by Angie Fox
"Then draw on that," he said, as if it were easy. "Get in the same place. Find your power, and do it."
"God, I wish Rachmort were here," I said to myself.
"You and me both," he answered. "Come on. The sun is setting. I'd much rather do this when I can see." He stood over the relic, holding the skull fragment. "You ready?"
"Give me a minute," I said, bracing myself. I concentrated. I called on the power churning deep inside of me. Focus. I felt it in my bones, flowing through my veins. It was a part of me, a living, breathing force of nature.
"You ready?" he repeated.
"Stop it," I snapped. He of all people should know I couldn't rush this. I concentrated again, this time going even deeper inside myself. I found the spark of my power and drew it out. I played with it, teased it. I toyed with my energy until it swirled inside me, hot and ready.
I felt my face heat, the tender skin of my neck and chest flush. I lifted my hands as energy flowed down my arms and into my fingertips.
"Damn," Carpenter uttered, impressed for the first time.
Oh sure. Now I got him going. When I was too focused to enjoy it.
This was my chance to lock away the Earl once and for all. Never again would his power seep out, corrupt, destroy innocent people. He'd be buried in the depths of hell where he belonged, unable to torment suggestible souls, like my father. One less devil. One less temptation. One less evil in this world.
I raised my hands, locked and loaded. I nodded to the necromancer and he placed the skull fragment on top of the relic.
It blazed red and I immediately attacked it with a blast of power.
Carpenter cursed and joined me. Roiling blue waves shot from his fingers, twining with my white-hot power. It kicked back on me and I ignored it, doubling my efforts. Pushing against the dark vortex, tearing at it, destroying it.
Instead, it grew.
Fuck.
The power blew back on me, tearing at my hair, stinging my skin, practically blinding me.
I shoved harder. Willed everything inside of me against the relic, into the rapidly forming hole around it. Cracks splintered the ground near my feet.
It was wrong. So wrong.
This couldn't be happening. My power should seal it, not tear it apart.
I struggled to see, the brightness singeing my eyes and making me tear up. The force was mine. The aid was Carpenter's. None of it felt tainted or wrong or…
Carpenter hollered something. I couldn't tell what. He gritted his teeth, his muscles straining as he fought.
My seal splintered and began breaking apart. The ground opened up in front of me.
Holy hell.
I yanked back. Carpenter tumbled forward, straight for the abyss.
He dodged sideways, barely missing it. The demon's power poured from the breach, icy cold. It stole my breath.
I doubled over. Shiloh gripped my back, keeping me upright.
Carpenter glared at me. The winds whipped at his hair, stole my breath.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded over the blaze of demon energy. The entire top of the rise tumbled into the abyss. "You're one of the six hundred sixty-six!"
Shock slammed into me. Impossible.
Only it wasn't. I was compromised with my dad's power.
It had felt good. Right.
I didn't know.
Carpenter stared at me, disaster written plainly on his face. "You can't close the gate," he said, eyes wide. "You open it!"
I stood frozen. Shocked. My dad did this. Or maybe it had been the Earl all along. I'd taken my dad's power. Or had it been the Earl's? I'd compromised myself in the worst possible way. And now I'd set loose the one demon I had never been able to kill.
A demon that had corrupted me.
Carpenter glared at me as if I'd planned it, as if I'd known. "You tricked me," he roared, letting loose a blaze of blue energy at me instead of the breach.
It smacked me in the jaw, bit like a thousand mosquitos. I tossed it off.
I didn't have time for his idiot games. "How do we stop this?" I demanded. I racked my brain for a solution, any shred of an idea I could cling to, something that would stop this.
"What about your vision?" Shiloh demanded.
A large chunk of ground opened up right behind him. He stared at us, eyes blazing, hair wild. "It was a nightmare."
We fell.
Blackness seized us as we tumbled down into the abyss. Frigid winds tore at me as I struggled to gain a foothold, toehold, anything to keep from tumbling farther.
I landed hard on a cold white platform in the icy depths of hell. The chill tore at my bones and soaked into my skin. Walls of ice rose up on all sides, separated by a fissure that fell down into depths I didn't even want to contemplate. Carpenter lay near the edge, unmoving. I didn't know how we were going to get out now, much less if we fell farther.
"Damien!" Shiloh said, rushing to kneel beside a figure chained to the floor.
I slid as I hurried over on the slick ice to join her. But before I could make it, I found Rachmort spread out on the ice in chains. His vest was torn open and his white shirt underneath lay in tatters. His white beard thrust out, shaggy and unkempt, and he had panic in his eyes.
My heart thumped as I caught a glimpse of hands, faces buried in the ice under my feet, below our friends, reaching for them.
"Get out," Rachmort ordered, his face red, his lips blue with cold. "Get out now!"
The demon chuckled low behind me. "All right. I'll leave. Now that the demon slayer has given me a way."
I turned. The Earl stood directly behind me. He had the scaled body of a lizard and face of an angel. Silver-and-white wings sprouted from his leathery back. He smiled, showing sharp bloody teeth.
"I didn't know," I said to Rachmort, and myself, and anyone else who would listen.
I hadn't meant for any of this to happen. I'd taken a risk, drawn myself close to the demon in order to defeat him. I'd been willing to sacrifice myself. I was ready to put my soul on the line so I could to do what was right.
Instead, I'd opened up the world for a demon.
The Earl's wild golden hair fell across one eye. Parts of his face had rotted away. He didn't even attempt a glamour.
"She's tied to me." He gave me an intimate, smoky look like that of a lover. "Permanently."
"No. I never agreed to that." I stared at him in horror. Only I had opened myself up willingly. I just hadn't realized what I let through. He'd seeped into my consciousness.
And he'd controlled my powers just now. No one else had ever done that.
The Earl continued on, as if we were discussing a trip to the ice cream shop. "Did you really think you could speak to your father…without me? He lives for me." The demon leered. "He loves me."
"This is sick," I said. "All of it." I had to get out of here. I had to find another way.
The demon's power washed over me, into me, tearing at me until I didn't even feel like myself anymore. "You have no idea how long I've been watching you, waiting for you." I felt him like a black sludge in my veins. "You are a challenge, sweet Lizzie. But I've got you this time. And I intend to use you, your body, your power." I felt him under my skin. "With you as my willing slave, I'll be able to destroy anything I want. There'll be no way to stop a demon and a demon slayer." I felt him in every heavy beat of my heart. "The world will know fear, Lizzie. You'll see."
I reached for my switch stars. I might not get another shot like this.
"You know those don't work on me," he chided.
I fired anyway. I slammed it into his disgusting scaly chest. The power of it streaked through me, burying in my own chest, hurtling me to the floor as wave after wave of pain washed over me, stealing my breath away. I couldn't think. I couldn't see beyond the pain.
My world went black as I passed out.
I came to consciousness with the Earl of Hell standing over me.
His chest glowed where I'd run him through, but his flesh had alread
y knit back together. "Aren't you glad that didn't work?" he asked, as if it were a mere mistake and not a shot to kill.
He offered a hand to help me up.
I skittered away as fast as I could, and to my complete and utter relief, he didn't pursue me.
Although something told me it was only a matter of time.
"We're linked," he said, taking one leisurely step toward me, then another, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "If you kill me, you kill yourself."
"No," I gritted out. I refused to believe it. There had to be another way.
He tsked. "Your loving husband would be crushed. Imagine Dimitri the widower. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy."
I glared at him, as if looks could kill. "I hate you."
"You might be hearing that from Dimitri soon," he mused. "I can't imagine he'd embrace your demon side."
I struggled to stand. "Fuck off."
He ran a hand through his thick blond curls. "Now don't go trying to sweet-talk me. Your dad is enough of a kiss-up."
I had to kill him. I had to end this. It was the only way to put a permanent stop to this power cycle and eliminate the Earl of Hell for good.
He tilted his chin down at me. "Face it, sweetheart. You're mine."
"Never." I'd fight. I'd win.
"Ah," he mused. "I do enjoy it when I get to prove things. Come along, then," he said, dragging me by the elbow, depositing me under the center of the ice shelf. I could feel the power of the dark vortex pulling at me, trying to draw us upward. "First order of business" —the Earl grinned at me, baring row after row of sharp teeth—"we'll show you just how much I control you."
Chapter Twenty-Four
It was like nothing I'd ever faced before. I forced myself to focus, to try to stand straight. "Why don't you just take my power and be done with it?" It was what he wanted. It was what every demon craved.
My power. My force.
Me.
His gaze bored into me. "I'm not going to take it from you," he sneered, amused at my utter horror. "At least not yet."
What the frig was he waiting for?
I drew a switch star, for all the good it did me. I sheathed it again. My weapons were useless. We were in the depths of hell. My mentor was a prisoner. The other slayer as well. A short distance away, Shiloh wept as she desperately tried to free her husband.
This asshole demon deserved to die.
The Earl drew so close I could almost touch him. I let him.
There was nothing else to do.
He hovered so close I could smell the sulfur on his breath. "I shall very much enjoy corrupting you." He said it like he was testing the word on his tongue, relishing the sound of it. "In fact…" He wrapped a hand around my back. He glanced over my shoulder and I followed his gaze to Rachmort, who watched in horror. Prickles raced down my spine at the points where the demon's talons dug in. "I'll give you some of my power."
"Oh, hell no." I was barely holding on as it was.
I struggled to break his grip. He leaned forward and his hot breath washed over me, straight into my mouth. It stung my tongue and tasted like rotten eggs.
My skin erupted and my spine collapsed as a blaze of energy jolted through me. It burned under my skin, squeezing my chest and stealing my breath as if I'd been tossed out of a high tower and plunged straight into the sea.
My body shuddered. My limbs were useless as the Earl nipped at my neck, ran a wet tongue over my collarbone. "Too much?" he asked, nuzzling my cheek. "I was hoping to make that fun."
He smelled like putrefaction and death. I tried to fall away and out of his grip, but he held me tight, his nails piercing my skin.
My throat was dry. My mouth refused to work. "You." I fought for each word. "Can't. Have. Me."
I gripped at his arms. His scales were rough. "Ah, Lizzie," he said, touching a fingertip to my forehead, running it down between my eyes like I was a pet or worse. "I already have you."
I stared into his soulless black eyes and realized he was right.
From the moment I'd taken that power from my father, I'd set myself on this path. Dad was a fallen angel. He'd surrendered himself. And now, I'd fallen too.
I hadn't even realized it was happening. And now? It may be too late to get away.
Panic seized me. I twisted my head, fought the spider's web. "Rachmort," I hollered. He'd tell me what to do.
But Rachmort lay unconscious on the ice. Or dead.
Please don't let him be dead.
"What did you do to him?" I choked out.
The Earl chuckled and ran a finger over my rib cage and shrugged. "That last blast of power did him in. The other slayer, too."
I fought to see. This time, the demon let me go. I struggled to keep my feet as I turned to see Damien's body, curled on the ice. Shiloh cried over him, trying desperately to revive her husband.
The Earl pressed close to my back. I shuddered as he caressed my shoulders. "They aren't as strong as you are." He ran his claws up and down my arms, piercing my skin, watching rivulets of blood stream down to my fingers. "Now you see why I wanted you so much."
This was sick. Wrong.
This demon wanted to bond with me completely. He'd already changed me on a fundamental level.
I didn't know how I'd get my old self back. Or how to resist falling even more.
My friends were trapped. The biker witches had no idea where we were. The demon had gotten inside of me. And now that the pain from the Earl's power transfer had cleared, I had an even bigger problem: I felt good.
I flexed my hands, felt the energy zip through my body. I was whole. Alert. And no doubt stronger than I'd ever been before.
I was also corrupted. Tainted in the worst possible way because I didn't feel sick or evil or even dangerous. I felt like me, only better.
He chuckled behind me. He knew.
"What happens next?" I whispered. I had to escape this. Somehow. I turned to face him. "What do you want?"
The Earl raised a brow, as if my attitude surprised him.
Good.
It's not like wailing or gnashing my teeth or a dozen screams of "no" would get me anywhere.
Fuck him. I was beyond all that bullshit.
He tilted his head to the side, studying me. "You've given me trouble," he said slowly. "A lot of trouble." He opened his arms wide, raised his voice. "You see this place?" The winds of hell tore at his hair. "You locked me on a fucking ice cliff."
I scoffed. "As if I could have put you in the Taj Mahal."
Malice glittered in his eyes as he advanced on me. "I owe you a lot of suffering for just that."
Oh, shit. I backed up one step, then two. I had my strength back, even if it came from him. I also had no weapons. No plan.
Then I saw Shiloh sneaking up behind him.
I wanted to cry I was so happy to see her alive and unhurt, but I couldn't let on. I kept my face neutral. Wary. And hopefully not too terrified.
Shiloh held a dagger in her hand. I didn't know where she'd gotten it or what she planned to do with it, but she sure as hell needed a few more seconds.
And a distraction.
I cleared my throat. "I'm sorry," I said to the Earl, desperately attempting to sound sincere, and not a though I was buying time.
The show of weakness only fueled his aggression. "You're not sorry," he sneered, flexing his claws, raising a hand to strike, "but you will be."
Shiloh drew closer. The Earl lashed out at the same time she did. Only he swept his arm backward instead of at me. He hit Shiloh square in the jaw. Then he turned and in one swift movement, flung her right off the ice cliff. Straight into hell.
Oh my God. "Shiloh!" I rushed for the edge.
I could barely see the outline of her as she fell, headfirst. Then I couldn't see her anymore. There was only an endless abyss.
She was gone.
And I may be joining her sooner rather than later. What a pair we'd make.
"Damn," the Earl said, joining me on
the edge. "I was planning to have you kill her."
In one quick movement, I was behind him. I shoved him hard. I used all of my strength to deliver him into the depths of Hades.
But he didn't budge.
He just smiled. "That's exactly what I would have done." He gripped me tight around the waist. "This is going to be even more fun than I thought." His power washed over me. My strength swelled. My focus faltered.
The vortex swirled above us. He leaped straight for it, with me at his side and the shells of Rachmort, Carpenter, and Damien crumpled below us on the ice.
Even if they weren't dead, they couldn't do anything to stop him. Not now.
He drove straight upward in a blast of icy power. The winds of the vortex tore at me. I flung myself at them, used the winds to try to dislodge myself from the maniac demon. I'd rather fall into a wild current of power than spend one more second locked to the demon's side.
We rose up, straight into the next dimension.
The warm Earth air sent needles of pain up my arms as the Earl stepped out onto firm ground, with me at his side.
He leaned close, so that his fetid breath was a whisper against my ear. "Now you are going to kill everyone you love."
Chapter Twenty-Five
Screams greeted us as the Earl of Hell—with me at his side—walked the Earth once more.
To my utter horror, we appeared in the witches' sacred garden.
Grandma clutched a wooden altar, her hair streaming wild, shaken from her trance.
Had they been channeling me? Had they seen what happened?
The sacred pond was dry and broken. Frieda lay where she'd been flung—halfway across the courtyard. Ant Eater struggled to her feet among shards of broken pottery and torn plants. And Creely had built a trebuchet, an immense medieval-style slingshot on wheels.