by Julie Kenner
“Gone where?”
Andy shrugged. “Didn’t say. They’ll be back soon, though. I mean, we start in about half an hour.”
“Why?” Susan added. “Are you looking for Allie?”
“No, Allie’s not coming today.”
“Sure she is. I saw her with Troy Myerson less than an hour ago.”
The force of her words pushed me back, and I think I would have fallen had David not caught my elbow. “Could you say that again?” I asked.
Susan must have realized she’d broken some sort of car-pool buddy’s secret code, because she fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable. Andy, who I’d already decided was a stand-up guy, stepped up to the plate. “She was talking with Troy Myerson. Giving him a pretty nasty dressing down, actually.” He flashed a wide grin. “She’s got a mouth on her, Mrs. Connor.”
David took a step up. “But you said she left with Troy. Did she look like she wanted to go with him?”
Susan shrugged. “I dunno. I guess so. I mean, she looked a little stiff, but I thought she was probably still just pissed off, you know? Or she’s been working out too hard. Or something.”
“Where did they go?” I asked, hearing the edge of hysteria in my voice.
“Honestly, I don’t know.”
I turned to David, who pressed a finger over my lips. “Thanks, guys,” he said to the kids. Then he took my arm and led me away, his steps quick and defined. His hand on my arm was hot, and I could feel his panic seeping into my body to mix with my own. She snuck out! Allie had never once disobeyed me! So why did she have to pick today?
Honestly, as soon this was over, she was going to be so grounded.
“Kate?”
I fought back tears, desperately hoping I’d have the chance to ground her.
“I don’t get it,” I said. “They have the book. They have the human assistants. They have two demons. Why risk coming here? And why take the girls?”
“I don’t know,” he said, his voice tight.
But I did. All of a sudden, I knew for sure. “Nephalim,” I said. “Oh, dear God, when the demons rise up they’re going to . . . they want to . . .”
I clenched my fists, unable to give voice to the thought.
David took me by the shoulders and looked into my eyes. “It’s not going to happen, Kate, because we’re going to stop it.”
I nodded. Right. He was right. Allie wasn’t even old enough to date. There was no way she was going to end up the single mom of a superhuman demonic baby. No way in hell.
We Were just about to climb into David’s Jeep when Marissa Cartwright ran toward us. “Kate! Wait!”
“In a hurry, Marissa! I’ll be right back.” A lie, but she didn’t need to know that.
“Wait! I’m trying to find JoAnn!”
I stopped, suddenly overwhelmed with compassion for this woman I didn’t much like.
“I don’t know where she is,” I said honestly.
“The last I saw, she was with your daughter.” There was accusation in her voice, and I stiffened against it. I didn’t say anything, though. I’d been accusing myself just as harshly.
“I don’t know where they are, Marissa. Maybe they’re off practicing a cheer.”
Her face tightened. “I’d hoped you kept better track of your daughter than you did of poor Mr. Sinclair.”
That did it. I stepped forward, every muscle poised to pummel this woman. To tell her that she’d lost track of her daughter, too. And that if she wanted JoAnn safe she needed to get off my back and let me do my job.
I couldn’t say any of it, though. I might consider Marissa the spawn of Satan, but I knew in my heart it wasn’t literal. And right now she was just a mom who was concerned for her daughter.
I drew a breath and put a soft hand on her arm. “I’m sure JoAnn’s fine,” I said. “And when I see Allie, I’ll be sure to tell her you’re looking for her.”
That didn’t satisfy her, I could see that much in her eyes, but I’d spared as much time for Marissa as I intended.
“Can you take charge of the parent volunteers?” David asked her as I slid into the car. “I need to run a quick errand.”
Marissa’s face was still pinched, but she nodded. And then, full of newfound power, Marissa marched back toward the exhibition tables.
“Go,” I said, but David already had the car started. He backed out of the parking lot and pulled onto PCH.
“Where?”
To that, unfortunately, I didn’t have an answer.
While David drove as slowly as he could manage down the Coast Highway, I looked out toward the ocean. Maybe they’d simply gone down the beach, looking for a less crowded spot to perform the ceremony. I saw nothing, though. And, honestly, that didn’t feel right.
“Think,” I said to myself. “Where could they go to perform a ritual?”
I looked at the clock. Twenty to twelve.
Time was running out.
My cell phone rang, and I snatched it up. Laura.
“Allie’s gone!” she said without preamble. Then rattled off a story about how she’d come to find Mindy and found her asleep in Allie’s room—alone.
I kicked myself, realizing that the lump in Allie’s bed had been Mindy. The possibility hadn’t even occurred to me.
I cut Laura off, though, because none of that mattered. “She’s with Cool,” I said. “And we were wrong. The ceremony’s not at the beach. We don’t know where it is. Can you get online and find every article you can about Cool? Especially after the wipeout?”
“What am I looking for?” she asked.
“I have no idea.”
I heard her tapping in the background. “Nothing so far. Just a mention of the exhibition. Involved in the community. Blah blah blah.”
“Nothing else?”
“Still looking. Wait. Here’s a picture of him and a woman. The caption says she’s his girlfriend. Maybe they’re at her house?”
“Does it say her name? Can you find an address?”
“Looking.”
I fidgeted in my seat, wishing I was there looking over her shoulder. Wishing I was driving. Wishing I was pounding something sharp through that bastard demon Asmodeus’s eye. Anything but sitting helpless in a car while my baby was in danger.
Allie. Dear God, Allie.
Beside me, David didn’t look much better. His mouth was firm, his face hard, and his hands were so tight on the steering wheel his knuckles were pure white.
“Nothing,” Laura said. “I can’t find a reference to an address, a job or anything. Do you want me to—”
“Wait!” I turned to David. “The Danvers Museum. Head to the museum.”
“Kate?” That from Laura.
“Allie said that Cool’s girlfriend was a museum docent. That she was mousy, and so he must be a nice guy, because why else would he hang on to a mousy museum docent when he could have a Baywatch babe.”
“For that matter,” Laura said. “Why does a demon need a girlfriend at all?”
“Unless he needs her,” I said. “The museum’s closed until January. But if she can get inside, it would make sense for him to keep her around.”
“Yeah,” Laura said. “They’re setting up for some Macedonian artifact exhibit.”
“I saw that exhibit,” I said. “One of the display cases was filled with stone tablets covered with geometric shapes.”
I was looking at David when I said that. He’d already been flying through town, but now the car seemed to go even faster.
“Call Eddie,” I said to Laura. “Tell him and Father Ben what’s going on. And,” I added, “tell them to pray.”
Twenty
There Were no cars in the museum parking lot when we arrived, and when we tugged on the front door, we discovered that it was locked.
“We could be wrong,” David said.
I looked at my watch and fought a shiver. “No,” I said. “We don’t have time to be wrong.”
I turned around, fighting panic as I looked for something large and hea
vy. “There,” I said, pointing to a large clay planter.
I watched, numb, as David hoisted it, then slammed it against the glass doors.
Nothing. Not even a scratch.
“Goddamn it!” he screamed, as my body turned hot, then cold. I clenched and unclenched my fists against the alternating urge to pummel someone and to curl up into a ball and cry.
As David yanked the door handle and cursed, I looked around, trying to keep my focus and find another way in. I’d spent half of my life learning to keep calm. To control my emotions. To rein in my fear and use it against my enemies. Those were good lessons, and I dug deep to find that same strength again. Because I couldn’t lose control. Not now. Not when Allie needed me.
With sudden decision, I whipped around to David and held out my hand. “Give me your keys.”
“What are you—?”
But I’d already taken the keys and was running down the stairs to the parking lot. I jumped into his Jeep, shifted into gear, and gunned the thing. It shot forward, rattling up the stairs just as easily as climbing over a pile of rocks.
On the marble patio, I paused just long enough to fasten my seat belt. David caught my eye, his nod quick and determined. I clutched, shifted, gunned it—then smashed through the front door of the Danvers Museum, sending shards of glass flying and exploding an airbag into my face.
I expected the shrill shriek of an alarm system to pierce the air, but there was nothing, just the oddly hollow sound of the airbag hitting my body and the crunch of glass under David’s feet as he raced to me. He threw open the door and took my hand, pulling me out even as I unfastened the seat belt.
We raced into the heart of the museum, me leading the way to where I’d seen the Macedonian display. I hoped it was still there. More, I hoped Allie was.
The second we rounded the corner into the darkened special exhibits room, I saw her, and my heart flooded with relief even as I wanted to scream in terror. There she was, my beautiful daughter, on her knees in front of the open book, her hands tied behind her back. Troy Myerson stood behind her, his expression determined, her ponytail tight in his hand. And beside them both were JoAnn and Brent, similarly positioned as captor and captive.
David grabbed me by the collar and pulled me back to him, hiding both of us in the relative safety of the black drapes that still covered the walls. “Wait,” he whispered.
I wanted to struggle, to burst out and rescue my girl, but I knew he was right. We were outnumbered here, and if we went rushing in without a plan, someone might get killed. Someone who wasn’t a demon.
Cool loomed large, Creasley at attention beside him. Cool’s skin shimmered, the rotting flesh of the demon Asmodeus revealing itself with each beat of his human heart.
He stood directly across from Allie and JoAnn. Both girls were shaking, silent tears streaming down their cheeks.
I wanted to strangle the bastard, to send him back to Hell with my bare hands. It took every ounce of willpower in my body to wait. David’s hand closed on my shoulder, a silent reminder that I couldn’t jump the gun here. I couldn’t let my emotions rule my actions. Not if I wanted to win.
Asmodeus’s arms were raised, a stone tablet tight in both hands. Across the room I saw the display case, now a jumble of metal and shattered glass.
The room was still done up in the black velvet drapes, black lights providing the dim illumination that made the whole scenario seem that much eerier and caused the patterns on the tablets to glow.
The demon closed his eyes and started muttering in Latin, words and phrases I didn’t understand, but which clearly were working, because the pages on the book suddenly started to flip, as if stirred by a strong breeze.
“Out of time,” I whispered. My stiletto was already snug at my wrist, but now I slid it out, engaged the blade, then carefully replaced it in the wrist holster. With the two knives on my belt, that made three. I just needed one more thing.
I slid the backpack from my shoulder, then tugged the drawstring silently open. I took out two pistols and handed one to David, smiling despite the circumstances at the look on his face when he saw the SpongeBob image stamped on the grip.
“Shoot straight,” I whispered. Then I burst into the room, gun blazing, a stream of holy water hitting Cool in the face and knocking him backwards. More important, it silenced him.
Beside me, David did the same, nailing Creasley with his steady spray.
The stench of burning demon flesh filled the room, the putrid odor of sulfur and filth almost overpowering.
I raced toward Allie, her cry of “Mother!” echoing around me, the hysteria in her voice ripping at my heart.
“I’m coming, baby,” I yelled. “Hang on.”
JoAnn saw me and started screaming, crying out for me and Mr. Long to save her.
As I watched, Troy jerked Allie’s ponytail, pulling her to her feet. At the same time, his free hand whipped around, and I saw the flash of metal as he pressed the blade of a knife against her throat. She looked at me, her eyes wide with fear.
“Stay back!” he yelled. “Hands up, or I swear I’ll kill her.”
“It’s you who’s going to die, Troy,” I said, keeping my hands up, my wrists toward me so that he couldn’t see my stiletto. “Whatever they promised you, they’re lying. You’re not getting power or immortality or any of that. You’re being sacrificed, Troy.” I forced my voice to stay level and calm. I kept my eyes on the boy, trusting David to take care of everything else. “You’re the sacrificial lamb, and you don’t even know it.”
“Liar!” he screamed.
Off to my left, I heard Creasley scream in pain as David got him with another stream of holy water. I saw a flash in the queer purple light as Creasley pulled a knife of his own, then rushed David. I stiffened, but I never took my eyes off my daughter. “David?”
The breathless reply came back almost instantly. “Don’t mind me.”
I exhaled in relief. I had no intention of leaving Allie. As far as I was concerned, David needed to take care of himself.
JoAnn was screaming hysterically for me, and Troy was yelling for Cool to get up. To do something. To shut me up. Allie, bless her, stayed straight and silent, her chin high and her eyes focused. I’d never been more proud or more terrified. Or, for that matter, more impotent. Because Troy could slice her throat with one quick move, and I didn’t have a clue how to keep that from happening.
So I stood there thinking as David battled Creasley and as Cool climbed to his feet. From within the chalk outline of a triangle I could now see on the floor, he seemed to loom over all of us. He looked at me, his piggy eyes blood red. “If she drops her hands,” he said, his words like ice, “kill the girl.”
Troy nodded shakily, and even from several yards away, I could hear his shallow breathing. “But she’s lying, right? I’m mean, like, she’s a total liar, isn’t she?”
The demon’s response was low and harsh. “You doubt my word?”
“No! I . . . I mean, I . . .”
“Silence!” And then the demon began the Latin chant again. I caught only a smattering of recognizable words— Hell, prison, a demand to come forth. I didn’t need to hear the words to know what was happening, though. The tablet pulsated, the patterns glowing bright even as the book seemed to come alive. Once again, the pages flipped wildly, and the horrific cries of the damned escaped the pages to echo throughout the room.
Troy gasped, staring at the spectacle even as he tightened his grip on the knife. I could see Allie cringe as the blade pressed against her flesh, and I forced myself to remain still, afraid that even the slightest misstep would push the boy over the edge.
With me stuck like a statue, David stepped into the gap, emptying his pistol onto Asmodeus. But now the demon ignored the pain, barely even flinching when the water cut a path down the oozing red flesh.
A trancelike state had overcome the demon, and as he muttered the incantation, the book began to release the first Tartarus prisoner.
&nb
sp; JoAnn saw it first, her high-pitched scream piercing the air. “A claw! Oh, God, what is going on?”
Sure enough, a grotesque hand formed of burned and oozing flesh, and with wolflike claws had emerged from the book and was grappling for purchase. Troy saw it, too, and as revulsion registered on his face, I saw his arm go slack.
We might not have a better chance. And we were damn sure running out of time. “Now!” I screamed to Allie, and she reacted like a pro, shooting her arm up and out, getting Troy at the wrist and forcing the knife away from her throat. She timed the move perfectly with a backwards head butt. Surprised, Troy spun backwards, but he recovered quickly, leading with his knife as he lunged back toward her.
My little girl had played it smart, though, and the instant she was free, she’d dropped and rolled. And that gave me the opportunity I needed. I shifted the gun to my left hand, then pulled the stiletto out with my right.
Then I sent it flying, hoping what little practice I’d gotten in over the last few months would suffice. The knife plunged into his thigh, and Troy flinched, screaming in pain as he dropped to the ground.
“Bitch!” he cried.
“Go!” I screamed to Allie.
She went, but instead of racing out of the room like I’d hoped, she tackled Brent, knocking the surf captain to the ground. JoAnn screamed and I raced that direction, but by the time I got there, it was all over. Allie had grabbed Brent’s head and smashed it back hard against the stone floor. The boy was out.
So, for that matter, was JoAnn, having released one final ear-splitting scream and then dropping into a dead faint.
In front of us, the cause of her scream protruded from the book. A slime-covered head, like something emerging at birth, materialized from the pages, the two hands that had already been released grasping for purchase on the stone floor as the demon struggled for freedom.
“Go!” I said to Allie. I pointed to JoAnn. “Get her out of here, and stay out!”
“What’s happening? What’s going—”
“Dammit, Allie! Just go!”
She hesitated, the uncertainty on her face almost masking the terror. Then she went, dragging JoAnn by the underarms toward the exit as I emptied the water pistol on the emerging Tartarus demon. The flesh popped and sizzled, but didn’t even slow the demon down.