Emanare (Destined, #1) (24 page)

Alea and Draylan shook their heads in agreement. Malachi pulled up the search engine on his computer. “It has to be a more powerful demon than Cale, a demon who doesn’t want Sam to change into an angel. What demon would go to this length to see angels destroyed?” Malachi looked over at Draylan. “Dray, keep checking the book. If predestined angels have been killed in the past, then a powerful demon would have been responsible. Look up the most powerful demons in the Infernus, starting with the royalty, and see if any of them have the ability to possess humans. Maybe we can at least find a connection between the
porcus
demon and the demon that helped him possess Ann. I would be willing to bet it’s the same demon that sent Cale after Sam.”

***

Sam dabbed the droplets of sweat off her forehead with her sleeve. Getting Ann from the car to the dorm was like taking a wild animal for a walk through campus. Evrik had to alter the perceptions of a handful of students along the way. Not only was Ann drooling and growling, she snapped at everyone they passed. Evrik and Chase had to practically drag her to the dorm to keep her from ripping the heads off of her fellow schoolmates.

The elevator ride was the most distressing of the trip. There’s nothing worse than being stuck in a metal box with a fiend, not that she was calling her good friend a savage, but Ann wasn’t exactly behaving like the poster child for Miss Manners. The more time that passed, the more beastly she became. Sam hoped Malachi and the others were successful in finding what demon did this and how to fix it.

Thank goodness for Evrik, or Ann would be humiliated after they finally got the real Ann back. Ann was so sweet and kind. She would be horrified to know she was growling and trying to bite people. Sam didn’t know what she was going to tell Cody. He couldn’t see Ann like this. She would have to rely on Evrik again. He would have to change Cody's memory, like he had with all of the other students who had witnessed Ann's Exorcist-girl behavior.

Sam knocked on the bathroom door leading to Vicky and Ann’s room. “Vicky, are you in there?”

“Unfortunately,” Vicky answered.

“We found her at McDonald’s,” Sam shouted through the door.

“How did you get her back here?” Vicky opened the door and peeked around Sam. Ann rummaged through Sam’s micro-fridge and shoveled whatever she could find into her mouth—leftover SpaghettiO's, yogurt, a Milky Way. “Like, eww.” Vicky visibly shuddered.

“Evrik helped.”

“Oh yeah, his mind-control thingy,” Vicky said, waving her hand in the air.

“I need you to baby-sit her for me.”

“No. She’ll eat me.” Vicky turned her back on Sam.

“She’s not going to eat you—”

“Okay, then, she’ll bite me,” Vicky corrected.

 “She’s not going to bite you, and if she tries, you’ll know ahead of time with your mind reading ability. Aren’t you supposed to be super-strong, too? After all, you were my protector,” Sam said.

“Super-strong, not super-stupid. I’m not going near her.” Vicky walked back over to the door and stared at the makeshift zoo Sam’s room had already become.

“She’s your roommate.”

“That’s
not
my roommate.” Vicky pointed, watching Ann attempt to bite Evrik’s hand. He removed a bottle of Bath & Bodyworks cucumber-melon from her hand. “She’s trying to drink your lotion. Your boyfriend almost lost his arm, or is he not your boyfriend anymore? You seem so indecisive lately with Chase and Evrik, and even that Cale guy—well, at least before you found out he was a demon who wanted to kill you.”

“You’ve been reading my mind,” Sam said angrily.

“I try not to, but it’s kind of hard to tune you out. You’re like an annoying radio station broadcasting non-stop infomercials. You’ve got too many issues. They practically scream at me. You know, they have meds for crazy.” Vicky circled her finger around Sam’s head.

“Are you reading my mind now?” Sam fixed her eyes on Vicky, willing her to listen to her thoughts. It had been a long day. Both of her really good friends were gone. One had been abducted by a demon and the other had been possessed by one. Not to mention that the demon who had abducted Lauren also wanted Sam dead so that she couldn’t complete her transformation. She did not have the patience to deal with Vicky.

“Hello—Sam.” Vicky snapped her fingers. “That first thing you thought wasn’t polite, and the rest, as I said, way too many issues. Anyway, I’d think nice thoughts if I were you, especially if you want me to do you a favor.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. Just stay out of my head,” Sam demanded lightly.

“Send her over. I’ll watch the little beast. Where are you going, anyway?”

“Alea just called. Malachi thinks he found something,” Sam said.

Vicky fluttered her hand in the air. She’d obviously realized she didn’t care.

CHAPTER 28

Without thinking, Sam chose the cushion between Chase and Evrik on the couch, immediately recognizing the seating situation was very uncomfortable. She was relieved Vicky wasn’t at Evrik’s house to read her mind.

Sam sighed, worried about Ann. If Ann were to get away from Vicky, there would be no telling what havoc she would unleash on campus. Ann had turned considerably less human and more demon-like throughout the day. Sam didn’t want to even think about how Ann had gotten to McDonald’s. She had no choice but to rely on Vicky. She couldn’t watch Ann and determine what had possessed Ann at the same time. Anyway, they needed the crazy-animal Ann to help them find the entrance to the tunnel. Although it broke her heart to think of using sweet Ann that way, it might be their only chance at finding Lauren.

Alea took her usual seat on the chaise, with Malachi next to her. Draylan carried in a chair from the kitchen. He held a thick book under his enormous arm.

Sam’s leg bounced nervously. She waited for Draylan to find the right page. Evrik reached over and touched her knee, causing her to spring up on the sofa cushion. She took in a steadying breath, noticing Draylan was laughing, Evrik was smiling, and Chase was frowning. She really had to sort out her guy feelings.

Draylan handed Sam the
Virtus Liber
. “This is your demon.” He pointed to the picture of a very beastly creature.

Sam grasped the thick book in her hands. “What is this?”

“It’s a
porcus
demon,” Malachi responded.

“No. I mean the book.” She ran her finger down the thick spine and flipped it over to examine the well-worn cover. “It’s so old.”

“Thousands of years,” Evrik said. “The
Virtus Liber
, meaning a book for the virtuous. Our ancestors created this book. It has been added to over time. It lists all the demons they’ve encountered through the years, including the demons’ abilities and their weaknesses. We use it as a tool to fight them.”

“Wow—have you showed it to me before?”

“No, we haven’t needed it this year, until now,” Evrik answered.

Sam flipped back to the page Draylan had marked with his pen. “Demons have existed for a long time.” She noticed that one excerpt was written in the 1600s.

“Since Lucifer was banished from Heaven,” Malachi said.

Sam blinked. “Are you saying you think Lucifer sent Cale?”

“Not exactly,” Malachi continued. “Lucifer’s protégés—the
Angeli Casi
. Their names are Donovan, Kinsley and Nieander. They are Seraphs, like you. The Angeli Casi are considered the supreme rulers of the Infernus and are referred to as Lucifer’s children. In actuality, Kinsley is Donavan’s son. He is said to have a human mother.”

“The
Angeli Casi
are very powerful, perhaps just as powerful for evil as the archangels are for good. I think this is why they don’t want angelings to take full form and ascend as divine angels. They are equals on opposite sides of the spectrum, good and evil. Everything else lies somewhere in between. With more divine angels than fallen angels, they are already outnumbered.”

“Do you think they sent Cale to kill me?” Sam stuttered. Demons had been successful in murdering at least one of her descendants—her great-times-four grandmother. And now, Lucifer’s protégés wanted to keep her from changing into her destined form. She would be one less immortal on the good side. This new information was a lot to digest.

“Can I see the book?” Malachi asked. He flipped to the front. The first two pages were about Lucifer. It described his expulsion from heaven and referred to him as a “fallen angel” or “morning star.” The next three pages detailed his figurative children—the
Angeli Casi
.

Malachi examined the fourth page and pointed. “This
Angeli Casi
, Nieander, has the ability to possess or take control of a human.”

In the photograph, Nieander stood shirtless and godlike, emitting a subtle captivating glow. He could’ve easily been carved out of stone. But his eyes, they radiated evil—resembling a tiger’s eye gemstone, deep gold with swirls of chocolate brown. His hair was dirty blond, like Chase’s, but wavy and shoulder length. Nieander’s perfectly drawn lips came together into an ornery pout over a chiseled jaw line, like no human she’d ever seen. Nieander’s wings were charcoal gray, with an enormous wingspan, and like her, he had six wings.

His illustrious stance commanded greatness and power, not how she had pictured a demon would look, but then neither was Cale. Yet Cale had the ability to seduce. Cale counted on his looks to lure women. Sam guessed even demonic women had standards.

“Ann—” Sam said in disbelief. “Nieander possessed Ann, but why?”

Malachi thumbed through the pages until he found the page he was looking for near the back of the book. “I don’t think Nieander possessed Ann personally. He wouldn’t be bothered with a human. Humans are like bottom-feeders to him. He’d send another demon to do his bidding.”

Sam exhaled a sigh of relief. “That’s what I was going to say. It didn’t make any sense. Nieander looks beautiful, prestigious and collected, in a dark and evil kind of way, but not messy and animal-like.”

“This is the demon Draylan just showed you. This demon we think possessed Ann.” Malachi pointed to the beastly demon’s picture. His excerpt didn’t even span a fourth of the page, only a homely picture with a few descriptive words. “Draylan used the book to research the demon responsible based on the description Evrik gave Alea. This demon, the
porcus
demon, matches the description.” The
porcus
demon didn’t look anything like Nieander, or Cale, with his scrunched face and beady black eyes. In the picture, the demon was hunched over, perched on all fours. When Sam pictured a demon, the
porcus
demon best resembled the images she’d created. Nieander and Cale were entirely too gorgeous to be classified as demons, but they were, and it made them all the more dangerous.

“Hey, Malachi, he has your hair,” Draylan teased.

The
porcus
demon’s hair was spiky and black like Malachi’s, only Malachi’s was gelled perfectly in place, not in random bursts of clumpy patches.

Ignoring Draylan, Malachi explained the
porcus
demon’s behaviors—the drooling, snapping, growling, and vociferous, compulsive eating.

“That sounds like Ann,” Chase said, finally joining the conversation. He studied the demon’s picture with the rest of the group.

“It
doesn’t
sound like Ann,” Sam corrected him. “It sounds like the demon who possessed her. What does this
porcus
demon have to do with Nieander?”

“We think Nieander used the
porcus
demon to take control of Ann’s body,” Malachi said.