by Sara DeHaven
Franchesca got slowly to her feet. Bree barely noticed. Her eyes were fastened on Kevin, trying to see if he was still breathing. She felt half frantic, half numb from the effects of the flashback. There, she could see it, the rise and fall of Kevin’s chest.
She'd landed near a tall pile of crates, and was in their shadow. She put out a hand and gripped the nearest one, tried to steady herself. She was very close to blacking out.
Franchesca spoke, the buzz of the demon’s presence more evident than before. “You swear, do you Daniel? You swear to be mine, to do as I ask, to give me the spell?”
“I swear,” Daniel replied, a little breathlessly
“You lie!” Franchesca hissed, and Bree saw the subtle droop to Daniel’s shoulders, and she knew Franchesca had read him truly. He still wanted to fight.
But how could he? The only thing keeping the demons frozen in the air was Daniel’s will. The demon feeding on him would drain that soon enough.
She considered for a minute doing to Franchesca what she'd done to Scanlon. But she didn’t want to, God, how she didn’t want to. As her exhausted brain was trying to engage with the problem, Daniel answered Franchesca.
“You know I don’t want the hiding spell used for ill,” Daniel said, hands held out before him in a pleading gesture. “How, in good conscience, can I give it to you willingly? I told you I would surrender myself to you, and I am. But I can’t promise to cooperate.”
“You and your conscience,” Franchesca sneered, taking a half step forward. Her face was twisted with rage, and not all of it was hers. Bree’s experienced eyes saw that a good part of it was the demon, egging her on. “You always chose your precious conscience over me.”
“Is that all this is really about, Chesca?” Daniel asked, his spine straightening, and Bree read in his movements and his voice that some angle had occurred to him, some hope of getting to Franchesca. She held perfectly still, not wanting to attract Franchesca’s attention, wanting to give Daniel space to work. Not that she had a choice really, as no alternate plan was occurring to her that didn’t involve her murdering Franchesca. At least with Scanlon, it had been a mistake
“Is it really all about your need to be first in my heart?” Daniel continued. “Is all this to punish me for wanting to keep some shred of integrity, and keep you too?”
“You rejected me. You betrayed me! The one person I thought understood me, that loved me.” The demon was retreating from Franchesca’s voice. There was real hurt there, the hurt of a little girl, and with a flash of intuition, Bree realized this wasn’t all just about Daniel. It was older even than him, an old wound of feeling abandoned that had festered and grown, the sort demon-kind were expert at exploiting and blowing out of proportion until it took over the host’s mind and emotions.
“I rejected your choices, your actions, not you as a person,” Daniel answered, and Bree could hear the strain of mastering the demons in his voice. “How can you not see the difference? Even now, with what you’ve done, what you’ve become, if you showed the slightest interest in leaving the Keltoi, of giving up being a Demon Master, I would help you in any way I could. Can’t you see that is love, real love?”
For a moment, Bree thought he had her. Franchesca’s expression softened, wavering between fear, love and regret as she looked down at Daniel.
Daniel held out a hand to her and said, “Chesca, love, let me help you.”
Franchesca's hand was rising to meet his when a flare of demon light surged into her eyes, strong enough to cause an orange glow to infuse her entire face. “No,” the demon’s voice said. “No, I will not allow it.” In the moment when Franchesca’s resistance had dropped, the demon had taken control of her. Her hand opened and darted out in a slicing gesture as Daniel started to turn his own hand in some magic to ward off the attack, but he was too slow. The freeze spell hit him and he stiffened, then slowly toppled onto his side. “Now,” said Franchesca, voice liquid with her demon's satisfaction, “I will kill him.” The demons that had been frozen in the air began to move.
Chapter 27
Bree had thought there wasn’t enough energy left in her body to move her from her stasis, but at Franchesca's words, her unconscious mind took over, reaching for the only possible defense she had in the situation. Her fists rose clenched before her, and a storm of will rose in her body. Driven by desperation she shouted, “Gelsenim, I call you! Gelsenim, I command you!”
Almost as if he had been waiting nearby, Gelsenim surged into being before her, in his largest, most ferocious demon form. Even as her heart nearly stopped in fear, she demanded, “Gelsenim, possess me!”
Heat, and light, and energy slammed into her body hard enough to make her stagger, and then shockingly, a brilliant, hot feeling of strength, of confidence settled into her. Her posture straightened, and her shoulders dropped.
Ah, she heard Gelsenim’s voice in her mind, how could I have overlooked you? And for some reason, the voice didn’t make her cringe inside, didn’t make her retreat. She felt completely in control.
Her shout, and the entry into their space of another powerful demon had drawn the attention of Franchesca and the other demons away from Daniel. Bree strode forward, and the knowledge of a spell came into her mind, crystalline and precise. She gestured widely with one arm, and all the demons were pushed back, wavering and sputtering, as if a strong wind had hit them. She felt a rush of pleasure as the spell took hold. She stepped over Daniel’s body, glanced down, and saw that his eyes were open. The demon that had been feeding on him had let go and retreated to hover next to Franchesca.
Orange light surged and retreated, and surged again in Franchesca's eyes as she struggled to wrest control of her consciousness from the demon. In that hesitation, Bree gathered her will, a will expanded tenfold by the presence of Gelsenim inside, and commanded, “Demons, depart! Do not return to this place on any command!” All of the demons except the one inside Franchesca and the Erekim who had been feeding on Daniel vanished with a hiss of steam.
And that was when Franchesca struck. In one motion, she stepped to the side and thrust her hands at Bree, palms out. A blast of air hit Bree in the chest before she could ward, hit her so hard that her neck nearly snapped. She stumbled and fell onto her back, and Franchesca advanced on her.
"He is ours," Franchesca hissed, the demon buzz in her voice like metal scraping on metal. Her palms thrust out again, and a blanket of force pressed Bree into the cold concrete floor of the warehouse so hard she couldn't breathe. She could feel her ribs bending, her throat compressing. The folly of her trying to take on a Caster and Demon Master of Franchesca's experience, even possessed, washed over her.
I am with you, my host. There is a way to defeat this spell. Can you see it now in our mind?
And Bree could see it. It looked like a shield set with long, wicked spikes. She could see how it would shatter Franchesca's spell if she could hold the form in her mind, if she could generate enough force to use it.
Quickly, my host! The pressure will kill you!
Bree tried. She shut out everything, formed the spell in her mind, and thrust it against the force that was slowly crushing her. She felt her spell concuss against Franchesca's, felt the cracks shoot though it, felt it weakening. The pressure on Bree eased just enough for her to pull a trickle of air into her lungs.
But it wasn't enough. Her vision started to go dark around the edges. All she could see was Franchesca's face, her vicious, gloating expression as she stood over Bree.
"I'm really going to enjoy killing you," Franchesca said.
Bree pulled in another tiny stream of air, then forced it out again, saying the only thing she thought might make Franchesca pause. "Daniel. Will. Never. Forgive. You." It came out in a thin, staccato whisper, and she wasn't sure Franchesca had heard her until she felt a slight lessening of the pressure on her chest.
Again, my host! Gelsenim demanded.
She thrust her spell against Franchesca's once more, imagining the sp
ikes on the shield longer and sharper, and Franchesca’s spell broke into a thousand pieces. Bree dragged air into her lungs, raised her legs, and kicked Franchesca hard in the shins. Franchesca stumbled, then fell back with all her weight onto one hand. She heard a sickening snap as Franchesca's wrist broke.
Bree stood up as quickly as she could, which wasn't very quick. A glance confirmed Daniel was still frozen, and the Erekim was feeding from him again.
She strode towards Franchesca and kicked her in the ribs, a kind of sick elation coursing through her. "That is for taking Hunter!" She kicked her again. "That is for having him possessed!" She raised her foot for another kick, and a rope of force wrapped around her ankle and pulled her off balance.
She had just an instant to twist and angle her fall so that she landed on top of Franchesca. A pained gasp escaped Franchesca, and Bree had only an instant's satisfaction at her cleverness before she felt something squeeze her heart.
Ward, ward! Gelsenim roared inside her.
I know! Bree sent back, but instead of warding, she tried for a shield. She knew instinctively a shield spell, perfectly attuned, would have a better chance at keeping her heart from being crushed.
She didn't know if it was her own Reader and Caster ability, or something Gelsenim leant her, but as fast as thought, the shield was attuned and up, and the pain in her chest stopped. She rolled off of Franchesca, desperate to get away from her, hoping distance might protect her in some way.
She had managed only a few steps before she heard Franchesca choke out, "Calim, I command you! Burn this woman!"
The demon feeding on Daniel turned to face Bree. It was in a shape much like that Gelsenim preferred, a devil out of medieval nightmare, all burning eyes, black and red reptilian skin, forked tongue flicking out between its pointed teeth. And far worse than its form was that nightmare, menacing sense of horror, of evil that disembodied demons emitted. All Bree's previous experience programmed her to respond with terror to the sight before her, and she did. Her heart sped up, and sweat slid down her sides. She knew that the demon in Franchesca would be in on the action in seconds, and she didn’t think she could command them both, even with Gelsenim’s help. She wasn’t even sure Gelsenim would continue to help her.
Bree felt a dizzying sensation in her head. She heard her Gelsenim's deeper overlay in her voice as she said, "Calim, I command you! Leave this place!"
The demon's form wavered, then the Erekim's eyes narrowed in fury. “You may not command me, I am your equal. I am like you, my brother. Let us take these hosts and ride them. They are powerful enough to feed us for days.”
It moved closer to her, fire flickering in its hands, its eyes, and Bree reached for even more power, felt something click into place inside her, and found it. “Stop,” she ordered. The other demon obeyed, and emitted a weird, choked off howl. Then it advanced again. Panic rose, and then Gelsenim’s voice came into her head, the voice of his human form, the blond man, not the demon. I am the elder, I can command this one, never fear my host. The words he wanted her to say came into her mind, and she said them.
“We are the elder. We remember being one with the Seldenai. We know our true form. We may command you. Be gone!” And at the last word, Bree gathered her will energy again and threw it at the demon. With a violent shriek, it vanished, leaving just her and Franchesca.
Franchesca had managed to get up and move next to Daniel. She was holding her broken wrist in her other hand.
Before Bree could think it through, she advanced on Franchesca, forcing her a few steps back from Daniel, toward the door. All the while, she heard Gelsenim’s voice in her head. The demon in the woman is an elder. I may not command him. We must kill the host. Force the demon out as you did the other. Then it will be easier to banish it.
You were watching from the other side! she thought back, then Franchesca caught her attention, finally speaking, more in her own voice than the demon’s.
“So, the little rabbit has some teeth after all,” she said, her mocking tone belied by the quiver of fear showing in the muscles of her cheeks and chin. Bree knew a moment’s exhilaration, to have this woman afraid of her, but it all drained out of her as Franchesca continued, “But you should know, I hold Daniel’s heart in my hand. Literally.” Franchesca held out her uninjured hand, lightly fisted, in front of Bree, and squeezed, just a little squeeze, and Daniel groaned. She was hurting Daniel's heart, just as she had Bree's, and Daniel couldn't fight back.
“You don’t want to kill him,” she told Franchesca, “you want to own him. Your victory will be worth nothing to you if he dies.” As she spoke, she felt Gelsenim feeding information directly into her brain. She thought/felt the lines of energy of the spell between Franchesca and Daniel, felt the demon and emotion enhanced strength of it. While Bree had thought Franchesca was hurting, maybe retreating, she was really putting this spell together. So much energy was already in the room between her and Daniel, so much of their history present between them, and it was all powering the spell, making it far stronger than the one Franchesca had used on Bree.
I am not certain we can break it, Gelsenim whispered.
“I would rather see him dead than let you have him,” Franchesca delivered in a flat tone, and cold washed over Bree as she realized that Franchesca meant it, every word. It wasn’t the demon egging her on this time. But did Franchesca know that?
“That’s just the demon talking,” Bree replied, trying to inject some kind of self-doubt into Franchesca, trying to distract her in any way possible.
Bree saw her comment hit home, and a shadow of doubt passed across Franchesca’s face. Bree drove straight for it, and her Reader sense, amplified by Gelsenim’s power, showed her the way. “Part of you still loves him. Part of you remembers being children in the woods together, closer than brother and sister. He was good, even then, wasn’t he? And you wanted to be good. You wanted it to rub off on you. It still can. He’s strong enough to help you, you know he is.”
Yes, Gelsenim whispered, the spell is weakening.
Hit it with your best shot, the minute you see an opening, she thought back urgently.
It may harm us to break the spell, Gelsenim told her doubtfully.
We have to risk it, she sent back. In front of her, Franchesca looked angry, but Bree could see the vulnerability beneath the anger. The demon light was fading in her eyes, so Bree pressed on. “I know one of the Keepers. He said if you came to him with a request to get out, they would help you too.”
Franchesca sneered. “Keepers. As if I want their help. They'll hand me over to the Ecclesias faster than you could spit. And the Ecclesias will neuter me. They’ll take all my powers." The orange light rose in her eyes again, and Bree felt her hold over Franchesca slipping away. Trouble was, she was probably right. Even with Daniel advocating for her, leaving the Keltoi would demand a lot of Franchesca, probably more than she could give even at the best of times.
“Daniel will find a way to help you, to hide you,” she tried.
“Daniel will do what is right,” Franchesca said, with a strange combination of longing and viciousness in her voice. And her fist tightened.
I’m losing her, Bree sent to Gelsenim. Do it now!
But it might hurt us, might kill us, Gelsenim protested.
Do it! Bree demanded, throwing her will against him, and she saw the path in her mind, the place to attack the spell, to break it, saw the terrible amount of energy it would release, but knew if she didn’t do it now, Daniel would surely die. She rammed her power down on the link between Franchesca and Daniel, investing it with her love for Daniel, and Gelsenim’s power, tainted as it was by rage and resentment. The power of them combined blew the spell apart.
The concussion threw Bree backwards into the air, against a tower of wooden crates. She hit the back of her head hard, leaving her half conscious and disoriented. The ground shook and crates began to fall around her. With a last remaining effort of will, she scrambled back to Daniel, draped herself on
top of him, flung up an arm, formed the spell, a wall of blue, and called, “Ward!” With all her might, she tried to extend the ward far enough to cover Kevin where he lay some six feet away. She saw the waver of the ward on the air above her outstretched arms, protecting them. The crates and boxes crashed down all around in a frightening, deafening noise. At every moment, Bree expected her ward to fail and her head to be bashed in.
After what seemed like an eternity, the last crate settled to the ground and she dared to look up, over at Kevin. He was still as death, but she felt a wild relief that none of the boxes or crates had touched him. She never could have managed that strong a physical ward on her own. Gelsenim had helped her. She sent her Reader sense toward Kevin. It responded better than she expected, probably also due to Gelsenim. Kevin was definitely alive, but still unconscious.
Belatedly, she remembered Franchesca, and glanced frantically around, levering herself off of Daniel so she could see as much of the warehouse as possible. She didn’t see Franchesca anywhere. She sent her Demonsense and Reader sense searching, and felt Franchesca's energy signature retreating so quickly that she had to be in a car. Breaking the spell must have hurt her badly enough that she felt unable to continue fighting.
With a whimper, Bree rolled off of Daniel, onto her back, hair in a tangle all around her. For a stunned moment she just stared at the ceiling, then she raked her hair out of her eyes and carefully turned her violently pounding head to look at him. He was facing her, eyes open, still frozen. She just looked at him, soaking in the fact that they were all alive. After a moment, she sent out a careful Reader tendril toward Daniel. His energy was down to almost nothing. He truly had nearly burned himself out in the battle. And what was left felt dark to her.
As exhausted as she felt, her brain just wouldn't shut up. She flinched away from images of Scanlon burning up, of Franchesca nearly crushing her, of Daniel at Franchesca's mercy. Which left her to circle the dilemma about what to do about Gelsenim. She seriously doubted Daniel had the energy left to banish him, and with his energy gone dark, she didn't know how far she could trust him. And she had no idea if she could un-possess herself.