A Stitch on Time 5 (30 page)

“With Roger at the wheel, I can make it before then.” She seemed to have an air of confidence she hadn’t possessed when we first met and she’d been a desperate client.

We arranged the time and meeting place.

When I hung up and lay in bed beside Papan, I hoped we would rendezvous in our sunflower field of dreams.

Chapter Sixteen

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Carleen asked for what felt like the fiftieth time. She kept glancing over her shoulder, as if she expected someone to bust us in the act of conducting an illegal summoning after trespassing on private property—which was exactly what we were doing.

“I’m positive.” I turned to Lavie. “Have you finished the summoning circle?”

“It’s all done.” She stuck the ziplock bag containing everything she’d used into her backpack.

A week had passed since the night that changed both of our lives, but I still felt like I was on pins and needles. Roe and the catchers he’d rescued were settling into a new life, and I was stalling to give him an answer about my business decision.

I missed my sister so much and her first exam was at the end of the week, so I was desperate to get her back.

Not to mention that I felt the loss of Oren and Ebony deep within my soul, but Lavie was raised by Sally so her pain was just as raw. She’d even hired a demon called Carson to tend the shop because she couldn’t deal with it yet. She was staying at my place, where she could go through her personal motions of grief without the constant reminders at home. Saul helped her a lot, though I wasn’t sure if they’d made the move into more-than-friends territory.

Things with Papan were great and he was mostly staying with me too, though he went back and forth between my house and his ruined apartment. Almost everything he owned had been destroyed or torn apart, and I knew the police hadn’t done it while searching his place. I was certain Vixen was responsible. His lease would end mid-next month, and I had an idea I wanted to broach.

I had a full house, complete with a vampire hidden in a secret room.

“Sierra.” A light tap on my elbow made me jump. “Hey, are you ready?”

I looked into Lavie’s hazel eyes and nodded. “I’m more than ready. I promised you both that I would find a way to cure your condition, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Lavie pulled the hoodie over her head and dropped it on top of her backpack, leaving her in a white wifebeater and baggy jeans. The demonic seeds caused the fabric to stretch as they writhed beneath. When they flowed under her arms, the scars expanded. She seemed nervous.

Carleen stripped off a thin cardigan, leaving her in a brown camisole and tailored gray pants. The single demonic seed had already multiplied and I could identify at least three more writhing under her skin.

The three of us stepped into the summoning circle. This wasn’t just to ensure we reached the right place, but also to keep us—especially them—safe.

I sucked in a deep breath and held my hands out—Lavie took my left, Carleen my right. I exhaled slowly, letting the air flow out as I welcomed my dark patch. The empty lot that used to be the Hocking house faded to black. Carleen gasped, but I gripped her tight.

“Whatever you do, don’t let go.” They both knew that once I released them, they would need to hold on to each other. I wasn’t an expert, but after slipping into Legion’s patch, I was willing to try. Besides, I’d successfully opened several patches via my dark patch with Burr’s assistance. “Hold on.”

We held hands until my power willed the demonic seeds invading their bodies down to their palms. I felt the creatures writhing hard and fast, as if they were trying to tear out of their skin. My hands lit up pink and our surroundings changed. We were no longer closed in by the dark walls of my patch. We stood in the middle of a bleak place with thunder clouds and continual lightning flashes above our heads. The gray clouds sped along the sky, but I ignored them to concentrate on the massive cliffs and boulders boxing us in. Several pools of boiling crimson slurped nearby, fed by the crucified people secured upside down. They all had black holes where their eyes used to be, and their mouths made noises their missing tongues couldn’t form into words.

Their blood fueled this land in a similar way as the shadows had used children’s essence.

I’d seen this terrifying place before—through the eyes of the demon inside the Prevette house. My journey began inside that kitchen, with Father Luke. The house was also situated close to where Roger Hocking summoned a demon, which infected him with a demonic seed he passed onto his wife.

These crucified humans were eternal prisoners—the stupid ones who’d dared summon these demons. I didn’t agree with such a harsh fate, but what I
really
didn’t like was any unsuspecting woman contracting a demonic seed.

The first demon slithered out from between two boulders and approached the circle. It screeched when its flabby body reached us but couldn’t get past the circle’s protection.

I slid my hands from Lavie and Carleen, and they gripped each other.

The faint outline of Roger solidified, behind his wife.

“Take care of them,” I said.

He nodded and I trusted him to watch over his wife and Lavie, because I needed to temporarily break the protective circle and leave. I rubbed the chalk with the toe of my sneaker and stepped outside.

Lavie’s joined hand dragged Carleen to the ground as she used her other to fill in the chalk I’d removed before any of the demons noticed. When it sealed them inside with a pop, I moved as far away as I could.

The farther I wandered, the more demons appeared. They looked like blubber sliding over rocks, but weren’t as big inside their own patch as the one I’d faced in the Prevette kitchen. A multitude of hollow eyes tracked my every step, trying to understand what I was doing and why I would willingly walk among them.

I strode around another huge boulder that blocked the circle from view, and stopped. I focused on the tortured souls bleeding for all eternity. After the blood was leached, their essence would trickle out. Their spirits were too far gone to save, but what I was about to do would end their torture.

These filthy demons deserved to die. I was now their judge and executioner.

“Come to me,” I said to the nonspeaking demons. They communicated via visions projected in their hollow eyes. Several tried to draw me in, but I’d already been forced to see the show inside that kitchen months ago.

I opened my arms while keeping a close eye on the fleshy demons. I sensed their greedy desire to devour and claim me, yet they hesitated to draw too close.

“Come on!”

The first demon smacked into my chest before slithering in through my mouth. Others followed—so many I couldn’t keep tabs of where they were coming from, or how they were getting in. Some seemed to seep into my skin, burrowing into my bone marrow. I felt full to capacity, swelling as much as their bodies, while trying to accommodate these demons. I felt full, but couldn’t strike yet. Not until they were
all
taking residence inside.

As soon as these towering demons entered my body, they became nothing more than writhing snakes. The skin on my arms and hands ballooned as the demonic seeds immersed themselves so deep I felt they might soon tear me limb from limb. I was glad Lavie and Carleen wouldn’t have to deal with this fate for much longer.

When the last few raced up my nose, they squirmed into my brain. The pain was excruciating and made my head feel like it was about to burst. I struggled to focus on my surroundings, to make sure they were all contained.

I closed my eyes and was barely able to make my right hand touch my left because my skin was so swollen.

As soon as the connection was made, I flung my arms open as wide as I could and the demonic seeds rushed out of me like bits of flapping skin. The earth quaked beneath my feet as they continued to blast out of me. I tried to take a step, but something was wrong. As each demon disintegrated out of my body, I felt as if I was losing more of myself. They were somehow tearing me up inside.

I collapsed to my knees and when I looked up, found Jacinta there. The misty Legion dragon was wrapped around her body. Her skin was blue, as if the demoniac was squeezing the life out of her.

“Help me!” she screamed.

“No one can help you,” the dragon said. “You will suffer for what you did.”

Jacinta pointed at me. “It was her.”

I glared at the necromancer while fighting the pain of having the last of the demons slop to the ground. I might not want to save Jacinta the eternal torture Legion had planned, but if I didn’t take care of these two now, the dragon might find a way back. Yet the thought of destroying a dragon that had swallowed my sister made me uneasy. Still, I had to end this. So I extended my left hand and as soon as Jacinta’s fingertips came into contact with mine, I sucked both woman and dragon into my body and spat them out of existence.

My body exploded with them. The pain in my brain culminated into one unbearable moment. I wasn’t sure if I was alive or dead, but I was
somewhere
.

I pressed my hands against the ground to sit up, but my fingers went through the earth. My hands and arms were translucent, yet I wasn’t dead.

I floated upwards, astral projecting.

“Sierra,”
a melodic, female voice said.

I swam around and came face to face with Diana. No, it was Hecate. She looked the same way she had while standing in the abandoned part of town wearing her lovely blue dress. Instead of a lantern, she now held a witch’s bottle. Her violet eyes were filled with knowledge.

“Hecate,” I breathed out her name, settling back into my body.

“You destroyed another league of demon.”

I nodded. “My friends, I left them—”

“You’re always so worried about everyone else,” Hecate said with a shake of her head. “Your grandmother was smart to bestow the strongest of gifts on you.”

“Where am I?” We stood in the middle of what reminded me of a surveillance room. Oddly shaped fabric strips in varying colors were pinned to the infinite walls, forming projector-like screens. Some bits were huge, others no bigger than scraps, but every piece was stitched together like a patchwork quilt and forecasted images from different worlds. “What is this place?”

“This is where we work,” Burr said, appearing beside me. He had a cheesy grin on his face. “Welcome to the Patch Watchdog.” He pointed a chubby finger at a graying square no bigger than a notebook, which was smoldering at the edges. “This is the patch you just destroyed. Soon it will burn completely, and when that happens it’s imperative that I close the gap between the patches. You know what they say—a stitch on time saves nine.”

“I thought it was
in time
.”

He shrugged. “Either way, we need to ensure no long-term damage is done to either side. Thanks to you, we can watch the progress.”

I didn’t know what to say, but needed to get back to my friends. “How did I get here?”

“You’re here to safeguard your gift,” Hecate said.

I turned to look at her. “I don’t understand what you mean.”

A smile curved her lips and the Strophalos between her eyes flashed. “By destroying the patch of the seeds, you not only saved your friends and obliterated these harmful parasites—you also saved yourself, and your sister.”

I glanced at the witch’s bottle. “How did I save myself?”

“You’ve inherited a great power and without sealing it, others might be tempted to steal it from you in the future.” She ran her fingertips down my arm, leaving a warm trail along my skin. When she traced the tattoo on the back of my left hand, it lit up and a burning sensation flowed over me. “No one can touch your gift now, because it’s sealed inside you.” She kissed my cheek. “Nobody can take what is only yours.”

Her fiery touch made something inside me click into place. What the
Obscurus
put me through to snatch this power would never be repeated. The Goddess had just made sure of that.

“You are welcome here any time,” Burr said, beaming. “Just go to North Serene Hills and the path will open up at the crossroads.”

“But it’s not going to be abandoned much longer,” I said, thinking of the construction crews.

“Didn’t you hear?” he asked, with a bright smile. “Regalia filed for bankruptcy and were bought out by a company called Tailors Inc. Development ceased immediately.”

“
You
bought it?”

He nodded, physically beaming.

“Sierra, time is running out.” Hecate pointed at the half-smoldered patch. “You need to get back.” She held the blue bottle out to me. “Take this with you. This is your reward.”

I stared at the bottle. Before taking it, I pulled something out of my own pocket and said, “Only if you and Burr promise to keep this safe.” I handed her Mace’s
Ecliptic
ring and she closed her fingers around it.

“Agreed, now go.”

I grabbed the bottle and was about to say something when she pressed her palm to my forehead and the world turned pink. I blinked, trying to focus on the faces that appeared above me. My lungs were working, even if every breath hurt.

“Is she dead?” someone asked.

“No, she’s got a pulse.”

“Sierra, come on, wake up.” The third voice shocked me into recognition. Willow leaned over me. Her face was dirty and her clothes torn, but it was my sister. I sat up and held her so tightly she whispered, “I can’t breathe.”

“I’m sorry.” I let go. “Where did you come from?”

She shrugged. “I can’t remember anything after the ritual. I thought I was dead.”

I patted her hair. Hecate’s words echoed inside my mind.
“This is your reward.”
I glanced down to find the blue bottle split in two. Hecate and Burr had kept their word.

“Sierra, we thought you were dead,” Lavie said, crouching down beside me. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “What happened?”

“You left us in the circle and then meat and gore rained down all over the place,” Lavie said with obvious distaste. “Then you were screaming and the place started crumbling.”

“How did we get out?”

Carleen said, “The earth crumbled beneath our feet, we fell and landed here.”

I looked around. We were back where we’d started—at the demolished site of the Hocking house. “Hold on a second,” I said, staring at both of them. “If the patch was destroyed and we’re back here…” I swallowed. “Did it work?”