Blessed (10 page)

“No thank you. I have everything I need.”

His fake smile fell from his face, and his lip curled away from his perfect and gleaming white teeth.

“Everything you need? That's not true, but I can't get through your blasted shield to find out. Are you sure I can't convince you to give us a try?”

“I, uh, I don't think so.” She shrugged and tried to appear nonchalant. “I don't know if I'll join any side to be honest. Maybe I'll try to forget about all of this and lead a normal life.”

“Now I know you’re lying to me.” He gave an apologetic sigh, but his eyes lit up with glee. “I tried to be nice, I tried to give you a chance, but it looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way.”

She tried to run but found herself sinking into the mud up to her calves. She screamed and struggled to lift her legs, but she was trapped. Terrified, she watched Ron take out something from his pocket. Her shriek cut off in surprise when she saw it was a lancet device, like the kind her diabetic aunt used to test her blood sugar.

Maybe there are gods and they'll have him go into a diabetic coma before he can hurt me.
A hysterical giggle escaped her lips, and the desperate sound scared her.

Ron watched her with an amused expression as he drew some blood from a finger. “Much easier than sticking myself with a pin,” he said in a conversational tone.

Kneeling, Ron sketched some symbols into the dry earth at his feet. He squeezed more blood from his finger onto the design and stepped back, his lips moving with whispered words. A great shudder wracked her body as Ron slapped his hands together with a clap and reality flinched.

The earth began to crumble in on itself as a hole opened, swallowing the design into the darkness. Two great black paws tipped with long, arched claws dug into the dirt at the edge of the hole. The ground where those paws touched smoked as if burning without fire and her mind blanked as she tried to comprehend what she was seeing, what was happening to her.

A great black demon dog lurched out of the ground, its jaw too stuffed with teeth to close properly. It looked to Ron, who spoke to it in an unfamiliar language. A long, red tongue lolled out over its teeth, and it turned to her, a deep growl pouring from its mouth accompanied by a cloud of red tinged steam.

She screamed again and fell as she tried to run, forgetting in her panic that her feet were trapped in the mud. The creature approached her, stopping at the edge of the circle of dry earth.

“Last chance. Come with me and learn about your new gods or become lunch.” Ron moved next to the creature and raised his eyebrows at her.

Wet leaves stuck to her hands as she tried to push herself back. Anger began to replace her fear and she embraced it. All she was trying to do was take a jog in the woods. And now this asshole was threatening her with some dog out of a cheesy horror movie.

“Tick tock, Eliana.”

He said he was sent to convert you. Can't convert you if you're dead. Need to call him on his bluff.

“No thank you,” she said, trying to keep her teeth from chattering.

His eyebrows arched up and back down into a glare. “You stupid bitch. Fine, we'll do it your way. Let's see how many body parts you lose before you change your mind.” He knocked on the air in front of him three times, and the invisible umbrella around her fell.

The demon dog nudged the air with its nose. A massive paw tested the wet ground, and it began to slink toward her. Its movements were odd, as if it had more bones and joints than a normal dog.

Curling her hands into fists in the mud, she fought the urge to scream. The demon got closer, and she could smell its stench now, a combination of sweet rot and bitter bile. Okay, she could get out of this, she could…that thought scattered as the heat rolling off the beast warmed her icy skin.

Out of options, she did something for the first time in her life—she prayed.
Please, if anyone is up there listening, please help me. Gods and Goddesses of Creation, I’m begging for your help. Please!

The mud squelched between her fingers as she tried to claw her way across the wet earth then a sharp whistle pierced the air. Ron and the creature turned to look behind her. A blue foam ball arched over her head as a woman's voice shouted, “Go get it, boy!”

The creature leapt after the ball and snatched it in its jaws. Clear liquid seeped out of the ball as the creature clamped its jaws shut. It howled and tore at its face with its curved claws as it tried to pry the ball off its fangs. The ground fell open beneath its feet, and it plunged, howling, into the abyss. As swiftly as it had opened, the earth rose and filled the fissure.

Eliana's jaw dropped and a hard tremble wracked her. Looking back to Ron, she saw him snarling at whoever was behind her. His shoulders hunched into his body, and with a leap any cheetah would be proud of, he turned and ran down the trail at a blinding speed.

Okay, maybe her idea of running away into the woods wouldn’t have worked.

“Oh my. You're a mess. Here, let me help you.” Soft hands festooned with silver rings grabbed her arm and hauled her out of the mud with surprising strength.

Eliana stared at the older woman with salt and pepper hair holding her arm. She looked oddly familiar, but she couldn’t quite place her.

“Are you okay?” the woman asked as she stared down the trail in the direction that Ron had run. She wore a long blue skirt today with a purple crushed-velvet jacket and her large patchwork bag. In one hand, she had a long yellow string with a series of knots tied in it.

Eliana stood there, taking in deep breaths of air. She began to shiver harder, her teeth chattering like coins rattling in a can. The noise of the forest came back with a noticeable snap, the water dripping off leaves and the chatter of birds sounding like an explosion after the deadly silence. She tried to say something, but all that came out was a choked sob. The fear that she’d been trying to hold back came rushing in and she began to cry in earnest.

The woman clucked her tongue and brushed Eliana's wet hair from her face. “Come with me. Let's get you back to the ranger station and warm you up.”

Fifteen minutes later, Eliana found herself seated in front of a fireplace with a hot cup of black coffee in her hands. The shakes had tapered off to shivers while she washed up in the small bathroom, but the fear remained. She kept looking at the door, wondering if at any moment the man, Ron or whatever his name really was, would reappear.

The older woman added another log to the fire and looked over her shoulder at Eliana. “Feeling better?”

Tugging the rough wool blanket around her shoulders, Eliana said, “Thank you again for saving me. I would have been a goner without your help. I'm sorry I've been so quiet, I'm a little— No, I'm
a lot
freaked out.”

The woman sat across from her and sipped at her tea. “No worries. It's not every day you get attacked by a Barghest. I'm glad I got to you in time. Their bites are loaded with all kinds of nasty bacteria. If they don't eat you alive, you'll die of blood poisoning.”

Eliana closed her eyes, trying to form a coherent though. “Who are you? Haven't I seen you before?”

“My name is Mrs. Bherz, and I'm one of the forest rangers of Panther Hollow, among other things.”

The inside of the forest ranger station reminded Eliana more of a cottage out of a fairytale than an office. Cozy, it had big handmade wood furniture and plants in the windows. A locked gun case next to the wall and a CB unit on the desk disrupted the tranquility of the scene. As did what appeared to be a spear tipped with a razor sharp metal point leaning up against the wall.

Mrs. Bherz tapped her finger against the side of the teacup. She studied Eliana, her dark eyes unreadable and her face carefully blank. “You did see me at the university. I was on patrol that night.”

Sudden recognition filled Eliana and she sat up straighter in the chair. “I saw you in the parking lot at my dorm. You’re the lady that threw that cat toy at me. Why did you do that?”

“Because there was a bogey on the loose. I caught sight of him at the end of the parking lot. I threw the charm at you in case he doubled back and came for you.”

“Uh, it was a charm? I thought it was a cat toy.” Eliana shifted on the chair in her wet shorts. She made a mental note to do an Internet search on bogeys. The list of things she didn't know that could kill her was getting longer by the minute.

Mrs. Bherz laughed and set her teacup down. “You really don't know much about magic, do you? It’s hard to believe you’re so completely ignorant.”

Eliana didn't say anything and picked at the dirt in her nails. Mrs. Bherz didn’t sound exactly complimentary when she said that. In fact, the other woman sounded downright suspicious.

The rain picked back up again and tapped off the tin roof of the ranger station. Mrs. Bherz shifted forward in her chair, her silver earrings swinging in the light of the fire. She studied Eliana closely and she tried to keep from squirming beneath the woman’s heavy gaze.

“The demon dog coming after you today was a Barghest. A nasty English demon, deadly, but not bright.”

“What was that thing you threw at it?”

“Oh, it was a dog toy.” Mrs. Bherz chuckled at Eliana's suspicious look. “I'm not poking fun at you. It was a foam dog toy soaked in holy water.”

Trying not to be obvious about it, Eliana took a deep breath to see if she could detect some kind of psychic scent from Mrs. Bherz, but she didn’t notice anything. Then again she hadn’t smelled anything on the man blocking the running trail either. Maybe they were somehow hiding it from her. Fuck, if that guy wasn’t a Chosen, just a regular person, she wouldn’t stand a chance against a true Destruction Chosen. She was so dead.

She needed to call Aiden. A sudden need to speak with him, to tell him what happened, to see him and hide in his arms filled her and she pated her pocket beneath the blanket to make sure she still had her cell phone with her. “Um, if you’ll excuse me for a second I need to make a phone call.”

“Stay where you are. You aren’t going anywhere until you’ve answered my questions first.” Menace suddenly rolled in almost visible waves from Mrs. Bherz and Eliana wondered what the fuck was going on. “Why was a Satanist attacking you in my forest? He must have wanted something from you. He didn't kill you outright and there was no reason for him to toy with you first. What were you talking about with him?”

“A Satanist?” Eliana squeaked. Mrs. Bherz continued to look at her with a penetrating stare. “I don't know. He kept on saying something about trying to get me to join him. Honestly, I've never even seen a Satanist before.”

Mrs. Bherz continued to look intently at her. It reminded her of her mother's probing look when she thought Eliana was lying, and she fidgeted with her cup. “You weren't trying to make some kind of deal with him? A little helpful curse to take care of a professor failing you or a succubus spell to attract the attention of a certain boy? Or maybe he’d come to collect payment on a past deal you’d made.”

“What? No! I don't even know what a succubus is!”

Something tickled at Eliana’s mind, a weird feeling like her head was being poked at.

“You expect me to believe you? That you don’t know what a succubus is?” Mrs. Bherz shifted in her chair and Eliana had the distinct impression that the woman was about two breaths from trying to kick her ass. “What kind of fool do you take me for? I have ways of making you talk, girl, ways you don’t even want to think about. Stop lying to me.”

“I’m not lying, I don’t know. I was raised as an atheist, I don’t know anything. I just had my first day of the only religious class I’ve ever taken and we’re talking about earth goddesses, not demons.” The other woman gave her an openly disbelieving look. “Check my student file, I’m telling you the truth. I have no idea what the fuck is going on. One minute I’m jogging, the next second some demon dude is attacking me, and now you’re accusing me of…well I have no idea what you’re accusing me of, but I didn’t do anything and you’re pissing me off.”

She didn’t mean to say the last part aloud, but she was getting pissed. This was such bullshit. She didn’t ask for this and she certainly didn’t deserve this antagonistic questioning.

Finally, Mrs. Bherz sighed. “I believe you. You're holding something back, but it's not about the Satanist.”

“I’m telling you the truth.” Eliana curled her toes in her wet shoes and a shudder wracked her muscles at the memory of being stuck in the mud and watching the demon dog approaching her, seeing her death in jaws. “How did you get rid of him? He seemed scared of you.”

Sipping at her tea again as if they were having a normal, civilized conversation, Mrs. Bherz said, “I teach a course on demonology at the university where you're a student. Taking care of demons is what I do. What I live for.”

“Oh,” she mumbled before she drained the last of her coffee. She stood and placed the now-wet blanket across the back of the chair to dry off, eager to get the hell out of here. The other woman seemed to flip flop between anger and calm too quick for Eliana’s liking. “Thank you for saving my life.”

Mrs. Bherz took their empty mugs to the sink and rinsed them out. “My god has his eye on you. I trust his judgment, and he brought you to me for some reason. I'm going to do my best to honor his will and help you as I can.”

She didn't know what to say to that. It was impossible to deny now the Gods of Creation were real, as were the Gods of Destruction. And she was hopelessly ignorant of both. After she got out of here and someplace safe she and Aiden were going to have a long talk.

Mrs. Bherz turned around as she dried her hands on a small blue towel. “Off with you now. I'll be looking for you at the university. Try to stay away from demons. Once they become interested in you, it's hard to keep them away. Nasty things can happen to your loved ones if you're not careful.”

Something about the other woman’s statement prickled at her. “What do you mean?”

Placing the towel back near the sink, Mrs. Bherz closed her eyes and gripped her hands together. “When I was a young girl I had an aunt who liked to dabble in the black arts. She thought she could control the demons she summoned, that she was powerful enough to contain them. Unfortunately for her, and for the rest of her village, one night she lost control and a demon broke free. It managed to slay half her village, starting with the children, before a creation Chosen was able to defeat it.” Mrs. Bherz closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “My cousins were among the first killed and I swore then that I would do everything I could to make sure that those who consort with demons were brought to justice.”