Heir of Night by Emily Goodwin
Chapter 34
War crashes against the remaining warding. A strangled screech fills the air, and this time, Lucas can hear it. Scarlet crouches, getting into a stance where she’s ready to attack. Binx shadows by me, black spirit form towering above us. Freya and Pandora move back and forth along the front of the house, trying to keep the negative energy from infiltrating us.
“Silentium,” I say, sweeping my hands out in a circular motion. I’ve created a literal cone of silence, and I can only hope it will prevent Paimon from listening to our revelation.
“Get upstairs in the attic. Lock the door and seal it with magic.” Lucas’s eyes flash. “Call for your dad or Julian. You need to get out of here, Callie.”
“You’re coming with me.”
“I’d like to. You’re the one they want. Not me. Once you’re gone, the connection will be severed.”
“But War will still be here.” My chest tightens.
“He’ll leave to find you again.” He works hard to convince me he believes what he’s saying.
“Or use you to get to me. No one makes me vulnerable like you do, Lucas. I’m not leaving you.”
Jaw tensing, he turns and looks at me, mind whirling with what to do. “I can get you to the Covenstead door. Between your familiars and Scarlet, they can hold off the demons.”
“Those demons are people. I can save them like I saved the demon War made in Chicago.”
“You can’t save them if you’re dead.” Lucas looks from my eyes to my stomach, face tightening with fear. “The Horsemen are working with Paimon. All this time, they’ve been waiting for his command. It’s why they didn’t strike right away.”
“Holy shit. It was him this whole time. Opening the gates so I would go down to close them. He wanted me in Hell but wasn’t counting on Lucifer showing up or us finding a Hail Mary way to get out.”
“He was going to do the ritual in Hell.”
“And sit on the throne while my blood was still fresh on the ground.” Air leaves my lungs, and I feel like I’ve been dipped in icy water. Leaving Paimon alone in Hell was exactly what he wanted, so he could get everything worked out somehow.
“Clever indeed,” Paimon’s voice rings out. It’s farther away this time, and it hits me. He’s astral projecting, but between the gates being closed and the warding on my house, he’s only able to project his consciousness, not his astral form. It’s why he was standing outside the warding looking in at the house today. He had to get something to visualize so he could focus on where to send his projection.
Bael did it too by projecting into the woods outside the house. If I leave the house, he’ll have to refocus, and that could be all the time we need to regroup and…and…carry out the plan we never came up with.
“War controls the demons,” I say, thinking out loud. “If we take him out, they’ll fall. I think.”
“Cut off the head of the snake.” Lucas strides through the hall, going back into the foyer. Demonic chanting grows louder and louder, and the chandelier above him starts to shake.
“How many demons are out there?” I ask, and then remember I’m still in my circle of silence. Scarlet moves with me into the hall, and I ask again.
“Thirteen.” Lucas pulls the curtains of the living room window back. “I hear something…something else coming.”
I swallow a lump in my throat, so scared I want to cry. But I can’t. Not now, not if I want to survive.
“I need to warn everyone.” I meet Lucas’s eye again, and he nods. My phone is—fuck—I left it on the porch. “Text Kristy for me? I’ll send a letter.” Holding onto my stomach, I run as fast as I can into the library and tear a piece of paper from the notebook on my desk. I quickly scribble down a note.
Horsemen here with lots of demons. Paimon is behind everything. Stay at the Covenstead.
I fold it and drop to my knees, hardwood hurting my bones, and put the note in the fireplace, magically sending it through to the Covenstead. Binx is with me, helping me to my feet, telling me to get away from the windows. Unable to help myself, I look outside and see the dark outline of a demon, standing at the very edge of the final warding. Most of the light has left the sky, and another shadowy figure joins the demon. This one is small in stature, and I feel sick to my stomach when I see it through Binx’s eyes.
It’s a child.
Both demons put their hands on the warding. Magic shoots through them, and their bodies react as if they’re holding onto an electric fence.
“Stop!” I rush to the window. I narrow my eyes and shove the kid back. His little body won’t survive housing a demon for long. Damaging it in any sort of way will only speed up the process of his demise.
“Callie,” Lucas calls, hurrying into the room. “What is it?” He’s at my side in a second, moving me away from the window. Able to see in the dark, he knows exactly what it is right away. “There’s nothing we can do.”
“He’s only a kid, Lucas!”
Confliction flashes across his face. “I know, Callie. I know.”
“We can’t leave him out there. I can cure him, remember?”
Fangs drawn, Lucas looks from me to the child, who’s going right back to the warding. The other demons do the same thing. I can’t see them, but I can feel the last remaining strands of my magic wearing thin.
“Get to the hall. You’re in their line of sight by the window.” He lets me go, and my heart lurches. I don’t want him to go outside, but we have to save the kid. “I love you,” he says and then disappears from my sight. My heart is beating so fast it hurts. I look at Binx and take off, going to the little-used side door that Lucas went out of. It’s off the hall next to the library and was original to the house, so we didn’t want to get rid of it, yet it’s not practical to use. It leads to a little round patio and a few stairs taking you to what will eventually be a stone path leading from the front of the house to the pool area.
I throw the door open and watch Lucas shove a demon aside. The demon is tall and burly, with dried blood on his face and shirt from a nosebleed. The demon gargles and snarls, lashing its hands in the air. It falls with a heavy thud, and the demon inside the child’s body holds out his hands, summoning that same black smoke that tethered Lucas to the ground.
“Fuck no,” I grumble and hurry down the stairs. “Somnum,” I say, and the kid slumps to the ground. The demon inside him is powerful and is fighting to regain control.
“Get inside!” Lucas demands and punches a demon in the chest, hand going right through. He pulls out his heart and tosses it to the ground. The big, burly man sways on his feet and then falls to the ground with a heavy thud.
I go down the stairs and stop at the edge of the warding. I could recast the line and strengthen the protection. Binx shadows behind me, and Scarlet and my other familiars race from the house as well. Growling, Scarlet leaps forward, soaring over me and tackling another demon that I didn’t even know was there.
Eyes wide, I catch a glimpse of the demon’s face a second before Scarlet’s teeth sink into her arm, yanking her down and then going right for her throat. It’s Mrs. Bishop, an older lady who hates vampires and owns the antique store downtown by Novel Grounds. Owned, I should say.
Lucas picks up the kid, and I wait until he’s crossed back over the weakened line to hold up my hands and recast the circle of protection.
“Terra. Aeris. Aqua. Ignis.” Blue magic glows around my fingers, and I concentrate on pulling on the power of the elements, when Binx and Freya shadow around me. I lose my grip on the spell. “Guys, what—” I cut off when I see the demons emerging from the woods. “Oh, fuck.”
Freya guards me, and Binx springs forward, taking out the closest demon with a loud snap of the neck. There are more than the thirteen Lucas saw earlier, and the dark energy presses down on me. Pain radiates from my midsection.
“Now’s not the time, baby,” I say through gritted teeth. Inhaling, I try to square my shoulders so I can cast the protection spell on the house. Binx protests, coming back from killing another demon. He wants me to get inside.
“Callie,” Lucas booms, wanting me to do the same.
“Earth, air, water, fire,” I chant, calling on the most basic of spells. “Keep me safe is all I desire.” I sweep my hands out, magic leaving my fingers. But the second before I can draw a line, a tendril of black smoke wraps around my ankle and yanks me off balance. I fall hard, catching myself. Shock shoots through my wrists, and I twist, fumbling with my pregnant stomach.
“Get away from me,” I growl through gritted teeth and thrust my right hand forward, blue light glowing around my fingers. The demon shrieks and slinks away, and pain shoots through me. God fucking dammit. I need to access my angel powers now without my baby magically growing and causing me crippling pain.
If she wants us to live, she needs to cut it the fuck out. Demons charge at me, and Binx and Freya both go for them. But there are too many. Another rises from the darkness, and the tendril of smoke twists around my ankle, yanking me forward and knocking me to the ground. I fall hard, the back of my head whacking against the soft earth beneath me.
“Lucas!” I scream when the black magic pulls me forward, bringing me to the forest. I throw out my hands, blasting whatever’s in front of me with white light. The black magic wrapped around my ankle dissipates, and I scramble to turn over, army-crawling a few paces with my stomach against the ground before I get to my feet.
But as soon as I do, something grabs me again. It’s not magic this time, but a demon. A woman about my age growls at me, dark eyes reflecting the light of the house behind us. She opens her mouth, as if she were flashing her fangs, and Pandora jumps in, knocking her off me. I continue my mad dash up, heart racing.
I need to get back inside.
“Lucas!” I scream again. Why isn’t he answering? Why isn’t he here? I scramble up, clawing my way past the weak border of my line of protection. Dirt is jammed under my nails, but I don’t notice, let alone care. “Lucas!”
Scarlet lets out a sharp bark, and I jerk my attention to her. My familiars are battling demons in the woods, and Binx lets me know more are coming. And Lucas—fuck—I can’t get a read on him.
“Lucas!” I shout again, desperation coming off in forms of blue sparks. I stumble to the crumbling railing that leads up to the side door and look out at the yard. The body of the child is lying on the ground only feet from me, and Lucas isn’t there.
He wouldn’t drop the child unless something got him.
“No,” I say out loud and throw out my hands, conjuring a big ball of white light. The power collects in my chest, coming right from my heart, and then erupts into a spectacular rain of magic, lighting up the forest in front of me.
I don’t see anything at first. Just trees and shadows and darkness. Then something moves through the branches, and I throw an energy ball without a second thought. It hits the demon square in the chest, and I fuel the energy ball with white light, bringing it back down to the demon. The same thing happens to this demon as it did with Tina when she was being loaded into the ambulance.
The teenage boy sits up, blinking, and looks at me, as if I know the answers.
“Get to the road,” I tell him. “Don’t stop running until you’re in town.”
His head bobs up and down, and he looks at the demon lying on the ground next to him.
“Go!” I shout. “If you want to live, get the fuck out of here!”
He scrambles away, tripping a few times but making it out of my line of sight. I hurry over to the child and hold my hands over him. I can’t remember exactly what I said to the girl who was possessed before, but it doesn’t matter. Because as soon as I extend my hands and close my eyes, something wraps around my middle, holding tight right above my stomach.
I scream as I’m pulled back, driven over the rough forest floor. Binx is there in an instant, knocking whoever has a hold on me to the side. Freya is right there as well, helping me to my feet. There are too many demons. We’re surrounded, and for every one we take out, another three appear.
Panting, I get to my feet and hold out my hands, blue light glowing around my fingers. Whatever happens, I won’t go down without a fight. These demons know it, and their hesitation to attack gives me confidence, even though I should be scared shitless.
“Come and get it,” I sneer and thrust my hands forward, blinding the demons with white light. Blinking, I look beyond the light for Lucas but don’t see him.
“Where are you?” I cry. “Don’t leave me.”
Gritting my teeth, I magically shove off five demons headed right at me. They’re knocked back by my blast of magic, falling to their asses and rolling along the ground. The landing was rough and would cause a normal human to pause and slowly get up after sustaining several injuries, but these demons don’t care what happens to their human counterparts.
They’ll find another body if they need to so they can continue their attack.
Something crashes through the woods behind me, moving fast. I whirl around, hands in front of me, ready to attack. I almost hit Lucas with a ball of energy. He’s covered in blood, mostly demon blood, but some is his own; I know by the tear in his shirt. He doesn’t say anything, doesn’t get angry that I came outside. Instead, he takes my hand and hurries me inside.
“The kid!” I shout. Lucas doesn’t let go of me until I’m on the steps. I grip the railing, going as fast as I can to get inside. Come inside, I call to my familiars. Bring Scarlet. My feet hit the hardwood of the hall, and I turn, heart in my throat. Lucas has the kid in his arms and speeds inside.
“Hecate,” I breath, looking up at the moon. “You helped me before. I could really use some protection right now.” I close my eyes, sensing my familiars getting close. I wait another beat for my familiars and Scarlet to come bounding inside. Then I cast a circle around the house. It’s not specified how my other circles were, and it can be easily broken. Yet it’s better than nothing. “Lunae lucem pariter conglobati circumdabunt nos.” A bright line of yellow light circles the house, fading to black only a second later.
Slamming the door, I run into the family room where Lucas has laid the kid on the couch. The demon inside him wrestles against the spell.
“Is he dead?” I ask, vomit rising in my throat when I look at the kid’s pale cheeks.
“His heart is beating, but it’s erratic,” Lucas tells me, stepping back.
Curling my lips over my teeth, I hold my hands out and summon a ball of white light. I hesitate before I send the magic into the demon.
“What if it’s too much?” I ask, eyeing Lucas. “He’s so small. Should I cut the dosage of magic?”
“Can you?”
I push my hands closer together. The ball gets smaller but glows brighter. “I don’t know how.”
“If it is too much, it’s better than rotting from the inside out while being controlled by a demon.”
He’s right, and I close my eyes. “Leave at once and don’t come back,” I tell the demon and shove the energy ball into the kid’s chest. The demon sizzles, smoke hissing out of the kid’s eyes and nose. His body starts to tremble, and Lucas holds him still so he won’t fall off the couch.
And then the demon is gone.
“Hey,” I say softly. The kid doesn’t open his eyes.
“His heart is beating,” Lucas tells me. “He’s alive.”
“But not well,” I say because Lucas won’t.
“No.” Lucas looks out the windows. Demons have surrounded the house, chanting again. A horse whinnies, and its call is answered by another horse. We both look at each other, not speaking. Another Horseman is here. “I need to get you to the Covenstead.” Lucas’s face is sullen, and he knows there’s no way we can get to the door.
“Did War stab you?” I put my hand on his chest. The fabric of his shirt is torn with no wound underneath.
“He tried, but no. This was from a demon.” Lucas takes both my hands in his, looking me up and down. “You used your angel powers. Are you okay?”
I bob my head up and down. “I felt that same red-hot pain, but it subsided.”
“You have to use those powers,” he says, thinking out loud. “I don’t know how quickly things can progress if you do and…fuck.”
“What?” I ask, thinking things can’t get any worse.
“Paimon was watching you earlier today. I don’t think it was the first time he’s spied on you. If he knows using your angel powers accelerates the pregnancy, I think they’re doing this on purpose. They want you to go into labor.”
“No. That’s…that’s not possible. I mean. It can’t be. I’m not giving birth at home and especially not when said home is surrounded by demons.” I inhale but get no air. “I’ve fought demons before without using my angelic side.”
“And the only way you were able to defeat Bael was to burn him with hellfire.” His dark blue eyes look deep into mine, and then he pulls me to him. “I will do everything I can to protect you and our daughter. Promise me you’ll let me.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.” I close my eyes. “Dad? Julian? Lucifer? Anyone? We’re surrounded by Horsemen and demons.”
The kid coughs, and Lucas and I break apart. He tries to sit up, gasping for air, looking absolutely terrified. His eyes roll back and his head lolls to the side. Then he flops back down, unmoving.
“His heart is slowing,” Lucas says.
“Maybe I can heal him.”
Lucas grabs my hand. “That’s using your angel-powers.”
I open my mouth to protest but stop. Saving this kid puts my own at risk. “I can’t let him die.” I yank free of Lucas’s grasp and go to the kid. Putting my hand over his heart, I try to tap into the powers that live deep within me, kept under lock and key until it’s safe to fully access them. Nothing happens.
“Dammit!” I lift my hands up and try again. I can kill demons, but I can’t heal humans.
“You’re doing it wrong.”
I snap my head to the side, Julian’s voice so fucking welcome right now. I didn’t feel the energy shift right before he appeared because I was concentrating so hard.
“Thank fucking god,” Lucas says with a sigh of relief.
“God did not send me,” Julian tells him. “I heard Callie’s call.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re here. Now get Callie out of here.” Desperation and fear flash in Lucas’s eyes.
“Heal the kid first,” I tell them both.
Julian knows by now not to argue with me when it comes to something like this. He steps over to the child, places his hand on his chest, and heals whatever damage the demon has done. The kid sits up with a startled gasp, eyes wide.
“Everything is going to be okay,” Julian tells the kid, putting his hand on the kid’s shoulder. “What is your name?”
“Caleb,” the kid replies, visibly relaxing.
“Think about your house, Caleb. I will take you home.”
Nodding, Caleb closes his eyes and thinks about his house. A second passes, and they’re still there on the couch.
“Something’s wrong.” Julian touches the kid’s forehead, and he falls back, asleep.
“You’re just now figuring that out?” Lucas chides.
“Something else is wrong.” Julian moves away from the couch and spreads his wings out, tipping his head up. Seeing an angel like this is impressive, and even with the terror outside my door, I feel calmed to look upon his great feathered wings. “I can’t leave.”