by Amy Boyles
Dot pressed her index fingers to her lips for a moment. “Andie, people with intuitive abilities have great power that throughout history has been channeled by others. These witches have been subjugated for their magic.”
“Okay,” I said slowly, still not getting it. “Give me examples.”
Vordrid cleared his throat. “In the year nine hundred and twenty, a young wizard by the name of John Blacksmith was born an intuitive. He was a nice lad, full of hope even though he was born into the feudal class.”
“This isn’t a history lesson, is it?” I said.
“No,” Vordrid replied. “John had great power. In fact, the lad possessed so much magic that a local lord captured him, fatted him up and forced John to shift into a great dragon.”
“A dragon,” I said.
“Not only a dragon, but one that waged war over the countryside, shooting fear into the hearts of the people. The lord rode atop John in his dragon form in order to prove his might as a ruler.”
“Okay,” I said. “So the boy was used to be a dragon. He probably should’ve said no when it came to that.”
“Not used,” Vordrid said.
“What do you mean?” Stone said.
Dot cleared her throat. “I’m afraid the boy wasn’t used at all.”
“You know this story?” I said.
Dot cleared her throat. “I know a little bit of history. But anyway, the word used is never applied when intuitives are involved.”
I scratched my scalp. I really needed some chocolate right about now. “Then what’s the word I should be applying to this?”
“Intuitive are enslaved, Andie,” Vordrid said. “Other entities enslave them and force intuitives to do their bidding.”
Well, that wasn’t good.
“So you're saying my kid could be enslaved?” I said.
“Andie, no one is saying that Gabby will be enslaved. All we’re saying is that it's a possibility,” Vordrid said.
I threw my hands into the air. “That's exactly what you're saying. You just told me a story about how a guy was enslaved and made into a dragon. And now you’re trying to explain that it isn't what you're saying,” I said.
Dot fluffed her pink hair and wiggled her nose. “Dear, I think you should calm down a little bit. We don't know for sure what the demon wants.”
“I think we should consider that a real scenario,” Stone said.
“Let me run a few tests and see,” Vordrid said. “There may be something more to that ring.”
I closed my eyes, hoping this was all a terrible nightmare. I opened them and nothing had changed—I was still in the same room with Dot staring blankly at me, a floating Magic 8 Ball, and an exceptionally hot angel. “But you are saying we need to consider the possibility that a demon has come to enslave our children.”
“We have to consider all possibilities,” Vordrid said.
“Then what do we do to stop it?” I said.
Vordrid bobbed in the air. He came down, resting on the coffee table. He pivoted from side to side and after a moment said, “Andie, I think we have to believe it's going to take everything we've got to defeat this thing.”
The air in the room stilled. I nodded slowly. “Let me talk to Selma.” I flexed my fist open and closed. “I called her a little bit ago to see if she knew about demons that hunt children.”
“I'm afraid of what you're going to find,” Vordrid said.
“Let me talk to her.”
I left them in the living room and went back to my bedroom, opened my phone and dialed Selma’s number. For a moment I hoped she wouldn't answer. This was almost too much to bear. My head swirled with information; my heart raced. This was knowledge I couldn't process. In less than a few hours’ time I had discovered a demon might want not only my kid, but a host of other children in town. To do what? I had no idea, but I needed to find out, and most of all, I needed Dex.
I hated to admit it, but I really did. I was ticking down the seconds to sunset when I could call him.
Selma answered on the first ring. “Andie, I didn't expect to hear from you so soon.”
I drummed my fingers on my dresser. “I know, but some new developments have occurred and we might have a situation on our hands.”
“Situation? More than what you've already told me about?”
I gritted my teeth. “Yes. So tell me, did you find anything?”
Selma cleared her throat as if she was about to engage a lecture hall. “In fact I did. It appears there’s a lesser known demon named—well, it doesn't say. It calls itself the demon without a name.”
Great. A demon without a name. Here's the thing about demons—if you know their name, you can control them. You know their name, and you have instant power over them. But a demon that doesn't have a name? That means he would be impossible to control.
“So this demon who doesn't have a name, what did you find out?”
“I discovered that he targets children to do his bidding. He hasn't been active for a long time from what I understand, but he's very powerful.”
I quirked a brow. “So powerful he could've inhabited the body of a dead human?”
“Yes, actually that's a strong likelihood.” Selma clicked her tongue. “So this is the really crazy thing about your demon.”
“Hit me.”
“You know the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin, right?”
My mind raced to my childhood. “Sure. Every kid knows that story. The Pied Piper shows up to rid the town of rats, the people don't pay for the service and the piper runs off with all the kids.”
“So the demon I'm talking about,” Selma said, “is based on that story. Or, the other way around. The Pied Piper is based on this entity.”
Fear like a cold hand gripped my heart and squeezed. “You're saying this demon might just wiggle his way into the lives of our children and snatch them up in the middle of the night?”
“That's exactly what I'm saying, Andie.”
“Holy cow,” I said. My breath hitched. I forced it down into the deep, dark pits of my lungs. It wouldn’t help anyone if I flipped out now.
“Andie, you need to find this demon and you need to find him fast. Because I have the feeling that if he's coming after your children, he's not going to stop until he gets them.”
“Is there a reason that he wants the children?”
I really didn't want to go into what Dot and Vordrid had told me because quite honestly it was a little crazy, but if Selma had a theory, I wanted to hear it.
“Thing is, I don't know the reason why. It's possible he wants them to do some great magical thing, there's just nothing in the literature about that.”
“Because my great-aunt Dot is telling me that this creature might want our kids so that he can control them.”
Selma paused. “I mean, it's possible, Andie. I don't know what his purposes are, but I do know something that's even more interesting, and quite possibly just as frightening.”
Vordrid’s voice drifted from the hallway. “Andie!”
“Selma, can I call you back?”
“Call whenever you can. There’s something I really need to tell you.”
I thumbed off the phone, shoved it in my pocket and headed back out. “Yes?”
Vordrid sailed out of the bathroom. “Andie, I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I found something.”
I glanced at Dot and Stone. Worry lined their faces.
“What is it? What's going on, guys?”
Vordrid made a loop in the air and hovered overhead. “I had a chance to analyze the sample from the ring. It appears there's something quite magical in it.”
I waited for Vordrid to finish. For some reason he decided to just let the silence linger. I circled my hand, gesturing for him to hurry.
“What did you find in the ring?” I said.
Vordrid sniffed. “I found remnants of a spell.”
“We already know that a spell was used,” Stone said.
Vordrid pivoted toward
the angel. “Yes, but this is even more interesting. It’s what helped create the spell. I expected something completely different, possibly a lock of hair, but that’s not what I found at all. In fact it was the last thing that I would've expected in that ring. But now that I think about it, I'm not actually surprised about the remnants.”
My head hurt from listening to Vordrid drone on and on. I raised my hand for him to stop speaking. Even though the Magic 8 Ball did not have eyes, he could see.
“V, what is it you're saying? We know that some sort of spell was worked to release the demon.”
My phone buzzed from my back pocket. I pulled it out and looked down at the screen. It was a text from Selma.
Andie, I couldn't wait to call you back. There's something important you have to know about that demon.
“The spell itself,” Vordrid said, “is what's so interesting. I don't believe it was set by the demon. I believe it was set by someone else.”
My phone buzzed again.
It’s more common for that demon to be summoned by someone else and used, than by the demon itself appearing.
Vordrid kept talking. “Andie, I believe whoever owns that ring created that spell and is using the demon.”
I narrowed my eyebrows until I felt them pinch together. “What do you mean? The lord vampire owns that ring.”
“That's what I'm trying to tell you,” Vordrid said. “The lord vampire is who made that spell and sent the demon here.”
My phone buzzed again. I glanced down at the screen.
You asked me to look into the lord vampire. My research shows that he's been doing some conjuring.
We were talking about a powerful vampire that couldn’t be easily killed. Years ago, an entire team had been sent to take him down, and we’d failed.
And Dex had been turned into a vampire.
Vordrid floated down to my eye level. “The substance I found in the ring was blood.”
My phone buzzed again.
That demon was sent to get those children.
Vordrid sniffed. “Powerful ancient blood that could only belong to one person. The lord vampire.”
My heart stilled. I looked at Stone. His face darkened. He gritted his teeth and said in a voice low and full of anger, “Then it looks like we've got a lord vampire to deal with as well as a demon.”
EIGHT
The lord vampire’s involvement in this entire situation was pretty much confirmed. That creature had sent a demon to steal the children of Normal, Alabama. What the heck was going on? The first thing I needed, I decided, was to talk to Dex.
I left Stone at the house so he could guard Gabby and hopped in my 4Runner. The sun burned down the horizon. Night would blanket the sky soon, constellated by planets the size of pinpricks. It was perfect timing to see Dex. I arrived at his house about ten minutes later. Fitz answered the door and led me in. Dex was already awake and in his study.
I stepped into the darkened room. My boots clicked loud enough to wake the dead on the other side of the planet. The hollow sound sent a zinger of discomfort straight to my core.
A fire roared in the hearth, and Dex stood before it, each hand on either side of the mantle. He stared into the blaze, completely absorbed with whatever thought tacked him in place.
“I spoke to Selma,” he said.
I ground my heel into the floor. “So you’ve heard.”
“I don't know where the lord vampire is,” he said without turning around.
I stopped. “He wants the children. That creature wants Gabby.”
At that moment a flood of emotion rushed through me. Tears sprang from the well of my soul and poured from my eyes. Racking sobs shook my entire body.
My knees buckled. I sank to the floor, unable to hold myself up. In less time than it took my heart to empty its valves of blood, Dex had his arms curled around me. His fingers threaded through my hair, and he brushed tendrils from my ears.
He whispered, “I'm here. I'm here for you, and I am not going to let anyone take our daughter. Never.”
I tried to speak, but it came out muffled, sounding more like a hyena coughing than actual speaking. Of course, I don't know if that's true, but I imagine that was the closest thing that my voice sounded like.
“Hush,” he whispered. “You can cry, Andie. It's okay. No one is judging you.”
You know, we had such a good moment going; then he had to say no one was judging me.
I pulled myself out of his grasp with such force that I spilled onto my rump. “I’m not trying to be judged, Dex. I’m crying because this is all going to crap.”
He wove his fingers through his hair and sighed. “I’m only trying to help.”
“Saying you’re not judging me makes me think you’re judging me.”
He frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why don’t you start at the beginning?”
I rose and brushed off my rear end along with any pride I had left. “Here’s what we know.”
I told him everything. He listened quietly, his blue eyes unreadable. Light flickered, reflecting in his gaze. His jaw clenched from time to time, and he looked away from me, staring at the hearth.
When I finished, he said, “I’ll kill him myself.”
“You don’t know where the lord is.” I cracked my knuckles. “We have to protect Gabby. Think about her. Dex, this is no time to get your hackles all up and ready to go. We may need help with this.”
He clenched his fists. Then he rose and returned to the fireplace. “What do you want to do? What’s your plan?”
“We need to meet with Ron and tell him what we know, see what he thinks. First things first, Dex. We’re dealing with a demon; we know that. I’ve done some research in the book, and it says to trap the demon, I have to wield the power that resides in the book without using the book. I have no idea how to do that. Do you?”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t. But I’m sure we can find someone able to help.” He gripped the mantle. “I made phone calls last night to people I hadn’t seen in years, even those I didn’t want to make. The first few months after the lord turned me, I was in his grip. He owned me, Andie. In a way he’d saved my life. Saved me so that I could see you again, though I was too afraid to find you to do that. I had to maneuver inside a new world, one I had no idea about.”
His shoulders rose as he took a breath. “Sure, I’d witnessed it from the outside, but I’d never been part of a vampire den and saw how they interacted. I would’ve been killed in a day if it hadn’t been for the lord. So in some ways I feel I owe him. But to discover his ring is gone and he used it to send this demon here?”
Dex’s back tensed. “All gloves are off.”
“You don’t wear gloves anyway.”
He scoffed. “It’s a figure of speech.”
“I know. I was trying to lighten the mood.” I shouldered my purse. “Come on. I’ll drive.”
When we reached my house, it was full to bursting with bodies. Stone eyed Dex like a lion ready to fight to the death, while Dex gave him a curt nod.
It appeared that Dot and Vordrid had filled Ron Diablo and Kate in on everything they needed to know.
“Ron,” I said, “the children on your part of the list. Do you know if they have the same ability?”
He tapped his fingers on his smooth pate. “I didn’t ask and no one told me. I’ll do that first thing tomorrow—make sure that’s the situation.” He paused. “Since we know the demon has already been to this house, my guess is it’ll strike a different home tonight. I propose we take the list and split up. We won’t be able to cover all the homes, and I don’t want anyone out there alone, so we’ll have to pick who we think is the most likely target.”
He read down the list, and we agreed that out of the twelve on there, we’d be able to guard four of them. That meant the groups were: Ron and Kate, Dot and Pam, Vordrid and me, Stone and Dex.
Wait. Stone and Dex?
Don’t look at me. Ron's the one who decided the groups, and
to be honest, it was best that I didn’t get paired with one man over the other.
“What about Gabby?” I said. “Who’s going to watch her?”
Ron looked completely lost.
“Okay,” I offered. “Dot and Pam can stay here, and the angel and vampire can split up.”
Ron shook his head. “No one alone. Those are the rules.”
Stone scoffed. “I’m an angel. Demons inherently don’t like me. It’s not going to attack one of us.” He eyed Dex. “Though the creature might go for a vampire because, you know, the undead are easy targets for evil.”
Dex shook his head. “It has more to do with what’s in a person’s soul than what they’re made of.”
“What soul?” Stone said.
Dex flinched. I didn’t know if it was true or not. Did he still retain his soul? Or was he damned for all eternity in the vampire form?
“Boys,” I snapped. “Cool it. Let’s pull this together. Stone and Dex, you hit two different houses. How does that work, Ron?”
He drummed his fingers on his smooth head. “It’ll be fine.”
“Great. Let’s get the list.”
Vordrid and I were sent to watch over Maggie Moonglow’s house, which was perfect since I had pinpointed a good spot for the stakeout. Of course, I didn’t exactly feel protected with only a Magic 8 Ball nestled beside me in the bucket seat, but what choice did I have?
“Andie,” Vordrid said, “would it be okay if I sat on the dashboard? I can see better that way.”
I picked him up and rested him atop the plastic surface. “Whatever you need, my mentor.”
“Did you bring the book with you?”
I reached into my purse and pulled out the tome. “Right here.”
“Good. Perhaps we can do some work to help you defeat this demon.”
“Right when I was looking for a little peace and quiet.”
“You can get peace and quiet when you’re dead.”
“Thanks, Mom. You’re so sweet.”
Vordrid rattled. “The book, Andie.”
I huffed. “Okay, but I don’t know what help it’s going to be. I’ve already looked at the stuff on demons and it’s pretty cryptic.”