by Misty Evans
But I had to get Maria into a physical body.
Using Salmad or Asmund was out of the question, and Vicky was still carrying her ghost rider—I could sense his struggle to get out of the trap going on behind us. Which only left one entity in the graveyard with a physical body…
Me.
Chapter Thirty-three
A normal demon would never allow a fellow evil spirit to possess their earthly meat suit. It just isn’t done. We’re all selfish enough to want complete control over our bodies, minds and magics at all times.
But I’m no ordinary demon.
Giving Maria free access was as dangerous as setting my demon loose. And like I didn’t have enough entities inside my consciousness. Damon always chattering in my head, Rad filling me with his emotions. My demon angling to break free from her prison bars.
Hell, what was one more crazy psyche invading my space?
Step into my parlor, said the spider to the fly…
Lifting my hands from the earth, I raised them in supplication. “Use me, my queen, to make yourself corporeal once more. Together we will reestablish your kingdom in this world.”
A gasp went up behind me. Salmad was still murmuring prayers and Asmund didn’t strike me as the gasping type. That left Vicky.
“No! Use me.” She’d managed to get free from the unwanted ghost and had kicked away Salmad’s chain belt. Shoving me aside, she supplanted herself in my place at Maria’s feet. “I summoned you. I’m the one who should get to be your vessel.”
And they say demons are covetous.
Maria was more than amused. She was practically giddy. The demon she’d trained to bring pain down on humankind and supernaturals, and a vampire with incredible necromancy skills, were both vying for her favor. The queen was back in business.
I was happy to turn the floor over to Vicky, but in order to convince Maria of my sincerity, I couldn’t throw in the towel too easily. Plus, I never back down from a good fight, especially if it involves an annoying Undead bitch.
“Why you…” I jerked a stake from inside my cape and jumped Vicky. She let out a startled cry, but her vamp reflexes kicked in, her stance changing to predatory, her fists coming up.
I tossed out a combination of punches that were parried. I lunged with the stake high overhead, which she easily avoided. The stake caught the thin material of her long cloak, renting the fabric and causing a gaping hole in the clothes underneath though.
That was fun.
As if she couldn’t believe I’d scored the first hit, she bounced her wild gaze to my face, down to the torn clothing and back to my face. The she bared her fangs and hissed.
My demon laughed.
I curled my fingers egged her on. Around my waist, Volante jumped and bucked, wanting her turn at the Undead. But there was no time to grab her. The vamp charged.
Spinning to the right, I knocked the flat end of the stake into Vicky’s bread basket. She let out an umph, grabbed her stomach and tried not to pitch forward. Once again, her vampire reflexes kept her upright, but she hadn’t been in Cole’s training center learning how to hone those reflexes. I brought an elbow down on her shoulder, driving her farther off balance and her forehead smacked a tall, pointed tombstone, the crack reverberating in the cold air of the cemetery.
Inside, I felt nothing. No fear, no anger, nothing. But merde, I didn’t want to knock her out so soon. What fun would that be? And how would I get Maria in her body if Vicky was unconscious?
On second thought, maybe that would be easier. I wished I had time to ask Neve. Wasn’t going to happen, though, because Maria made the choice for me.
She waved a hand and a crack of lightning exploded over my head. My vision fuzzed out in a white, sparkling flash and something hit me with the force of a snowplow’s blade. I knew that sensation. Maria’s ghost had jumped my body.
My brain scrambled, my heart played a rabid tune.
The fly was in my parlor. A tasty, juicy prey.
My demon wrapped her arms around Maria’s spirit and squeezed tight.
Chapter Thirty-four
I was passing out entirely too much these days, so when the next crack of lightning hit, lifting the hair on my body, I gritted my teeth and rode it out even though my brain disengaged and my legs buckled.
I heard a sizzling sound and smelled burning hair. Locking my knees and looking around, I saw a smoking black circle burned into the ground surrounding me, steam rising from the melting snow. Outside the circle, Vicky lay semiconscious on the ground, Salmad was backed against a tree trunk, and Asmund had drawn a sword, prepared to fight.
Some form of communication passed between the two men. Asmund wanted to rush the circle, Salmad knew it would be pointless. Inside my head, I sorted through the whirly-gig of thoughts, emotions and magic, ciphering between mine, my demon’s, and…Maria’s.
Her spirit had succeeded in jumping my body. She was now a ghost rider, pushing her way into my physical being and controlling my movements. Funny thing was, I could touch her magic and feel the lust and greed at her core, but I could not read her mind.
Control. I needed to make sure I was still in control.
I wasn’t. When Asmund rushed me with his sword drawn, my left hand rose and flicked him away as if he were no more than a pesky bug. The magic from my fingertips hit his chest so hard, it drove him back, feet in the air. He hit a mausoleum and dropped to the ground.
My feet started walking with no effort on my part, leaving the circle behind and heading for the iron gate. I commanded them to turn around, to head back toward the portal, but nothing happened to stop my forward trajectory.
If I let Maria take my body outside the cemetery, how would I get her into that portal?
I wouldn’t. She would walk the earth in my body, causing pain and destruction wherever she went.
Sinking mental fingers into my demon to get her attention, I mentally, physically and magically put on the brakes. My demon screeched, and in turn, did the same. The world tilted in front of my eyes and my feet stumbled. That didn’t, however, stop Maria.
An internal magical hand grabbed my throat, choking off my air and forcing me forward. The iron gate loomed ahead. Three more steps, and my hand was on the iron, lifting the clasp.
Using my body, Maria threw open the gate’s doors, shoving away a new accumulation of snow. And while I fought with all my might to gain control of my footsteps, she crossed the threshold with ease.
She was free. Trapping her in my body kept her from interfering with Toel’s capture, but at what price?
My queen, I mentally projected at her, reaching for any way to make her turn around, it is not safe for you out here.
If she could read my mind, she ignored my warning. On the path leading to the church, she raised her arms to the dark sky and drew a deep breath. My voice sounded peculiar as she spoke through me. “This world belongs to us now, Kalina, and oh, the things we will do here.”
She sounded like a Dr. Seuss rhyme. If only she were that harmless.
“This world does not belong to you, Maria.” Damon stepped from the shadows onto the path, blocking it. Flanking him where Yasmin and Kirill. “Remove yourself from my enforcer.”
His enforcer? Even in my current state, being claimed as property annoyed me, but underneath it all, I was happy as hell to see him. I wasn’t facing this situation alone.
Maria chuckled from my mouth, spoke again with that weird sounding voice. “She gave herself to me, and I owned her long before you came along, archdemon. You are no competition to me.”
A few steps behind Damon and crew, Cole stood with his hands crossed nonchalantly in front of him. I didn’t buy the casual stance, especially with his gaze boring into mine telling me he was trying to figure out how to kill Maria without killing me. Didn’t appear that he had any ideas. Great.
Maria stepped forward, putting me face-to-face with Damon. My hand rose and stroked the side of his face. He didn’t flinch or back away. “You are a
fine specimen. Perhaps there is room in my new court from one such as yourself.”
I had always been on the receiving end of Maria’s magic, the warm, sensuous desire seeping through my skin and sensitizing my nerve endings. Now, as she touched Damon with her succubus magic, I sensed what she felt. The top layer of Damon’s emotions was a smooth impassive plane. But Maria’s magic was like water running downhill and finding a crack to drip through. Damon grabbed my wrist and jerked my hand from his face, but not before Maria’s magic touched his turbulent emotions underneath that plane.
There was love and hate and fear all tangled in a ball of passion. A new wave of lust washed through me. Damon’s or Maria’s?
Damon’s dark eyes glared at me with a yearning as intense as the one I had seen in Rad’s eyes. My free hand, acting on Maria’s accord, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and I kissed him.
Ack, my brain screamed. No kissing the boss!
Maria, however, did not appear to be listening. Either that, or she just didn’t care.
Kali?
Damon? You can hear me?
His lips moved against mine, warm and inviting. Maria’s lust raised a notch. Of course, I can hear you.
So Maria hadn’t broken our funky ESP connection. But could she hear our brains having this convo? What the hell are you doing here?
Saving your impertinent ass.
My lips parted and my tongue, thanks to Maria, took a spin around Damon’s mouth. My ass doesn’t need saving.
Damon’s tongue groped mine back. Appearances are deceiving then, because it looks to me like your ass is in deep trouble.
As Maria raped Damon’s mouth, I had to admit, he was damn fine kisser. His lips took command of mine, which wasn’t easy to do since Maria was a control freak, and I had to stop myself from sighing into this mouth. I also had to stop myself from feeling relieved he was there to save my extremely troubled ass. This is all part of my plan.
His mind made some kind of noise that sounded a lot like a laugh. I nearly kneed him in the balls. Well, now that you have her, how will you get rid of her?
Good question. I’m still working on that part.
I see. Are you sure you don’t require assistance?
What’s your idea?
Before he could answer, Maria broke away. My chest heaved from her panting. She patted the side of Damon’s face and reveled in the way his eyelids hung at half-mast and his dark Basque eyes beckoned her to do more than kiss him. “You are a demon of worth,” she said. “I may have use for you later.”
With that, she shoved him aside. Kirill and Cole both started to move toward her. Yasmin, the wimp, shuffled out of the way. Yasmin’s idea was the better one, since Maria waved one of my hands and sent a bolt of magic at the three demons. Damon, being the closest, was hit the hardest, the magic knocking full force into his chest and driving him into Kirill and Cole. All three of them ended up on the ground.
About that idea of yours, I mind-texted Damon. Now would be a good time to share.
Fight her, Kali, and take back control.
He was lying there on his ass, looking shell-shocked. If an archdemon of Damon’s power couldn’t fight off Maria’s magic, how the hell was I supposed to? Thanks for the backseat driving, boss. I’ll get right on that.
My feet started walking on their own accord again, heading toward the castle. Heading…I raised my head and sniffed the air…toward the nearest human.
Neve.
Nonononono. Once again, I put the mental brakes on, and fought like crazy to turn my body around against Maria’s wishes. And just like before, it didn’t do a damn thing. I glided over the top of the snow, barely leaving imprints from my boots, hurrying to the one thing that Maria desired even more than me or an archdemon induced orgasm.
Human flesh.
Use your magic, Damon’s voice said in my head.
I am!
Your demon’s magic.
Don’t be ridiculous. My demon loves Maria.
Control her. Like you did with Toel.
I was at the back door of the castle. My hand on the doorknob, turning, turning…
Could I do it? Did I have a choice?
Damon, can’t you use some of your extra-juicy archdemon magic to stop her?
A heavy mental sigh answered me. That was my plan until you let her possess you. Now I cannot harm her without harming you as well.
Maria shoved the door open and we stepped across the threshold. The scent of warm human invaded my nose, drawing us toward the living room.
So harm me. Whatever it takes to stop her.
I will not, Damon answered. He and the others were staying a careful distance behind me. You are the one who must stop her now.
Gritting my internal teeth, I reached deep and tickled my demon. She hissed, baring her teeth back at me.
Come on, bitch. Step up to the plate. Time to play with your queen. Isn’t that what you want?
She snapped at me, but her interest was piqued. She was already embracing Maria’s emotions and drooling at the thought of her mentor being so close. If I lowered the prison bars keeping her from freedom, she could literally tap into Maria’s magic. Or so I thought.
But if I couldn’t keep her on a leash, it was lights out. She would overtake my system…and this time, there was whole lot more resources for her to use. The vamp blood, Maria’s magic…
Neve would be dead meat.
But my friend didn’t stand a chance against Maria alone, so in the end, the point was moot.
Through the kitchen and into the living area we went, dropping plops of snow all over my hardwood floors. I tried not to think about the mess we were leaving behind, but it pissed me off even more. With every step, I loosened the leash around my demon, coaxing her to surface but trying to keep her focused on Maria rather than Neve.
Which was hard to do, since Maria’s total attention—and therefore mine—was focused on Neve’s slight body in the wheelchair. A fire burned in the fireplace and she sipped from a cup, watching the fire burn. A blanket covered her lap.
She heard us enter and turned her head to look at me. “Kali? Did it work? Did you send the bitch back to hell?”
I felt Maria’s shock, then heard her laughter bubbling up from my throat. “The bitch is well in hand, my dear.” She walked in front of Neve, leaned down to put my hands on Neve’s wheelchair arms, almost exactly the same way I’d done earlier. “Don’t you worry about her.”
Neve reared back, sensing something was amiss. Steam rose from her cup, the smell of her tea wafting up with it. “Kali?”
Her pretty brown eyes searched mine with concern and when I thought of the damage Maria would wreck on her soft skin, vomit rose in my throat. And that was nothing compared to the destruction Maria would do to Neve’s incredibly generous human soul.
Rage gripped me. My demon roared full-throttle from the center of my chest, scaring the hell out of Neve and shocking me as well. Not that my inner monster gave a demon’s ass about Neve, she was simply responding to my rage.
Neve saw it in my eyes. Saw my demon take over, the inhuman roar only adding to the effect. She threw the hot tea in my face, but I didn’t feel it. There was a strange clawing sensation inside my frontal lobe…Maria fighting with my demon and losing traction?
The world tilted sideways and I hung onto the wheelchair to keep from falling.
Stop Maria, I ordered my demon. Take her powers for yourself. My shifting weight upset the chair, and Neve and I spun to the right, then left as my feet fumbled to find stable ground. From a distance, I heard Damon and the others enter the room. He said something and Neve hit me with the cup, striking my left temple. Can’t say that helped my dizziness, although it seemed to loosen Maria’s hold a little more. I definitely felt a weird cleaving sensation inside my chest as if my heart was being ripped into two pieces.
My demon roared again, confused at the sensation. The clawing in my brain intensified, my chest was being shredded by invisible ta
lons. Attack, I told her. Maria is doing this. Stop her.
Attack she did. Demonic magic ripped through me, striking out at the invader inside my skin. Aggressive, defensive and violent, it was all about self-preservation. It was one thing to share the body with Maria, another to let her destroy it. My demon was suddenly ready to wipe her out of my system, right down to my very cells.
The monster inside wasn’t the only one who went on the attack. Neve, not entirely understanding what was going on but filled with human self-preservation as well, drew a weapon from under the blanket. The iron fire poker from my set.
Iron. Ghosts. “Wait,” I said through gritted teeth.
“No,” Damon yelled.
“I’m sorry.” Neve’s soft brown eyes were sad. “It’s the only way to get rid of her.”
With one swift movement, she speared me, running the poker straight through my stomach.
Chapter Thirty-five
A sharp burning pain exploded in my guts. I fell to my knees at Neve’s feet, the poker iron embedded in my stomach.
The world got fuzzy around the edges and a loud ringing set up shop in my ears. My head throbbed, my chest felt like my heart had been ripped out, and my stomach and back…well they felt like I’d been run through with an iron poker. Go figure.
I’m a demon kabob, I thought, laughing like a drunk human before I tipped sideways and landed on the floor.
There was a lot of shouting. Neve yelled for Damon, Damon yelled for Kirill. Neve was crying my name. Cole’s hands were the first to touch me, but he didn’t really know what to do. He couldn’t flip me onto my back, couldn’t pull out the poker. It had a tiny hook at the end. If he yanked it back out, he’d take muscle, intestines and maybe an organ or two. Being a demon, and a super charged one at that, I could recover from a lot of injuries on my own. But losing an organ? Not so much.
The poker wasn’t like a fishhook or an arrow where you had a straight end or could break the barbed end off to form a straight end. Iron, even for a demon with the strength of the Hulk, is difficult to break. Bend, yes. Break, no.