Demonosity (12 page)

“Grimoire,” Nash repeated, this time with a nudge, and Cassidy vaguely thrust her purse toward him, still not taking her eyes off Travis. As she watched, her fingers clutched at the necklace, making her feel somehow connected to him.

He was alone in the middle of the stage now. A haunted expression replaced his normal easy smile, while his soaring voice rang out. He was doing the scene at the end of the play when Romeo has woken up to discover Juliet was dead. Cassidy watched in mounting admiration as his haunted look made way for bone-searing grief.

Suddenly, the whole auditorium was silent as Travis fell to his knees, his despair so palpable that Cassidy longed to race up and ease away the deep lines that were now running across his brow, but instead she just sat there, glued to the spot, mesmerized by his compelling performance. Finally it was over, and one by one, students everywhere spontaneously applauded. Cassidy joined them, completely fixated on Travis’s face, still so raw with emotion.

“Er, Cass.” Nash’s voice suddenly rang in her ear. “I-I think you’d better look in your purse.”

“My purse?” Cassidy reluctantly dragged her gaze away from Travis and narrowed her eyes. “Is this one of those jokes about it being like a black hole?”

“No.” Nash quickly shook his head, his hands shaking with panic. “This isn’t a joke. You need to look in your purse.
Right now.
”

“Okay—” she started to say, but the rest of the words died on her lips as she saw the grimoire burning with such intensity it could only mean one thing.

That somewhere close by there was a demon.

T
he noise backstage faded away so that all Cassidy was conscious of was the blood pounding through her temples and the screaming cries of people being burned alive. All the demon knight had to do was race in and see Celeste standing there, glowing like a beacon, and it would rip the Black Rose from her flesh. It would be Paris all over again.

Innocent people being killed. Their crucified flesh. Their blood. Their—

“Cass.” Nash’s urgent voice dragged her back into reality. She gave him a grateful look and quickly peered around, but wherever the demon knight was, it wasn’t backstage. Her heart hammered in her chest.

“I’ve to go and find it.” She took a deep breath and tried to focus herself.

“It might not even be in the school,” Nash tried to protest, though it was obvious by the way his face was drained of color that he was just as worried as she was.

“It’s here,” she said in a croaky voice. “Look at the grimoire. It wasn’t even that red when I fought the one in the woods.” Then she took a deep breath and pulled the book out of her purse. Despite its fiery appearance, it was cool to the touch. “I’ve got to find it.”

“You know, I’m having second thoughts about all of this,” he said as he reached out to hold her hand, his knuckles white. “Perhaps—”

“It’s okay,” she lied as she squeezed his fingers in reassurance. “That whole speech you gave me before? Well, you were right. I’ve got to do this. Especially after seeing Thomas’s vision. But you need to stay here and make sure that Celeste is okay, and if you see
anything
, you text me right away. Okay?”

“But—”

“Nash,” she cut him off as she caught his gaze in hers. “Please.”

“Fine.” He nodded, and she slipped away before she could change her mind. She was vaguely aware of Reuben waving to her, but she ignored him and hurried off to her locker, while trying not to think of just how badly this might end. Her fingers fumbled with the code, but finally she opened it and pulled out the large sports bag, then grabbed her coat for the bracing autumn weather.

There was still no sign of any demon, so she quickly made her way outside to the empty courtyard.

“Thomas,” she hissed in a low voice as she scanned the sky for an owl, but there was nothing. She cautiously started to jog around the outside of the school, hoping that that the grimoire would show her where to go. She stopped at the deserted table where she and Nash normally ate lunch and pulled the grimoire and the small knife out of her purse. Then she looked at the heavy mail.

The last thing she wanted to do was to get caught wearing it, but then she remembered just how brutal her sparring had been with Thomas, who was just an apparition. She reluctantly shrugged off her coat and pulled the horrible, itchy undershirt on over her green dress (which, on reflection, wasn’t ideal demon fighting attire) before she wriggled her way into the awkward chain mail.

Now she understood why old-fashioned knights had squires to help them dress. However, she finally managed to get it on, and then she slipped her coat back over the top so that she didn’t look any more freakish than she needed to. Then she tied the belt around her waist and slipped her knife into it. As soon as it was done, she hurried toward the back of the main building, where the Dumpsters were kept.

The wind had picked up now, blowing leaves around in mini whirlpools, causing them to spiral up in the air before dropping them back down. A plastic bag had caught on the side of the brickwork and was being pressed in like a kiss. However, there was still no sign of any demon. Cassidy shivered and was trying to decide where to look next when her nostrils were assaulted by an overwhelming smell of putrid blood.

She gagged as she forced herself to pull the heavy leather gloves on, and then she slipped the shield onto her left forearm before picking up the sword. Despite the gray weather, the blade suddenly burst into a myriad of colors as the runes lit up, so dazzling that Cassidy was momentarily blinded by it. Finally, she dragged her gaze away and spun around, but instead of seeing just one demon, there were six of them, all racing toward her as one.

Six.

There were
six
demons.

Fear tore at her throat as they raced toward her. Her horror mounted at the way their distorted muscles seemed to pulsate under their skin. Their sharp teeth glistened with slobber. Then a feather fell in front of her and she let out a strangled cry of relief.
Thomas.

“Move.” His voice rung out in her ear. “You need to move. Now.”

Cassidy didn’t need to look at him to know that his face would be pinched with frustration at not being able to fight them himself. Instead, she did as he said, darting away just as the first of the demons reached her, amazed at the extra strength she felt just from knowing he was there.

“Thrust,” he commanded, and she plunged the sword deep into the demon’s chest, sending it through the thick leathery skin until it crashed into flesh and bone. The runes on the sword blazed with energy, and the demon fell away from her like she had swatted a fly. Thomas had said they held special power, but she had no idea it would be this much. Before she could consider it further, the stench of the dead demon rose up to choke her. She forced herself to ignore it as a second demon came racing toward her. She lifted her shield to block a blow and was just about to thrust forward with her sword when Thomas stopped her.

“Wait,” he instructed, and despite her natural desire to press forward, Cassidy’s fingers tightened around the hilt. Her heart pounded against her ribs, and the wind swirled around them in eddies. She didn’t even realize that she was holding her breath until Thomas finally commanded her to strike. The moment she did, a burst of energy ran along her arm, and again the runes on the sword blazed with power. As soon as the blade touched the demon’s distorted flesh, it fell to the ground.

“Jeez,” Nash’s voice came from somewhere behind her. “Are you kidding me with that? That was like something from
Star Wars
.”

“Nash, I thought the plan was that you stayed inside,” Cassidy panted, her eyes never leaving the next demon that was charging her.

“Yeah, well, it’s lucky that I didn’t,” he retorted as he dropped to his knees and used his Zippo to set both dead demons on fire. Then Thomas’s voice rang out in her ear, once again barking instructions to her.

“Drop your elbow and bring your sword in close to your body. Closer. You need to aim for the point between his collar and his neck. Now.”

She obediently followed his command, and instead of feeling a familiar ache in her muscles, it was almost exhilarating as the third demon fell at her feet. Without being told, she nimbly jumped out of the way as the fourth demon reached her.

This time she dropped her shield and put both hands on her sword to use it like a baseball bat. Blood spurted everywhere as the blade cut through the creature’s thickened neck like it was a Thanksgiving turkey. As soon as it had fallen, Nash was beside it with his Zippo, the flames quickly engulfing the creature before being sucked inward and the whole body vanishing from sight.

Cassidy repositioned herself as the fifth demon charged toward her. She tightened her grip on the hilt of the sword, but at the last moment the creature turned sideways and headed directly for Nash, who was still down on his knees next to the space where the dead demon had been only seconds earlier. For a split second Cassidy just stared in mute horror, her sword dangling hopelessly in her arm before Thomas’s blunt voice brought her crashing back to earth.

“Use your knife,” he hissed, “and aim for the spinal cord at the top of the neck. If you don’t make an exact hit, then your friend is dead.”

Fear pounded in her ears as her leather-clad hands clumsily fumbled for the knife that was hitched into her belt. Finally she had it out, the blade looking blunt and ineffective. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to remember everything that Thomas had taught her. She took aim, careful to keep her shoulder up, and released the knife. It seemed to move in slow motion as it rotated through the air before finally embedding itself in the demon’s neck. The creature immediately toppled, but as it fell, its blade made a wide arc and sliced through Nash’s arm.

Cassidy hardly noticed as Nash fell to the ground with a sickening thud, a pool of blood flowing out from his injured arm.

“No.” The word was ripped from her throat and the sword fell with a clatter as she raced over to him, trying to avoid the demon lying next to him, its distorted, misshapen body still looking threatening, despite the knife that was plunged into its main artery.

Cassidy wanted to move Nash away from such an abomination, but she didn’t dare do anything to make his condition worse. Instead, she dropped to her knees and forced herself not to cry. His brow was the color of chalk and covered in a fine layer of sweat. Blood was pouring freely out of his arm, and she quickly stripped off her jacket to help stanch the flow while ignoring the chill air prickling her skin.

“I need to get him to a hospital,” Cassidy said in a tight voice, desperately trying to think where her cell phone was. Before she could stand up to look for her purse, Thomas was beside her.

“First you need to dispose of the dead demons and cleanse your blades.”

“What?” Cassidy glared at him as she continued to press the jacket into Nash’s arm while trying not to notice his blood seeping onto her hands. “No, I need to call an ambulance.”

Thomas opened his mouth to speak, but then, as if catching her stubborn expression, he let out an exasperated sigh. “The boy is not fatally wounded. I will ensure that he is healed. But first we need to burn the corpse.”

“You can save him?”

“I told you, he’s not dying, and therefore he doesn’t need to be saved. However, I can heal him a lot faster,
after you dispose of the demon
.” Once again the muscles around his jaw flickered, and Cassidy reluctantly laid Nash’s arm across his chest and reached for the Zippo that was lying on the ground beside him.

She tried to ignore the stench of decay that was rising up from the demons as she set fire to the coarse garments they were wearing and watched the flames encase their entire bodies, until, as before, the flames were sucked inward. Soon there was no sign that the demons had even been there. Then she retrieved the sword and her knife and ran the Zippo flame along them until the brilliant green flame made way for a more natural color and finally faded away to nothing. As soon as it was done she turned her attention back to Nash.

“So?” She glared at Thomas, demanding that he keep his word. He nodded to the grimoire that was lying on the ground, still glowing faintly despite the fact that the demons were gone. Cassidy scampered to pick it up while trying to ignore Nash’s shallow breathing. “I’ve got it. Now what? Is it something in the grimoire that I need?”

He shook his head. “You don’t yet have the skills. But if you put one hand on the grimoire and the other hand on the boy’s chest, I will transfer the power.”

Cassidy raised an eyebrow curiously, but had learned enough about Thomas to know that he didn’t joke. Instead, she slid one hand over the leather-bound book and rested her other hand on the tattered sleeve of Nash’s white shirt. His breathing was low and shallow, and Cassidy just hoped that Thomas really would be true to his word.

“Okay, no matter what happens, don’t remove your hands,” he instructed. Then without waiting for an answer he suddenly disappeared from sight. Cassidy felt a stab of fear go racing through her. He hadn’t kept his—

But the rest of her thoughts were lost as she felt a surge of energy come up from the grimoire, move along her arm, and flow down into Nash’s chest. The tattoo on her arm heated up and prickled her skin as the energy continued to pour through her. She kept her hand on Nash’s chest until his breathing slowly returned to normal. Thomas reappeared, his mismatched eyes unnaturally dull.

“It is done,” he said simply, but Cassidy didn’t answer. She was too busy pulling away her blood-soaked jacket and inspecting Nash’s arm. The deep gash that moments before had been gushing with blood was gone, and in its place was a small pink line. She stared at Thomas, unable to think of what to say. Then Nash groggily opened his eyes and blinked several times before cautiously wriggling up into a sitting position. The minute he did so, Cassidy immediately threw herself at him and hugged him.

“You’re okay. I was so worried. How do you feel?” she demanded, her hysteria giving way to relief.

“I . . . I actually feel amazing, but I’m not sure why. The last thing I remember was the demon charging at me and—” he said, then paused and twisted his neck to better inspect his arm. When he caught sight of the drenched jacket and Cassidy’s bloodied hands, he let out an astonished gasp. “I felt the knife slice through my arm. There was blood, and then I fell backward. I must have fainted.” As he spoke, his hand flew to the back of his head as if checking for lumps and bumps.

“It’s the grimoire,” Cassidy quickly told him as she reached out and clasped his hand. “Thomas did . . . something . . . through the grimoire to help you. Anyway, are you sure you really feel okay?”

“I am. I really, really am.” He stood up, still flexing his arm as he stared at the pale pink scar that only moments ago had been open and bloody. Then he turned to Thomas. “That’s some trick you’ve got there.”

“It’s not a trick,” the knight retorted in a tight voice, his face chalky pale. “And it’s not something I do on a regular basis, so make sure you don’t get cut again.”

“You’re preaching to the choir on that one,” Nash assured him with a shudder. “Being on the receiving end of two demons is enough for me. Anyone would think that they didn’t like me.”

“They don’t like anyone,” Thomas snapped, his eyes burning like embers against his pale skin. “And you would both do well to remember that.”

“Er, okay,” Nash said before he turned back to Cassidy. “That was some fight. You were amazing. How many demons did you kill?”

“I killed five—” Cassidy started to say before her throat tightened and she let out a strangled gasp. “
But there were six to begin with
. Which means that there’s still another—”