Grim Rites (14 page)

C
losing
my eyes wasn’t an option, the warm trickle of my own blood seeping down through my hair line and onto my face kept me alert as strong arms grabbed my arms and legs, scooping me up from the floor as though I weighed nothing at all.

Demons were a pain in the ass.

I feigned unconsciousness as they carried me up onto the altar, past the dead body of Father Bailey, and out through the side door Mia had appeared through. As soon as I got her out of this mess, I was going to kick her ass for getting caught up in it to begin with … or at least that was the thought I consoled myself with. I wouldn’t really kick her ass, but it was a nice thought as my head pounded violently.

The two men carrying me brought me into a small room at the back of the church and set me down on the floor in the centre of a circle of candles. Circles of any kind never meant good things where demons were concerned and the moment they set me down, I peeked out from beneath my lashes at the markings on the floor.

There was something terribly familiar about it all, a nagging familiarity that tugged at my mind, making my headache worse. Blood dripped from my head onto the floor and I felt the air around me shimmer with power.

Crap.
The ones who’d carried me inside didn’t seem to notice the change in the air. Either they were utterly stupid about what was about to happen or this was normal and they were ignoring it. I couldn’t imagine it was normal, so it seemed stupid was the only choice.

Pulling myself up into a semi-sitting position, the demon nearest me moved towards me. I could see the intentions in its eyes as though it had spoken them aloud and I really wasn’t in the mood for another blow to the head.

“Stop,” I said, raising my hand as another drop of my blood hit the symbols on the floor and the power shimmered a little higher.

The demon smiled and placed its foot on the edge of the circle. I felt the power snap around it as soon as its leg touched the chalk drawn symbol and I sucked in a deep breath as something dark and black spread up its leg.

I tried to blink the blood from my eyes as the darkness on its leg crept higher and then it dawned on me what I was seeing. It was ash … black ash.

It tried to step off the symbol but the black ash moved faster, spreading through its core and reaching its chest before it could even get a cry out.

Its body was engulfed completely, a pillar of black ash on the edge of the circle in the shape of a man. I let out the breath I’d been holding and it collapsed inwards, the ash dropping to the ground in a pile of black, charred remains.

“What did you do?” the other one asked, taking a step closer before he halted and seemed to think better of it.

“What did I do? I told your friend to stop and he didn’t listen. Stupid is as stupid does…” I said, and raised my hands, drawing the second demon forward with my gift.

He fought me but his body erupted in a dark black cloud of ash as soon as his foot crossed the barrier of symbols, leaving me alone to cough and choke on the dust that swirled in the air. My head throbbed and another drop of blood dripped onto the ground, the symbols surrounding me beginning to glow a faint orange colour.

Glowing demonic symbols were never a good sign, no matter how helpful they might have been just moments before hand.

Climbing onto my feet, I stared around at my surroundings; the room had clearly been some sort of office, but the furniture had long since been cleared out to make room for whatever in Hell this now was. Glancing down at the floor, my vision swam in sickening streamers and I pushed the urge to vomit aside.

One of the lines swirled across the floor and I stared at it before I grabbed the edge of my shirt and dragged it away from my shoulder. It suddenly wasn’t surprising that the symbol was so goddamned familiar. I was wearing one that could practically have been its twin on my shoulder.

“What happened to the others?” Mia asked, stepping into the room and neatly sidestepping the two large piles of ash that decorated the ground.

“Don’t cross the symbols,” I said, gesturing to the floor, and Mia instantly halted.

“You care for her very deeply don’t you?”

I started; it was the first time I’d heard the demon refer to Mia as though she was a separate entity. There was no more bullshit about this being the true her and I couldn’t help but feel a surge of hope. I just needed the demon to feel as though Mia wasn’t a viable match anymore and it would leave her. But how I could do that … well, it just didn’t seem like something I could straight out ask it to do.

“Yes, and when I get out of here, I’m going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to Hell where you belong,” I said, clenching my hands into fists at my sides.

“For one who is going to die, you’re very sure of yourself,” she said, moving slowly around the outside of the circle. I followed her movements carefully, never letting my gaze leave hers.

“And you’re pretty certain I won’t succeed. Mia’s an empath, not a psychic, so I know along with a lot of the other things that have come out of your mouth, you’re a lying sack of shit.”

Mia laughed, the giggle escaping and filling up the tiny room as though I’d just told her the wittiest joke known to man.

“Is she ready?” I whirled around at the man’s voice and stared up at the priest who’d been introduced to me as Father Matthew.

There was still something off about him, but I honestly couldn’t tell that he was a demon, at least not in the usual sense. I knew deep down he had to be, but staring into his eyes was like staring into a reflection. All I could see was myself staring back at me.

“Where are the others?” he demanded, toeing the nearest pile of ash as though it might come back to life if he just poked it hard enough.

“They decided to go back to Hell, where you belong,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.

My attempt at an exorcism hadn’t worked on Mia, so how in all that was Holy was I going to exorcise the thing animating the priest? Especially considering he was clearly the mastermind behind the situation.

“Did they?” he asked, raising one perfectly-shaped eyebrow. “Mia, darling, you didn’t tell me she could incinerate demons….” He didn’t sound particularly concerned but I could tell from the slight narrowing around his eyes that he was beginning to look at me differently.

“She can’t, or at least she couldn’t, but there is something different about her…” Mia said, and I could feel her gaze on the back of my neck as she tried to bore a hole through me. She was trying to get into my head, and usually for someone like Mia, it was something she didn’t even have to work very hard to accomplish.

Instead, I could feel her scrabbling at my defences, searching for a way. She was like a rat, searching and scratching, seeking a weakness only she could find, a chink in my armour that only she could exploit.

“Well, what is it?” Father Matthew asked, sounding suddenly irritated.

“I don’t know, she’s just blank…” Mia said, her confusion bringing me a glimmer of satisfaction as I stared down the priest.

“I can tell you what it is if you want,” I said with a grin as I spread my arms wide.

He nodded, but his expression was still neutral as though he waited for me to tell him something utterly mundane.

“I’m a Shadow Sorceress…” I said, studying his expression. The flicker of fear that crossed behind his eyes widened my smile.

I wanted him afraid; a demonic creep like him would know what the Shadow Sorcerers were capable of. Of course, he didn’t need to know that I wasn’t as powerful as the ones of old.

“You didn’t tell me she was one of them.” He spat the words out and I could tell from the bead of sweat that appeared on his forehead that he was getting nervous.

“I didn’t know, I swear I didn’t know…” Mia said, and suddenly the room was filled with the smell of fear.

I wrapped it around myself, using it to fuel the magic building through the demonic symbols on the floor. I was capable of raising a demon born of Hell—even if I couldn’t exorcise a demon in the usual sense, I should definitely be able to force one out. All I needed was a little concentration.

I felt Mia searching once more for a weakness, and my momentary lapse in concentration to congratulate myself on a job well done in frightening the demon gave her the opportunity she needed. My mind was flooded with pain, horror, terror … the emotions bombarded me one after the other, faster than I could keep up with them, and the weight of it all drove me to my knees.

Digging my hands into the floor, I tried to force them out but it was no use; she was well and truly in my head, burying deeper at every turn. My heart rate accelerated, adrenaline pumping through my system as Mia crushed me beneath the weight of her fear.

And it was her fear. I could taste it on my tongue, bitter enough that it brought tears to my eyes.

My magic waned, the power that had filled the symbols on the floor just moments before flowing away as though it had never even existed. I tried to hold onto it, but it kept slipping through my fingers like the sand from the beach.

Father Matthew crossed the barrier I’d created and nothing happened. Reaching the centre of the circle, he cupped my face in his hands. Soft hands that had never felt a true day’s work in their lives.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” he said, darkness filling his eyes.

His hands burned against my face and I squirmed in his grip. Heat flooded through my body, chasing away the last of my power, and his smile widened.

He started to mutter, his words coming low and fast, too fast for me to follow, but I got the gist of it and I was pretty damn certain that whatever he was doing, I wasn’t going to like it.

“For you, I’ve got a special surprise…” he said.

From the corners of my eyes, I could see the symbols beginning to glow once more; the colour was different, the faint orange glow gone, replaced by an inky black that spread around the circle and travelled inwards to where we were in the centre.

I fought his hold, but he had me, my eyes pinned on his as the darkness swelled around us. A faint roar met my ears, growing and expanding as the circle moved faster.

He was summoning a demon, a real flesh and blood demon … the sound of claws on cement, its brimstone breath hot on the back of my neck, sending a frisson of panic racing through my body.

The feel of its leathery flesh brushing against mine made me gag instinctively and I felt the first stirrings of my demon mark. Its white-hot heat seared into my skin in a blinding flash of pain just as it had the first time I’d received it.

“You bring me one who is already owned….” The demon’s gravelly voice rumbled through my body because of the way it was pressed against me.

“No, she’s a Shadow Sorceress, her power is yours….”

“Lies, she is claimed. I cannot take her soul, I cannot own her body or her power!” the demon roared, the sound echoing around the room. I cringed away from it.

The priest released his grip on my face and trailed his hand down to my shoulder. The heat of my demon mark spread through my body and I knew without having to look down that the black veins were spiralling outwards. He tugged the neckline of my T-shirt down, exposing the mark, and his expression changed to one of shock.

“Surprise,” I said through gritted teeth as the demon behind me dug its claws into my arms.

Jerking out of its grip, I swung my fist upwards and straight into the face of the priest. He stumbled backwards as blood exploded from his broken nose.

Swinging around to face the demon, I dragged my athame free from my belt and jabbed it up into the demon’s soft underbelly. It roared, striking out at me, its clawed arm catching me across the face as it sent me flying back into the wall.

I hit the ground, but instantly scrambled to climb to my feet. Staying down would only be a mistake, and mistakes right now would get me killed. The demon barrelled towards me and I drew the athame down over my hand, drawing forth my blood.

The moment it was within touching distance, I slammed my hand into its chest, my blood mixing with the acid of its blood.

“By blood and bone I command you back to Hell. With the breath in my lungs and the life in my veins, I banish you back to the depths from which you crawled out of. Stand no more, my blood to your blood exiles you forevermore….”

I’d learned the spell off by heart after I’d failed to send my own personal demon back to Hell, and I’d planned to test it out on him first, but beggars couldn’t be choosers and at least if it worked I’d know for certain that I could succeed.

The demon threw its head back and roared once more. The sound reverberated around the room as its body disintegrated into the air. Within a matter of seconds, there was nothing but the overwhelming smell of sulphur and a smattering of ash that danced in the air like dust motes playing in sunlight.

“
Y
ou’re a fool
,” the priest said from behind me. Turning to face him, I tried to keep my expression neutral as he held Mia pressed to the front of his chest, a short, sharp blade pressed to her neck. “She’s not yet dead. If you let me go, you can bring her back…” he said.

“I want to speak to her, expel the demon, and I’ll think about it,” I answered, keeping my place. The last thing I wanted to do was spook him into killing her accidentally.

“I don’t want—” The demon possessing Mia started to speak, but Father Matthew lowered his face and whispered against her ear.

She bucked and heaved in his grip, hacking and coughing as the first plumes of black smoke escaped her nose. Mia gasped, her eyes rolling back in her head as the demon burst out through the front of her body, it’s black, shadowed shape darting in circles before it fell apart and sank through the floor.

Mia slumped in the priest’s grip and I forced myself to stand still. He still held the blade to her neck and I could tell from the wide-eyed look he had that the last place he wanted to get sent was back to Hell, especially after his epic screw up.

“Mia,” I called out to her, keeping my voice soft. “Can you hear me, Mia…?”

She stirred and then jerked suddenly awake, her eyes wide and frightened as she tried to take a step towards me, and then paused as the blade that was pressed to her throat dug into her flesh.

“You came,” she said to me, the relief in her voice only adding to the guilt I felt.

“Of course I did. You said you needed my help, I wasn’t going to just leave you alone.”

“You’ve spoken to her, now do we have a deal?” Father Matthew asked, pressing the knife a little harder into Mia’s neck.

“You can go, just leave her alone,” I said.

“Amber, you can’t let him go. The things he’s been doing to people, the pain he inflicted on innocent souls…” Mia cried out, her voice filled with a passion I hadn’t known from her before.

“I have to make sure you’re safe,” I said to her, gesturing for her to take a step towards me.

“My life isn’t worth something so monstrous getting away,” she said, and before I could open my mouth to speak, she spun in Father Matthew’s grip, her hands planted either side of his face.

For a moment, time itself seemed to stand still, the expression Father Matthew wore slowly changing from one of surprise to one of utter horror as Mia shared with him the true extent of her gift. I’d felt it; I knew what it was like to have the weight of the world’s emotions dropped on your shoulders like a ton of bricks. I could imagine the way his chest would constrict as panic tried to take hold.

Grabbing her shoulder, he drove the short knife up into her chest, Mia’s spine bowing beneath the force of his blow. He withdrew the blade and she dropped onto him, her knees buckling beneath her as her hands slid away from his face.

I could feel her heart stutter and stop, my own clenching in my chest as I ran to catch her before she hit the cold floor.

“You idiot, Mia, I had a plan…” I didn’t, really, but Father Matthew wouldn’t have gotten far once I knew she was safe.

Instead….

Her eyes stared, unseeing, up at the low vaulted ceiling, her lips parted in surprise, but there was nothing left within her. Her skin was warm, but it wouldn’t last. The spark that had made her Mia, her very soul, was gone.

Closing my eyes, a ragged sob tore from my mouth as I cradled her body against my own and sank to the floor. I’d screwed up in the past, but never like this. I should have saved her; it had been my job to keep her safe and instead I’d gotten her killed. She’d been braver than I would ever stand a chance of being.

The sound of metal scraping on the stone floor had my eyes springing open and I stared at Father Matthew as he backed slowly toward the door. He’d dropped the knife, the metal scratching on the floor as he’d brushed it with his foot. Glancing down at the blade, I could see the small trail of Mia’s blood smeared on the ground.

“I didn’t have a choice,” he said, raising his hands in surrender as my eyes met his.

“There’s always a choice,” I said, raising my hand. My magic flowed through me and the door snapped shut behind him with a resounding
bang
.

Father Matthew’s eyes went wide, filling with the darkness of his demonic side, and he snarled in my direction, but I didn’t care. He didn’t frighten me.

Power built within me, a heat I wasn’t used to when I used my magic. I felt it spread from me down into Mia; everywhere her body touched mine I could feel sparks rising from my skin, hopping from me to her.

“What are you doing?” he asked, panic lacing his words. Closing my eyes, I could taste his fear on my tongue and I wanted more.

Opening my eyes once more, I stared up at him and I let my magic flow. It spread through the room, filling it up the way water flows into a void.

I felt his heartbeat as though it were my own and I wrapped my magic around it. His demonic half resisted but it was no match, and I drank him down as though he was nothing more than a cool drink of lemonade on a warm summer’s day.

Father Matthew dropped to his knees, his hands clawing at his chest, and it brought a smile to my lips. If he thought he could rid himself of my power then he was far more stupid than I’d first thought.

He turned and crawled towards the door, his hands scratching at the wood uselessly, seeking a way to escape from me and the magic that was slowly eating him alive.

His hands dropped to the floor and I felt his heart beginning to falter.

“Please, don’t do this … I didn’t mean to kill her….” His words came in little heaving gasps and I knew he was suffocating beneath the weight of my magic.

“And the others you killed, were they accidents, too?”

“I didn’t…” he lied, his demonic nature incapable of ever telling the truth.

“I know what you are. I know you’re a born demon—one human parent taken by a demon and used to spawn something as despicable as you….”

The stories I’d read about what some of the pure demons did to their chosen mates sickened me. A child born of a terrible sin committed upon the flesh of an innocent. They were abominations and simply thinking about it fuelled my power with rage.

“You think I’m an abomination; what of you? What of your kind and the things you will do to this Earth … this place was better when your kind were wiped out…” he spluttered, his face changing colour as he tried and failed to suck in enough air.

I forced my power into him, holding his heart and forcing it to fall still, once and for all.

His life bubbled within my grasp and without thinking, I glanced down into Mia’s face. Her blood had soaked out around the hole in her pale pink sweater.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

Magic breathed through me, scalding my insides as it took everything I’d stolen from Father Matthew and poured it down into Mia. I felt the second her heart restarted, the damage slowly repairing.

Heat spread through my core and up into my chest. From there, it spread to my face and into my head as I imagined Mia happy and free, complete, body and soul, no part of her left untouched by the magic I pushed into her.

The heat became almost suffocating as the demon mark flared on my shoulder and swallowed the demon essence I’d taken in from Father Matthew. The heat became an inferno and I cried out, my body convulsing before the darkness threatening the edges of my vision swamped me.