A Demon's Desire (14 page)

“When this is over …”

“What do you want with Emma?” Tristan asked.
He closed the door behind him and loosened the boundaries on his
darkness. It stretched, ready.

Feeling it, the stranger straightened to face
him directly, dark eyes narrowing. “I don’t give two shits about
her. A friend, however, does.”

“She’s mine.”

“I won’t let you ruin my plan, blood or
not.”

“Your plan?”

“To return home to our father. The bitch
Olivia cracked the gateway to Hell. I can’t enter until …” Aware he
said too much, his twin fell silent. “We can both go home to
Father.”

A different kind of coldness swept through
Tristan as understanding of his twin’s intention became clear.
Human sacrifices.
He’d heard of the practice among those
obsessed with devil worshipping.

“Why Emma?” he asked. “Why not just
anyone?”

“Olivia fell into my lap with her sights set
on Emma. She’s taking a life for a life. I needed a spell powerful
enough to give me what I want.”

Tristan frowned, suddenly wishing he could
speak to his mother about the dark magic. Before he could ask
anything else, the shadows around him stirred, and he was slung
into the wall. The blow made his mind explode in lights. The
shadows dragged him down. Too startled to respond, Tristan
struggled against the shadows, before his twin charged him and
knocked him flat. His head spun, and his blurred vision showed the
man raising his clenched fist for another blow.

He slumped to the floor, unconscious.

* * *

She couldn’t sense what he did but was made
nervous by his own sudden unease. Tristan could handle anything.
She exited the car and circled around to the driver’s seat. He’d
left the keys in the steering column, and she started the car.
Feeling anxious, she focused on finding her favorite radio
station.

She didn’t see the stranger approach until
he’d whipped open her car door. Startled, Emma stared up at a man
who looked much like Tristan, except his hair was long, his nose
was pierced, and his eyes lacked any sort of human warmth. Shadows
didn’t cling to him as they did Tristan; they swirled, cold and
menacing.

“Olivia’s waiting for you,” the man said.

She reached for the door but he caught her
arm in a tight grip and pulled her out of the car. Emma slammed one
fist on the horn before she was out of reach. The snowman stood
waiting with another shadowy creature in black. Fear exploded
within her, and she opened her mouth to call for Tristan.

The man who looked like Tristan shoved her to
her knees before she could make a squawk then pushed her onto her
stomach with a foot planted in her back. He forced a gag around her
head and tied her hands before hooding her.

Tristan!
She cried out to him with her
mind.

One of the three picked her up and tossed her
in the backseat of a car. She heard the engine start and squirmed
in the cramped area, panicked. And then they were driving. The car
rocked back and forth as they turned out of the community to reach
the main roads.

Tristan didn’t come. Was it possible the
twin-like man and his two shadow-men had done something to him?

They drove for a while, long enough for her
tears to dry. The interior of the hood darkened as afternoon turned
to evening. Renewed fear gripped her at being faced with the dark
once more. The smooth sound of freeway beneath the car turned again
to rocking as it left the highway for an unknown destination. The
car halted, and awareness overtook her again. While traveling tied
up in the backseat of a car was miserable, whatever awaited her was
worse.

Someone hauled her out by her feet. The hood
tore, and fire tore down her cheek as it scraped the rough asphalt
and then dirt. Tears of pain filled her eyes. Whoever dragged her
finally took mercy on her and lifted her up a set of three stairs
then into a house smelling of marijuana. She peered through the rip
in the hood as they passed a great room lit by a quiet television
and through a kitchen that smelled of cinnamon laced with sulfur. A
door slammed open, and they were descending into a basement. The
scent of sulfur grew more intense until it burned her nose. It
smelled and felt like the basement was on fire.

Tristan’s twin slung her down on hard cement
and pulled off her hood. Her gaze went first to the strange crack
emanating heat in the wall, behind which fire glowed. Shadow
creatures shifted in the poorly lit basement.

He hauled her up and steadied her. Her eyes
fell to the sickly figure of a woman before him. If not for the
bright eyes, she never would’ve recognized Olivia. The once
beautiful woman had shrunk and grown gaunt. Her skin was patchy and
her eyes ringed with black. Her hair and teeth had become
yellow.

“At last!” the black witch breathed. “I have
you at last.” Her eyes glowed with madness. Emma couldn’t look
away, horrified by the change in the woman. Olivia drew nearer,
raised a hand, and slapped her hard.

“We won’t have much time,” Tristan’s twin
said.

“Now you’re the jealous bitch,” Olivia said,
oblivious. She gripped and ungripped the knife in her hand.
“Jeffrey has made me more beautiful than you ever were. Adam won’t
leave me this time.”

Confused, Emma looked from the hideous woman
in front of her to Tristan’s twin, whom she called Jeffrey. There
was ridicule in his gaze as he took in the black witch. He took
Olivia’s hands and drew her toward him.

“You’re right, Olivia. I’ve never seen anyone
as beautiful as you, and neither has Emma,” he purred. His gaze
went to Emma and sharpened in warning.

Emma chewed the gag. They were both crazy!
Olivia, who had no idea Jeffrey was destroying her, and Jeffrey,
who was some sort of half-demon like Tristan. Unlike Tristan,
Jeffrey had no ounce of human mercy in his hard gaze.

“We don’t have much time,” he said again.
“And you want Adam here soon, don’t you?”

“My sweet Adam will be with me again soon,”
Olivia said and faced Emma again. “And this time, no one will come
between us.” She raised the knife toward Emma’s face and took a
step forward.

“Of course not,” Jeffrey agreed. “You’ll have
him for all eternity. But we must follow the spell.” He pushed
Olivia’s hand away from Emma. “I’ll tie her down to the altar while
you prepare yourself. You want to look perfect for when Adam
returns.”

Olivia’s face turned from anger to joy at the
mention of Adam. She handed him the knife and whirled without
another word, heading up the stairs. Alone with the half-demon and
the shadows, Emma took a step back.

Jeffrey faced her and took in her features
with his sharp gaze. “I see why my brother claims you as his. You
are his opposite.” By the flare of hate in his eyes, any connection
to Tristan would only make her life worse.

He circled her, knife in hand, and she moved
away from him until her back hit the wall.

“Pretty, strong.” He moved in front of her
again. “Pure. The things I would do to you. You’re not as beautiful
as Olivia when I found her. I could give you anything, beauty,
wealth …” He paused. What felt like a cool breeze passed through
her mind. “I’ll kill her for you. Even I wouldn’t target a
child.”

She shook her head.

“She’ll go after your whole family once she’s
done with you. I can help you stop her.” He maneuvered her until
her back was to him and sliced her hands free and then her gag.
“Tristan can go back to the attic where he hides. I’ll leave him
alone and make sure your sister and mother are well cared for.
You’re broke, Emma, and your sister has spent her savings on
doctors for that brat.” He leaned close to her, whispering into her
ear. “I’ll fix everything, Emma.”

Emma squeezed her eyes closed, terrified of
moving. Fear for Sissy and Amber made her chest tight and her
breathing difficult. He said all the right words, but the creature
behind her would do to her what he’d done to Olivia. He’d destroy
Tristan and her family while deluding her into believing the
opposite.

“No,” she whispered.

“You’d rather I tie you down next to Adam’s
corpse, drain your blood, then slaughter everyone you love? Because
I will, Emma.” His voice was still soft. His words made her
gasp.

“Tristan-- ” she started.

Jeffrey snatched her neck and dragged her
across the basement. Light and dark spun as she struggled to stay
on her feet. He thrust her downward and held her. Instinctively,
her hands shot out to brace herself. One hit a cool cement slab and
the other …

“Oh, god!” she cried, focusing on the
decomposed body Jeffrey held her inches from. Her left hand had
landed in what had been Adam’s thigh. She flung it free, near
hyperventilating despite the scent of decomposition.

“This is what you choose?” Jeffrey demanded,
pushing her closer. She strained to keep herself upright and from
toppling into Adam. “Answer me!”

“I won’t do it!” she shouted. The air
shimmered with his anger. Jeffrey hauled her up and shoved her down
hard on the altar next to Adam. He tied her hands and arms
spread-eagled.

“Before this is over, you’ll choose me,”
Jeffrey snarled. “I’ll make sure of it!”

Her chest heaved in fear, and tears leaked
from her eyes. As she heard him storm up the stairwell she closed
her eyes, too aware of how close she was to Adam’s body.

Tristan!

Chapter Six

The shadows kept him trapped in
unconsciousness until warmth flared through him. He jolted awake,
blinking his mother’s fuzzy gray head into focus. Morning light
filtered in through the curtains.

“I warned you, son,” his mother said.

Morning. Emma. Tristan bolted to his feet and
faced his mother. She rose from her seat on her haunches and sat
calmly on the couch, ignoring the emotions boiling within him. He
could hear Emma’s voice in his head. She was hurt and
terrified.

“That’s all you’re going to say?” he charged.
“Nothing about keeping the secret of a brother?”

“I hoped you’d never meet him.”

“Mother, you can see the future. You must’ve
known!”

“Believe it or not, I’m not omniscient,” she
replied brusquely. “I saw there was a chance, but there’s a chance
at winning the lotto, too, son.”

Furious, Tristan sat down across from her.
“Tell me everything.”

“There’s no time for everything,” she said.
“Your Emma needs help, soon.”

“Then tell me what I need to know to face
your son.”

“Don’t call him that. He’s your father’s son,
not mine. You already know the answer. You must use what you’ve
suppressed all these years. You control but a fraction of your dark
powers. The rest you’ve buried and must free.”

“You make it sound just that easy.” He ran a
hand through his hair. “I don’t even know if I can anymore.”

“Trust me, the darkness will call to you once
you’re there. Your problem won’t be tapping into it. Your problem
will be coming back from the edge once you do.” The worry in her
voice drew his gaze. She suddenly looked haggard and tired. “I
brought this upon you, Tristan. I am so very sorry, son. Your
father was a demon handler, a breed of black warlock who could
control demons. I was too young to know. You and your brother were
twins. I saw evil in both of you, but I saw your path was not one
of darkness.”

“You chose to keep me,” he said, both pitying
and angry at the small woman. “Did you throw my brother to the
wolves?”

“No,” she said firmly. “Jeffrey was taken
from me by his father before your first birthday. I never saw him
again, except when I would peek into your futures.”

Tristan!
Emma’s frantic calls were
becoming more desperate.

“We’ll detangle our sordid family history
later. I need to find Emma,” he said and rose. “He said he wants to
go home to Father, and he said he needed Emma for ...” He thought
hard. “…life for a life. Human sacrifice?”

His mother was quiet for a moment, features
pensive. “Life for a life implies he’s raising the dead. It’s a
powerful spell that requires that someone close to the dead must
replace him in the ground. It’s an ancient blood spell, though why
he thinks such a thing will be enough to open the gateway to Hell,
I don’t know.”

“He said the gateway is already open.”

“If it is, it’s only a crack. You and I would
both feel it if the gateway to Hell was open. The spell might be
strong enough to shove it wide open.”

TRISTAN!

“I have to go, Mother,” he said. He started
for the door.

“Wait, son!” she called and followed him to
the door. She fished a small object from her pocket and handed it
to him. “I made this many years ago. It’s a demon handler’s tool.
If you can force the demons into it, toss it into Hell. They can’t
come back without being re-summoned.”

The small, transparent crystal ball was
hollow. He accepted it and met his mother’s gaze again. Worry
creased the lines around her eyes. Softening, Tristan kissed her on
the forehead.

“Don’t worry, Mama. I’ll be fine,” he
said.

“I’ll light a candle for you, son.”

“Better light a few.”

Her gaze flared, a sign he welcomed. Tristan
left. Her car was in the parking lot, running with the door open,
waiting for him. He sighed. His mother knew more than she would
ever say. He sat in the driver’s seat and closed his eyes,
loosening the shadows again. For the first time since defeating it
many years ago, his darkness was given its freedom. It filled him
with warm and cool currents, calmed his mind. Already he could feel
it test his will to control it.

He drove fast to Amber’s apartment and went
straight to Sissy’s room. The walk-in closet was stacked with boxes
along one wall. Tristan closed his eyes and let the darkness guide
him to the object tainted with evil. He flung two boxes off one
stack and dumped the contents of the third until he spotted the
geode. Snatching it, he tore out of the apartment.