The Artifact of Dissium (Demona Book 2) (24 page)

Ezekiel walked down the stairs to stand on the other side of Demona. He placed a hand on her shoulder. Demona looked into his eyes and hoped she could find answers there. It was by his expression that she knew he could not explain what had happened anymore than the other attendees could.

“There is no doubt that
Aleph
has heard our prayers,” Ezekiel said. “
Aleph
, has brought the dead to life!”

Chapter 23:

A Secret

Demona walked through the park by her old apartment building. She stopped for a moment to stare up at the balcony that had once been hers. Nothing had changed physically since she had packed her things and moved out. Somehow, though, it had changed for her. It was no longer familiar. It was almost as if she were seeing the old apartment building and the park from a different perspective.

Demona looked at the trail ahead of her
and felt her heart thump within her chest. She knew she could not keep this meeting waiting any longer, so she braced herself and stepped forward. Demona walked through the park towards one of the benches. It was near a spot of both sorrow and happiness.

A man stepped out from around a large tree trunk when Demona grew closer to the bench. Darius stood in Demona’s path with his hands clasped behind his back. He wore a black pea coat and a matching fedora. His face was expressionless as always, but he studied her a moment before speaking.

“You have changed, but I cannot determine how.”

Demona clenched her fists at her side and continued towards him. She hoped that he would not hear the now beating heart that pounded quickly with each step she took in his direction. “Neutral ground, huh?”

“What can I say, this place holds sentimental value,” Darius replied.

“Sure it does,” Demona said. Her nails dug into her palms, but she refused to show the scowl that she wore on the inside. “You have the artifact?”

“Very good. I knew you were a bright young woman,” Darius said.

“I know more than you think I do,” Demona replied. She thought she caught a sparkle in his eye.

“I am amused, dear. You could not possibly know everything.”

Demona shook her head. “Maybe not, but I know enough…Now, why are we here? You have the artifact; you are clearly in control of this situation.”

“You are making my job too simple. I do indeed have the artifact and I do indeed have the power. There is, however, the issue of the demon priest.”

Demona crossed her arms over her chest. “Let me guess. You want to keep the artifact; but you want to be the one to use it. You want us to perform the exorcism, while the agents watch our backs.”

Darius continued to observe Demona. “Good, good.”

“Fine, but there are a few terms that I have. One, you will not betray us and you will keep the agents in line.” Demona crossed her arms over her chest.

Darius nodded his head. “Agreed.”

“Two, no humans are to be harmed,” Demona said.

Darius nodded.

“Three, you keep your bargain with Kearne. If you have not done so already…Which something tells me you haven’t.” Demona narrowed her eyes at him.

“He will be released when I return to TGHC.”

“Four, you tell me where my parents were buried.”

“H-how did you—”

Demona had never seen Darius surprised and it made her heart skip to see him squirm. “You aren’t the only one who has secrets anymore.”

Darius thought for a moment. “Their remains have been buried at the local cemetery just outside of town.”

Demona narrowed her eyes at Darius.
Why is he being so cooperative?

“When will your people be prepared for the exorcism?” Darius asked.

“We’ll be in touch,” Demona said. “After…I have confirmation that Kearne is safely out of the dungeons.”

Demona turned and walked away leaving Darius to stare after her. She grinned as soon as her back was turned and breathed a deep sigh of relief. Yes, Darius had the artifact, but Demona now had a few new tricks up her sleeves, as well.

Demona made her way back to the old parking lot, where her friends waited for her. She found them leaning up against Felix’s red sedan. She walked towards them with a smile on her face.

“You seem happy. Did it work?” Hannah asked.

“Yeah, he agreed to my terms,” Demona replied. “Now, we just wait.”

“This is not going to be easy,” Kaleb said.

Demona crossed her arms. “Psh, none of this is going to be easy.”

“But we have a really cool secret weapon that he doesn’t have,” Ileana said.

The group looked at Demona.

“Yes, I know let’s all stare at Demona, because she is special. Can you at least act like I’m your friend?”

Hannah and Ileana threw their arms around Demona’s back, one on each side.

“Of course,” Ileana replied.

“You have always been our friend,” Hannah said.

“But you are still pretty darn awesome!” Kaleb added.

Felix pulled her away from Hannah and Ileana. “She might be the chosen one, but she’s all mine.”

Demona leaned against Felix and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her heart fluttered as he held her in his arms. She reached up to meet his lips and pressed into him. Felix’s lips molded to hers for a long moment.

“Owe! Owe!” Kaleb yelled.

Ileana tapped her foot impatiently and rolled her eyes. “Get a room!”

“I think it’s sweet,” Hannah replied. She looked at Kaleb and he smiled back at her.

Demona pulled back from Felix and looked into his eyes for a moment before turning to the others. “It’s going to take forever for me to get used to this.”

“What?” Felix asked.

“The feeling of my beating heart…breathing, too. Sometimes I catch myself forgetting to take a breath.”

“You’ll be used to it in no time,” Hannah said.

Demona nodded. “We have to make a stop before going back to headquarters.”

****

Demona walked through an old unkempt cemetery in the middle of a forest. The plots were scattered and in no particular order. It had been neglected and filled in with brush that hid the majority of the headstones. Demona was uncertain that she would be able to find her parents among the mess. She continued to walk through the brush and pulled the high grass away from any of the headstones that she stumbled upon.

“They’ve got to be here, somewhere,” Demona said. She was getting frustrated with the search.

Her friends walked through the brush in a fanned out fashion each looked at the names on the headstones that they passed for any indication of who was resting below. It was difficult to see the stones that were half buried in the brush and grass. Many of the headstones were also in disrepair. Some were very worn by the elements, others broken, and still more placed against tree trunks away from any plot. The group searched nonetheless.

Hannah stood up quickly from a grave marker. “Demona, I think...” She could not finish the words.

Demona briskly walked to the gravestone that Hannah had recently uncovered. Hannah moved to pull more brush away from the marker and the other beside it, while Demona studied the plot. The first one had a simple S. B. engraved in the smooth stone surface. The second stone identical to the first read D. B.

Demona’s head hung low. “It’s them.” She pulled the grass away, so that she could have a better look at her parents’ headstones.

Hannah and Felix helped clear the brush farther away from the plots.

Demona crouched in front of the two headstones. She brushed some dirt and moss off of the cracks in the surface. “They’ve been here this whole time and I didn’t know.”

“But you know now,” Hannah said. “It’s not like you had a choice in the matter.”

Demona stood again and stared downwards at the ground where her parents rest
. At least they are at peace, together now
. It did not matter how much she cleared dirt and brush away from the stones, she still felt empty inside.

Felix stopped what he was doing and went to Demona. He put his arm around her and pulled her into an embrace. “It’s okay to cry.”

As if on cue, Demona buried her face into Felix’s chest and let her emotions loose. Demona gripped his shirt up into the balls of her fists. The tears soaked through his clothes to his skin as she pressed her face into him. She felt as if her heart would burst with the pain and emptiness she felt knowing that her parents lay below her feet.

“They were heroes,” Kaleb said.

Demona looked up at him and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

“They sacrificed their lives for you to survive,” Ileana said.

Demona nodded. “Heroes.” She sniffed.

Demona held her hand out and accessed the
mageia
and spiritual energy that now flowed freely to her from
Aleph
. The ground that had once been full of tall dry grass and thorn bushes came to life. It filled with new sprouts of green grass that seemed to roll over the land around them. When it had stopped the plots where her parents lay were covered in new life. Vines wound their way around the head stones and slowly sprouted deep green leaves. Buds appeared on the thorny stems and grew larger still. The buds burst open to reveal perfectly shaped dark pink roses.

Demona leaned down to one of the delicate roses. She inhaled the fragrant smell and sighed. She turned to Felix and grabbed his hand. She led him in the direction of the car and their friends followed behind.

When they had taken their seats in the sedan Felix drove in the direction of the headquarters. Felix drove slowly through town and kept glancing over to Demona in the passenger seat. She sat calmly staring out the windshield.

“I can’t wait for dinner,” Kaleb said.

“All you think about is food,” Hannah replied.

Demona nodded. “A cheeseburger sounds good. I haven’t had one of those in a long time.”

“If anyone deserves to have cravings it’s Demona. We’ll stop and get something to eat on the way back to headquarters,” Felix said.

“Look out!” Demona yelled.

Felix’s foot slammed on the brake pedal. The car screeched to a stop after several agonizing moments. Everyone was slammed back into their seats with the abrupt stop.

A man stood in the center of the street walking towards them. He did not seem to care that he had almost been hit. He did not seem to notice where he was walking or anything at all. Until he caught sight of the people inside the vehicle and then he began to make way for the car.

An RV came screeching into sight from a side street and slammed to a halt. Several men, including Ezekiel, burst from the doors with weapons in hand. Kaleb and Felix were out of the car staring at the other men.

Demona noticed that the man in the middle of the road had turned his attention to those that had just arrived.

“What do you need me to do?” Kaleb yelled.

“Get back in the car, we’ve got this,” Ezekiel replied.

Demona leaned out her open window to get a better look at what was going on. The man stood still as if he were not fazed by the commotion around him. He was not threatened by the knives in the hands of the men who had recently appeared. He was not afraid of the hand guns that hung from their holsters or the shotguns slung over the shoulders of others. He only stared at the men and his head seemed to twitch slightly as if he heard an annoying buzz.

Kaleb placed his hand on Felix’s shoulder. “Get back in the car, dude.”