Ruth and Demetri fired rounds and then frowned when the bullets passed through the shadows.
“It’s not working!” Ruth signaled to him. “We have to get the Guardians out of here.”
Sophie lost her breath as the shadow man flipped her over his shoulder into a pile of debris. Pain intensified when he pressed down on her ribs. She screamed in rage and hit it with her fists.
The weight suddenly disappeared. Tristan’s concerned face filled her hazy vision.
Sophie barked out two coughs when more smoke filled her lungs. The dark feeling overwhelmed her, and she spun around to find the reason.
Kent’s lifeless body fell to the floor slowly. Blood spurted from his neck with each heartbeat.
Sophie met the gaze of the soulless one behind Kent’s body. She had to crane her neck back to see the face of the massive shadow.
Pure one.
The voice whispered inside her mind and her skin crawled.
I have come for your friend.
“No!” Sophie cried out. Which one? Her breath caught while her gaze bounced from Lilli to Morgan.
Her head snapped back to Lilli. A shadow formed behind her, its dark claws solidifying in front of her throat.
“Lilli!” Sophie screamed. The others forgot the fire raging around them and turned to Lilli.
Fiery bits of ceiling fell around them and thundered to the floor. Lilli’s eyes widened in horror, and Jackson rushed forward.
The demon sneered and cut a small piece of Lilli’s flesh. She squirmed in its grip, but it was too late.
Jackson fell to his knees when Lilli disappeared. “No.” The word tripped from his lips.
Sophie jumped when he roared at the top of his lungs. Lilli was gone.
“We have to get out of here!” Demetri gestured to the door.
Aidan held a hand up to keep the fire at bay. Sweat beaded on his brow from the effort.
Sophie tugged on Tristan’s sleeve. It spurred him into action. He crossed to Jackson, grabbed him under the arms, and hauled him up.
Ruth pushed them toward the staircase. “Move!”
“Come on!” Tristan shouted, shaking Jackson. A ceiling beam landed with a loud rumble beside them. The sweltering smoke pressed in on them.
Sophie grabbed Morgan’s hand and forced them both to the floor. The smoke is rising. We have to crawl.
Morgan nodded, black smudges marring her beautiful features. Her ice-blue eyes showed her determination to make it out alive with the rest of her friends.
Sophie weakened as everyone’s pain and shock soaked in, battering at her already frail defenses. Black spots appeared in her vision.
Morgan tugged at Sophie’s hand. We’re almost to the stairs. She coughed and inhaled more smoke.
Jackson struggled against Tristan’s grip.
Cut it out! Tristan snapped. He tightened his hold enough to cut through Jackson’s shock. We won’t be any good to her dead!
The heat devastated them. Sophie’s knees weakened, and Morgan dragged her up the stairs.
Almost there, Soph.
“The door is locked!” Ruth jiggled the handle, pushing at the door. She slammed her palm against it when it refused to budge.
“Let me.” Morgan disappeared. From behind the door they could hear things crashing to the ground.
Fire pushed up the stairs. Aidan stood between them and the fire and struggled to keep it at bay. Morgan!
They blocked it. I’m almost done!
The door swung open. Once they hit the tiled floor, they ran for the front door.
Night air rushed to greet them when their feet hit the sidewalk. Sophie greedily gulped in the crisp oxygen.
Ruth and Demetri had their heads together, quickly whispering a plan.
“No! How could you do this to me?” Jackson pushed Tristan away from him. “I left her!”
“They took her. They did this!”
Jackson threw a punch. Tristan’s head snapped to the side as Jackson’s fist connected with his jaw. For a brief moment, his eyes glowed green.
Sophie held her breath.
Tristan drew a deep breath in and let it out slowly. His eyes faded to gray.
Police sirens serenaded the night while they stood staring at the burning cathedral. The siren’s mournful cries awakened Sophie’s grief. She collapsed to her knees. The pain in her chest compressed.
“She’s gone, too.” Sophie wrapped her arms around herself.
Tristan knelt beside her. “We have to go.”
Sophie ignored his soft words.
“Now!” Demetri shouted. “They can’t find us here.”
“What would we tell them? Demons were after us?” Aidan reiterated. He started sprinting away. Morgan and Ruth looked at each other before joining him. Demetri grabbed Jackson’s arm and shoved him into a run.
“Come on, we need to go.” Tristan grabbed her hand and pulled her down the sidewalk. The police cars squealed to a stop in front of the inferno. The uniformed men spotted Sophie when she stumbled and fell to one knee.
Tristan looked over his shoulder and tried to help Sophie up. He was hidden behind the corner of the next building, out of the policemen’s sight.
Go. Now! They don’t need to know all of us were here.
I’m not leaving you! His fingers tightened around hers. Get up!
Sophie heard the pounding of the men’s feet on the sidewalk. She knew they were going to catch up with them. There was only one thing to do. She stood and shoved Tristan over the edge of the shrubs. If you get up I’ll never forgive you!
With one last look at him, feet hanging over the hedge, she ran in the direction of the police. She recognized the first one as Detective Campbell, the man she had delivered the letters to about the kidnapped students. His eyebrows lifted when he saw her.
Her stilted run and torn sleeve caught his attention. She sobbed, covered in black soot and a small amount of blood. When she came closer, the others noticed her as well.
Chapter Twenty-One
“MA’AM, CALM DOWN.” Campbell’s arms came to her sides as she ran into him. Tristan growled in the back of her mind, and she sent reassurance to him.
“Oh, my God! We have to get out of here!” Sophie turned watery violet eyes up to the detective.
His gaze softened. She knew she looked scared, hurt, and worried, and she also knew his daughter was about her age from when she’d visited him at the station. He’d associate them together and want to help her.
She hoped it wouldn’t get him killed.
He grasped her elbow and steered her away from the others and the church. “I need to ask you some questions.” He spoke gently and helped her into the back of an ambulance. “Was there anyone else in there?”
Sophie averted her eyes, aware that she wasn’t the best liar.
I’m coming to get you. Tristan’s voice spoke in her mind.
No, we can’t risk them finding all of us. If they lock us up or keep us for questioning, there won’t be anyone to rescue Lilli. That means more than me being alone.
Damn it, Sophie! I should be there with you! Tristan’s husky voice was laced with irritation.
She looked Campbell dead in the eyes. “No, no one other than the priest.” There, now you can’t come. If you do, you’ll make me a liar. Then they’ll charge me with murder. And we don’t need to draw any more attention to ourselves.
“Is he still in the church?” Campbell looked over his shoulder to where the firemen were hosing down the fire.
Sophie followed his line of sight. She watched the flames leap, and her heart squeezed. So much loss in the span of a few weeks. How had the demons known?
“What were you doing in the church?”
Sophie searched her mind for an answer. She shivered underneath the blanket and didn’t have to fake emotion when she said, “My brother was recently murdered. Father Kent was helping me through this tough time.”
It wasn’t a total lie. Todd was gone, and Father Ken
t had helped her with her grief at Demetri’s command. She’d resented it then, but now was sorry she hadn’t told Kent how much it’d really helped. How talking about her feelings had kept her grief from swallowing her whole.
She ran her hands up and down her arms to warm them against the sudden chill she felt at remembering Todd’s death.
“Get her a blanket.” Campbell signaled to a paramedic. When the man rushed to grab one, he looked back at her. “You’re the girl who’s been bringing me the letters.”
“Yes,” Sophie whispered. She thought back over how much her life had changed since she’d started having those visions.
“Does this have anything to do with the missing students?”
She shook her head without looking him in the eyes.
I’m coming over there now. I can feel your sadness, Sophie, and it’s killing me.
Tristan, please. You can find a way to get me out.
I don’t like leaving you here.
I’m a big girl.
God, this doesn’t feel right. I don’t want to be the only girl, Soph. This from Morgan, half-joking.
You won’t be for long. You’ll get me. And Lilli. Just go.
Tristan didn’t answer. For a moment, she was worried he’d ruin her cover by bounding over the hedge toward her. When he didn’t, Sophie raised her head to look at Campbell. A faint darkness surrounded him and some of the other policemen, but she couldn’t tell if it was from the smoke or something more sinister. “Can we go to the station now?”
Ashes rained down around them while he led Sophie to his patrol car. She couldn’t keep her gaze from going to the cathedral and then to the hedge. Lilli was gone. Kidnapped by evil demons intent on who knew what.
***
“Tristan.” Demetri placed a hand on Tristan’s shoulder when he went to jump the hedge.
Tristan speared him with glowing eyes. “What?”
“We can’t go after her yet.”
“Why not?” Tristan whispered through his teeth.
Demetri tightened his grip. “The cops were possessed. I can’t tell if Sophie knew that or not. If we go now, without back up, she’ll be killed.”
“Possessed? How do you know?” Jackson bit out.
“We’re trained to recognize the signs,” Ruth said without elaborating.
Everyone started speaking at once. Demetri silenced them with a sharp look. “I want you all to go back to the girls’ dorm. Ruth and I will meet you there with back-up.”
“I don’t see why we can’t just save her,” Aidan said. “There are only a few.” The night lit up around him as his body heated.
“Aidan, just listen to him,” Ruth pleaded. “He knows what he’s doing.”
“Let’s go.” Morgan tugged on his hand, ignoring the heat pouring off. She framed his face with her hands. “I want to save her as much as you do, but there’s a right way to do it. We have to listen to Demetri and Ruth.”
Aidan blinked, and the heat from his fire depleted. He grabbed her hand, tugging her away.
Tristan and Jackson followed.
***
Sophie stared out of the cruiser’s passenger window and tried to reach her friends through the mental channels they shared. It hadn’t worked the past ten times she tried, but she couldn’t stop herself. She knew she was royally screwed, because whatever blocked the communication was dark. Way darker than she normally felt.
Thoughts of Lilli, Kent, and Todd threatened to break her already shaky composure, but she knew the only way to get out of this mess was to convince Campbell of what lies she could and then have him release her. The only way to do that was to focus and be a step ahead of him.
She slightly turned her face, watching Campbell. His hands lightly grasped the steering wheel, his face peaceful. As if he were driving to a beach vacation instead of driving a scared, shaking girl in the passenger seat. As if he hadn’t witnessed a cathedral burning to the ground and seen its priest’s half-burned body and slit throat.
Why was he so calm? It suddenly clicked in her mind, and she snuck another glance at him. This time she saw the shining in his eyes, the darkness that surrounded him, and knew it wasn’t the smoke from the fire earlier.
He was possessed.
Before she could peer more closely at him, he pulled the cruiser into the station’s parking lot. She sagged against the seat. Dark, roiling clouds hung over Campbell’s sister station. The tendrils slithered around, standing guard against any light.
Sophie sucked in a breath when Campbell turned the car off and opened his door. Did he want them to walk into that?
“Are you okay?”
Campbell’s voice caused her to blink. When her eyes focused, the cloud was gone, leaving only a veiled sense of danger. She tore her gaze from the building to look at him. “I’m fine.”
When he got out of the cruiser, she unbuckled and followed him. The closer they got to the building, the colder it became. She pulled the blanket closer and thought about how much bigger this station was compared to the one she delivered the letters to.
Sophie fought the urge to run when they entered the building. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary as she followed him past the foyer. When they passed the front desk, the receptionist blew a bubble with her gum and then snapped her teeth over it. The loud pop made Sophie jump.
She hadn’t realized how tight her nerves were until that moment.
Campbell led her to an officer’s desk and pulled out a chair for her to sit. “I’m going to grab you something hot to drink. You like coffee?”
“Got any hot cocoa?” Sophie looked around when he went to grab it. Five officers stood around a small TV in the far corner. She heard them cheer and then an announcer’s voice yell excitedly about a touchdown.
She turned her attention back to the desk. She picked up the only picture among the papers and empty to-go boxes that littered the surface. An officer with a scar over his eyebrow stood with a woman and young girl near a pond.
The love within the family was obvious.
It made Sophie think of her families. The one she was born into and the one she gained with the other Guardians.
She was missing a family member from each now.
She wouldn’t cry. She had to focus on getting out of there. How was she going to do that surrounded by possessed cops?
The cold feeling of dread repeated itself. She glanced up and saw the dark tendrils were back. Her hands shook, and a dull ache settled in the back of her head. She set the picture down and took a deep breath.
The hairs on her arms rose. Her ponytail swished across her shoulder as she looked back and gasped. Her heart lurched. “Christ!” Her head snapped back, and she desperately searched for a way to escape.
Akeldama was there.
Sophie recognized the Demoness’ voice as she spoke to Campbell.
How could the bitch be there, now? How was she going to escape?
Sophie’s breath ripped through her chest. Every movement made her ribs burn. Akeldama wore a different disguise now. Her hair had gray in it, and the small baby tucked in her arms cooed happily. Her snug blue jogging suit showed rolls of fat at her waist.
The aura surrounding Akeldama hit Sophie like a wall as their gazes locked.
Akeldama meant for her to die.
Campbell looked Sophie’s way and frowned. His brows furrowed as if he was trying to see into her soul.
An uneasy feeling twined with the fear.
Something very, very bad was happening.
She was alone, utterly and wholly alone. Her mind raced for options to escape when a hand clamped down on her shoulder. She jumped and gave a shout of protest when Campbell pulled her from her chair.
His twisted smile shocked her. “I almost fell for your act. The young innocent girl. Did you know the priest died of something other than the fire?” He shook her, his fingers bruising her skin.
“W-what are you talking about?”
“You killed the priest and set fire
to the church!” He squeezed harder and leaned close.
“I didn’t…I was there for help. My brother was just murdered. He was helping me!” Sophie blinked against the hatred that burned through his eyes, the madness that had taken over his soul. She choked on the fear that rose in her throat.
Akeldama had her trapped by police she possessed. This man, so kind when she first met him, was going to kill her, and she had no way to escape.
“I didn’t do it!”
“Debrowski! Put this girl in a cell.”
“No!” Sophie tried to jerk her arm from Campbell when one of the officers in front of the TV came toward her.
He was nearly a foot and a half taller than her, with brawny shoulders and a thick neck. The scar over his eyebrow shocked her into silence for a few moments. When his hands tightened around her arms, she found her voice.
“I didn’t do anything wrong!” she screamed as loud as she could. “It wasn’t me!”
Debrowski didn’t flinch when she raked her fingernails down his face. Three red lines appeared on the side of his cheek. His eyes narrowed, and a spear of fright shuddered through her at the evil darkening them.
He hefted her over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing and carted her down the hallways to the cells. The farther they walked, the further her hope diminished. How was she going to get out of there?
Her gift was useless.
Debrowski pulled a card from his front pocket and held it up to a pad beside a cell door. A second later, a small chirp sounded, and the bars slid open.
She shrieked in surprise when his arm loosened and she dropped to the floor in an ungraceful heap. The door slammed shut.
He stilled and watched her while she stood. His gaze never wavered as she backed up to the bunk and sat. She stared him down before finally lying on the bunk, facing the wall.
His stare burned into her back.
***
Tristan paced in the girls’ dorm room, stopping every few moments to run a hand through his hair. His chest constricted when he thought of Sophie alone, surrounded by possessed cops. Jackson stared out the window into the school courtyard, his eyes narrowed to slits.
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