Heir of Night by Emily Goodwin

Chapter 7

Ialmost drop the food from my hands. Lucas speeds over, catching it before it hits the floor and setting it on the counter. I look at him out of the corner of my eye, holding my breath. This could be bad. Very bad.

“Told you it sounded crazy,” Alex mumbled.

“No, not at all. But what makes you think it was an angel?” Tabatha asks, and seeing her calm face helps me chill the fuck out.

“That’s what he told us,” Alyssa continues. “He, meaning a priest at St. Mary’s Church. A healer came to our pack to help with Noah. Once she realized he was possessed, she sent us up there.” She looks a little rattled as she recalls last night’s events. “Father Isaac thought he could do an exorcism, but when we arrived, he said he’d been praying and an angel told him to bring Noah here. He told me the angel said you’d be able to help in ways he couldn’t.”

“Because Noah is a werewolf,” I muse. “Did he happen to say who he was praying to? It wasn’t some random angel named…I don’t know…Julian, perhaps?”

Now Alyssa looks at me like I’m crazy. “He didn’t say.”

“I need to speak to you for a moment,” Lucas tells me. “In private.”

I nod and push the container of food farther onto the counter. Tabatha starts warming it up while Lucas and I slip away to the butler’s pantry off the kitchen.

“Are you buying this?” Lucas asks in a low whisper. “An angel told a priest your name?”

“I don’t know what I’m buying yet.”

Lucas takes both my hands in his. “I have a bad feeling, Callie.”

“I do too,” I admit. “But I do trust that those wolves are innocent in all of this. That energy surge they felt had to be a demon trying to tap into the Ley line. If the protection spell hadn’t been cast at the same time, it could have ended much worse for the entire quaint town.”

“Only three angels should know about you, and Lucifer isn’t answering prayers. Your father wouldn’t risk it, and Julian knows better. Either another angel knows about you or—”

“It’s the demon,” I interrupt. Lucas and I stare at each other for a second, both shocked, and then we run back to the library. Noah is still on the ground, body slightly twitching as he fights the demon. Nicole is bent over him, adjusting his blanket.

“Get away from him!” I shout, and Noah sits up, hazel eyes inking over. He grabs Nicole and goes to bite her. Lucas is faster and grabs Nicole, pulling her back just in time. Noah springs to his feet and charges after them. He hits the wall of the containment spell with a thud and crashes back.

Naomi rushes to her twin, looking at her arm. The demon inside Noah didn’t bite her but left four angry welts on her arm. Noah charges at the containment spell again, muttering something in Latin. He holds out his hands, pressing against the invisible wall. It glows red around his hands, threatening to break.

I thrust my hand out, shoving him back with a shock of white light. It burns the demon, making Noah shriek and slink back. The demon doesn’t relent and rushes at me again. Throwing out my other hand, I bring him to his knees, sending pulses of white light through him.

“Smart,” I say and move forward. “Possess someone knowing I’d be the only one to help. And then stay quiet inside the body until you’re right in front of us, making us cast a sleeping spell on you so you could get past the warding.” I twist my wrist, knocking the demon back. “Just not smart enough.”

Alyssa and her sons burst into the library, and Brock runs right at me, thinking I’m hurting his brother. Lucas stops him, knocking him back with enough force to send him flying over the coffee table.

“What is going on in here?” Tabatha demands, sweeping her hands out in front of her and putting the wolves in a magical hold.

“The demon that’s possessing him,” I start, “is a high-level demon. He’s the one who told the priest about me, and a demon attempting such an elaborate plan just to get into my house…” I trail off, not needing to finish the sentence. “You might as well just give up now,” I tell the demon. “Hell is closed for business.”

“Half-breed,” the demon hisses.

“You bottom-feeders really need to come up with a better insult.”

“It’s already begun,” the demon snarls, voice coming out as a dozen hoarse whispers all at once.

“Yeah, but then I stopped it.” I put a hand on my hip. “Sorry, try again next time.”

“Why try again when things went exactly as planned?” The demon stops fighting against me. “Well, there were a few repercussions, but they’ll work in our favor.”

Fuck, is he talking about the Horsemen? I can’t ask, in case he’s not, and even if he is…this isn’t the way I want my friends to find out.

The demon eyes my stomach and smirks. “And I see the surprises are far from over. Every king needs an heir, after all.”

“I’m the fucking queen.” I hold up my hand, conjuring a small energy ball of white light. “Ad somnum daemonium.” I throw the energy ball, hitting Noah square in the chest. The blackness in his eyes starts to fade, and the demon fights against my spell. Only seconds later, the demon succumbs to the sleeping spell and Noah falls back, eyes clear once again.

Exhaling heavily, I step back and almost trip over the coffee table. Lucas speeds to me, catching me before I misstep.

“You should sit,” he tells me, and I feebly nod. It’s been a long fucking day, and everything is wearing on me.

“You heard what he said,” I whisper, voice coming out thin.

“It’s not going to happen.” Lucas kisses my forehead and takes me to the couch. “I won’t allow it.”

“I cast the sleeping spell on the demon,” I explain to Alyssa. “Noah is still very much possessed but can fight off the demon for a little bit. The demon is in his mind, basically,” I add, not sure if she knows how possession works. “He should eat and rest to gather some strength—but he has to stay in the circle.”

Alyssa rushes to her son’s side, dropping to her knees and throwing her arms around him. It’s hard to imagine myself as a mother to an infant, let alone the mother to a nineteen-year-old. Noah is far from a child, yet his mother’s love hasn’t lessened just because he grew up.

“I guess we need a plan B,” Naomi says, leaning against the desk. “Any ideas, sister?”

Nicole nervously twists her auburn hair around her fingers, shaking her head. “How did you know that spell, Callie?”

“I don’t know. It just came to me,” I answer.

“Are you sure it’s working?” She nervously eyes Alyssa, who’s inside the circle of salt.

“No,” I tell her honestly. “Maybe I can find out.”

“Callie,” Lucas starts.

“Don’t worry,” I rush out. “I’m going to see if I can get a reading on…on something. The way Julian does.”

Lucas helps me to my feet, and I stop right outside the circle, holding out my hands and closing my eyes.

Please don’t let it come back, a voice sounds inside my head the same way it did when I heard the boy drowning in Australia. Give me the strength to fight it.

“You do have the strength,” I tell Noah, opening my eyes to find him looking at me, no doubt wondering how I knew exactly what he was thinking. “And it will come back, I don’t know when, but I can promise it won’t be long. I’m sorry.”

“You need to stay in the circle,” Tabatha says when Alyssa tries to get Noah up onto the couch. “We can set up something a bit more comfortable in due time.”

“I’ll bring food,” Kristy says.

“I can help,” Brock tells her, and she smiles. Alex joins his younger brother and mom on the floor. Ruby and Tabatha stay nearby just to be safe.

“So I don’t suppose you’ve ever come across something like this before?” I ask Melinda.

She’s slowly flipping the sliver knife around in her hand. “A high-level demon using a werewolf as a Trojan horse to get into a pregnant Nephilim’s house?” A smile splits her face. “Can’t say I have.”

“Damn. I was hoping you’d know exactly what to do.”

“I do have an idea.” She bites her lip and looks at Noah. “From something I have heard about before. It wouldn’t work for us hunters, but, uh…you’re like dead-dead, right?” she asks Lucas. “Your heart doesn’t beat at all?”

“No,” he answers. “It doesn’t.”

“Okay, then it just might work.”

“I’m interested,” Lucas says and puts an arm around me.

Melinda sits in an armchair next to the couch and leans in. “We came across this book a few years ago on a hunt. Alchemy, we think. It’s…it’s confusing. From what we were able to translate, there’s a spell or formula or whatever to make a golden box thing that will hold spirits.” She gets her phone from her pocket and flips through her photos. “There were notes written in the margin in German, which we were able to translate with no issues. Whoever had the book before tried the spell and it didn’t work.”

She hands her phone to Lucas. “Does that language look familiar? It’s not the best photo. From what I was able to Google search, it’s a mix of a few languages, and some of those symbols are from unknown origins.”

“Some of this is Arabic,” Lucas says, zooming in on the photo. “And these are hieroglyphs.”

“Where did you find the book?” I ask while Lucas inspects the photo.

“In this creepy temple filled with dead bodies. It was like they'd aged fifty years overnight and left to rot for a week, but everything happened in the course of twelve hours.”

“Alchemy is all about trying to extend life. We learn about it at the Academy. No one has come close to finding the Elixir of Life, and it’s dangerous to mix random shit together and then consume it.”

“These people didn’t get that memo. They didn’t seem to think anything through, really, because on the next page, I think I translated things enough to know they thought they could capture spirits or energy and use it to stay young forever. And according to the notes the German alchemist wrote, the fatal flaw was whatever they summoned attached to and then drained their life force.”

“Hence the rapid aging and rotting,” I note.

“Exactly.”

“Since we can’t send demons to Hell, you want to extract it from the werewolf and then trap it?” Lucas hands Melinda her phone back.

“It sounds overly simplified when you say it like that, but it was a thought.”

“Trapping demonic spirits in inanimate objects isn’t a new concept,” I tell them both. “I have demonic ashes in a jar in the basement, though that was a totally different scenario.” That particular demon could resurrect itself, and I was able to sweep up the ashes and put them in an enchanted jar before it had the chance to. Without the ability to resurrect, the demon will stay as-is. “Do you still have access to this book?”

Melinda nods. “It’s in a storage locker in Chicago. I can send Easton to get it.”

“That would work. Have him send me pictures of this spell, and I’ll see if Tabatha and Ruby can use parts of it to create something strong enough to hold this demon. The kid won’t last much longer.”

“Werewolves are stronger than the average human.” Lucas runs his fingers up and down my arm. “He’ll be able to hold on until we figure this out.”

“You really think so?” I ask softly, needing Lucas’s brutal honesty right now.

“Between alchemy, witchcraft, and your dashing immortal husband, I think we can figure something out. That’s what we do.”

I tip my head up and smile at Lucas, heart swelling in my chest. “That is what we do.” I give myself just a moment to sit in the comfort of Lucas’s embrace and then get up, going over to Noah. “Hey. How are you feeling?”

“Confused,” the kid tells me. His mom still has her arms wrapped around him. “And hungry.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Thanks for, uh, helping. I remember glimpses of everything.”

“If the demon did anything while he was in control, don’t blame yourself.”

Noah’s brows pinch together, and he nods. “I’ll try not to.”

Kristy and Brock come in with food, and we all give the wolves some space while they eat. Once we’re in the hall outside the library, I fill everyone in on Melinda’s idea.

“How are you holding up?” Tabatha asks me.

“Exhausted,” I admit, not seeing the point in saying anything otherwise. “You guys have to be as well.”

“Yes, and I think it would be wise for some of us to return home and rest,” she says. “Evander will be here soon, so I will stay. Everyone else, go home and we will regroup in the morning. I fear this may be the calm before the storm, and we all need to be prepared.” She gets a pained look on her face. “Paimon may be trapped in Hell, but I don’t think it was detrimental to his plans.”

“Why?” I ask.

“I’m not sure, but it was the way the demon spoke.” She shakes her head. “Demons lie, I know. Your gran.” She directs her attention to the twins. “I know she’s retired and doesn’t like to get mixed up with anything dark, but whatever Paimon is planning is going to affect us all.”

“She’s visiting at the house this weekend,” Nicole says. “We’ll tell her.”

“Ruby,” Tabatha starts. “Go back to the Academy and see what you can find on transferring a demon out of a living body. There are several volumes on Alchemy as well. If you’d like to assign extra credit to our senior honors students, they can verify what’s in the book Melinda found against what we have on file.”

“On it,” Ruby replies. “I can think of three students who would jump at that opportunity.”

“Are you returning to Chicago?” Tabatha asks Melinda.

“Yeah. I’ll still send the photos right away, but if you want us to, Easton and I can come back.”

“That may not be a bad idea.” Tabatha raises her eyebrows.

“I’ll stay for the first shift with you,” Kristy says, eyeing Brock.

“You guys can all go,” I tell everyone. “Lucas and I can handle it from here. I’m sure we can even get Eliza in on demon-sitting duty.” I look through the house, seeing her zooming around as she takes down the shower decorations.

“You need to go upstairs and take a nap,” Tabatha says sternly.

“I’m okay.”

“You’re six months pregnant.” She gives me her best I’m your mother, don’t question me look. “You’ve been to Hell and back today, and we all know I’m not saying that figuratively.”

“Okay,” I relent, too tired to put up a fight. I walk the others out and feel a little bit of relief to have the house almost to myself again.

“I’m going to talk to Noah,” I tell Tabatha, Kristy, and Lucas. “If he can give me any clue to who this demon is, we’ll have a better chance of pulling him out without hurting the kid.”

“Hey, Noah,” I call, going into the library. He's finished his food and is sitting next to the salt line. His mom is on the floor next to him. Alex is perched on the edge of the couch, and Brock is looking at the various books I have shelved in the library. “Feeling any better?”

“Now that I’ve eaten, yeah. Thank you again. I mean…you don’t even know us.”

“It’s what I do.” I telekinetically scoot a chair over and take a seat. “I want to keep helping you, and knowing who this demon is that we’re dealing with will make it easier. Did you hear a name or anything that could give us any sort of clue?”

Noah shakes his head. “No. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Think back to when it first possessed you. Sometimes they say their names before they force themselves into you, which sounds so rapey.” I shudder. “Or maybe you got a vision of some sort of sigil?”

Noah closes his eyes. “No. It’s like…it’s like my memory is blank. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” I lean back, and Binx jumps up in my lap, rubbing his head against mine. Silence falls over the room, and my eyes start to feel heavy. Binx lets me know Evander is here and shadows away to open the door for him, with Tabatha following.

“Where is the bathroom?” Alex asks.

“I’ll show you,” Kristy tells him. “It’s a big house.”

“Yeah, no joke.”

“Do you want anything, my love?” Lucas rests his hands on my shoulders, massaging my stiff muscles.

“Your daughter really wants me to eat more pasta.”

Bending over, Lucas puts his lips to my neck. “If that’s what she wants, then that’s what she’ll get. Do you want anything else?”

“Cranberry juice, and thanks.” Resting both hands on my stomach, I lean back and close my eyes while I wait for my food.

“Noah,” Alyssa says, sounding alarmed. “Noah!”

“What’s wrong?” Brock rushes to his brother.

“Wait!” I say, but it’s too late. His steps on the salt line, breaking the circle.