Between (38 page)

Tasha pushed him back and held him before his hand reached the handle. Surprised by her strength, he halted, trying to grasp what had just happened. Before he could react, Elliot swung over in a straddling position and pinned Austin’s arms. He tried to set himself free, but they were stronger.

“
Whoa, ladies. Is this because I didn’t want to dance?” He chuckled nervously, trying to stay calm as he planned his escape. “Why don’t we go back to the dance floor? I promise to give you the time of your life,” he flirted.

“
We’re going to have a little fun before we suck you up,” Elliot mocked.

“
Hmmm…under normal circumstances, being sucked up may sound pleasing, but I wonder what demons mean by that?”

“
You shall see,” she said, giving an evil grin.

“
At least tell me what kind of demon you are,” Austin asked calmly, but he was panicking, trying to buy some time.

“
We’re called soul eaters,” she hissed.

“
Soul eaters,” he repeated. “You really don’t want my soul. It’s not very clean.”

“
You talk too much for someone who is about to face death,” Elliot said and moved on him.

“
WAIT! Before you do whatever you want to do, who are you working for?” Austin requested.

“
Why should we tell you?”

“
Since I’m going to die anyway, at least give me the name I shall revenge on after I’m dead.”

“
You need to look toward your own.” Without any further delay, Elliot gave him the most menacing smile. Then her mouth opened wide, ten times human capability, and enclosed his face, inhaling his breath. Austin’s body desperately shook as his legs frantically kicked from their monstrous grip. Somehow, he managed to slam Tasha against the door and wrap his leg around her neck. With his head still inside Elliot’s mouth, he tightened his thighs and caused Tasha to become unconscious.
One down
, he thought. Almost unconscious himself, he stuck his fingers inside Elliot’s mouth.

The demon’s mouth felt cold, sticky and slimy. His hand clenched the sides of its lips. Austin tugged and pulled, producing all the strength he could give at this weakened moment. Triumphantly, he pulled away. “Tribuo mihi thy…” he said quickly, asking for his sword. But before he could say the word sword, Elliot managed to lunge at him again.

He couldn’t fight anymore. The demon drew the strength from his soul.
What was I thinking
, he thought. His instincts told him something was wrong and he didn’t follow through. For this mistake, he would face death today. Images of his mother, Patrick, Holly and Claudia flashed through his mind. Then his body went limp to the darkness.

After the dance, they dropped off Kristina and headed back to Claudia’s home. When they got there, Holly, Vivian, Caleb, Michelle and Gracie were waiting for them in Claudia’s room.

“
Missed us that much?” Davin jeered. But when they were stoic in their expression, Davin knew something was wrong and he stopped talking.

“
What’s wrong?” Michael asked worriedly. “Something happened to Austin?”

Claudia’s breath stopped short, like someone had just punched her in her gut.

“
Austin is missing,” Michelle snapped.

“
What do you mean, missing? He’s probably somewhere flirting with the ladies,” Michael suggested.

“
No, he’s not,” Holly stated. “There’s been a lot of demon activity in Black Velvet. We know that Austin was last seen there,” Holly explained.

“
By whom?” Michael asked.

“
Jake, the bartender.”

“
He went alone?” Claudia asked.

“
It’s not unusual. Austin likes that kind of crowd. That’s his escape from reality,” Holly continued. “Anyway, when we couldn’t contact him,
we
decided to go to the night club.”

Michael looked at Vivian and Caleb. They gave him nervous smiles and shrugged their shoulders, knowing Michael disapproved.

“
So, instead of finding Austin, guess who we found?” They all followed the line of Holly’s gaze. “That’s right. The one and only,” Holly said proudly and opened the closet door. There lay Vickie, the shoe sales lady from Brand Name Shoes For Less. She was bound with the golden Divine cuff and her mouth was sealed with silver duct tape. Without a second to lose, Claudia stood behind Michael, recalling that dreadful shoes shopping experience.

Davin squatted in front of Vicki. “Hmmm…she looks harmless.” Then he swiftly ripped the tape off. The demon hissed so loudly and unexpectedly at Davin from the pain he’d just caused that Davin jerked back in surprise. “Whoa…what is she?”

“
Why are you surprised? What do you think she is…an angel?” Holly said sarcastically. “And why did you peel the tape off?”

“
To ask her questions…why else?” Davin fired back.

“
That’s enough. We’re wasting time.” Michael looked at Vickie square in the eye. “Where is Austin?”

“
Why should I tell you?” she snapped, sounding like a man.

“
Whoaaa, she’s a he or he’s a she?” Davin questioned.

“
It’s Nicholas Cain. He left the other body and took over this one,” Michael informed Davin and turned to Vickie. “Unless you want me to kill you, you better start talking,”

“
Austin and his girl friends are at the Specus,” he said with a menacing smile.

“
We tried to get him to talk before you came along. Why is he telling you now?” Holly questioned. “I don’t like this one bit. It may be a trap.”

“
Whether it’s a trap or not, he’s there. We need to go,” Michael said, urgently.

“
Better not wait too long, he won’t make it,” the demon teased, but they ignored her.

“
Of course we do. What I meant was, we need to inform the Elders. We need back up just in case Aliah is there, so we’ll need the watchers too,” Holly stated.

“
They’re going to rip him to pieces,” the demon said again.

Claudia squeezed Michael’s hand in fear that the demon’s words may be true.

“
Fine. One of us can go tell the Elders while we go after Austin.”

“
I’ll send Michelle and Gracie.” Holly instructed the girls and turned to Vickie. “What do

we do with her or him or whatever it is?”

“
Keep her alive. We may be able to negotiate,” Michael instructed.

“
Good idea,” Holly agreed and turned to Vickie once more. “And you…” She placed the tape back on her mouth. “Just shut up!”

Chapter Thirty

The Specus was easily reachable being that they knew the exact location since they had been there before. But when they transported, they ended up at the entrance and not inside like before. The alkins and Holly carefully entered. Their steps were quiet, light as a feather, leaving no footprints on slightly muddied ground. Caleb and Davin glided ahead with their swords, while Michael held Claudia’s hand. Vivian and Holly cautiously walked sideways, keeping Nicholas between them. Holding their weapons with the other hand, they would occasionally pivot, looking for any demonic movements.

It’s too quiet
, Davin thought as his heart pounded faster with every step.

“
What’s that smell?” Caleb whispered. “Do you smell it?”

“
It stinks like Hell. Though I wouldn’t know what Hell smells like,” Davin replied.

“
No, it smells like rotting flesh,” Caleb said again, sniffing.

“
Looks like you smell yourself,” Davin laughed softly.

Caleb furrowed his brows. “Ha ha. No, seriously.” Everyone stopped and watched Caleb sniff again as he turned his nose towards the wall of the cave. “It’s coming from the wall. It looks dewy.” Grimacing, he brought his sword closer. “Lux,” he said to the sword and it glowed brighter.

“
Do you hear that?” Caleb asked.

“
Yeah, I hear you talking nonsense,” Davin chuckled.

“
Shhh!” Vivian hushed Davin from behind.

Davin shrugged his shoulders as he watched Caleb become mesmerized by the sound he said he heard.

Caleb paid no attention to Davin’s remark as he leaned closer. Curiosity got the best of him and he slowly moved his index finger closer.
There is something
magical
, he thought. The whispers of the melody sounded so peaceful and pleasant, luring him in, hypnotizing.

Michael felt uncomfortable with Caleb’s findings and couldn’t understand why Caleb was the only one to smell and hear things. They all had the same strength of keenness of smell and hearing, if not more so in Michael. Seeing Caleb’s eyes glued to the wall made Michael extremely uncomfortable. He felt something evil which was confirmed when he saw Claudia’s necklace turn black. Just as he was about to stop Caleb, he knew he was too late.

Caleb’s finger released an angelic energy, only he didn’t realize he had liberated the demons that Aliah had placed many life times ago. Aliah had placed their bodies there in hopes of one day releasing them to join his legion, but he was unable to unlock them because he was not in pure form.

Unexpectedly, a hand reached out, grabbing Caleb and pulling him into them. Davin and Michael held Caleb for dear life. Struggling, unable to free Caleb, Michael swung his sword and managed to release him.

“
Must you touch?” Davin scolded. “You almost got gelled.”

Caleb exhaled heavily in relief, giving Davin an apologetic look.