's important. I promise this isn't about you or your friends."

  He's telling the truth if it helps.

  "Yeah, sure, okay. Mal's not here, but I can bring everyone else."

  "Yeah, that's probably fine. I'm not sure we need him."

  "All right, mate. See you in a few."

  I glanced at the others and seeing their agreement, stood and put the phone in my pocket.

  "Why don't I drive?" Aaron offered as we headed toward the door.

  I hadn't been awake long, but weariness dragged at my limbs and I agreed.

  Side effect of almost dying twice. I'm doing the best I can, but it still takes some time to recover from that.

  Probably still better than being dead.

  At least you got out with your soul intact.

  I shivered and hoped it stayed that way.

  Chapter 16

  Price

  I stared at the holding cell in amazement. The demon had used his hosts blood to paint the walls with symbols. Ezra was helpfully translating as I studied them.

  The cops didn't know I was possessed, hopefully anyway, but they knew about Sabian. The incubus was flitting around the room,
translating the symbols as he went, while one of the officers recorded everything. It amounted to a pictograph retelling of what had happened to the demon.

  I actually felt sorry for it. This demon was one of the more innocuous types, almost more of a demonic nature spirit than a true demon. A trickster, but not particularly evil on the scale of demons. Still, his host had passed out from blood loss before it completed its tale of capture and imprisonment. It had begged to be released every few symbols or so, but the really interesting thing was that the tale gave us clues. Really big clues as to where to start looking for our occultist.

  "You were right. This is important," I said once Sabian had finished performing for the cops. Ezra and I had already read everything.

  "Are you up to releasing the demon?" Darius asked.

  I almost felt like that was a test.

  "Yeah, I can do it."

  The demon prince didn't object, so I figured we were golden.

  "What's with the glasses?" Officer McClellan asked as she led us to the cell where the possessed human currently resided under monitored restraint. They'd treated him then brought him back here, probably owing to the demonic possession.

  "Bad hangover," I muttered and shivered as invisible hands caressed my back. Did he even realize he was doing that?

  The hellhound trailed along behind us, ignored by everyone. That was a fantastic trick on his part.

  "Surprised you were in any shape to drink last night. You looked pretty bad when Mal carried you out of that warehouse."

  Damn, we'd finally gotten to the stereotypical warehouse and I'd mostly been unconscious for it. Bummer.

  "Looked worse than it was. Needed a bender to come down from the adrenalin and actually get some sleep."

  I could tell she didn't believe me, but I wasn't about to tell her the truth. Or anything else, for that matter.

  The possessed human was a young man with shaggy black hair, sallow skin, and a desperate air about him that might have been his natural state even without a desperate demon.

  "You couldn't take care of him before we got here?" I asked Darius.

  "Wasn't sure if you would want to talk to him first," Darius answered. "This is the first one we've found in a while."

  "Seems like most of their amulets hold pretty well. You only find the ones that are flawed," I said.