Conjuring Quantico (The Federal Witch Book 1) (26 page)

“Do we have a backup?”

“We have requested it but it may be a while. I mentioned Demons over an open channel.” All I could do was shake my head. Stupid.

“OK. Cat and I will go try to find them. Please don’t let anyone escape.”

“Come on partner. I motioned toward the front entrance.” Cat ran ahead of me and crashed through the glass doors. Weres.

Chapter 19

The lobby was deathly quiet. Only the sounds of glass falling could be heard inside. Outside we could hear the Tac-team doing the clean up followed by the occasional shot. Demons were illegal in every country on Earth. Here in the United States, they could be worshiped, but never, ever raised. We have had a shoot-on-sight order for demons, and those possessed by them since the 1940’s. Many of those exposed to demons during the war had to be put down. Thousands of innocent civilians were abused and tortured in the camps to make them susceptible to possession during that war. Only a few dozen survived it. Many went insane. Laws were passed outlawing attempts to even try to save those poor tortured souls. Grams told me those in our community tried for years to ‘fix’ some of our own damaged by the war. Finally, the Witches Councils signed one of the few documents that actually agreed with mundane laws. Death to Demons.

A small tear rolled down my cheek. I just helped kill several hundred formerly innocent people. That is what exposure to evil does to you. I reached up and wiped my cheek.

“Cat. That amulet I gave you should protect you from a demon attack, but you only have thirty seconds to escape. If I go down save yourself.” The immensely large were came over and waved one finger in my face scolding me. “OK, message received.” I gave her a hug.

We ignored the upper levels of the building and carefully made our way toward the company cafeteria. In the distance, we could hear what sounded like screams and gunfire. We needed to hurry but not at the cost of our own lives. Athena only knew what was up ahead of us.

The first body we found was one that we knew. Agent Smith would never again tell his stories to another new agent. A quick look at the body told me that he was attacked from the rear and probably never knew what hit him. Damn Bunis! I would remember him in my prayers and bless him on his way toward the afterlife. Something made a loud roar that echoed through the halls. We could now hear the occasional gunshot. I grabbed Cat’s arm as she tensed to run. “Don’t get killed. I want my friend back later.” The large creature that was my friend nodded and charged toward the sound of battle. Bracing myself I ran after her.

~~~~~

SAC Tayanita Lowrey and what was left of her team were in big trouble. They had been forced back through the kitchen to the large walk-in. The former Mrs. Emery was now a huge demon. Its surviving Bunis were attacking with guns, knives, and clubs in waves. Nita was down to only a few rounds for her pistols and was now armed with a Cultist’s spiked club. The demon had stopped attacking directly after Nita burned it with a handful of the anti-demon measures. The agents had almost none of those left but the demon didn’t know that.

“What’s our ammunition status?” She looked at her weary, blood-spattered men. Only Rodriguez was without a wound.

“Ma’am, we are down to less than four a person. We have all acquired melee weapons and are prepared for another attack.”

“Do we know how many of them are left?” Nita remembered taking down at least six with her gun and another four in hand-to-hand.

“Not sure, Ma’am. We each accounted for at least two or three. I don’t believe there can be that many left.”

Nita glanced at the grisly display behind them along the walls. No one here wished to end up in a jar.

“Start putting a group together to guard the doorway. Plan for a backup team to take over. We have to hold out until we are relieved or dead. No way am I willingly being a sacrifice for that thing out there.”

The agents gathered at the door before opening it. Nita gave it a shove and braced for the attack. They were greeted by roars and screams that didn’t sound like the demon.

~~~~~

Cat burst into the cafeteria to find a large demon surrounded by broken and bleeding bodies. Bunis surrounded their Mistress and attacked Cat immediately. She dove into them slashing with her large claws. Bodies and parts of bodies flew in all directions. The demon saw the deaths of many of its loyal followers and bellowed out a roar of outrage. Cat answered it with a roar of her own.

I arrived, carefully stepping over the remains of an agent and what looked like the head of Senator Emery. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Cat’s roar reminded me of what mundane scientists believe a Sabertooth lion would sound like. All they had to do is ask her.

What was once Catherine Emery was in full battle mode. I watched as skeletal wings forced their way out of her back and flapped trying to lift her into the air. The demon slashed at Cat and tried to grasp her fur. Cat responded by slashing back and kicking with her feet. They were evenly matched for the moment, but Cat only had supernatural strength, and not demonic magic to back her up.

“Fergus I will need all of your strength for this.” The Unicorn for once didn’t add his opinion. Even he knew I needed all my concentration for this.

Muttering a prayer to Hekate I launched a flurry of fireballs at the few remaining Bunis in the room. The demon screamed louder as the last of its nearby followers were incinerated. Its attention shifted toward me, allowing Cat to slip off to the side to heal her wounds. I followed my attack by hitting it with my electro balls. The demon shrieked, but the balls had little effect.

“You should have taken my departed husband’s money little witch. You would have been a fine asset to the cause. You still can be. My master grants much for so little. What makes you the happiest little witch, riches, power, or is it carnal pleasures? I can grant you much.”

I didn’t fail to notice that it kept referring to itself and not Bune. From the little reading available I knew Bune was a jealous Duke of Hell. He would not share power with a lower underling.

Casting another freeze spell I ducked to the right to gain another angle and launched a plasma ball at the demon. The freeze only worked for seconds, but it was long enough for the plasma ball to hit and tear a hole in the demon’s defenses. It ripped half of one of its wings off. The demon’s shriek of pain shook the building. Earth and fire could hurt it.

Cat recovered from her wounds and charged the demon from behind, her claws ripping off the other wing. She received a slash in return from the demon’s right arm. Cat’s warrior form snarled its challenge and waded into battle again.

~~~~~

Hearing sounds of battle and explosions, Nita and what remained of her team staggered out of the cooler into the kitchen. Blood and body parts littered the remains of the industrial kitchen. Corpses lay in heaps from the mad charges that attempted to overwhelm the FBI agents. Flashes of bright light could be seen as the agents crept to the counter and looked out into Hell.

A monstrous WereCat in warrior form was battling the demon toe to toe. Their pet witch, Agatha, was in full battle mode tossing balls of fire and electricity at the former Catherine Emery. The agents watched in alarm as the were was thrown clear of the demon. The witch cast a freeze spell followed by balls of flame that scored on the demon blowing off a wing. The were attacked again taking care of the other wing.

Nita knew the two couldn’t do it alone.

~~~~

“Cat,” I yelled at my friend. The demon was pressing at me again and I threw up my arm to shield praying that the bracelet came through for me again. A small shield stopped the demon’s claws and deflected them. I used my telekinesis and pushed the demon away from me. I didn’t have a choice. My magic alone wasn’t enough to defeat it. I needed to call for help and risk my very soul if I lost. But first I needed to get the team out.

“Cat” The Were shook off the latest hit and looked in my direction.

“Get them out! I need everyone clear.”

Cat launched herself over the counter and landed in front of Nita. “Coomme wiitthhh meee.”

Nita stared at the incredibly large were. Cat had streams of blood pouring from her side coating the matted fur with even more blood. The swiftly healing cuts were cut to the bone. Nita was surprised she was still standing. She turned to her remaining agents. “Gather everyone up and follow Cat, she will get you out.”

“Ma’am come with us!”

“No, Agatha was entrusted to me and I will stay to help her.” She felt a large hand on her shoulder and was nearly thrown to the floor as Cat gave her a pat.

Everyone ducked as a random fireball crashed into the kitchen. The demon was now using magic against Agatha. Cat grabbed one of the wounded agents and tossed him over her shoulder. With a jerk of her head, the were led the survivors out of the cafeteria.

~~~~~

Knowing that Cat would get our team out I concentrated on fighting the demon. I tried to marshal my magic and save power. In my head, I worked on creating a spell that could neutralize the demon’s power and destroy it. The spell I imagined used control I didn’t possess, but I was going to go for it, anyway. Whoever said life was easy!

I murmured to Fergus to hold on. Digging deep into my reserves and pulling from Fergus I said a small prayer to Hekate. She is the Goddess of Witches and a protector of Women. If anyone deserved the justice of the Gods, it was this beast in front of me. A great deal of blood and pain was on its hands.

I reached into the pouch at my waist and pulled out a small handful of my homemade grenades. Now was the time to use them. I said. “Sǫk.” That code word said in the old tongue with a tiny bit of magic activated the powerful weapons. I threw my first one as a test. The resulting explosion blew a table across the room and forced another shriek out of the demon.

The first grenade was soon followed by another and then another. There was a method to my madness. With each explosion, I was harvesting a tiny bit of energy. Another goal was to clear as large an area as I could. My consciousness wasn’t really here as I followed the fault lines and down to the nearest conduit coming up from the magma core of the Earth. The last thing I wished to do was cause a volcano to erupt in the State of Virginia. The Witches Council would not be amused. Even as I threw another grenade at the demon, I sensed a Dike and a Sill underground coming off a main magma pipe that would do nicely. The Dike was part of an ancient volcano that never ‘popped’ into existence. Like a plumber I connected to the Sill and created my own pipe running it up through the cracks in the ground left by earthquakes. I needed to be extra careful to not make it permanent.

The demon was starting to gain ground on me I ducked behind an overturned table and threw a few of my dwindling grenades at it again. “What's the matter, little Witch? All out of magic? My master can help you with that. With his assistance, you could control the Witches Council and rule. Does that sound like something that you would like?”

Not being a mercenary was an advantage in a situation like this. Many would have taken the deal by now. Power can be very seductive. You have only to look at my Aunt Camilla to see that. It was almost time to end this. I had three magic grenades left. I ran to the left drawing the demon toward me. Marshaling my magic I mumbled a few words of power and threw the last three grenades. As they exploded, the demon shrieked a curse and crashed into some of the tables. I had managed to lure it to the hole I created earlier. I sent a blast of magic downward and pulled, praying that nothing bad happened this time.

~~~~~

Nita watched Agatha battle the demon across the cafeteria. She seemed to be driving it toward the hole she created on the floor. The witch looked tired as she blasted the demon time and time again with small rocks that acted like grenades. There was a large explosion that knocked the demon down into the shallow hole. It shrieked and thrashed on the floor. Tables, chairs, and bodies flew everywhere. Agatha pointed her arms downward and appeared to speak to the ground.

There was a loud rumbling and then a small explosion. The concrete floor in the cafeteria split open and large chunks fell backward. Molten lava poured from the hole in the floor.

~~~~~

It was all I could do not to fall flat on my face I was so tired. I pulled almost the very last of Fergus’s energy and used my telekinesis to keep the demon pinned to the floor. The lava coated the demon’s legs, and it shrieked and screamed in pain. Kicking its legs to try and fight free, forcing droplets of molten rock to fly through the air. I raised my arm to shield, and the bracelet came through again. My magic was almost gone as the lava coated the demon and filled in the hole. Its body covered, only the demon’s head was free as it screamed its hatred and spite to the heavens. Hurting from the strain I directed the lava to return to the Earth and sealed the hole. Virginia had not had an earthquake lately so the cracks in the Earth were not large or conductive. Magic being what it is, I prayed it would work. My last fleeting thought was that the demon wasn’t dead yet as I passed out. I completely missed Nita walking over with a butcher knife from the kitchen and finishing the job.