Demon Ex Machina: Tales of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom

by Julie Kenner

  I nodded, smiled bright, and tried not to let her see that my insides were churning. “Oh, yes. He’s on the team, all right. How long ago did he request the book?” I expected her to cite a date that corresponded more or less to Eric’s return in David’s body. After all, surely he would have come straight here and started to research the problem again.

  So I wasn’t at all prepared when Betty beamed owlishly at me from behind her silver frames, then firmly announced that David had been in only three short days before.

  “That recent?” I asked. “You’re sure?” I was leaning against the counter, trying unsuccessfully to lean in and see her computer screen.

  “Of course, dear. Is something wrong?”

  “No,” I said, trying to convince myself as much as Betty. “Of course not. Thanks so much for checking.” I started to step away, then thought of another question. “Has Mr. Long been to the rare books room often?”

  “You are a hard taskmaster, aren’t you?” she asked as she tapped keys. “But it’s good to check up on your employees. Hmmm.” She peered up at me. “I hope your Mr. Long isn’t supposed to come regularly, because the last time he was here was—goodness—four years ago.”

  I swallowed. David was still David four years ago.

  “And when he was in the other day,” I asked, “did he request any other books?”

  Her eyes scanned the monitor as her fingers clicked. Then she shook her head. “No, just this one.” She peered at my face. “You’re sure there’s not a problem?”

  “Positive,” I said. But I couldn’t escape the reality that something was very, very wrong. Yes, it was possible that David was simply continuing the research he’d started as Eric. And it was possible he’d decided to do that by focusing on one random book.

  More likely, though, was the scenario that played through my mind. That the page in question held my answer—and the demon inside Eric didn’t want me to have it.

  The possibility turned my stomach, because if the answer lay on a page out of a rare book—a page that had been stolen—I had no way of getting that information back. It wasn’t as if I could run down to Barnes & Noble and pick myself up another copy.

  “Dammit, Eric,” I muttered. “Couldn’t you have fought?” My fear, of course, was that he couldn’t. That he was through fighting, and that I’d run out of time.

  “I’m sorry, dear?” Betty said.

  “Nothing. I’m wondering, is there a way to find out if other copies of that book exist?”

  “Well, let me see.” She began tapping at the keyboard, her rhythm more or less in tune with the rhythm of my own tapping foot. “I can only access copies that have been databased online, and—why yes. The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas has a copy, there’s a facsimile copy in Prague, and—oh! The Vatican library has a copy as well.” She looked up at me. “With a book this old, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn those are the only copies in existence,” she said, but I was no longer listening. My mind had stopped working at the mention of the Vatican.

  Right there. The information was right there at Father Corletti’s fingertips and they’d missed it. Most likely because the binding spell was unique to Odayne, and until a few days ago, no one had realized it was him we were dealing with.

  “Betty, you are a saint,” I said, then leaned across the counter to give her a quick hug. “I need to run, but I’ll be back.” I was gone before she had a chance to answer, my cell phone out, and my finger already pressed over the speed-dial button for Father Corletti.

  Before I pushed, the phone buzzed in my hand. Irritated, I saw that it was Allie. “Not now, honey. I’ve got to call—”

  “Mom! Oh, God, Mommy!”

  Instantly, my heart was pounding, and I was racing for my car. “Are you all right? What’s happened? Where—”

  “Cutter’s,” she said. “I’m fine. We’re fine. But, oh God, Mom! Get here fast.”

  Fourteen

  I found the closed sign on the door when I got to Cutter’s, and the door locked. I was on the verge of smashing a rock through the glass when Laura rushed forward, looking both frazzled and exhausted. “Thank God you’re here,” she said after she’d unlocked the door and ushered me in. “Cutter wanted to call the police, and he thinks I’m crazy for—”

  “What happened?” I interrupted, but by that time, I didn’t need to ask. We’d passed the partition that blocked part of the view of the workout area from the front doors, and I could see for myself well enough.

  What happened was that a demon had died, stabbed through the eye with a Maybelline mascara wand.

  I turned and found Allie, who shrugged and looked slightly green. “Mindy was doing her makeup,” she said. “It was handy.”

  “Dammit, Kate,” Cutter said. “I’m calling the cops. I should have called fifteen minutes ago. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.”

  “No.” I’d been looking at the demon—the old man from Coastal Mists that Eric assured us he’d killed. His face was now scarred with what I realized were holy water burns. Allie had been thorough, I thought, and felt a quick stab of pride. Now I looked up at Cutter and shook my head. “You have to trust me on this, Sean, but this isn’t a matter for the police.”

  “In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a body on my floor.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “Under the circumstances, that’s going to be inconvenient.”

  “The crypt?” Laura suggested. She was crouched on the ground near Mindy, who sat with her back to the wall, hugging her knees to her chest.

  “Are you okay?” I asked her.

  Mindy managed a quavering smile. “I told Allie I thought all of this was cool. Now, I’m not so sure.” She looked at me with big brown eyes brimming with tears. “It was gonna kill us, Aunt Kate. It was absolutely gonna kill us, and Allie stopped it.”

  “That’s the only reason I haven’t called the cops,” Cutter said. “Jesus, Allie. What’s going to happen to her?”

  Laura gave Mindy’s head a kiss and then moved over to Cutter, getting right in his face. “Allie’s going to be fine,” she said. “She didn’t kill anyone.”

  I saw Cutter’s eyes shift to Allie, who shrugged and nodded. “He’s not a person, Cutter. I swear to God.”

  “But he’s a body,” I said firmly, trying to keep my mind on the problem. Cutter we could deal with. The body, we needed to get rid of. “And the crypts are out of the question. The bishop doesn’t know about the demons, and now isn’t the time to tell him.”

  “Demons.” Cutter’s single word came out on a breath, and while I heard surprise, I also thought I heard a wisp of understanding. Or, maybe I was imagining things.

  “Should we take the body to Daddy?” Allie asked.

  I shook my head. “Eric’s not going to be able to help us this time.” I toed the demon, reining in the desire to kick the shit out of the corpse for attacking people I loved. “He came in here? Attacked you?”

  Allie nodded. “Said he was going to kill me and then all the rest of us. He meant it, too. Cutter went after him, and the demon knocked him all the way back there,” she said, pointing to the far wall. “Musta really hurt, but it gave me time to get my spritzer bottle out of my backpack, because I remembered what you said about not assuming anything.”

  “Someone’s in the process of killing you, you defend yourself and worry about the demon/human thing later,” I said. “But good girl for remembering.”

  “Yeah, well, I got him in the face, you know. And the water burned the shit out of him.”

  “Water?” Cutter said. “That wasn’t mace? Acid?”

  “Holy water,” I said, keeping my eyes on Allie. “Then what?”

  “I started whaling on him while he was clawing his face, and I shouted for Mindy to toss me something pointy, and she did and, well, there you go.”

  I couldn’t hold the professional veneer any longer. I pulled her close and squeezed my eyes shut, afraid that once I started crying, I wouldn�
�t be able to stop.

  “He’s dead, Mom,” Allie said. “It’s over, and we’re all safe.”

  I nodded, snuffled, and pulled my head up. “He’s dead, all right,” I said. “And apparently for the second time.”

  “What?” Laura asked, but I could tell from Allie’s expression that she already knew what I was going to say.

  “This is the man from the paper. The one we were going after at Coastal Mists.”

  Laura frowned. “But I thought David told you that he’d killed it.”

  “David?” Cutter asked. “David Long?”

  “Apparently he lied,” I said, ignoring Cutter.

  “You’re right, then,” Laura said. “We can’t ask him to do something about the body. Landfill?”

  I shook my head. “Too dangerous. Hang on. I’ve got an idea.” I pulled out my cell phone, preparing to call Father Corletti and beg for a disposal team. I’d been denied them in the past—with Forza having all sorts of economic cutback problems, there simply weren’t teams available—but in the past I’d had other options.

  “Wait,” Cutter said. “Just wait a damn minute. What in the name of God is going on?”

  “He’s got that right,” Allie said, then started laughing so hard that I had to write it off to post-trauma hysterics.

  “Demons? Bodies? Holy water? Answers, Kate. And this time, I really want them.”

  I nodded. For a long time, I’d known the day would come when I’d share the truth with Cutter. And why not? I liked him. More than that, I trusted him.

  “I mean it,” he said, apparently taking my silence for hesitation. “Tell me what’s going on.” He reached out and took Laura’s hand, pulling her slightly closer to him as he spoke.

  I looked at the two of them and, in spite of everything else, I smiled. “Go ahead, Laura,” I said, as I moved across the room with my phone. “Tell him everything.”

  “Nobody leaves, nobody moves,” I said, pointing to the cluster of people now in my living room. It was after six now, and I’d insisted Stuart come home with pizza, which was now getting cold on the kitchen counter as everyone waited for me to finish running through my instructions. “I’m only going to be gone an hour or so, and I want everyone inside, safe and sound, when I get back.”

  “We can’t live like this every day, Kate,” Stuart said. “And the demon is dead.”

  “There are always more demons,” I countered. Suddenly tired, I sank down on the couch next to him. Everyone important to me was in that room. Stuart, Eddie, Allie, Timmy. Then Laura and Mindy and Cutter. The only one missing was Eric, and the fact that he wasn’t in the room—was no longer welcome in the room—had thrown off my equilibrium.

  “Please,” I said, all of my exhaustion flowing into my voice. “Just for tonight. Don’t argue. Eat pizza. Play stupid board games. Just let me have this one night of knowing you’re together and that you’re safe.”

  “And what about us worrying about you?” Stuart said.

  I drew in a breath and shot Eddie a quick glance. “They’re not going to kill me.”

  “I’m still not understanding why that is,” Laura said, an admission that Allie immediately seconded.

  “I don’t understand how it works, either,” I admitted. “All I know is what Father Corletti told me, and considering Eric confirmed that they don’t want to kill me, we have to assume it’s true.”

  “That you’re tied to Eric. Or at least to his soul,” Stuart said, speaking through near-clenched teeth. I didn’t blame him. Hard enough to know your wife still had ties to another man, and worse still if that man was turning out to be a demon.

  I nodded, trying to keep my thoughts and demeanor in professional debrief mode. “Right. When I brought him back from the dead—”

  “What?” That from Cutter, but I chose to ignore it, figuring Laura could add in that detail later.

  “—the magic worked a connection. If I die, he dies.”

  “He-Daddy? Or he-Odayne?”

  I met my daughter’s eyes, and had to smile when I saw that she was standing straight and tall, using the same tricks I did to remain objective. Or, at least, as objective as possible. “Honestly, I don’t know. The connection’s with Eric, so it makes sense that he’s the one who would die.”

  “But that must kill Odayne, too,” Laura said. “Otherwise, I don’t think they’d much care. I mean, they’re just interested in getting him a body, right? Him and Lilith. A matching set.”

  I had to agree. “Right. They’re being careful with me, because if Eric dies, then it’s San Francisco all over again,” I said, referring to Eric’s death back when Allie was nine. “Eric and Odayne would be back in the ether, and they’d have to wait for another chance to pop into a body. And that could take years, even decades.”

  “The ether?” Cutter asked, and this time I took pity on him.

  “It’s where most demons are. Think of it as another dimension. They’re only a problem to us if they manage to become corporeal. You know, get into a body.”

  “A dead body,” he said, this time looking to Laura, who nodded confirmation.

  Mindy lifted her hand, as if she was in class. “So you’re safe right now because if they kill you, then Eric dies and Odayne goes poof with him?”

  I nodded. “Looks that way.”

  Stuart moved to my side and took my hand. “They may not be able to kill you, but they can hurt you,” he said.

  I managed a watery smile, knowing all too well that the hurt he referred to wasn’t physical. At least not to me. “Yeah. I know.” I swallowed thickly, afraid the tears would start up again if I looked at Allie or Mindy or Laura. The tears had already flowed once, when we were still at Cutter’s waiting for the disposal team that Father Corletti had ordered up from Los Angeles. They’d made great time, actually, and I think the sight of the team, in their matching scrub shirts and with their white cargo van, so efficient and controlled, had driven the truth home to Cutter. The shocked look on his face had vanished, replaced with a ferocity I knew only too well. He might not be trained at hunting demons, but he was one of the best fighters I knew, and if anything happened while I was gone, I felt better knowing he was there to fight.

  I pushed up off the couch. “Enough,” I said. “It’s time.” I couldn’t put it off any longer. There were too many things about which I had to confront Eric. The dead demon. The missing page. “Lock the doors. Don’t let anybody in. Be safe.”

  “Mom,” Allie said, but this time without the eye roll. “We know.”

  “Call me if Father Corletti calls back,” I said. He’d promised to go straight to the archives and look for the book with the missing page. With any luck, we’d have a binding spell for Odayne by morning.

  “Okay,” I said. “I’m off.” I headed toward the garage, Stuart’s I love you floating after me.

  I paid attention as I backed the van out of the driveway, carefully watching to make sure no one managed to sneak inside the garage as the door was open. I saw nothing, and thought that was, at least, something. Now, alone in the car, I could finally let myself go. I didn’t cry—I didn’t have the time for that sort of luxury—but it felt like the tears were flooding my insides. Fear and worry and utter horror that my dangerous world had intruded so far into the real world.

  Except it was all real, wasn’t it? Demons and monsters and things that wanted to hurt me and my family and my friends. All real and all horrible, and what had happened today at Cutter’s only underscored how impotent I really was. Even with all my training, all my knowledge, all of my secret peepholes into the messy netherworld. None of it mattered. Not really. Not when the demons were going to use the people I care about to get to me.

  I wanted to say that I was a strong enough person that I could withstand their dirty tactics, but I wasn’t sure that I was. They’d gotten to me this time, and the one person I needed to pull me back to center wasn’t going to be able to help me. I knew that—was absolutely certain I’d lost him—but damne
d if I wasn’t going to try to get him back. Because if I could save him, then maybe I could save all of us.

  “Hang on, Eric,” I said, not realizing how tightly I was holding the steering wheel. “Dammit, fight.”

  I called his apartment from the road and got no answer. That was fine. If he was screening my calls, I’d confront him when I saw him. And if he really was gone, well, that was fine, too. I’d break in and search his apartment. With any luck, I’d find the page from the book. With even more luck, the part of him that was still Eric had left it there for me to find.

  My fear was that I wouldn’t find it and that Father Corletti wouldn’t find it.

  My fear was that the page was gone for good, the binding spell lost to the sands of time.

  And without that spell, then there was no way to bind Odayne. No way, at least, that I knew of. Though I had to admit that my knowledge of binding demons was limited. I was much more of a kill them and be done with it kind of girl.

  And, of course, binding Odayne wasn’t my only problem. The truth was that Lilith was as big a problem as Odayne, if not bigger. Odayne was simply more personal because he’d moved into my husband. But Lilith was not the kind of demon I needed gunning for me and my family, and if I did manage to stop Odayne, I was going to have to deal with her wrath, and that would really, really, really not be pretty.

  Too bad there wasn’t some way to bind her. Some sort of two-for-one special would be good, actually. Something. Anything.

  But nothing brilliant jumped to mind, most probably because this really wasn’t my turf. For that matter, until this whole mess with Eric, the only bound demon I’d ever really had to deal with was Andramelech, trapped inside Solomon’s Stone. Then again, I corrected myself, that had to do with Eric, too. He’d trapped the demon, after all, unknowingly sacrificing himself in the process, his soul getting sucked out of his body even at the instant the demon was sucked into the stone.

  Wait.

  I played that back in my head, my eyes narrowing as I thought about what I knew about Solomon’s Stone. It could be used to trap a demon. All the person doing the trapping had to do was jam their finger—the one wearing the ring—into the eye of the demon. But the person trapping it had to be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice—their soul sucked out and up into the ether.