by Renee George
David took me down into the basement and lowered me to the floor. My blurry near vision made it impossible to make out all the details, but I was pretty sure David had set me on a devil’s trap. I hoped it was a backup plan because there was no way this thing would hold Moloch. He was too powerful for the weak mojo.
David got into the circle with me. He held me in his arms, rocking me, telling me to hold on.
My hair was silver now, and I could feel my muscles going slack beneath my skin. I tried to laugh, but it came out like an old crone’s cackle. “I’ve always wanted to grow old with you.”
“Don’t talk, sweetheart. Save your strength.” He threw his head back and bellowed, “Hurry!”
I heard Frank’s voice. “We’re ready.”
The pain began to recede, and it was replaced by a weightless numbness creeping over me.
“Stay with me, Liv,” David said. “Just a little bit longer. Fight. You have to fight.”
I tried to find the inner strength to pull on, but it just wasn’t there. “I want to,” I rasped. “Trying.”
“Where’s the stone?” Ray asked. “I need it for the spell.”
David easily slid his family ring from my thumb. “Here,” he said.
Ray mumbled an incantation over the ring and handed it back to David. “Put it on her again. She’ll need to be in contact with it for the soul transmutation to work.”
When David placed the ring back on me, the silver felt heated and my thumb pulsed under the stone’s placement. He pressed his cheek against my face, his tears wetting my parched skin.
Ennis broke the silence in the room. “You have to let the shields down, David. It’s time.”
David dipped his head and kissed me so gently as if I would break under the pressure of his lips. “I love you, Olivia.”
“I love you,” I said. Damn it, I would fight. I would do whatever it took to stay. I forced myself to sit up, still cradled in David’s arms. “Do it,” I said. “Open the door to Moloch.”
David reached his hand back, and I could see the shape of a blade in Ennis’s hand. He swiped it across David’s palm.
“Gebedon Hidbyr Salan,” David said then slammed his hand down on the floor.
Within seconds, Moloch arrived to claim his bounty. He ignored the men in the room, including the one holding me. “My dear, Olivia. I could have told you that breaking your deal would not be pleasant. Aging is an awful process, or so I’ve heard. I’m certain your friends could attest to the negative aspects of growing old.”
“It’s better than the alternative,” Frank said.
Moloch held up his hand. “Silence!”
When Frank opened his mouth again to speak, nothing came out. Crap! I hoped Ray didn’t get any bright ideas. He was the spell guy and needed a voice.
“You talk too much, demon. Just take me to Hell,” I told Moloch. “I’d rather roast in fiery pits than listen to your arrogant mouth one more second.”
Moloch’s gaze slid down his nose at me. “Don’t worry, you will be going any minute. I had to take care of accommodations for your sisters first. I promise, after today you will never have to listen to my voice ever again.”
“Now, Ennis,” Ray said.
No, I thought. David is holding me. “You have to go. I don’t want you to die.”
“I’m not letting you go,” he said in my ear. Louder, he said, “Do it now, Ennis.”
Ennis threw the unholy lock at Moloch’s feet. A blinding white light shot up from the floor and surrounded the demon lord. He roared as he fought against the imprisonment.
Hurry, Ray. Please hurry. The lock wouldn’t hold him but a few seconds, and I didn’t know if I could hold on longer than that.
Ray’s voice rose above Moloch’s angry shouts. “Custodiat animam tuam in custodia tenebantur egredi iste lapis dabo sanctificationem in vasis scutum tuo malum.”
I felt a tug inside me, but I didn’t know whether it was Moloch or the stone.
And then everything went utterly dark.
For what seemed an eternity, I floated in pitch-black nothingness until I thought I would lose my mind. I raged against the cold darkness, but when there is nothing, nothing is heard. I prayed for someone, anyone to find me, to lead me from the inky blackness of the emptiness of death.
“Sister,” I heard Charlotte say. “Find David. Go to his voice.” Then she was gone too.
David. David. Where are you? I don’t want to be alone. Not anymore. David. My husband. David.
“Come back to me, sweetheart,” I heard him say, “Come back.”
Pressure on my chest was the first thing I felt. One, two, three, four, five. Then air forced into my lungs, then again. Then pressure again, one, two, three, four, five. Ka-clunk. My heart began to beat. I blinked, my world full of color again, full of life. And no more Moloch.
Only... Why did I hear his laugh?
“Fools!” Moloch said gleefully. “You mortals are such fools.”
“It...didn’t...work...” I grated the words out, but each one cost me. “Let...me...go.”
“No!” David said. “We’ll do it again. We’ll make this work.”
“It won’t work,” said Moloch. “The stone will only hold one soul, and our dear Olivia has two souls inside her. Hers and that of the child forming in her shriveling womb.” He rubbed his fingertips together. “Dear, dear, Olivia. All I have to do is wait for you to die and then I’ll get two souls for the price of one.” He laughed again. “Make that five souls because your sisters are mine, too.”
“Minions can’t procreate,” I whispered.
“With humans,” he said. “David is part angel.” He tested the light surrounding him again. “This trap is very good. When Olivia dies, and I am free from this place, I will hunt down each and every one of you and send you to your graves. In pieces.”
“You’re going to have our baby,” said David. His hands covered my stomach, and I pressed my palms against his reverent embrace.
“We can’t let that asshole have our child,” I said. Fury surged, and I yelled, “Moloch! You can’t take a soul without a bargain.”
“You’re my minion, and all that you are belongs to me, including the babe within. You’ve done this, Olivia.” Flames licked from his eyes. “This mess is of your making, and I will remind you of that for eternity.”
“Take my soul,” said David. “For hers and my child. And Liv’s sisters.”
“You think you are worth more than all of them?” asked Moloch, smirking. “I wanted you because you are Afriel’s. But you’ve given something better. A new soul—an unborn innocent that is also Anunnaki.”
The words of the Shedim came back to me. Malam en arca. Evil in a box. Fur domum meam. Soul thief. Ignis spiritus vitae. Bringer of life. Signum vitae. Miracle life.
My miracle. I wouldn’t let Moloch take my son or daughter.
A son, a voice whispered in my head. Stand, Olivia. And I shall stand with thee.
I don’t know where the strength came, but I shoved myself from David’s arms and forced myself to my feet.
“I am the bringer of life,” I said, my voice strong. “I hold the miracle.”
The prison of light imploded and left the demon lord free of the spell’s binding. “You do not command me, Minion!” Moloch reached out to grab me, and I let him. He pulled me close enough for his hot breath to sear my face. “I am your master.”
“Not anymore.” I raised my right hand, the one that bore the ring and smashed it into his perfect cheek. “You’re right. There’s only room for one soul in this stone, and it’s going to be yours.” I recited the words of Ray’s spell, and Moloch fought to move my hand, but whatever had given me the strength to rise, gave me the strength to keep the philosopher’s stone pressed against his flesh. “Custodiat animam tuam in custodia tenebantur egredi iste lapis dabo sanctificationem in vasis scutum tuo malum.”
I said it again.
And again.
Ray and Ennis joined my
chant. Then David.
Words that weren’t my own poured from my lips as a vortex of magic and energy swirled around me. “David is mine, brother. The child is mine. Both Nephilim, both of my blood. You shall not have them. And when the child’s blood mingles with Olivia’s, she shall be mine as well. You are lost, brother. You are defeated.”
“Afriel!” Moloch roared. “I shall—” before he could finish the threat, he choked, his eyes going wide. The ring on my thumb turned bright orange, its molten heat sinking into Moloch’s flesh and searing my skin.
Moloch’s eyes rolled back in his head, and his body rose about six inches above the floor. Black flames burst from his chest and consumed his body, and a moment later, he collapsed into a thick column of brimstone-scented smoke. The smoke twirled into the philosopher’s stone, which turned from bright orange to demonic black.
I threw the ring to the floor and stumbled away.
“Wow,” I said. “Banishing a demon lord is way more exciting than getting rid of lesser demons.”
David caught me in an embrace as Afriel’s spirit left me. “I’ve got you,” he said. “I’ve got you.”
My wildly tangled hair was brown again, and my muscles were hard and battle ready. I pressed my palms against his cheeks. “We did it,” I said.
Frank, Ray, and Ennis were all giving each other congratulatory slaps on the backs and handshakes.
David shook his head at me, his eyes wide with relief. “No, you did it.”
A voice, clearly annoyed, said, “No, I did it.” The angel Afriel, in designer jeans, a muscle-tee, and a gold pair of Nikes, stood in the middle of the basement next to the unholy lock. He picked it up and looked it over. “Smart using your blood to activate the lock, David.”
“It was a guess. Having Olivia’s as the catalyst worked somewhat because of her tie to him, but once she told me he was your brother, Ennis thought my blood, as kin, would make it even harder to break,” David said. “He was right.”
I gave him a sideways glance. “So, it’s not likely to be duplicated.”
David shook his head. “Not likely. Unless we can find more humans related to demons.” He gave Afriel a hopeful look.
The teen-angel shook his head. “I’m not in charge of the family tree. Getting rid of Moloch was my only goal. For the rest, you’re on your own.”
I placed my hands on my stomach. “How can I be pregnant?”
Afriel smiled. “I warned David not to have sex with you.”
I groaned. “And he fell for the oldest play in the book. Reverse psychology.”
“I think he would have slept with you whatever I said.” Afriel winked.
“It’s true,” David said, smiling.
“Why is Liv still alive? And young?” asked Ennis. “She broke her deal with Moloch.” He cast me an apologetic look. “No offense, Liv. But none of it makes sense.”
“She’s pregnant with an Anunnaki baby,” said Afriel. “And that has some perks.”
“But—“
Frank elbowed his friend. “Shut up, you idiot.”
“What about my sisters?”
“They are free of Moloch. Anyone who had a deal with my brother is now free. Moloch broke the accords by trying steal my grandson’s soul. No one will care that he has been trapped for good.”
My gut clenched. “So…they went to heaven.” I had wanted to say goodbye to them, to tell them I loved them dearly. I looked at David and took his hand. “How long does David have left?”
“Your sisters are saved,” Afriel said. “And that means our deal is complete. But he has too much filth on his soul from your extensive sessions of copulation for a trip to heaven right now. I will have to wait until it fades first.”
“How long will that take?” David asked, his arms tightening around my waist.
Afriel looked grim. “Oh, I don’t know, sixty, maybe seventy years.” A slow grin replaced his frown. “Long enough for you two to raise a family and grow old together.”
I am a strong woman. I have killed many, many demons. I am a bad ass demon lord banisher. And I cried happy tears like a freaking toddler.
I had everything I’d never allowed myself to dream for. A husband, a baby on the way, and my sisters safely in Heaven and forever out of Moloch’s grasp. The only thing that would have made this moment sweeter would have been the chance to say goodbye to my siblings.
And as if summoned, Charlotte, Elise, and Eliza came running down the stairs into the basement, and all three were twittering like debutantes at their debut balls.
“You’re okay! Both of you are okay,” said Charlotte.
My three sisters flung their arms around David and I. They felt remarkably solid.
Eliza exclaimed in dramatic fashion, “We landed in Sanctum. I had to drive a car to get here!”
Char rolled her eyes. “I hotwired it for her. I deeply regret my action. Eliza took out three mailboxes, a trash can, and almost ran over a dog who had tried to cross the road.”
“I think I did real good for my first time,” she pouted.
“Your sisters are driving cars now?”
“Can you hear them?” I asked David.
“Hear them and see them,” he said, his voice muffled by chiffon. “They’re suffocating me with their dresses.”
The three of them stepped back, and all began talking at once. “I saved you,” Charlotte said. “And Eliza, and Elise.”
Eliza stamped her foot. “You did not! I saved us.”
I narrowed my gaze at Elise. “Why are you so quiet? Did you save us, too?”
“No,” she said, looking guilty. “I made friends with a sick zombie stuck between with us.”
“Aren’t all zombies sick?” I asked.
“He was disgusting,” Eliza said. “Pus-filled sores oozing all over the place. Yuck.”
“Enough.” Charlotte huffed. “I am the one that got us out of there. You see, there was this demon lord, Kobal...”
Afriel groaned. “Not him.”
My mind raced as I searched my memories for any information about Kobal. “What? Why? Who is he?”
“He is the Loki of the underworld. A prankster. He likes to bill himself as the Entertainment Director for Hell. That guy was completely insufferable as an angel.”
“That’s him,” Charlotte said. “He promised to free you and the twins if I made a deal with him.”
“Please tell me you’re kidding, Char.”
She crossed her arms. “I am not. You aren’t the only one who can make sacrifices for this family.”
“Because my deal turned out so well,” I said. I looked at Afriel. “Related?” I asked hopefully. We still had the lock, and I would search the ends of the earth for another philosopher’s stone.
“Nope. Just a jerk.” Afriel wrinkled his nose with disdain as he looked at Char. “What did he promise you in return for being his minion?”
“To free Olivia from Moloch and save Eliza and Elise from eternal damnation.”
“Damn it,” I told my sister. “I freed myself.” Afriel, Ray, Frank, Ennis, and David all looked at me. “With a lot of help,” I added quickly. “In other words, you would have been free, too, the moment we trapped Moloch.”
Afriel nodded. “It’s true. You could have taken your place in your heavenly reward.” He raised a brow. “What were Kobal’s exact words to you?”
“He said, I swear Olivia, Eliza, and Elise will be free of Moloch.”
“And, once again, the trickster tricks. He didn’t say he would free your sisters, only that they would be free, so he got himself a minion without doing any of the work.”
“Oh, Char. Didn’t you learn anything from my time as a minion?”
“I learned I wasn’t going to bargain for souls.” She preened. “Kobal said I would be his detective—tracking down certain people who might want to make bargains and gather a little bit of information about them. But that’s it. I don’t make the deals.”
My heart turned over in my c
hest. “Was it the spiders? I know they were big and hairy and you’ve been petrified since we watched that awful movie.”
“What are you talking about?” interrupted Charlotte.
I turned to Eliza. “Were you forced into a fetal position because he trapped you in a tiny box?”
“No,” said Elise. She patted my arm. “Are you all right, sister?”
“I’m great.” I looked at Elise. “Well, you were obviously petrified over the room full of cotton balls, right?”
“That does sound horrifying, but, no, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.
“All illusion,” Afriel said.
“If they weren’t locked away, how did Moloch keep them away from me?”
“He is...was,” Afriel amended, “a powerful demon lord. He couldn’t actually do anything harmful to souls that aren’t his, but he could have had them parked in Limbo to keep you separated. Your dalliances with David freed you a little from his influence. That made it easier for your sisters to occasionally escape when you really needed them.”
“That place was so boring,” Eliza said. “I wish you had needed us more often.”
Well, poop. I shared a look with David. “You were right,” I said. “Moloch was just messing with me.” The whole time I believed my sisters were being tormented, they were fine. I wanted to take Moloch out of the stone so I could punch him in the nuts, and then put him back in again.
“All right, Eliza,” I said. “Who did you make a deal with?”
“A big black three-horned goat demon named Leonard.”
I shook my head. “That can’t be a real thing.”
“I’m afraid so,” Afriel said.
“He told me he was the cupid of the demons.” She gave me a chagrinned smile. “All I have to do is a little matchmaking. No biggie.”
“Leonard undersold himself. He’s made quite a name for himself as the party king of Hell. I hear his orgies are legendary. Not that I would know. Also, he is the reason werewolves exist.”
“This keeps getting better and better.” I stared at Eliza. “What did he promise you?”
“That you, Charlotte, and Elise would be free of Moloch.” She lifted her chin and sent Charlotte a superior look. “And that my sisters would have the lives they missed out on. That’s why we’re not ghosts anymore, and you’re not dead, Liv.”