Burning (27 page)

I rolled over to sit and asked Dean, "Does this place sound right for
my vision?"  He shrugged.  "You're in charge on this one, Dean.  I'm not a hundred percent yet.  I can manage the spell, but the rest I think you should coordinate," I told him.

"I don't think I deserve the faith you are placing in me.  I didn't keep Bridgett alive," he
argued. 

"Dean
, that blame doesn't belong on your shoulders.  We all shrugged her off when she wanted to go into town.  None of us could have foreseen that she would go on her own," I consoled. "Why that place?" I asked out loud.

"It sounds perfect for the demon.  It's a place where people were killed without compassion and motivated by greed.  There is a lot of spiritual turmoil there, and the veil between the living and the dead
is very thin.  Astaroth needs a place with spirits that have not moved on to the afterlife.  Not that he'll be able to claim the earthbound souls, but he'll try," Carlos argued.

"We need to get moving
.  Cynthia is being tortured as we speak."  I stood up and stumbled a bit. 

Finn wrapped his arms around my waist
, trapping me against him.  "Have you finished the banishing spell?" he asked me. 

"No, but it's in the grimoire," I pointed out. 

"Oh, and do you have everything you need?" he countered. 

"I...uh..."
I deflated, sensing defeat.

I wanted to move quickly.  I
’d felt her pain, her fear, and her willingness to surrender in the vision.  I really, really, disliked her, but I didn't want to leave her in the hands of a demon and his puppet.

"We can't leave her there until tomorrow night," I
bickered. 

"I agree, but you can't go," Finn told me.  He kissed the side of my head to take the sting out of his order.  "You are exhausted and won't be any good to her or any of us if you don't sleep and
get some of your strength back," he whispered.

And he was right, but I didn't want to hear it.  I wanted her suffering to stop.  I wanted to save her, but my magic was like a battery that had only started to recharge.

If I couldn't rescue her, maybe I could stall.  It was what the demon had tried to do to us with his tracking trick.  I sat back down and released my spirit for one more walk.  I saw the ghosts walking the grounds of the old sanitarium.  I used my powers of necromancy and asked the spirits to guard the living from the horrors contained in their personal hell. 

They moved with purpose through the wall, and moments later
, the night filled with shrieks.  Dr. Tuttle ran out of the building with his hands on his head, screaming, and dropped to the ground. 

I had some experience with the psychological trauma spirits could cause.  They worm into your psyche and whisper every fear, remind you of every transgression.  I imagine
d that someone like Dr. Tuttle had a lot of guilt that could be played against him. 

Astaroth stepped out of the building.  His slick
, black wings popped open.  He stared me straight in the eye and took flight. 

I gasped when my spirit rushed back into my body.  "I think he's coming here," I said in a rush. 

"Did you occupy Cynthia's torturers?" Anita asked.  I nodded.  "Then let him come," she said calmly.

"Can he do anything to us physically?" I asked Carlos. 

"He can't take your soul unless he forces you to do something.  Souls are his main goal, but if he realizes you cannot be turned, he can physically harm you," Carlos answered.

"If he'
s coming here, how can we fight him and save Cynthia?" I asked. 

My mother descended the steps of the porch as if making an entrance at a debutante ball.  "I believe I can be of assistance here.  Eli dear, it has been much too long since we
’ve stepped into the fray.  Would you like to take a little trip with me?" she asked as if she were planning a fun weekend getaway.

"We will have to wait until tomorrow.  I saw Chloë's vision.  The entire
auto-da-fé
is in residence.  We might be invulnerable to serious harm, but we are not omnipotent.  Nor is it impossible for us to be temporarily incapacitated.  We'll need Cooper.  We can leave as soon as he wakes in the morning," my father answered.

"But
—" I began to argue. 

"Chloë, trust the spirits to protect their charge.  They won't disappoint.  Afterwards, I'll lead them to the other side myself as a reward," my father countered.
 

"And if the demon comes after us tonight?"

He patted my shoulder with his large, callused hand.  "He won't.  He needs the boost in power he will get from the souls he has stolen.  When the veil drops tomorrow night, he will come.  You have all day tomorrow to prepare.  Now, you must rest," he instructed.

I looked out into the yard.  I could see the circle I would form and the blurring between the realms of the living and the dead.  "When the veil lifts"
—I looked back at them—"I'm going to slam it down on his head."  I turned and marched toward the house. 

I heard
Finn whistle and say, "She's back."

Grey

I tried to ignore Dean
’s pounding on one of the doors upstairs.  I tried not to pay attention when the conversation upstairs took a panicked tone.  I tried, but guilt ate away at me. I decided it was better to check it out rather than spend all night losing the battle to overlook it. 

I climbed the steps out of my basement apartment and ran smack into Chloë.  I was suddenly very aware
that I had neglected to put my shirt back on.  Chloë was making an effort not to look at my bare chest.

Funny how modesty can snap back into place given a little distance.  We've both seen each other completely naked and touched each other
over every square inch.  Yet here she stood blushing under her caramel-colored skin. 

"It sounded like there was trouble," I said to explain my lack of clothing.
 

"A student from school was taken.  I've had a vision
that she is being tortured.  The demon is headed here.  Carlos thinks it will be tomorrow, but we're all a bit on edge," she explained.

"Is there anything I can do?" I inquired. 

She shook her head.  "Not tonight.  Tomorrow is going to be bad. Sorry to have...ah...interrupted your night," she stuttered. 

I narrowed my eyes and listened to her heart rate flutter rapidly.
"I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me," I blurted out. 

"I don't want to be, but this is weird," she said with her hand fluttering between the two of us. 

"I did love you," I whispered. 

Her eyes lifted to mine.  "I did too. 
You were right we were just a different kind of meant to be." 

"We still
are meant to be.  Only now we're meant to be friends.  I can honestly say I don't have any other friends who know me quite as well as you do," I teased.

"God, you're awful," she said
, laughing.  She wiped tears of laughter from her eyes.  "You know, I think we're going to be all right." 

"Is it weird for you us being in the same house tonight?" I asked out of curiosity. 

"Yes. I'm glad you said it first," she agreed.

Finn walked around the corner.  I could tell by the tense set of his jaw
that he’d heard most if not all of our conversation, and he looked pissed.  He strolled over and wrapped his arms around her possessively. 

"I'm glad both of you think that too.  I have been dying to get out of here.  No offense
, Grey, but with your past together...ah... I just want to go home," he said and visibly relaxed. 

"Tell Eli and Marguerite to take Dean and Anita's room
, and the rest of you should go home.  You'll need supplies from there anyway," I reasoned. 

"Excellent idea," Finn said and tossed Chloë over his shoulder in a fireman hold.  She squealed.  "Enjoy your night!" Finn called out.
 

It was weird, but we'd navigate through it somehow.

I went back downstairs and saw Leah fidgeting and staring at the bed.  I moved behind her silently and kissed the back of her neck.  "Nervous?"

She squeaked and jumped. 
"Yeah. I mean, a little." 

"Tell me what makes you nervous," I said and guided her to sit down on the bed.

"Other than the obvious fact I've never, you know," she said blushing. 

I gave her a heated glance,
allowing her to see my desire in my eyes.  "I can make that part very easy for you." 

"Ok
ay. I didn't think, because I wasn't planning.  I mean, I didn't get on the pill," she stumbled out.

I scooted away from her a bit.  "Oh, I really don't think that is going to be a problem."  I pulled at my hair.  "Leah, I'm a vampire." 

"I know that," she said, not understanding my point. 

"No,
darling, listen.  I've been undead for over a thousand years.  I walk a line between both worlds, but the night I became what I am, some parts of me died and stayed that way.  Sweetheart, I can't give you children."

She blinked
rapidly several times.  I hated this.  I hated taking this away from her.  I would give her the world, and I had nearly enough money to do so, but I couldn't give her children. 

"I guess I hadn't really thought about it.  I just assumed since we bonded that we could.  Only compatible couples are supposed
to bond," she said softly. 

"I'm really sorry," I
apologized.

She kissed my cheek.  "No, don't be sorry.  I love you.  Having you is enough for me." 

"Will you still think so when your sister and Cooper have children and you never do?" I asked bitterly. 

She winced. 
"We have forever to figure this out.  Let's not worry about it right now," she soothed.

I laced my fingers with hers and pulled her onto my lap. 
I didn't want her to think about what she couldn't have.  She had me. As incomplete a package as I was, I would make sure she had all of me.

I let go of her hand and gripped her butt to pull her closer to me.  She wrapped her legs around my waist and let out a surprised gasp when she encountered my arousal.  I wanted to be slow and sweet, but my brain was screaming for me to claim my mate. 

My fingers tunneled into her hair while I took her mouth the way my body wanted to take the rest of her.  I took in a needless breath and forced myself to calm down. 

I turned
, laid her down on the bed, and began to kiss her slowly.  I took time to build her up, make her as crazy with desire as I was.  I trailed kisses down her neck and across her collarbone while my hands explored the rest of her.  Slowly, I peeled away layers of clothing—hers and mine.  When she began to thrash mindlessly beneath me, I pulled back to look at her.

"Look at me," I ordered.  Her blurry eyes tried to focus on mine.  "I love you," I told her.  Only then, when I knew she felt our emotional connection
, did I allow the physical one. 

I
sank into her agonizingly slowly.  I felt her body tense at the intrusion.  I kissed her again, feverishly.  I traced her side from her breast to her knee and felt her shudder.  Lust and desire began to replace the pain, and she released the tension in her body. 

When her body tensed again
, I knew it wasn't from pain but pleasure.  Her moans had sent me over the edge, and I held her closer to me. 

Minutes later
, I lay there with her snuggled into my side, thinking about everything and nothing. 

"We're going to have to fight tomorrow
, aren't we?" she asked, concerned. 

"Yeah," I acknowledged, choking back the fear something could happen to her. 

Leah's forehead scrunched together.  "Should we be with the others planning?"

I shook my head.  "They don't need us to plan the spell.  We have to steal moments during times like these.  It's important to remember why we fight
." 

"We fight for sex?" she taunted. 

I laughed.  My shy little deer was already becoming more comfortable with me.  "We fight for love...and really amazing sex," I teased back. 

To prove my point,
I reached for her again to make sure she was ready for the next day's battle.

Chapter Fifteen

Cleansing Fire

Grey

I paced back and forth waiting for the last of the day to slip below the horizon.  Jo and Dean scouted the areas we expected the
auto-da-fé
to be hiding out.  I really didn't expect them to be stupid enough to continue to use the farm, but alas, they were still there. 

My skin tingled
, signaling that night had finally spread across the land.  I was heading up the stairs when the air around me began to sizzle and pop.  Marguerite and Cooper began to take shape out of a swirl of violet mist in the hallway.  Eli followed close behind her carrying a limp, bloody girl I recognized as Cynthia. 

"Set her on the table," Marguerite directed. 
She summoned her wand and held the glowing tip above Cynthia's carved flesh.  Cynthia moaned and her eyes fluttered open.  "Shh. I'm healing your wounds," Marguerite comforted. 

"My sister.  They took her
. And my boyfriend," Cynthia muttered faintly. 

"Eli?" I asked. 

"She has been repeating that since we found her.  We need to move fast if we hope to rescue them," he answered. 

I watched as Marguerite's magic healed Cynthia's wounds to angry red welts.  "It will heal without leaving a scar, but she will have to live with these marks for the next week or so," she told us.

Leah came up behind me and pressed herself into my back.  I wanted to keep her away from the upcoming fight, but I knew my mate wouldn't stay back.  She seemed so small and fragile, but the beast inside her would keep her safe.  I had to believe that. 

"Leah, go call Chloë and tell her to have everyone meet back over here," I requested.
 

She wandered off toward where she
’d left her cell phone and relayed my message.

Cynthia sat up as if being pulled by invisible strings. 
Her eyes opened and stared at me with a solid jet-black color.  She sneered and said, "
Ego in aeternum.  Et tenebras in luce.  Qui potestatum dedi, mihi mors.
"

Marguerite, Eli
, and I were all old enough to understand Latin, but Leah and Cooper stared confused. 

"What did she say?" she whispered. 

Eli gave her a fatherly pat on the arm and answered.  "She said, ‘I am everlasting.  I bring darkness to the light.  I grant power to those who give me death.’"

The fron
t door opened, and Chloë, Anita, and Finn walked in. 

"Dean and
Jo are on their way back.  They are taking a roundabout route to keep Astaroth and the
auto-da-fé
from tracking them here," Chloë said.

"
Ils sont trop tard
," Cynthia said. 

"When did Cynthia learn French?  Oh shit.  That isn't Cynthia
, is it?" Anita asked, stopping in front of her.  "What did it say?" she continued. 

"
It said ‘They are too late,’" Chloë answered flatly.

"Clever little witch.  Did you think there was anywhere you could go
where I couldn't reach you?  You tried to banish me to Hell, but I bring Hell with me wherever I go.  I am a servant of the morning star, he who defied the Creator and continues to live.  Join with me and he will unlock the power you carry inside.  Fight me and you will die, slowly, in the caress of the cleansing fire," the demon said.

The voice that came out of Cynthia's body wasn't the same overly cheerful feminine voice I remembered.  It was deep and
layered with screams, moans, and grunts when she had spoken in English.  As disturbing as it had been to hear her speak languages she herself didn't know, it had been worse to hear her speak English.  The suffering of the damned had blended into her voice.  It was like listening at the gates of Hell. 

The demon moved Cynthia's hands in front of her like she was praying.  The cabinets started to bang into the frame, papers from my desk began to whip through the air, and larger objects levitated and flew around. 
My knives started rattling in the block and shot out.  Marguerite, Chloë, and even Anita produced wands and began to deflect them from everyone they could.  One shot past them, heading straight for Leah, and my stomach clenched. 

I
hadn’t realized I had moved until I felt the sharp sting of the blade slice into my skin.  I raced toward Cynthia and applied pressure to a point in her neck, causing her to lose consciousness.  The demon was subject to the host's weaknesses just as it brought forward some of its strengths.

"Oh my god!" Leah screamed. 

"Don't worry.  I'll live," I said and pulled the knife out of my chest.  I dropped it on the ground where all of the other objects had fallen.  My skin began to fuse together, but it would be a few hours before the wound was completely healed.  "This is only a small set back for me, but it would have killed us both if it had been you," I whispered.  I pulled her into my arms and prayed that mine would be the only blood of ours spilled tonight, but my instincts told me that it wouldn't be.

Finn

"We need to move now.  I have a bad feeling this display was only to keep us here longer," I warned. 

"I fear Finn is right.  We must confront them now while the demon is contained," Eli agreed.

"Do we have a plan?" Chloë asked. 

Everyone looked at Dean.  The weight of leadership was wearing on him, but he
was handling it well. 

"Cooper, Jo, Leah
, and I will take the perimeter and push all of the
auto-da-fé
toward the rest of the group.  Girls, you need to transform into wolves.  I want you to have every offensive and defensive weapon you have ready," he began. "Chloë, Finn, Marguerite, and Eli will form the center.  We need your magic and Finn's control over the elements to perform this spell," Dean continued, handing Chloë the grimoire.

"An exorcism?" she asked. 

"Of course!" Marguerite clapped
. "Well done, Dean.  This is one stupid demon.  An exorcism is a much easier spell than a banishing." 

"Still doesn't look easy," Chloë muttered looking through the spell. 

"What about Carlos, Nik, and Ashleigh?" I asked. 

Eli turned to face me.  "There is another element to what the
auto-da-fé
has been doing.  It isn't a coincidence that Dr. Tuttle is a geneticist.  I think he has been trying to uncover how to enhance the DNA of humans using supernatural genes." 

"Shit," I muttered. 

"Yes, shit indeed.  While we are cleaning up the terrorists, the three of them will be destroying Dr. Tuttle's research," Marguerite said.

"We better get on with it then,"
Dean said before he turned to Anita and lovingly stroked her face.  "Take care of her for me," he said to Grey. 

"I will.  You take care of mine," Grey agreed. 

"I need the two of you to chase down anyone who gets past the rest of us.  Everyone, look for signs of the captives.  We get them out and wipe out the
auto-da-fé
once and for all," Dean ordered. 

Grey and Anita turned to face Marguerite, and everyone else turned her direction as well.

"
I told Anita that I authorized the elimination of the
auto-da-fé
after Bridgett was killed.  That decision stands.  I do not authorize the taking of human lives lightly.  We are more powerful and immortal.  Their lives are fragile and brief and to be respected.  However, this group kills not only our kind, but their own.  It would be against our reverence for their humanity to allow this group to continue.  In this instance, I am ordering that every member of the
auto-da-fé
be captured or eliminated without exception," Marguerite announced.

Chloë, Marguerite, Eli, and I were the only ones who needed to get into warmer clothes. 
Chloë, Marguerite, and Eli teleported everyone except Grey to the farm.  We didn't want the
auto-da-fé
to hear the truck coming down the gravel road and prepare for our attack.  Grey was nearly as fast running as they were teleporting, so he was tasked with carrying Cynthia. 

Chloë and I traveled together.  Marguerite took the twins, and Eli teleported Dean and Cooper.  The entire trip took less than a minute, with Grey arriving a few moments after we did.
 

The shifters silently transformed into their second form and stalked quietly to the perimeter of the property.  Even Cooper, in his giant grizzly bear form, moved soundlessly.
  Leah and Dean went one way while Jo and Cooper went the other.

Grey deposited Cynthia in the middle of the clearing, and then he and Anita ghosted into the shadows
.  Occasionally, I noticed the moonlight reflecting off their feral, colored eyes, but otherwise, they were practically invisible. 

We moved into position in the clearing.
  I hated that Chloë always ended up in the most exposed position during a fight.  I'd never let her face her destiny alone, even when I had to stand by her as a friend.  Next to her was where I belonged and where I'd make my stand.

I pulled off my gloves and crouched down, spreading my naked fingers into the brittle brown grass.  The earth shuddered under my touch, and the wintery vege
tation became a lush, green carpet.  The earth radiated light from within.  It wasn't a physical barrier, but the symbols of spring and rebirth weakened the demon enough to allow the three of them to perform the exorcism.

We stretched out Cynthia's arms and legs and placed crystals at the end of each of her extremities.  When the final crystal was in place
, a white line connected each of the crystals, turning her into a pentagram.  The magical lines locked the demon down, preventing him from harming Cynthia or us. 

A sharp whistle from the shadows was the signal that the fight had begun.  Robed figures began to advance on our position. 

"Here we go," Chloë said. 

One of the men drew a gun from his robe, and I commanded a tree root out of the ground.  It snapped against his hand
, causing him to lose his grip on the gun. 

They moved toward us chanting something unintelligible in what sounded like Latin.  Cynthia began to struggle against the magic holding her to the ground, but Marguerite and Eli stood at opposite ends of her maintaining the magical binds.

Grey and Anita crept out of the shadows and stalked the advancing
auto-da-fé
.  Grey moved like a predator, and in seconds, he was upon one of the robed men who had wandered too far from the group.  In one swift movement, he had his hands on the man's head and, without hesitation, swiftly broke his neck.  Anita stood still for a moment, frozen in fear.  It was clear she was afraid to kill.  Afraid it would turn her into what she had fought against since being turned over two years ago. 

While I was watching Anita, another hooded figure
edged toward Chloë.  He pulled out a large knife.  Anita snapped out of her trance and leapt on him.  He changed the hold on the knife and prepared to slash at her.  Her fangs slid out and she ripped open his throat before he could reach her with the knife.

Blood gushed from his torn artery, and Anita dropped him to the ground
with a resonating thud.  Her eyes looked wild with blood lust, and she tore into three more men before Grey could stop her.  Blood soaked her hair and clothes, and her skin was saturated and sticky. 

All of the men
who’d comprised the first-wave attack lay broken and bloody around the circle.  Grey and Anita resumed their position in the darkness.  Chloë and her parents began to chant around Cynthia's body.  I focused on lighting the circle by directing the moonlight to concentrate on our location. 

A black haze began to spill out of
Cynthia, and then suddenly it rushed back into her body with enough force to cause her to convulse.  Her black eyes opened and she focused her hellish gaze on Chloë.  A nasty grin spread across her delicate face. 

"You're too late," the demon sang in its
hellish voice.

A
whoosh
sounded off to the far right, and the glow of flames danced off the black landscape. 

"Is that sulfur burning?" I asked no one in particular. 

"Brimstone," the demon corrected.

"We'll hold t
he circle.  Take Anita and Grey.  Go!" Eli urged Chloë and me. 

I grabbed her hand
, and we ran out of the circle.  Anita and Grey fell in behind us without a word.  We found a man and a woman around our age tied to a post.  Fire crackled at their feet, which were slowly burning. 

The stench was revolting. 
Bile rose in my throat, and I fought it back down.  My discomfort was nothing compared to theirs.

The girl released a blood-curdling scream
as the flames licked against her skin.  The guy stared blankly ahead.  The fire was hotter and hungrier beneath him.  He was physically present, but his mind had already granted him the release of fleeing his physical predicament.