demon slayer 05.5 - the tenth dark lord a leaping (4 page)

Yeah, right. “The guy who just sliced his hand open? To lead a sacrifice? He seems real sweet.” But if I could make him understand that I was a demon slayer—that I was willing to join the fight—maybe we could work together. It was our only option at this point.

The Dark Lords were on us immediately. A pair of rough-looking men disarmed Grandma and held her arms away from her so she couldn’t use them.

Frieda made a run for it—straight toward her son. I saw her briefly as she hugged him hard before Skull got to me. He took my arms and held them in a viselike grip behind my back. Cripes, the man was tall.

“Hold up,” I ordered. “Do you have any idea what you people are about to unleash?” The air reeked of sulfur.

“Yes,” he grunted, his grip tightening. “And you’re fucking it up.”

He jammed my arm behind my back, and I winced as I was forced up the hill. “Look, I’m a demon slayer,” I said in case he hadn’t noticed my tricked-out weapons. “I can fix this.”

His whiskey-tinged breath rattled next to my ear. “There’s nothing you can do. You’ll only make it worse.”

I yanked, more to get his attention than anything else. “Why?”

He didn’t react to my struggles or even bother to answer. He just pulled me closer to the guy who had Grandma.

She blew a lock of gray hair out of her mouth and glanced sideways at me. “I still don’t know how they nailed us.”

Skull cracked the first smile of the night. “Chalk it up to experience,” he said to her. “Ant Eater liked to sneak out on me in the middle of the night. She used that Cloaking Spell so many times I could barely find my underwear.” He jammed me forward, keeping a fast pace as we reached the top of the crag.

I wanted to scream. Here I was, the mighty Demon Slayer of Dalea, caught because a seventy-seven-year-old biker witch named Ant Eater had to get laid.

Bruce was right behind us, with Frieda clinging to his arm as if she could hold back what was about to happen.

Skull accepted a rope from one of his lieutenants and tied my hands behind my waist. “God damn you, Bruce, for bringing these ladies into this,” Skull muttered.

It had to be the first time anybody ever called the biker witches ladies.

Frieda’s son frowned. “I was just trying to put things right.” His eyes fell on me. “I sure as hell didn’t know about the slayer.”

“Take their weapons. Strap them to that tree,” Skull ordered.

We ended up with our backs to the only sturdy-looking tree in the whole cursed place. “Hey, ouch!” The men fastened us tight. They got my boot knife and unbuckled my weapons belt. Simply touching a switch star would take years off a regular person’s life, and they seemed to know it. A heavily tattooed biker kicked my belt away.

Skull stood watching. “Secure Bruce’s mom too.”

They tied Frieda, while the hairy biker watched. At least they hadn’t tied her hands behind her back. Mine were already losing feeling.

Skull glanced at his watch. “Eight minutes till midnight.” He stood and addressed the rest of the men. “Get back down to the sacrificial fire.”

Bruce hesitated. “Let me talk to my mom for a second.”

Skull paused for a long, hard beat before he nodded. “Right. Fine.”

The remaining Dark Lords nodded and gave pats on the shoulder to Bruce before heading back down the hill.

Once we were alone, I turned to Bruce. “This is your chance,” I hissed. “Set us free and run!”

Instead, the hairy biker knelt on the ground and held Frieda’s head in his hands. “I love you, Mom, but I have to do this.”

Frieda shook her head and reached out in an attempt to squeeze his hands in hers. “Why? I don’t understand why.”

He took a deep breath and spoke earnestly to her. “Ten years ago our coven lost a battle with a fifth-level demon.” He shook his head. “We were all going to die. The demon was wiping out covens all over the country.”

“I know, baby.” Frieda swallowed hard. “One nearly got us too.” The Red Skulls had been on the run as well. Fifth-level demons liked to target covens and drain the witches’ power. It was the reason Grandma and the Red Skulls had taken to the road, gone biker. “There’s got to be another way. “We killed the demon who was after us,” she told him.

He blinked at her for a moment, surprised, then shook his head. “We thought we’d found our own way out,” Bruce said. “There was a minor demon, a flunky named Tibem. He offered us the power we needed to escape.” He closed his eyes. “He said his boss had given us to him.” Bruce snorted. “We were going to be this Tibem’s own personal energy source. Only he said he’d let us live, with our souls intact, if we let him dictate terms.” He shook his head, remembering. “I should have known there was a catch. It was stupid, desperate. We didn’t have time to debate. We agreed. He took our original leader in order to seal the deal.”

I twisted, feeling the bite of the ropes at my wrists.

Bruce’s jaw tightened. “Turns out Tibem the minor demon is a real ass. Once he got a taste, he decided he wasn’t going to kill us and steal our souls. Instead, he wants to watch us kill ourselves for his own amusement. Says sacrificial souls taste better. He demands one a year, at midnight on the winter solstice. When the Earth dies, so does one of us. We do it until we’re all wiped out. If we don’t, he’ll come in and wipe us all out at once.”

Holy hell.

Frieda was stunned speechless.

I was pissed. “Why aren’t you fighting this?” I demanded. “If you’re all going to die anyway, what was the point of drawing it out?”

Frieda shot me a death glare. Well, hell, it was the truth. We didn’t have time to dance around and play nice.

Bruce drew in a sharp breath, then, addressing only his mother, he said in a low voice, “We’re on a bigger mission. We’re the guardians of a power, a tool that can change everything. As long as there’s one of us alive, it’s safe.” He gripped her hands tighter. “If the demon, hell— any demon—was to find out, they’d take it. We absolutely have to hold on to it until the chosen one comes for it. Then, frankly, it doesn’t matter what happens to us.”

I drew in a sharp breath. “Who’s the chosen one?” It could be someone I knew.

He shook his head. “No idea. It will be revealed when it’s time.” He huffed out a breath. “We don’t even know what’s inside the”—he cleared his throat and searched for the word—“
item
we’re guarding.”

“Nobody even peeked?” The temptation would be enormous.

That pissed him off. “What part of
secret
power don’t you get?”

“Fine. Right.” I would have held up my hands if they weren’t tied behind my back. The Dark Lords could keep their hands out of the supernatural cookie jar. It was probably why they’d been trusted with whatever they had.

“Who gave it to you?” I had to ask.

Bruce reared back. “Unless it’s for you, it’s none of your goddamn business.”

“Enough,” Frieda said. “I can see why you need to be careful. Here’s what we do, sweetie. We’ll promise the demon a bigger sacrifice some other night. Then we’ll find a way to beat this.”

He pulled away. “I have to go.”

Sacrifice yourself
. I understood that. I respected it. Hell, it was one of the three truths of the demon slayers. But somehow it felt all wrong here.

Grandma leaned closer. I could almost see the wheels turning. “This Tibem is coming at midnight?” She asked. “Where?”

Bruce drew up to his full height. “There’s a ledge on the far side of the rock altar. The sacrifice jumps off the cliff there.” His mouth twisted. “We call it leaping to hell.”

“Sweet Jesus,” Frieda gasped.

He turned to Grandma and said, almost apologetically, “Rider was the first to be taken. The demon didn’t give him a choice. He was stolen.”

From her expression, I could tell Rider was Grandma’s ex and that she’d cared more than she let on.

He glanced back at the clearing. “Now, if I don’t go they’re going to take Junior.” He dipped his chin. “That’s Rider’s son.” Regret etched his features, mixed with a certain pride. “I promised him I’d take care of his boy.”

Frieda struggled to stand. “By jumping off a cliff? By losing your soul?”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t fucked up.” Bruce kissed his mom on the forehead. “I’m going to be the tenth Dark Lord to leap,” he told her. “There’s no changing it. But I wanted to let you know that I love you, and that I stayed away to save you from all this. I never stopped thinking about you or caring for you. I did it because I love you, Mamma. And I always will, no matter where I am or what happens to me.”

“If you love me, then take it back,” Frieda demanded. “Work with me on this.”

“But Mamma,” he hissed, looking over his shoulder, back at his gang. “I can see it unfolding like a sick vision. I can’t help it. I know what’s going to happen.”

“It’s that damn psychic power,” Frieda said, like an accusation.

He turned back to us. “Yes, I can see who is marked before they’re chosen.” He shook his head. “I didn’t see Rider. That was too fast. I didn’t see you either, Slayer. You must have come on quick.”

He had no idea.

“But you know who’s going to die,” Frieda said, her voice breaking.

“Yes,” he said simply. “Just like I know you’re going to be okay, Mom.”

He took one step back, then two, his face haunted. “Someday you’ll understand.”

I already did. This was about something bigger than any one of us. “That power you mentioned, that tool you have,” I said, “is it down there?”

Bruce shook his head slowly. “You always stick your nose this far in other people’s business? It’s not for you, at least not yet. Believe me, I’d know.”

Maybe he would. Someday. If he weren’t about to give himself up—body and soul.

CHAPTER FIVE

Bruce turned his back on us and headed toward the sacrifice. Frieda sat teary-eyed, stunned. I didn’t blame her in the least.

The kicker was—I understood why he was doing it.

“He’s a brave kid,” Grandma said quietly, her words hanging in the air.

Neither one of us bothered to respond. There was nothing left to say.

“Hey, Bruce,” Grandma called. “Which fifth-level demon’s after you anyway?” She settled into her ropes and muttered, “We can at least try to avoid him.”

“Vald,” he called, the name echoing in the night air before he disappeared down the hill.

I sat stunned for a second. “Did he just say…?”

“Sweet Jesus,” Frieda muttered. “Bruce!” she screamed, throwing her entire body into the ropes that held her back. “Bruce!”

He wasn’t coming.

Holy hell. I wriggled, I struggled. I had to get out of there. I’d killed the demon Vald last year. He was no threat to them anymore. And if we could kill his flunky, we could set the Dark Lords free.

“Shit, shit, shit.” Grandma heaved her butt off the ground. “Get your ass over here. I got an idea.”

“Better than the Cloaking Spell?” I snapped, trying to force my body closer, the bindings digging into my skin. I tried to get some kind of a rhythm going with the ropes. Maybe we could use the tree to saw through them. And maybe bunnies were going to come out of my butt.

Grandma pulled up off the ground. “Get the Ziploc out of my front right pocket.”

Frieda struggled sideways and beat me to it. She practically sat on Grandma’s lap, with her hands behind her, scrambling. “This?” she asked, pulling out a bag with a twirling blue spell inside.

“No,” Grandma grunted, her face red. “Get the pink Loosen Your Belt Spell. They also work to break down ropes.”

Frieda cursed under her breath. “I never even heard of that.”

“It works,” Grandma said as Frieda yanked two more Ziplocs out of her pocket. “Good thing we were headed to a party. I always carry a few extra Loosen Your Belt Spells around the holidays.”

“How do we know it’s going to work?” I asked. We didn’t have time to fritter away.

Grandma shrugged. “Rider used to like to tie me up.”

“Oh, come on,” I groaned. “You think you’d outgrow some things at your age.”

“Don’t count on it.” Grandma wrangled sideways to see the next bag that Frieda yanked from her pocket. It was like a sick version of Twister. “Besides, Rider was only about fifty.” She wrenched up on her hip, breathing heavy, and winked at me. “I’m a cougar.”

Oh, “Ick.”

“Both of you shut up.” Frieda yanked a pink Loosen Your Belt Spell out of Grandma’s pocket. “Ah-hah!”

“Thank you, Jesus.” Grandma sat back down hard while Frieda ripped the bag open. “Go,” Grandma ordered it.

The sparkly pink spell hovered over her belt.

“No,” she said. “The rope. Rope,” she said, dragging the word out. “Go.”

The spell twisted in a few confused corkscrews before landing on the ropes. “Gooood spell,” she crooned.

“This had better work,” I said.

“Watch,” Grandma said as the spell began to burrow into the ropes.

I tested my bindings. “How long?”

“A minute. Two tops,” she said as—holy heck—I felt the ropes loosen.

I hoped we had that much time. I could hear them chanting down below.

As soon as I got a hand free, I yanked at my ropes. Soon I was out. Frieda sprang up as well. Grandma was close behind. I found my utility belt and strapped it back on. The Dark Lords had taken their weapons. I was the only one who could go on the direct offensive, which was the best idea anyway.

“Okay, here’s the plan,” I said, one hand on my switch stars. “We let them call up the minor demon. I slay it. You two keep Bruce and the rest of them from doing anything stupid.”

“Easier said than done,” Grandma muttered under her breath as we headed for the ceremony.

Yeah, well once they understood that I’d already slayed Vald, they’d forgive us. In the meantime, I didn’t know how two biker witches were going to hold back four dozen Dark Lords. I didn’t know anything about the demon I was about to face other than the fact that he was a lying asshole, which pretty much summed up any demon in existence.

We crouched low as we reached the crest of the hill. My feet caught, and I stumbled as the ground began to shake. Cripes. I half ran, half fell down the hill as a boom echoed from inside the rock circle.