My Soul to Take

by C. J. Archer

  "Send them back!" she snapped. "De Mordaunt too. They're far too dangerous to have in this realm."

  "I can't, even if I wanted to. He's controlling the portal and demons now. There is a way to override him, but I don't remember the spell. It's in the book."

  "Which you don't have," I said on a groan.

  He looked down at his feet. "No."

  "Did you lose it?"

  "Not quite."

  Sylvia cocked the revolver and his face went white. "I am not in mind to shoot you, Mr. Myer. Yet."

  He gulped and glanced over his shoulder at the fight still being played out amid the ruins. Jack and Quin disposed of another two demons, but De Mordaunt continued to chant, bringing more creatures out.

  "Why did you bring him here?" I asked Myer. "What is it you want?"

  He didn't answer me, but signaled to de Mordaunt. "Come! We're wasting time."

  De Mordaunt growled in response.

  "What makes you think we'll allow you to leave?" I barked.

  "You don't seem to have a choice, Miss Moreau."

  "You cannot do this!" Hannah cried. "Those things are too dangerous!"

  "De Mordaunt will control them. He knows how." Myer held his hands up to fend off our protests. "Let us go peacefully and no one will be harmed."

  "Don't be a fool. You cannot promise no harm will be done with so many demons loose."

  But I was beginning to see that we had to do as he said. More and more demons spewed from the portal. The only way to stop them was to stop de Mordaunt, and nobody could do that while they were fighting demons. Sweat slicked Quin and Jack's foreheads. Jack used fireballs conjured with one hand to ward them off and then went in with his blade while they were stunned from the flames. His method seemed to be effective. Bollard fired his shotgun, but some of the creatures had already realized that it was no threat. The bullets dug into their fur but did not hinder them. They advanced on him, and that meant Jack had to draw away from the main group and use his fire and knife on them.

  The shortness of his blade hindered his effectiveness, and I soon realized Quin could not continue to battle on his own if more continued to come through the portal. Myer was right. There would be no winning.

  "Come, de Mordaunt!" he called. "We had an agreement."

  Agreement? What in God's name had he promised de Mordaunt? And what did he want de Mordaunt to do for him?

  Myer moved off and we let him go. There was no way we could detain him and hope to spare our lives. Hannah didn't take her eyes off Jack. There were tears in them as he dodged a swipe from a demon's claw.

  Four demons swamped Quin and another was on its way. De Mordaunt stopped chanting. His creatures continued with their task without his direction, intent now on their prey. The sight brought a twisted grin to de Mordaunt's lips.

  "You need not have come here," he sneered at Quin as he backed away. "You always cared too much for the weak, just like a human. That was your problem then and remains so."

  "I am human. Not like you. You never were."

  De Mordaunt snorted. "Nor are you, anymore." He pointed his sword at Quin's chest. "I will see you again."

  He peeled away from the carnage to join Myer. They headed to the stables, leaving the demons to finish their work.

  Sylvia raised her revolver and aimed it at Myer.

  "No!" I cried. "He's unarmed. No matter what he's done, you cannot kill him."

  She lowered it with a sigh. "I'm not sure I would have hit him anyway. My aim isn't very good." It was fortunate then that she hadn’t tried to shoot any of the demons tangled up with Quin, Jack and Bollard.

  We stood by and watched. Quin swung his sword in an arc and slew another demon then used his momentum to cut through another. Their numbers finally began to dwindle, thank God, and Quin and Jack regained the upper hand. Bollard joined us, breathing heavily, the shotgun cocked and ready.

  "I don't like this helplessness," Hannah muttered. "I wish there was something we could do."

  I nodded. "When this is over, I'm going to take de Mordaunt's sword and keep it. Then I'm going to learn how to wield it and kill those things."

  "They're not all bad," Hannah said. "They're confused when they're summoned like this. Confused, terrified and hungry. Once they've feasted and calmed down they regain their wits and kill only in defense."

  She was right, of course. Some demons even blended into society if they were the shape-shifting variety, like Jack's mother had been. It was a sobering reminder of the blood that flowed through his veins, giving him the ability to summon fire at will.

  I circled my arm around her waist. "People like Myer and de Mordaunt are cruel to use them like this here."

  The two men rode out from the stables on Frakingham horses. The driver, Fray, ran after them, shouting for them to halt. They took no notice and rode at speed along the drive toward the gate, hooves kicking up gravel and dust. De Mordaunt streamed ahead, his tail of blond hair flying behind him. Myer looked ungainly by comparison, his arms and legs all over the place, his body rigid. It was a miracle he didn't fall off.

  "What do you think their plan is?" Sylvia asked quietly.

  "Nothing good," I said, turning back to see how Quin and Jack fared.

  Despite gaining the upper hand they were clearly tiring, and it took several more minutes before they ended the life of the last demon. Hannah raced down to Jack and pulled him into an embrace. He was covered in sweat and blood, but she didn't care. He held her tightly and kissed the top of her head.

  I wanted to embrace Quin too, but stayed back. Fury pulsed from him in waves as he glared in the direction Myer and de Mordaunt had ridden. Blood stained his shirt and covered his blade and right hand, but he appeared uninjured. I closed my eyes and blew out a long, measured breath in an attempt to mend my fractured nerves.

  The sunlight dimmed and I felt his presence draw nearer, despite not hearing his approach. "Are you all right, Cara?"

  I opened my eyes and touched his arm. "Yes. You?"

  He inclined his head in a nod, but concern furrowed his brow and his eyes looked haunted as he once more stared in the direction de Mordaunt and Myer had gone.

  "Let's get you and Jack cleaned up."

  "And then we want answers," Jack said, pinning Quin with a sharp glare. "You must tell us everything you know about de Mordaunt."

  "I will," Quin assured him. "Then I will find him and send him back."

  We trudged up to the house. Jack and Quin left us and headed round to the stables to clean up and assure Fray that everything would be done to get the horses back. The house itself was eerily silent, the servants nowhere to be seen.

  "Uncle?" Sylvia's voice echoed in the vast expanse of the entrance hall.

  "Here!" Langley's voice came from up the staircase. Bollard must have left him in the laboratory in his rush. Without the use of his legs, he had no way of traveling between floors.

  Bollard removed the bullets from the shotgun and handed the weapon and ammunition to Hannah. Then he traipsed up the stairs to his master to inform him of developments. That left us to go in search of the missing servants and refreshments.

  I went with Hannah and Sylvia to the gun room to return the weapons, my thoughts not on the task but the twisted turn events had taken. It was all very odd.

  "What do you think Myer is trying to do?" I asked them as we headed down to the kitchen.

  "I don't know," Hannah said hotly. "The man is an obsessed fool. We ought to speak to his wife about having him committed to an asylum when all this over. Clearly he cannot be trusted."

  "He already has incredible wealth at his disposal, so it's unlikely he's using de Mordaunt to help him gain more riches. What is so important that he would risk his reputation?"

  "Not to mention his freedom," Sylvia chimed in. "He stole our horses. Jack will see that he's brought to justice over his earthly crime at least."

  "And Quin will see that he's brought to justice over unearthly ones," Hannah added. When I d
idn't respond, she touched my arm. "Right, Cara?"

  "I…I'm not sure Quin has the power to do that," I told her. "Unless the administrators allow it, of course."

  Hannah cocked her head to the side. "The administrators from…?"

  I sucked air between my teeth, delaying my answer. Being afraid of her response might make me a coward, but it troubled me that she and Sylvia would change their opinion of Quin if they knew he was from Purgatory. Their good opinion may not matter to him but it did to me. It wasn't right that people would think him a bad person. He wasn't.

  "You're a coward, Mr. Bradford." The housekeeper's voice came from up ahead and around the corner. We three stopped, to avoid interrupting and to eavesdrop. One could learn much from the servants' conversations, particularly between the two senior members of staff. "Tommy Dawson would have been down there helping the gentlemen fight if he were here."

  The butler kept his voice low, but we were close enough for it to carry to us. "That's why he's only got one good arm now. I may be a coward, Mrs. Moore, but I'm at least a whole man."

  Sylvia gasped. Then she gathered up her skirts and marched down the corridor. Hannah and I quickly followed. Bradford the butler was about to get a piece of the new, fiercer, Sylvia Langley's mind.

  By the time we rounded the corner, however, he was gone. Mrs. Moore the housekeeper jumped at our sudden appearance. The keys jangled at her waist as she took a step back beneath the ferocity of Sylvia's glare. It was directed past her, however, in the direction the butler had taken.

  "Is everybody all right, ma'am?"

  "Fine, thank you, Mrs. Moore," Hannah said. "And the staff?"

  "They are…upset." The matronly woman pressed her lips together and shot a worried glance at Sylvia. Sylvia had been her mistress for years before Hannah came into the position upon marrying Jack, and it was understandable that she would appeal to Sylvia for comfort in uncertain times.

  Sylvia took Mrs. Moore's hands in hers, her temper having dissolved as quickly as it flared. "Take a deep breath. Now, tell us what happened here. Where is everyone?"

  I shared a small smile with Hannah. It seemed she was as surprised at Sylvia's newfound strength as I was. Not only had she fired a revolver and not fled from danger, but her confidence and maturity had grown. She was no longer the skittish, silly girl I'd first met.

  "Some of the servants are threatening to leave, including Mr. Bradford," Mrs. Moore said. "Two of the maids suffered fits of hysteria after…what happened down by the ruins."

  "What did they see, precisely?" I asked her. Surely from a distance it was difficult to see everything.

  "It's not so much what they saw," she hedged, "but what they heard."

  "Gunshots," Hannah said grimly.

  "Thieves," I told Mrs. Moore. "They stole the horses."

  The housekeeper gasped. "In broad daylight! Are Mr. Fray and the stable boy all right?"

  "Mr. Langley is seeing to them now," Hannah assured her. "He, Bollard, and our guest, Mr. St. Clair, tried to stop them, but they were overpowered."

  "Hmmm." The housekeeper frowned. "I noticed the gentlemen fighting that pack of dogs. We seem to be plagued by these creatures here at Frakingham."

  "I'm sure we'll see the last of them very soon."

  Sylvia patted Mrs. Moore's hand. "Hopefully we already have."

  "Tell the servants they may take the rest of the afternoon off if they wish," Hannah told the housekeeper. "Mr. Langley and I will address them in the morning when everyone has calmed down. We don't want anyone to leave, but if that's what they wish, they will be given full references."

  Mrs. Moore bobbed a curtsy. "Thank you, ma'am."

  "You are a very brave soul, Mrs. Moore. Thank you for your loyalty."

  The housekeeper blushed. "It's my pleasure to work here. This is my home."

  "Of course it is, and we're glad you see it as such. Now please have tea and refreshments sent up to the drawing room."

  Mrs. Moore departed down the corridor and we headed back to the main part of the house and the drawing room to wait for the men.

  "A generous bonus in their wages ought to convince most of them to stay," Hannah said when we were out of earshot.

  Sylvia sighed. "It was as I feared. The new servants have been here long enough now to have heard the rumors about Freak House." She flounced onto the sofa with another deep sigh. "It's terribly disheartening. Just as I feel as if we are making progress with our reputation, something like this drags us back."

  Hannah sat beside her. "It is only a reputation, Syl. At least nobody lost their life this time."

  "Thank God."

  Bollard and Mr. Langley joined us, and I was relieved to see that the former was uninjured. Langley's face was grave. Bollard's was as impassive as ever.

  "What the bloody hell is Myer up to?" Langley growled.

  Sylvia's cheeks flamed at his foul language. "We don't know, Uncle. He didn't confide in us."

  "He's a madman. Ought to be flogged for what he did here."

  Sylvia's fingers twisted together in her lap, turning the knuckles white. The silence stretched painfully thin until Jack and Quin arrived in fresh clothes, their hair still damp. Quin must have borrowed a shirt and trousers from Jack. Unlike Jack, he did not wear a tie, waistcoat and jacket. Seeing him dressed as a gentleman from this time and realm made my chest ache. It could never come to pass for real.

  Mrs. Moore and a nervous maid delivered tea and refreshments. Jack closed the door after they left again. Our conversation required privacy.

  "Who was he?" Langley snapped at Quin.

  Quin refused the offered teacup and stood by the window where he angled himself so he could see across the lawn. I thought he wouldn't answer at first. He was so secretive about his past that it seemed unlikely I would learn anything new, even now. I was wrong.

  "Edward de Mordaunt was a friend to my brother when we were…alive. He betrayed us both."

  "Did you kill him?" Jack asked.

  Quin shook his head. "I didn't become aware of the betrayal until my death. When I reached Purgatory—"

  "Purgatory!" cried several voices at once.

  Quin arched a brow at me.

  "I never told them," I said sheepishly.

  "Why not?" Jack exploded.

  "Jack," Hannah warned. "Give her a chance to explain."

  "There is no explanation," I said with a shrug. "I knew what reaction that news would receive and I wished to avoid any prejudice."

  "Prejudice!" Langley spat. "There is no prejudice in excluding someone from Purgatory from my house."

  "Has Quin done any harm to anyone here?" I shot back. "No. He has saved us, many times. Being from Purgatory doesn't mean he's a bad person. It means he has a chance to redeem himself and wipe the slate clean."

  "Why were you sent to Purgatory?" Hannah asked.

  Quin's gaze flicked to me. "I killed someone who didn't deserve to die by my hand. It was a mistake." He put up his hand to ward off any more questions along that line. "De Mordaunt is a shape-shifting demon."

  That certainly got us back on track. We all gaped at Quin. "My God," I said on a breath. "How…?"

  "He's not full-blood. He's descended from a demon on his father's side. The demon escaped to this realm and consumed the body of Gilbert de Mordaunt in France. It kept his form and lived as him for the rest of his life."

  "He landed in England along with William the Conqueror," I said, recalling the details. "He was granted lands here after years of service to his new king."

  "Gilbert de Mordaunt wrote the book."

  "The book of spells?" Sylvia asked.

  "Not just spells. It contains other information about the different realms, portals and supernatural. I believe it's the only one of its kind. "

  "And Myer no longer has it," I said heavily.

  "Wait a moment." Hannah sat forward on the sofa, her teacup raised halfway to her mouth. "If the de Mordaunt line contained a demon, doesn't that mean Lord Alwy
n is part demon?"

  "It seems the demonic traits have been bred out," Quin said. "Otherwise he would have used his abilities."

  "Thank God," I muttered. "Imagine the danger he would pose if he could harness fire or shift form."

  Sylvia lowered her teacup to the saucer. "Or possessed superior physical strength."

  I shivered.

  "All of this I learned from the Purgatory administrators after my death," Quin went on. "I died before de Mordaunt. Upon his death, he was sent to Purgatory too. The administrators of the Waiting Area couldn't determine if his earthly crimes were sufficient for him to be sent to the dark place, so he was given a chance to redeem himself through the Purgatory trials. He chose not to participate."

  "What do you mean?" Langley stretched the ends of his crimson smoking jacket over his paunch, but they wouldn't connect. "How can one choose not to be redeemed?"

  "Everyone has a choice." Quin's eyelids lowered. "Almost everyone."

  "Why would someone choose Purgatory over redemption?"

  "It's better to exist in Purgatory than be sent to the dark place."

  "He thinks he'll fail the trials," I whispered. The horror of it chilled me. "His soul must be black indeed and he knows it."

  Quin frowned. "I believe so."

  "You mentioned sending him back to the dungeons," Hannah said. "Is that where he lives?"

  Quin nodded. "The dungeons in Purgatory hold those spirits who don't wish to participate in the trials. He must have escaped."

  "Why in God's name would Myer bring someone as dangerous as that back here?" Sylvia asked.

  Nobody had an answer to that.

  A thought occurred to me. "De Mordaunt wasn't in spirit form. He was real, like you."

  "Aye," Quin said darkly. "And I don't know why."

  "There are too many unanswered questions," Langley said. "I don't like it."

  "Agreed. If you'll excuse me, I must speak to the administrators."

  He blinked out. Just like that, he was gone. I was used to spirits coming and going suddenly, but not Quin. In the past, he'd stayed for days once he was here, and always said goodbye first.

  But, of course, this was different. He needed answers only the administrators could give.