“TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE!”
Analise’s eyes popped open and scrambled backwards against the headboard. She pulled her knees to her chest and looked around rapidly. The room was dark, and she could barely make out Grandmother asleep on the other bed. She was confused and scared on why she was having these dreams. She hasn’t had a good night sleep since she arrived back at the coven. She just wanted it to stop, but something was telling her to not give in. She couldn’t be the reason that something bad happened. She just had to continue to keep it to herself.
75
Denise woke up screaming in the middle of the night. She heard screaming and wailing, and it broke her heart. The door burst open, and Logan was standing there with a frantic look on his face. His eyes were huge as he looked around the room. He was looking for any kind of danger. His eyes connected to hers and she looked away.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I heard screaming. It was so sad, and I didn’t know where it was coming from.”
He walked over and sat on the side of the bed. He drew her into a hug and a tear escaped her eye. They both looked up as the door crashed open and a disheveled Mary was standing in the door.
“Mary?” Denise sat up and looked at her. “Are you okay?”
She shook her head. “I heard wailing and it woke me up.”
Denise and Logan looked at each other and then back to Mary.
“What? Why are y’all looking at me like that?”
“Denise was awakened by screaming also.”
Mary’s eyes rounded and she walked over. Logan stood up and gave them some space. Denise missed his presence as he stepped back.
Mary plopped down on the bed.
“You think this is your angel side?”
“Possibly, I don’t know. It hasn’t happened before.”
Mary looked thoughtful for a minute. “This is crazy, Dee.”
“I know.”
Mary finally looked at the shirtless Logan and then at Denise as they kept making eye contact and smirked.
“I’m sorry. I’ll give you two a moment.”
They both spoke at the same time.
“No…”
Denise smiled and continued. “It’s fine. He heard me scream and came to see about me.”
Mary smiled and nodded with the smirk still on her face.
“Yeah, okay. Well, if I have that again, I’ll come and get you.”
“Okay… Me too.”
Mary gave her a hug and winked at Logan as she passed by. He cleared his throat and followed her out of the room. Denise knew that dream meant something, she just wasn’t sure what.
76
When Denise awoke that morning, she knew that the dream was real. She went downstairs and heard a television playing. She walked into Marcus’s office and he, Rebecca, and Logan were standing in the middle of the floor looking up at the television on the wall. The news was on and behind the anchor were firetrucks and police. An apartment building burned to the ground last night and at least two lives were lost. They have no idea what caused the fire, but the police were questioning a man that swore that he saw a man disappear through a wall carrying a fireball. Of course, everyone on the scene thought him to be crazy, but Denise knew better. It had to be a demon. But why would he set the building on fire? In the background, you can hear people wailing with grief at losing everything that they owned and for lives lost. It was the same voices that she heard last night. She looked at Logan and he nodded. At least they were on the same page.
“Why would they burn down an apartment building?” Denise asked.
“There is no telling with demons. Sometimes they act on instinct alone and sometimes there’s a purpose. We have got to see who Jeriah is working with,” Marcus answers.
Denise walked over and sat in one of the chairs. She placed her head in her hands.
“This is all so crazy. I’m scared.”
Logan walked over and sat on the arm of the chair and put a hand on her back. She looked up into his face and lay her head against his side.
“I miss my mom. She would know what to do.”
Logan didn’t say anything, he just rubbed her back. All heads turned to the door as Mary came running in.
“Mom! Something is wrong with Analise!”
Logan looked at Denise and they both ran after everyone to the stairs. When they got to the room where Grandmother and Analise were staying, they saw Analise lying on her back and mumbling. They couldn’t make it out right away, but then her head turned toward the door and locked eyes with Denise. Her mouth turned up into a creepy grin as she started to talk.
“Found you. Did you like my present? All those people...Those screams of agony.”
“What do you want? Who are you?” Denise asked stepping forward.
“Jeriah needs his bride.”
“I don’t care what Jeriah needs, you must stop this! Who are you?”
“Not the words that I was looking for. I guess more people have to die.”
“NO!”
Denise ran forward, but Logan caught her around the waist. Analise’s eyes closed, and she moaned and started to cry. That cry turned into a scream as she started convulsing. Grandmother walked over and placed a hand on her forehead and jerked her hand back quickly.
“She’s burning up! Something has her.”
Marcus, Sabastian, Logan, Rebecca, Mary, and Grandmother circled the bed and joined hands. They all started reciting a banishing spell as Analise started convulsing harder.
Evil spirit standing tall,
It’s time you made your greatest fall.
Return to hell thou evil plight,
I banish with this holy light.
Now go away and leave my sight,
And take with you this endless night.
They repeated and repeated it until Analise was now laying silently on the bed. Grandmother touched her head and nodded.
“Whatever that was, it’s strong, and it will not stay away forever. She is contaminated and needs that cleansing now more than ever.”
Denise stood by the door watching with wide eyes. Analise’s eyes blinked open, and she looked around the bed at all the faces and sat up quickly.
“What happened? Did I hurt anyone?”
Marcus raised a brow at her choice of words, and she looked up into his face.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been hearing these voices and I couldn’t get them to stop.”
A growl rose from Sabastian’s chest and Analise’s eyes snapped to his.
“I tried to make them stop… They were just too strong.”
She scrambled backward against the headboard. Grandmother walked over and sat down next to her.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“So that you can look at me like you’re looking now? No way. Plus, I thought that I could handle it.”
Denise stood up straight and her hands balled into fists.
“I told you that I didn’t trust her. She led them right to us.”
A light started surrounding Denise, and Logan quickly made his way over and stood in front of her. Her powers were unpredictable, and he didn’t need her blowing them all up.
“Denise, you must calm yourself.”
If looks could kill, he’d be dead. He smirked and placed a thumb on her cheek. She could feel herself starting to settle down and the light was dissipating. He breathed a sigh of relief and mouthed, are you okay? She closed her eyes and nodded. When she opened them, he smiled softly and pecked her lips before walking back to the others. Grandmother stood and addressed the room.
“I need to take her back to the house. They don’t know where we are at the moment, they are only trying to find you.”
Rebecca shook her head. “Mom, no. You can’t go back there.”
“I must. The cleansing needs to be done.”
“It’s not safe, mom.”
“I know but I have to. She needs us.”
Mary crossed her arms across h
er chest.
“We need you too, Nana.”
Grandmother smiled and walked over to her. She placed her hands on her cheeks.
“Child, you are stronger than all of us. If something does happen, I have lived a long and fulfilling life. You will be fine.” Mary dropped her arms and looked sadly at her grandmother. “I must do this. She deserves a chance to live, too.”
Mary looked over at Analise who looked small in the bed. She didn’t like it, but she knew that her Grandmother was right. Grandmother kissed her forehead and turned to Analise.
“Come child.”
She put her hand out and Analise scrambled off the bed and took her hand. Grandmother nodded toward Marcus and he opened a portal. Grandmother smiled and walked though.
77
Jeriah sat and watched as Lucifer made his way into that witch’s thoughts. He saw how Lucifer’s eyes took in what he saw. When he looked over at Jeriah, he smiled.
“They are close to the water. I could hear the waves crashing nearby.”
Jeriah barked a laugh. “Well, that narrows it down. The ocean is vast and goes on for miles.”
Lucifer’s face turned up in anger and Jeriah backed up slowly. Lucifer stalked closer and stood in Jeriah’s face.
“I am doing you a favor that I don’t have to do, yet you mock me?”
“No… No… I—I didn’t mean…”
“Silence. I care not for your excuses. You need me, not the other way around.”
Lucifer disappeared and Jeriah could still smell the sulfuric smell that lingered. His body shook as he thought about what could have happened. He couldn’t help but picture Simeon burning over and over in hell. Maybe this was a bad idea accepting help from his fallen brother.
78
Mary looked over at her mom with tears in her eyes. Rebecca walked over and wrapped her into a hug. Denise was still standing by the door and she shook her head. Logan cocked his head in question, and Denise walked out of the room into the hall where he followed.
“What’s wrong?”
“That girl is going to be a problem. I have a bad feeling about her.”
He nodded and looked back at the room.
“Hopefully they can get her cleansed before this all goes down.”
Denise shook her head in doubt. She was about to say something when the doorbell started to ring over and over. She and Logan looked at each other and then at Marcus who came running out of the room. He looked at Logan with a concerned look.
“How did anyone get to the door?”
Logan shrugged as the doorbell rang again. With the keypad and the wards, no one should have been able to approach. They all ran down the stairs to the door. Marcus looked out the small curtain beside the door and his frantic eyes met Sabastian’s. Sabastian was confused as he looked at Logan. Marcus opened the door and there on the porch was Melinda, Sabastian’s mother.
Melinda and her pack were just outside the Canadian border when they were attacked. They had just come back from hunting when a man walked into their camp. Everyone was a little suspicious of how he walked in so calmly. They were wolves, so they weren’t the friendliest group to walk in on. Allen, the Alpha walked over and stood in front of the man. The man smirked and put his hands in his pockets.
“Can I help you?”
The man’s head cocked to the side and he smiled. The smile turned into something sinister as rows of teeth appeared that seemed to split the man’s face. Allen backed away slowly as the pack formed behind him. Growls erupted all around, and the demonic laugh shook everyone to the core.
“I’m looking for the warlock.”
“We have no warlocks here,” Allen growled.
“You will lead me to him.”
“We don’t know of any warlocks! You need to leave!”
The demon’s mouth turned to a sneer and fire shot out of his hand into a pack member behind Allen. They all stood there in shock as the body turned to dust.
“Where is the mother?”
Allen looked around in confusion at his packmates. He had no idea what this demon was talking about.
Melinda sat in the back of the pack nervously. She knew that the demon was talking about her, and the pack didn’t know that she had a son. She started backing up slowly as the demon became more impatient.
“GIVE HER TO ME NOW!”
Allen growled and looked at his pack.
“Someone, kill him!”
The pack growled and shifted. They all surrounded the demon and gnashed their teeth toward him. Melinda slowly slinked out of the camp and started to run. She could hear the whimpers and yelps of the pack as the demon fought and slaughtered each one. She could feel the tethers of their bond breaking one by one. She mourned their loss but knew that if she stayed, she would either die or would be caught. Why would anyone want her son?
79
Marcus sat and listened as Melinda told her story. Sabastian stood by the door with his lip turned up. The hatred coming off of him was thick. Logan tried to walk over to him, but Sabastian gave him a look that kept him away. When Melinda was finished talking, she looked up at Sabastian.
“I’m so sorry to have just left you. It had to be done.”
“You dropped me off on the doorstep and left me! How can you discard a child?”
“I had to!” She stood up. “If the pack got word that you could not shift, they would have killed you. They do not accept any deformities.”
He pushed away from the wall and stepped to her angrily. A growl rose from his chest and her eyes rounded.
“I am NOT deformed!”
She backed up slowly and her eyes glowed red. Marcus could tell that she was trying to rein in her wolf.
“In our culture, you are. If you cannot shift, you cannot be within the pack. I was protecting you. I knew that Marcus wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”
“So, you just never came back? You couldn’t come and tell me that?”
“The pack wouldn’t have allowed it. I had to hide you from them. When I had you, I kept you until you were of age to shift. When you couldn’t, I had to tell them that you had died. They couldn’t know. I’d rather have you away from me and living than to have you dead.”
Sabastian was even more angry in knowing that he was dead to her. His face turned up in disgust and he stormed out of the room.
“Sabastian, wait!”
He just kept walking. When she went to follow, Marcus grabbed her arm.
“Leave him. This is a lot for him to take in. You just left him here with no explanation… Not even to me.”
“Marcus, I’m sorry. I didn’t know where else to go.”
“Let’s just hope that you didn’t lead them to us.”
“I just want to know what is going on. Why are they attacking us?”
Marcus shook his head.
“We are trying to figure out what these demons want.” He looked at Denise. “We may have to go to the source and find out.” Denise took a deep breath and nodded.
“I agree. Jeriah knows something, and we have to find out.”
80
They agreed to allow Melinda to stay there for the moment because they didn’t know what they were up against. Sabastian was not entirely happy about it, but he understood. They met in the gardens and tried to come up with a plan. Marcus gave Rebecca and Mary the use of his herbs to use so that that could make as many potions as they could against demons. Marcus practiced swords and magic with his sons, and Denise went to see her father.
She closed her eyes and pictured her dad, and he was there by the river. She was hoping to see a smile on his face, but he looked worried. She approached him with an anxious look.
“What happened?”
Assan took her hands and sat down on the low railing.
“Lucifer is helping Jeriah.”
Denise’s head tilted and she raised a brow.
“Wait… Lucifer as in the devil, Lucifer?”
He nodded matter of fact.
“But what does he want with me?”
“He does not want you. You are his way to start this war. He knows that he cannot come here so he will try to bring us to him.”
“That’s messed up. Why would Jeriah help him?”
“Jeriah has lost sight of God and is now poisoned with the mindset of power. He will never step foot back in heaven.”
“What do I do?”
“You must fight. We cannot let him start this war. It would only end badly.”
“I wish that you could come with me.”
“I too wish the same. I will keep asking.”
“I love you.”
“And I you, daughter.”
Denise smiled as his face faded away and she woke up beside the stream in the garden. She looked around and didn’t see anyone. She heard the clanking of the swords and followed the sound. Logan and his father were practicing, and Logan ducked just in time as Marcus’s sword swung past his head.
“Logan! Pay attention!” Marcus barked.
Denise sucked in a breath and put a hand to her mouth.
“I’m sorry. That was my fault.”
“No. He has to keep his wits about him. He knows better.”
Denise felt bad and went to walk away but Logan’s sword clanked to the ground and he ran after her.
“Denise, wait.”
She stopped and turned around. He placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head up.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded and pulled her face away.
“You could have been hurt and I feel bad for interrupting.”
“You didn’t. I saw you and I turned. It’s not your fault that I notice when you walk in the room.”
Angel’s Fury Page 14