by Julie Kenner
As far as I knew, the Monroe family still used the tomb, and every time I’d been to the cemetery, the gate had been locked.
Today, the gate was open. Even from my angle off to the side, I could see that the iron bars had swung wide, a silent invitation to enter.
What can I say? I accepted, moving quietly until I was pressed into an alcove that allowed me a view of the interior—hopefully without being seen.
I peeked out, and what I saw made bile rise in my throat. It took everything I had not to gasp in horror.
David was there, all right. He’d been stripped naked and strung up in a shaft of fading light that trickled through a stained-glass window. Like the picture in Allie’s book, his arms were tied above his head to something solid, yet hidden, in the darkness. His feet barely touched the lid of Monroe’s sarcophagus, and blood dripped from his feet into a small gold bowl, into which the ring had been carefully placed.
I held on tight to the side of the tomb, afraid that if I didn’t, I would rush forward. And while I wanted to rescue David, I couldn’t afford to be caught myself.
His eyes fluttered and I watched, holding my breath as he saw me. He didn’t move. Didn’t do anything that would give me away. But still I could see the fear in his eyes, and what almost brought me to my knees was that it was fear for me, not for himself.
I love you, I thought, hoping he could hear me. I’m going to get you out of here.
I carefully examined the rest of the tomb, trying to see if his captor had left him temporarily alone. If the ceremony hadn’t started yet ... if it was only David and the ring ...
But no, there was a movement at the back of the tomb. A subtle shifting of the velvety blackness. Then a figure cloaked in a black cape stepped forward into the fading shaft of light.
A pause, and then the figure’s head snapped up, the light illuminating features I recognized well—Nadia.
I stayed deathly silent, but it didn’t matter. She looked right at me and smiled.
“Kate,” David croaked. “Run.”
But before I could react, my arms were pinned behind me by two hulking demons, one on each side of me, and I was shoved roughly forward. The alcove, it seemed, was really the foyer of a hidden doorway. And I’d walked right in to a trap.
I tried to break free, but the demon held me too tight. I snapped my head back, catching his nose with the back of my skull. Nothing. He didn’t even budge. I was being held by the Incredible Hulk of demons, and I could do nothing except stand there and seethe as they overpowered me and bound my legs.
“You raging bitch,” I said, as the demons holding me shuffled forward so that our backs were to the gate and I was facing Nadia. “Everything’s been a lie with you. Were you ever even working for Forza? Or have you been doing Andramelech’s dirty work all along?”
“Don’t even think of insulting me,” she said. “I busted my ass for that organization. And what did I get? Hunted. Persecuted. And not a single damn thing else. I lived like a bum for years carting around the country doing Forza’s dirty work and I didn’t have a thing to show for it except a beat-up duffel bag and a head full of memories.”
“So you decided that was reason enough to join forces with a demon? Why not just retire? Put on a tiny bikini or your itty-bitty red dress and go clubbing. Hang out on a beach in Mexico. Anything but throwing in with the forces of darkness.”
“ ’Forces of darkness’? A bit melodramatic, don’t you think?”
“Actually, no,” I said, giving my arms one more jerk in case my captors had quit paying attention. They hadn’t. I was still very firmly trapped.
“You want to know? You really want to know? Power,” she said. “Like you wouldn’t believe. Here’s the slightest sampling,” she said, then disappeared.
I blinked, startled, and then just as quickly realized what had happened. One of the demons loyal to the trapped Andramelech had made promises to Nadia.
“They’re backing their promises with parlor tricks, Nadia,” I said to empty air. “Do you really believe once Andramelech is released they’ll let you live? Your invisibility ring isn’t going to work if you’re dead.”
“Actually, it’s a charm,” she said, reappearing. “But how clever of you to have recognized the device.”
“I’ve run across one before,” I said dryly. “Like I said, it’s a parlor trick.”
“No, darling, this is a parlor trick.” She gestured to David, who was going paler by the minute as the blood continued to flow from his veins. His eyes had started to cloud over, but I still saw a hint of cognizance there. Silently, I urged him to hang on. Somehow, I’d get us out of this.
“Once the blood covers the ring, the transformation will take place. Poof, just like that. And Andramelech will be free once again.”
“You’re sick,” I said, eyeing the cup and the blood that kept rising in it, so high now that only the tiniest bit of gold from the ring still peeked out above the liquid.
“I’m smart,” she said, her voice tight. “And I’m a realist.”
“Why not come after me sooner?” I asked, hoping to keep her talking so that I could think. “I’ve had the ring for years.”
“Truthfully? We didn’t know where it was. You didn’t even know where it was. Not until you put on the ring.”
“You knew about Eric, though. You attacked him on the beach.”
“Actually, we weren’t certain. Not at first. I’m not entirely sure how the demons feel each other in their disembodied state, but they explained that they could tell that he was gone, he who was supposed to be trapped for all eternity.” She smiled. “It was a fabulous opportunity, of course, because by landing in a body, Eric handed us the ceremony to free Andramelech. Ironic, don’t you think?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, Kate, darling. Surely you know that to jump into a body requires a certain ... je ne sais quoi. We were quite surprised that Eric had it in him. Makes me think that perhaps he’s more amenable to our little plan tonight than he’d like you to think.”
She ran a finger up his leg, and David jerked away, the hatred in his eyes far surpassing the exhaustion.
“I don’t think so,” I said.
“No?” She waved my comment away. “Too bad you’ll never have the chance to ask him.”
“What about me?” I asked. “Why not kill me?”
“At first, we tried,” she said. “You’re not an easy person to kill. And then we realized you were more useful to us alive.”
“How so?”
“Well, right now for one thing. I think it’s safe to say that Eric knows that if he does something foolish—not that he has the strength to manage that—Laurence and Arnold there would break your pretty little neck.”
“Ah,” I said, not much liking the sound of that.
“Now, we don’t much care if you die. Before, though ... Well, we realized that the death of a Hunter might get Forza snooping around where they didn’t belong. But keeping you alive, driving a little wedge between you and snooky-wookums, hopefully ensured an interruption-free ceremony.” She made a face. “That didn’t work out quite as well as we planned.”
“That’s because you didn’t make it plausible. Eric would never sleep with you. Never. And I know him well enough to realize that.”
“Oh, Kate, darling, that’s such a heartwarming story of trust and reunion. But before you get your hopes up, I should probably warn you that you won’t be seeing your beloved again after this death. The spell is going to bind his soul to this body. Trapped without a voice, but inside with Andramelech, so it’s sure to be a good time.”
She smiled and traced a finger down David’s bare side. “Considering the ... relationship... I have with Andramelech, I guess David and I will be a lot closer soon, too.” She reached down and drew her finger through the blood in the cup, then lifted it to her lips. “Delicious,” she said. “And now, I’m afraid your time is up.”
The tomb began to shake, razor-thin crac
ks appeared in the walls, and a deep groaning sound came from the ground, as if Hell was opening up all around us.
As I struggled against my two captors, Nadia climbed onto the coffin. She took the cup with the ring and poured the blood over David’s head. At first, nothing happened. And then he started to glow, his skin illuminated a deep red, pulsating with the beat of his heart.
“Good-bye, Eric,” she said. “Hello, my darling Andramelech. ” And then she kissed him, hard, as he struggled against her.
“Eric,” I screamed.
“Kate.” His voice was low and weak, and I had to strain to hear it. “Don’t hesitate. Don’t let him in. Kill me before he’s locked inside me. If you don’t,” he said, sucking breath in for strength, “it will be too late.”
I shivered, suddenly understanding what we were up against. Andramelech would be truly invincible. Even a sword through the eye wouldn’t kill him.
“Too late, Eric darling,” Nadia said as the red poured out of Eric and turned into a misty demonic haze, which spun around him like a cyclone.
I raged against my captors, but it was no use. The demons behind me each had an arm, and they’d bound my legs as well. I screamed out, desperate but impotent.
A loud wail sounded from behind me, and the demon holding my right arm collapsed, the steel point of a crossbow arrow protruding from his eye from where it had been shot through the back of his skull.
I didn’t waste any time wondering about that gift. I used my now free hand to whip around and slam a fist into the other demon’s eye. While he recoiled, I saw who had shot the arrow—Eddie. I took the knife he tossed me and then slammed it home, taking immense satisfaction in the feel of the blade sliding into his eye.
“Your timing is perfect,” I said to Eddie, with a nod to the crossbow slung across his back. He didn’t say anything, just sliced the bonds that held my ankles together. As soon as I was free, I raced to David, scrambling up to the top of the stone sarcophagus.
“I don’t think so,” Nadia said, landing a quick kick to my gut. I fell back, then stayed down, thrusting both my legs out to catch her in the knees.
She howled in pain, and then rolled off the coffin.
“I’ll nail the bitch,” Eddie said. “Cut the boy down.”
I didn’t hesitate. I pressed against David, feeling the life draining from him as I cut him down, then pulled him off the coffin onto the cold, stone floor.
“You’re too late, Crowe,” Nadia said as Eddie came at her. And then, rather than try to defend herself, she simply disappeared.
David collapsed into my arms and I held him close, my vision blurred by the tears I couldn’t stop from flowing.
“Do it now, Kate,” he said as the mist descended on him, turning the whites of his eyes a deep bloodred. “Kill me now while you still can.”
“Eric ...” I could barely force the word out.
“I love you, Kate. Don’t let me suffer in here with this bastard. Don’t let him have life.”
“I love you too,” I said, unable to stop my tears.
And then I took my knife and drove it through his heart.
“Mooooo!”
I turned to find Allie rushing toward me, and I knew in that moment that she’d heard and seen almost everything. Including the fact that I’d just killed her father.
She tumbled to the ground next to me, her anguished cries ripping my heart in two.
“I figured it out,” Eddie said softly. “What the book meant. Borrowed a car from my lady,” he added, hooking his thumb back over his shoulder, presumably toward where the librarian’s car was parked. “Swung by the house to grab a few weapons, and then we burned some rubber getting here.” He sighed, his shoulders dropping as whatever disdain he’d once held for David melted away. “Sorry we didn’t make it in time. And sorry that bitch from hell got away.”
“You did great,” I said, rocking David’s body in my arms. “Andramelech would have killed me first thing. As for Nadia ...” I trailed off, then gave Eddie a hard look. “Someday, she’ll pay.”
Eddie nodded, his expression acknowledging the truth of my words. “That one was supposed to wait in the car,” he said, with a scowl toward Allie.
She looked up, her eyes glazed, her expression shell-shocked. Slowly, she reached out to touch the face of the man who, in his soul, at least, had been her father.
“Mom ...”
“I know, baby.” I pulled her close and held her tight, expecting her sobs. They never came, though. Instead, she pulled away, looking up at me with determined eyes.
“Allie?”
Without saying a word, she took off Nadia’s leather jacket, then pulled out a small velvet bag. She tossed the jacket across the tomb with a single whispered word. “Bitch.”
I barely even heard her. I was too focused on the bag, too focused on what I knew it could do.
She handed it to me, not speaking a word, but still communicating volumes.
I knew I should say no. I knew I shouldn’t do it. Cross the line into magic—mess with nature—and I was opening a door. A door that could never be shut and, worse, could taint Eric’s soul forever. And my own.
I loved him, though. And so help me, with the key to his salvation right there in my hand, I couldn’t bear to lose him again.
I crossed myself, wishing I were stronger, but knowing that I wasn’t.
And then I opened the bag.
I looked once at Eddie, who crossed himself, too, but didn’t make a move to stop me.
With one hand, I held tight to my daughter, and with the other I sprinkled the dust of the Lazarus Bones on David’s lifeless body. I’d heard the incantation only once, and I hoped that the intricate Latin preface had only been for show. I didn’t remember that part. I remembered only the end. And after taking a deep breath, I spoke the words: “Resurge, mortue!”
At first, nothing happened. And then David’s body began to glow with an eerie yellow light. Allie’s hand was tight in mine, and together we watched his face as David seemed to burn from within.
After what seemed an eternity, his eyelids fluttered. I looked down, my eyes seeking the wound. As I watched, the skin knitted together, the wound healed, and David’s body became whole.
Whether Eric’s soul had returned though ... that, I didn’t yet know.
He stirred, just the slightest of movements. Behind us, I heard Eddie shuffle to the side of the tomb, then come over with a crumpled shirt. He spread it modestly over Eric’s hips, then put a supportive hand on my shoulder.
In front of us, David’s eyes opened. For a moment, he looked confused, and then his expression cleared. “Katie,” he said, his voice as raspy as a man lost in the desert.
“I’m here,” I said taking his hand.
“What happened? Why aren’t I—”
I pressed a finger to his lips. “Later,” I said.
Beside me, Allie squirmed, her gaze darting between the two of us, and hope flooding her bloodshot eyes. “Daddy?” she asked, her voice small and tentative.
David looked at me. I froze, wishing we’d never reached this moment, but knowing that it was impossible to go back. And then, ever so gently, I gave one tiny nod of my head.
“Yeah, baby,” he said, holding his arms out for her as the tears spilled from his own eyes. “It’s me.”
Stay tuned for
Kate Connor’s
next demon-hunting adventure
Deja Demon
now available from Berkley Books
line-share-buttons">share