Chapter 18
Chapter
Eighteen
“I’ll try again,” I say, scattering the herbs back out on the map. “This spell is very specific and I’m holding the sigil so maybe it just didn’t work.”
“Wait,” Xavier says, hand landing on my shoulder. “We’ve got company.”
We all turn, looking down the street. Devon is able to see the two guys coming at us before Leo, Antonio and I can.
“Ey,” one of them shouts. “That’s a nice car you got. Mind if I test drive it?” He snickers, elbowing his friend like that was the best joke ever because they think they’re about to steal Xavier’s G-Wagon. My brothers, who must have gotten weapons from my stash, both go on the defense.
“Reapers?” I ask quietly. “Not the demons, but the gang members?”
“Most likely,” Xavier replies and starts to roll up his sleeves. He already removed his suit jacket and looks devilishly handsome in black dress pants and a dark button up shirt.
“Ey!” The guy yells again. “You deaf or something? Toss me the keys to your car and there won’t be no trouble. We just want to take it for a little spin and will have it back in no time. We promise.”
“I’ll let you handle this,” Xavier tells Devon, using this as a teachable fucking moment. Devon draws his fangs and speeds over.
“Do you think he can handle this?” I ask.
“I guess we’ll find out,” Xavier says, hand sliding to the small of my back. Devon says something to the two guys and then a gun shot rings out.
“Guess he can’t,” Xavier sighs and speeds over.
“Ow, that fucking hurt!” Devon stumbles back and looks at his stomach, hands covering the wound.
“I didn’t think it would hurt.” He’s bleeding, and seeing the blood on his hands shocks him as much as it shocks the rest of us.
In a flash, Xavier is there, and he grabs the gun in the guy’s hand.
He snaps it back, breaking his wrist. The gun clatters to the ground.
Before the guy next to him can even react, Xavier reaches out with his other hand and wraps his fingers around his neck. In one quick movement, he clunks their heads together and both humans fall down.
Looking bored, Xavier turns and goes to Devon, picking the bullet out from his abdomen and dropping it on the ground.
“I told you to handle it, not create a crime scene,” Xavier tells Devon, flicking blood off his fingers.
“Holy shit,” Leo whispers, mouth open as he stares at Xavier and I recognize the look in his eyes. It’s awe mixed with a little bit of fear and a ton of physical attraction.
“We are in a bad part of town,” I chide, holding my hands over the map. “It’s a great place for demons.”
“But humans,” Xavier adds. “Especially at night. You won’t heal if you get shot.”
“My goal on a daily basis is to not get shot. It’s kinda a fifty-fifty chance of living in America.”
“Uh,” Antonio starts, motioning to the guys on the ground. “Are we going to leave them?”
Xavier shrugs. “They’ll be out for a while. We need to focus on what the demon is doing here. Do you have a different way to track it?”
“Usually I can pinpoint where a demon is in a broader setting. I can use a different spell since I don’t technically have anything belonging to the demon.”
“Keep watch,” Xavier tells Devon and then stands behind me as I lean over the map. Holding my hands out.
“Tenebras invoco ut te reveles,” I whisper, focusing on pulling the darkness out of the night. “Tenebras invoco ut te reveles.” The herbs starts to vibrate and this time, they scatter across the map, piling in tiny circles.
“Well, fuck,” Antonio mutters. “There’s like a dozen demons in the area.”
“Can you kill them?” Xavier asks.
“If they’re non corporeal and possessing people, not exactly,” Antonio says. “We brought the vanquishing potion Wren made a while ago.”
“It should still be good,” I say and then make a face. “I think.”
“You fight demons all the time,” Devon starts, looking up and down the street. “But you don’t know how to kill these guys?”
“We don’t come across demons with the capability to possess people that often,” Leo says. “Desire what mainstream Hollywood makes you think. I’d say we’re more monster hunters than demon hunters if you wanted to be technical.”
“Wide spread possession…that wasn’t on my bingo card,” I retort, conquering a ball of light in the palm of my right hand so Leo, Antonio, and I can see as we get the vanquishing potions from the bag.
We pour it over the blades of the weapons they brought, and Xavier takes my favorite dagger, holding it at his side.
I’m relying on my powers more than physical weapons this time, and with my left hand still bandaged, I’m down one arm to wield a dagger anyway.
“The second the demons realize we’re onto them, they might attack,” Antonio says, stepping right into his role as leader. Xavier eyes him curiously but doesn’t say anything. There’s no need to remind us all who really is in charge, after all.
“And stabbing them with these blades will kill them?” Devon asks.
“Maybe,” Antonio says. “The demon could jump before it has a chance to be killed. But the human it is possessing will definitely die. So, uh, try not to kill anyone if you can help it.”
“What used to be here?” I ask when we’re heading down the road. “Like years ago. I know Tent City was cleared out somewhat recently because of health issues, but it’s coming back. But before, something else had to be here.”
“This was mostly a residential area,” Xavier tells us. “It became industrial over the years, and was a rather good location too since it was close to the train tracks.”
“What about old buildings?” Leo asks.
“There are a handful of dilapidated houses and buildings dating back a century or so. This particular area was wooded until the early 1900s.”
“Who needs historians when you have vampires who have literally lived through history,” I say, trying to lighten the mood. “You’re like unofficially a historian by default, I suppose. How old does something need to be before it’s considered history?”
“I think one generation,” Leo answers.
“How do you know that?” Antonio asks him.
Leo shrugs. “I read. Sometimes.”
Xavier takes my hand in his as we go further down the road, going away from Uptown and towards the woods behind a park.
I vaguely remember when the original Tent City was removed and wondering what was going to happen to all the people who resided there.
The news reported it as a good thing, making it seem like the homeless people were going to be put up in hotels and given opportunities to change their lives.
Obviously not.
Now, the tents are set up a bit more sporadically and further away from the highway than before.
“It’s way too quiet,” Antonio whispers. “There’s not even crickets.”
“Demons are nearby,” I say and Xavier lets go of my hand so I can hold it up, sparking magic around my fingers. “I can feel them.”
“I believe there was a church over here,” Xavier says as we go off the road and head into the wooded area that separates a tennis court from a manicured field. Trash dots the land, and the lingering scent of garbage hovers in the air.
“Scared ground?” Devon asks. “Is that a real thing?”
“It is,” Antonio and I say at the same time. Right, I’m not the only one who knows about demons and hunting anymore. “If I were going to hide something from a demon, putting it on sacred ground would be one of my top choices.”
“You don’t think the sigil is buried here in Charlotte, do you?” Leo asks.
“I didn’t,” I reply. “But the ritual was done here. Maybe the location mattered as much as my blood.”
The dark outline of tents come into view as we walk further away from the road. Everything is quiet, and it’s not because everyone is asleep. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle.
“Demons are here,” I breathe quietly. “I can feel them.”
“I do, too,” Devon says. “It’s different than before.”
“The one at the camp was powerful. These aren’t,” I tell him and we all square up, ready to fight as we emerge into the wooded area.
There are half a dozen tents here, yet no one comes out.
Slowing, I look around, wondering what the hell is going on.
I can sense the demons. Their evil energy hangs heavy in the air, pressing down on me like a smothering wet blanket draped over my head on a humid day.
The smell gets to me first, and then I realize it’s even worse than I could have imagined. There are bodies lying all over the place and the smell of death and decay is overwhelming.
“I don’t understand,” I rush out, hand going to my face to cover my nose.
With the high heat and humidity earlier today, the rate of decomposition has sped up.
Couple that with the fact that demonic possession burns through bodies and the innocent people before us have quickly been reduced to week-old roadkill left out in the hot North Carolina summer sun.
The demons are here alright, possessing bodies so far gone they’re not even a threat.
This feels like a trap.
“I think we should get out of here,” I say, confused at my own words tumbling out of my mouth.
Never in my whole life as a hunter have I given into the feeling of wanting to get away from a bad situation.
Humans are hard wired to get those bad feelings that tell us to avoid danger.
I’ve always ignored them or overcame them.
And yet for some reason right now, everything inside me is saying run.
“Are they all possessed?” Devon asks, taking a few steps forward. “The map put all the demons here, but these people…” He trails off, turning around to look at me. “They’re dead. There are no heartbeats. They don’t look like much of a threat.”
No sooner than the words leave his mouth, one of the bodies sits up with a gross squelching sound. Its bones snap into place like broken hinges as it gets up, moving with more speed than something in this state of decay should. Its jaw hangs slack and empty, black eyes stare at us.
With a hoarse growl it lunges at us, picking up speed as it draws closer.
Another body twitches and starts to get up. Then another. And another.
“Oh shit,” Antonio says, brandishing his knife. Xavier speeds forward, going to the closest demon and snapping its neck.
Nothing happens.
The body the demon is possessing keeps coming at us, but this time with his head turned around the wrong way.
“They’re using the bodies like puppets,” Leo says. “I think old school zombie rules apply.”
Not waiting to see what that actually entails, Xavier stabs the dagger right through the skull of the demon in front of him.
Again—nothing happens.
“What the fuck?” Antonio exclaims and turns, side-eyeing me. “How are they—?”
“They’re being animated,” I say as it hits me. “Something is casting a spell right now, keeping them alive or undead or whatever.”
Three more zombies rush at us and Xavier takes out two, breaking their legs with a single kick. Antonio slashes the throat of another, causing the head to lull back.
“You guys handle them, I’ll find whoever is casting the spell and stop them,” I say, pushing my shoulders back as I call upon the energy around me to keep me safe and fuel my powers.
“You guys have to be careful,” I add, looking at Xavier and Devon.
“Whoever is controlling the dead isn’t just using witchcraft. ”
“It’s necromancy,” Xavier finishes and I nod. Devon’s blank look lets me know he has no idea how dangerous this is. Necromancers control the dead, and technically, vampires are dead.