The Reaping: Language of the Liar (14 page)

“So, not planning to stay long?” she asked as she looked around.  The white walls were adorned with the rust-red warding symbols, and it made the air pressure in the room a little higher.  It was a comforting feeling now though, and she felt her guard drop a little more.

“We’re not sure.  We need to see what happens after your exorcism,” Dash replied as he threw his keys on the granite counter top.  He went to the fridge and pulled out a couple beers, handing one to Lennox and offering the other to Dorian.

“Can’t.  Still got a ton of drugs in my body.  I need to detox for a few days.”  She poked at the injection site on her hip which still held a fresh, dark bruise.  “They weren’t wasting any time getting me re-assimilated.”

Lennox’s face went dark and he shook his head.  “Probably best you detox another day or so before we try anything.  Briar’s out getting what we need since we had to scarper without taking a lot.”

“I’m so sorry,” Dorian began, but Lennox held up his hand to stop her.

“Don’t be.  You didn’t ask for this.  You didn’t know.  Hell, we had no idea you were being tailed.  I can’t even
begin
to imagine what that means.”

Dorian didn’t want to think of the implications either.  For the moment she wanted to revel in the fact that Nic couldn’t touch her here, and she was away from anyone who meant her harm.  Although she’d been warned by both Nic and the Father that these men were only going to hurt her, she couldn’t bring herself to believe it.  It felt too right.  She felt too at home.

She was drawn from her thoughts by Dash’s arm going around her, and he pulled her toward the stairs.  “We’ve only got one room set up, and you’re welcome to it.  Get some rest.  Some real rest.  There will be breakfast in the morning, coffee, and hopefully more information to go on so we can move forward.”

Dorian allowed him to take her up the carpeted stairs, down the hall and into a room with a large bed covered in blankets.  It looked like heaven, and curling up in the familiar smells of the spell herbs, she realized it was the only place she wanted to be.

Chapter Seventeen

With morning came the familiar hang-over of the drug detox.  It had now been over twelve hours since she’d had anything, and her body felt shaky and tired.  She stumbled from the bed and into the bathroom where she contemplated a shower, but decided caffeine and food would best suit her needs.

Downstairs in the kitchen, she saw Briar sitting at the table with her hair down, head hanging low, but she gave Dorian a wide smile when she walked in.  “I was hoping you’d be up soon.”  Briar jumped off her chair to grab a mug for coffee.  “The boys are out and about getting a few things for tonight.”

Dorian licked her lips, feeling her nerves kick up.  “Tonight?  The exorcism?”

“We’re hoping.  Trust me, the quicker we get this done, the better for you.  The more Nic climbs into your head, the more he can hold on and I want you to have the strength to fight him.”

Stirring sugar into her coffee, Dorian stared over at the Reaper.  She realized in that moment, Briar had gone through everything she was about to.  She’d suffered through possession, exorcism, and had come out the other side.  She was looking at living proof that it was possible to survive.  If you were strong enough.

But the idea that she was as strong as Briar made her want to laugh.  She’d spent her entire life weak and terrified.  It didn’t matter she hadn’t become a catatonic mess from the possession, she still jumped at every shadow, panicked at the threat of an impending blackout.  How was she supposed to fight the thing clawing its way into her head?

“When you were possessed,” Dorian said, her voice slow and careful, “what was it like?  Do you remember your demon?”

Briar pursed her lips, then shook her head.  “No, not really.  Most of the time it was blackness.  I’d wake up to find out days had passed.”  She lowered herself into the chair after pushing a plate of toast across the table toward Dorian.  “I think I saw its face once, maybe twice.”

Dorian’s brow furrowed as she twisted her coffee mug in her hands.  “So he…it…didn’t talk to you?  Try and convince you to let it stay?  Give it help?”

Briar leaned across the table.  “No.  It didn’t.  The only thing I remember is it trying to drag me though the doorway.  The claws…”  She trailed off with a shudder, her head shaking.

She let out a puff of air and stared at the Reaper, feeling her stomach sink.  “So that’s not normal?  Trying to get me on its side?”

“Dorian, what’s going on?”

Wiping her hand down her mouth, she sat back in the chair and gave a weak shrug.  “The demon, Nic, he’s trying to convince me to let him use my body.  He swears up and down if I help him fight this war, he’ll leave me intact.”

“He’s a liar,” she snapped.

Dorian held up her hand.  “I know!  I don’t believe him but… I just want to know why me?  Why does he have his claws in me like this?  Why is he talking to me?  He says he’s been there since the day I was born, and you know what, he was!  The memories are all still there.” She went quiet for a few moments.  “When I was about seven, I was sent to this really nasty foster home.  They were this really religious couple who liked to take in troubled kids, the ones with medical problems.  They got an extra bonus for that, for taking on kids who needed extra care.  Anyway, I found out about a week in they followed that passage in the bible, spare the rod, spoil the child?”

Briar’s face went still and her jaw tensed.  “Yes.  I know the one.”

“Anyway, after a particularly vicious beating, I remember laying in my bed trying not to cry because if I woke any of the other kids, I just got hit again.  My shoulder was dislocated but they didn’t want to take me to the hospital so I had to stay in bed until the foster mom’s brother, who was a paramedic, could come over and pop it back into place.”  Dorian saw Briar’s hands clench together on the top of the table, but she didn’t say anything so Dorian went on.  “I was laying in the bed and he was there.  Nic.  He was singing me this lullaby and whatever it was, it made the pain go away.  He held my hand and made the hurting stop.  Told me he loved me and would always take care of me.”

“Dorian,” Briar breathed.

“After that, I had so many blackouts and violent outbursts, even that couple couldn’t handle it.  They sent me back with a recommendation for a lobotomy—which of course didn’t happen, but my therapist at the time put me on about seven different kinds of medication.  They wanted to drug me until my phase passed or whatever.  It’s all in my file.”  Dorian paused to take a drink of her coffee.  “Because of the meds, I couldn’t see him anymore, but for years I knew he was there.  Watching me, singing me to sleep, taking away the pain.  I think they were spells to heal my body.  Whatever this thing is, he wants me, and I don’t think he’s going to go easy.”

Briar stared at her for a long moment before getting up and walking around the table.  She put her hands on the sides of Dorian’s face and held her fast and hard.  “I don’t care why he wants you, or how badly.  We are getting this thing out of your head and you are walking away from this. 
Alive
.  You belong here with us, and just like that monster inside you,
we’re
not giving you up without a fight.”

Letting her go, Briar turned and stormed out of the room, leaving Dorian alone with her thoughts and fears.  She knew it was going to happen, whether she liked it or not, and she could only hope to tap into the strength Briar had, and the will for herself to go on living.

***

Dorian was just getting up from a nap when she heard Dash and Lennox return from their errands.  The digital clock by the bed read eleven-thirty, and she shook her head as she got up, trying to chase away the groggy.  A shower sounded wonderful at this point, but before she could look around for her things, the bedroom door swung open and Dash walked in.

“Morning, Sunshine.  Are you just getting up?”  He crossed the room and threw a zippered tote on the bed.

“No.  Had some breakfast with Briar earlier, but I needed a nap.  Trying to sleep off these drugs.” She rubbed at the injection spot on her side.  “It’s taking longer than I thought to get this crap out of my system.”

“That’s to be expected.  The warding spells muck about with things like that.  I wouldn’t worry too much.”

“Except,” Dorian said as she watched him digging around in the bag, “don’t you think it’ll lower my defenses during the exorcism?”

“I doubt it.  If anything, it might help keep that demon more docile.  Maybe not much, but enough.”  He found what he was looking for, a small charm hanging from a chain, and he shoved it into his pocket.  “Anyway, Lennox is getting the basement ready for you.  He anticipates a long one, but Briar’s on the warpath.  I’m telling you, I’ve never seen her so determined to pull someone out of an exorcism before.”

The thought was a small comfort, and Dorian let out a breath of relief.  “Well that’s good, I guess.”  She spotted one of her suitcases in the corner of the room and hurried over.  The familiar smell of her things as she opened it was almost too much, and her throat tightened for a second.  Clearing it, she asked, “Mind if I shower?  Or do we need to get stuff done like now?”

“Go for it, love.  We’ve got a lot of prep work to do.  We have to lower the wards on the house so we can draw that demon in here, and that’s going to take ages.”

“Okay.”  Her voice sounded small, betraying her fear, but he gave her a small smile and a wink.  She gathered up a change of clothes, her bag with her toiletries, and headed for the door.  Before she walked out of the room, she turned back to the Exorcist.  “Oh, there’s something I need to tell you guys, too.  After I’m washed up, can we do a little house meeting?  Nic had some interesting info.”

Dash frowned, but eventually nodded and waved her off.  “I’ll let everyone know.  You go get sorted.”

With his blessing, Dorian hurried down the hall to the bathroom and found it equipped with towels, soaps, and a wide shower with tall glass walls.  The house was surprisingly nice, nicer than any place she’d ever stayed, and a tiny piece of her started wondering all the ways she could make it feel more like home if they were going to stay.  If she was going to survive.

The thought giving her chills, she turned the water on as hot as she could stand it, and stood under the stream until her skin turned pink.  It felt rejuvenating, and after she washed up and got out, the groggy feeling had faded to a faint annoyance.

Dressing, she put her hair back in a braid to keep it out of the way, and stepped back to look at herself in the mirror.  She had a sudden, morbid thought that this could be the last thing she ever wore.  This could be what she died in.  But as much as the thought should have bothered her, she felt stronger.  She felt a drive to get through this night.  Nic was a liar, he was a demon, and she wouldn’t be swayed.

As she turned away from the mirror, she felt a chill on the back of her neck, like someone breathing, and she spun around but the bathroom was empty.  Knowing he couldn’t get to her, not completely, she pushed the thought away and headed downstairs where she heard Briar and Lennox having a low, furious conversation.

“I think this is the worst idea,” Briar hissed.  “It’s one thing for the two of you to exorcise some drooling mess you found on the streets, but you can’t handle this on your own.  He speaks to her.  He
actually
engages her in conversation.  Do you realize the implications of that?  Her demon is trying to make a deal with her!”

“And if you would stop and think for only a moment,” Lennox bit back, “you’d realize if that’s the case, if what you’re saying is true, he won’t want her to die.  Exorcised or not, if she lives, she’ll be a Reaper.  Meaning she’ll still be able to see him and speak to him if she chooses.  He won’t let her die.”

“I think you’re projecting too many human emotions onto this thing.  If it’s love, it’s not love the way we feel it.  These things are monsters and the two of you…”

“Have been doing this a lot longer than you.  And we already have the communal blessing.”

“Yeah well, you know what I think about those fucking morons,” Briar said.

“And you know our minds are made up.  We can’t let that thing get any further into her.  We’ve waited too long as it is.”

“Fine, but just remember whatever the hell happens tonight, it’s on your heads.  Both of you.”

Dorian stumbled back when Briar came hurtling around the corner.  The pair stopped, staring at each other, and it was obvious Briar knew Dorian overheard the entire conversation.  With a sigh, Briar shook her head and brushed past Dorian, heading up the stairs.

Conflicted, Dorian headed into the kitchen to see Lennox sitting at the table with his face in his hands.  When Dorian walked in, he snapped his head up and offered her a weak, watery smile.  “Dash said you wanted to talk to us.”

Dorian nodded, pulling a chair back and sitting across from Lennox.  “Is everything okay?  I heard almost all of that.”

He let out a puff of air and waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.  “It’s… she’s… being stubborn.  Everything’s fine.”

“Except is it?” Dorian pressed.  “She seems worried.”

Lennox bit down on his bottom lip, sitting back as he regarded her for a long moment.  “Your exorcism is atypical.  Normally a person who’s been possessed as long as you have been is barely human.  You, however, are coherent and functional.  It means the demon has vested interest in your life.  I believe that will work for us, but Briar is concerned it won’t.”

“I still don’t understand,” Dorian said, shaking her head back and forth.  “How does it affect the exorcism?”

“The longer the person is possessed, the harder it is to separate them from their demon entity.  Because we want you to come out of this alive, normally we’d have more than two Exorcists on hand.”

Dorian’s eyes went wide.  “So what happened with that guy the other night…”

“We didn’t expect him to live.  We didn’t really try.  The quality of life he would’ve been subjected to had he survived wouldn’t have been worth it.”

The thought struck her hard.  It felt like a murder, in a way.  Even a mercy killing was still a killing.  But that wasn’t the point, at least not right now.  “So what’s the big deal, then?”

“We don’t have time to wait for the others to get here.  It would be days at best, and I don’t think we have that kind of time.  The wards and the amulets will only hold him back for so long.  If he’s as strong as I think he is, my guess is less than twenty-four hours before he can break through our warding spells and take you.”

Dorian felt a chill slide up her spine.  “Okay.  So what does that mean if just the two of you take me on?”

“It means there could be a very real danger to our lives,” came Dash’s voice from behind.  Dorian turned her head as he walked into the kitchen and took a seat.  “Exorcisms aren’t just dangerous for the possessed.  They’re dangerous for us.  We have to put pieces of ourselves inside you to slam that door shut.  Briar as well.  If he manages to take hold of you during the ritual, there could be consequences.”

“But if you don’t at least try,” Dorian finished for him, “I might be lost either way.”

“Exactly.  The choice is yours, love,” Dash said, spreading his hands out.