Two strides and I was inside the crack I knew was the entrance I needed. Squinting my eyes, I looked past what this side of the veil showed me and got a good look at what was really there. A doorway painted a deep maroon and boasting a large lock stood between me and India. I tried the handle, knowing before I did that it wouldn’t be so easy. It didn’t move, not even a slight jiggle. Fuck, why was I not surprised?
Putting one hand against the door, wishing I could just bust through, I considered my options. One, I could try to force it, using my sword as a hammer on the lock. But this wasn’t one of my swords Milly had spelled for me, so it was unlikely it would hold up to that kind of abuse. Two, I could try to figure out the spell they had locking this down, but again, without Milly helping, that would be impossible. Unless there was an even simpler solution than that. More mundane.
“Keys,” I muttered. There had to be a key somewhere.
Like on the two Coven members we’d dispatched.
Bolting out of the crevice, I ran back to where we’d left them. The woman was still breathing, but I doubted she’d have the key on her. He was the one in control of things; that much had been obvious. A quick frisk of his pockets and I had a small key palmed, a feeling of relief coursing through me.
“Hang on, India, just a little bit longer,” I whispered as I ran back to the crack in the wall. Slipping in, I put my hand on the door.
*-*-*-*
His flashlight didn’t give as much light as he would have liked, and the mineshaft was darker than anything he’d ever dealt with before. If he’d had his way, they wouldn’t have separated, but on this front, Adamson knew what she was doing, and for the first time in his life he was starting to trust his partner.
Wow. Trust and partner in the same sentence; how had that happened? And with Adamson, of all people? There was no longer the driving lust he’d felt from the spell, though he could admit she was a beautiful woman; now it had more to do with her dedication to finding this kid, even when the case was so obviously similar to her little sister’s. She didn’t get distracted by anything. Once she decided a kid needed rescuing, even he and the FBI couldn’t deter her. That was worth something to him. Not to mention she had saved his ass a number of times already.
Something on the wall caught his eye. Lifting his sword and light up, he was shocked at the symbols etched into the stone; and it wasn’t just one, it was hundreds. Chills swept him, a visceral response to something his body knew was dangerous. Deadly.
She had to see this.
*-*-*-*
“Adamson?” O’Shea called out softly.
I cringed as his voice echoed through the cavernous space. “Here.” I didn’t want him to get suspicious.
“I think I found something.”
What the hell? He couldn’t have found anything, unless . . .
“It’s a trap!” I spun on my heel and ran toward his voice. Shit, I hadn’t even considered he’d be able to set off booby traps. They should have been keyed only to supernaturals, one of which he definitely was not.
I sprinted toward the tunnel I’d sent him down, cursing myself for my idiocy. I should have checked first, should have made sure it was safe. His death would be on my shoulders.
Breathing hard, I sped toward the small pinprick of light I could see, knowing it would be too late.
O’Shea turned to face me as I skidded to a stop in front of him, fear making me sweat more than the run, my face damp with perspiration. He looked okay, the planes of his face were sharpened by the way the light hit him, but I didn’t see any wounds, no gaping holes or the smell of spells being prepped.
He motioned to the wall, not noticing I was totally freaked out, for which I was grateful.
“Check this out; do you know what it means?” He shone the flashlight on the wall.
I sucked in a large gulp of air. It was a hieroglyph that looked eerily like the pictures India had been drawing all her life. There were stick figures, their bodies neither male nor female, surrounded by orbs. As O’Shea followed the picture’s progression with the flashlight, the orbs grew more and more numerous until they completely covered the stick people.
I could guess at what it meant, but didn’t really want to. Seeing it like this and not in a child’s colourful crayon drawings made me re-think what exactly was going on. Possession was an ugly thing, and if those orbs weren’t the kind and loving souls of those who’d gone on before us, then they were the souls who’d been cast down into darkness and were looking for a second chance.
“It’s bad. That’s what it is.” I suddenly didn’t want to cross the veil without O’Shea at my side. It had been a long time since I’d been really afraid, but the idea of being possessed, or dealing with people who were possessed, was a hard one for me to swallow.
“Come on, I found the way in.” I jogged back the way we’d come. He followed and I felt him pause as I headed toward the crevice in the wall.
“What are you doing?”
“You have to trust me. This is the entrance,” I said, slipping into the crack.
He followed right on my heels. “You were going to go in without me.” His accusation hit the mark, but I didn’t flinch.
“You have no idea what this all is, the supernatural is something you don’t understand, which makes it dangerous not only for you, but me and India.” My anxiety grew and it was apparent in my voice. This was taking too long. At any moment, we could be dealing with more of the Coven members, looking for their missing people. “If you’re going to come with me, you’re going to do what I say, when I say it. Got it, Agent O’Shea?”
Jaw clenched, he gave a curt nod, but said nothing.
Letting out a breath, I turned my back to him and put my hand on the lock he couldn’t see. “Hang on to me, and close your eyes until I tell you otherwise.”
His hands grabbed the waistband of my jeans, fingers brushed against my spine. I fit the key into the lock and turned the handle, the mechanism clicking as it unlatched, but otherwise it was quiet.
I stepped through, O’Shea tight behind me, his hand not loosening on my jeans. The veil shimmered around me and I glanced back at O’Shea. His eyes were dutifully closed, but his face twisted in a grimace like he’d smelled something bad. I took one more step, which pulled him all the way across and his face eased as did my tension.
Reaching back, I loosened his fingers. “You can open your eyes.”
He did, and I took the opportunity to look around myself. The thing with crossing the veil was you never knew where exactly you were going to end up. Today, it looked as though we were in a medieval castle. Carved stone walls partially covered with expensive tapestries and oil paintings. Other than that, I couldn’t tell where exactly we were. For all I knew, we were in England or France.
“Where . . .” O’Shea started to ask.
I lifted a finger to my lips. Reaching for India, I could feel her life force stronger than ever, pulsating with a steady rhythm that would have given me hope if not for her lack of emotion. She was alive, but no one was home.
Pressing up against the wall, I skirted the edges of the room. I didn’t have to look back to know O’Shea would be doing the same.
Now that I was on the same side of the veil as India, I could pinpoint her with ease. Following the pull of her life force, I jogged, wanting to get to her as fast as possible. Distracted by my concern for her lack of emotions, I wasn’t paying attention as I should have been; took a sharp right and ran straight into the back of a tall, cloaked figure.
I had a moment of uncertainty, back pedalling as if I could take back my blunder, putting distance between us.
The figure turned; his face only partially visible in the light flickering around us. He looked like someone I knew, or had known a long time ago. Eyes that spoke of pain and suffering, yet light and beauty also captured their azure depths.
“Well, Rylee, it seems the Coven was right. You did turn up after all.” His voice was smooth, and I had images flashi
ng through my mind of black satin bed-sheets, rose petals and crisp white wine. I struggled against his hold on my mind. Except for the Unicorn, no one had been able to turn my gifts on me before. Yet, while I’d had no doubt the Unicorn meant me no harm, this man could hurt me without a single moment of lost sleep.
Something pulled me back and I blinked, unaware I’d been slowly moving toward those blue eyes and hypnotizing voice.
“Adamson, focus!” A growl rumbled in my ear, O’Shea pulling me back to myself.
With a speed that surprised even me, I whipped my sword up, pressing the point into the hollow of the cloaked man’s throat.
He lifted his hands as if he meant no harm. The bright slash of a silver ring on his left hand caught the light as he moved. “I won’t try to stop you; go rescue the child if you want. It’s of no consequence to me.”
My mouth was dry. “Who are you?” Not that it mattered, not to India, but I had to know.
He smiled, the edges of his lips creeping up over a glimpse of white teeth. “I don’t think I’ll tell you. Not today. Rylee.”
A shiver rippled through me; my name on his lips made me want to throw my clothes on the floor, and writhe naked against him. Trembling, I fought the urge, but again, it was O’Shea who snapped me out of it.
“Let’s go.” The agent shoved me in the back, jabbing at my spine to prod me forward and around the man who’d so fully caught me in his snare. That thought was what it took to drive me out of my stupor.
I didn’t dare look back as we rounded a corner. “Is he following us?”
O’Shea checked and turned back to me, shaking his head. “He’s gone. What the hell was that?”
I shivered all over, my body and mind a mass of confusion. “I don’t know.”
I placed my hands on my thighs and leaned forward, swallowed hard on the fear and confusion attempting to choke me, struggled to get a hold of myself.
O’Shea grabbed my arms and stood me upright. “You can’t lose it now. We’re too close and we have to get the kid out of here. So pull your shit together and move.”
Clenching my fists, I gave him a sharp nod. He was right, there was nothing I could do about that man, and if he wasn’t going to stop us, then I didn’t need to worry about him.
India was close, only a few doors down. I strode in that direction, pausing in front of the door. There was something bothering me besides my reaction to the man in the cloak.
“Where the hell is everyone?” I hardly realized spoken out loud.
“I wondered the same thing. This is not good.” He strode to the far side of the hallway and checked it. “For now, I say we take it as a good sign, don’t poke the sleeping bear unless you have to,” O’Shea said, keeping his voice low.
“Fine, then shut it.” I growled the words at him. I knew he was right, but that didn’t mean I should just run through the halls like we were in a daisy-filled field with bright sunshine and butterflies. But something was off, and because I couldn’t pinpoint it, my skin itched with the feeling.
A low hum started to fill the air around us, coming from inside the room, which made the itch I already had turn into a knot of nerves.
“This is not good,” I said, putting my hand on the door, discovering the dark wood panelling was hot under my hand. India was in the room, I knew that much, but suddenly I knew why we hadn’t seen anyone else. The hum of multiple voices filled the air, confirming my worst fear.
India was about to be possessed by a demon.
23
A shuffle down the hall behind us was the only warning we had before a woman stepped around the corner, her hands lifted as she prepped a spell. I lunged at her, my blade catching her just in the crook of her left elbow, slicing deep down to the bone. I followed up the slice with a kick to her hip, She dropped to the floor, and I pinned her head down with my foot. Of course, it would have all been good if she’d been the only one.
“Let her go, Rylee.”
Blinking, I turned to look into Milly’s face, her eyes hard as she held a deadly spell just inches from my nose. I could see the black spiral of the death magic quivering in her hand, but even so, I had a hard time putting two and two together. O’Shea moved up beside me, a steady presence that helped me get my bearings. Of course, both Milly and I knew the spell would likely dissipate around me. But the other woman, who was nodding at Milly, didn’t know that.
The woman under my foot snorted a laugh. “You heard her. Let me go.”
I lifted my foot. “Milly . . .”
She raised her hand, black energy sparking with the movement, the threat clear. This had to be a show for the other woman, there was no other explanation.
It took everything I had to step away from the witch I’d injured. India, That was what we had to focus on.
“They’re going to let a demon possess India if we keep standing here.” My emotions finally starting to shut down. I could be cold, hard, just like I needed to be. A whimper caught my attention and peeking around the corner was a familiar pair of amber eyes.
“Milly mean,” Alex whimpered, and my heart broke a little to see my own pain reflected in his eyes.
“Stay there,” I said, not wanting him anywhere near what was about to happen.
Milly stepped up to the door and the other witch let her lead.
O’Shea lifted an eyebrow at me, and I shook my head.
My used-to-be best friend put her hand on the knob and twisted, yanking the door open. A blast of energy swirled out, and I didn’t think. I just moved, jumping across the gap and pulling Milly out of the way.
A massive crash resounded through the castle as the wall directly behind where we’d just been standing melted into a puddle of molten rock, bubbling and slithering toward us.
I yanked Milly to her feet while she glared at me, but all I could see was the child sitting in the center of a pentagram carved into the floor, her body naked except for the blood that had been poured over her.
“O’Shea!” I bolted into the room, registering the faces of the black Coven. Surprise, anger and fear mingled with a sense of evil so heavy I actually stumbled right before I reached the auburn-haired little girl, her hazel eyes wide and dilated. The smell of opium was heavy on the air, as was the scent of something akin to road tar, which I knew could be only one thing: Demons. Seeing the vacant look in India’s eyes, I understood why I couldn’t get a bead on her emotions; they’d drugged her. At least, that’s what I was hoping.
A blur of a sword and large male body charged up behind me, deflecting blows, keeping me safe as I reached for India, trying to pull her off the pentagram without actually stepping on it myself. Which would be bad, like really bad.
“Get down!” O’Shea’s warning came a split second too late. One of the black Coven members physically slammed into me and spun me out toward India, right into the pentagram.
“Two is always better than one,” he laughed, as fear spiked through me.
The last thing I saw before hitting the pentagram was Milly battling with three witches, two men and a woman, and O’Shea to one side of me, blood seeping through his white shirt. Then I hit the floor.
The demon trying to possess India had been invisible to me while I was outside the confines of the pentagram, but inside was a different thing. It was shaped like a large ant, with multiple limbs, but stood upright like a human, balancing on a tail that was far too reminiscent of a scorpion for my liking.
I looked down. My body lay prone on the floor, my hand around India’s bare ankle.
“We are here in spirit,” the bare whisper of a voice said. India’s spirit crouched behind her sitting body. “We can’t get away.”
Swallowing my fear, I cracked my knuckles and faced the demon. “That isn’t true. We just have to send this ugly bug butt-face packing. Then we can leave.” I gave her a wink, turning my back on the demon for a split second, which I knew better than to do, but I needed to reassure her. Even if I was wrong.
The demon gra
bbed me around my upper body and lifted me into the air. No weapons on me, I kicked out, catching it in the thorax. There was the crunch of cartilage and the demon dropped me to the ground. There was hope yet; if I could hurt it, then I could kill it. A second kick drove my foot into its chest, forcing it back a step.
“Our master wants to speak with you,” it said, mandible clicking back and forth. “You will be rewarded greatly for coming to him of your own free will.”
Three more successive kicks and finally the thing stumbled back. “Nope, not interested.” Grabbing the closest appendage, I twisted hard, breaking it clean off, a spurt of clear liquid shooting out toward me, hitting me in the face. I swiped off the clear goo, gagging on the scent of rotting meat assailing my nose. Fuck, that was nasty.
Blinking, I caught the movement a second before it struck—the scorpion tail lifted high, then shot toward me with a blinding speed. I rolled to the left, stumbling over my own body. The stinger came down, burying itself into my prone form. That couldn’t be good, but there was nothing I could do about it now.
The demon jerked its stinger out and advanced on me. Dodging and ducking, I managed to keep the stinger from hitting me, but there wasn’t a lot of room.
“Put the stinger into the pentagram!” Milly shouted, distracting me.
I didn’t ask how she could see the demon, but I took her at her word.
The demon’s mandible chattered, its frustration coming through and its attacks redoubled. The stinger flew toward my face at a speed I could barely dodge. Sweat rolled down my face when a black blur leapt onto the pentagram, a snarl on his misshapen lips.
“Mean to Ryleeeeeeeee!” He howled as he hit the demon from behind, his teeth sinking into the creature’s neck, snapping the head off completely.
Dropping to all fours, white goo covering his muzzle, the werewolf looked down at his paws and the demon’s dying body twitching beside him. “No more mean to Rylee. Only good.”
“Rylee, the demon, before it fades—use the tail or you’ll be trapped!” Milly screamed, her words followed by a thud I didn’t want to analyze. Grabbing the demon’s tail, I jammed the stinger into the pentagram. A bright burst of light shattered around us; the barrier that had held us inside the confines of the pentagram vanished. I let out a groan, my body and spirit once more attached, a large furry body covering mine, pinning me to the ground. Where the stinger had gone into my physical body from the spirit plain we’d been on, there was a dull throb, but thankfully nothing more.”Alex, get off.”
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