The Company of Darkness (33 page)

“What about her?”  She met his gaze with a bland smile.  “She’ll be in good hands with us, don’t you worry.  Besides, she sorta gave me the impression she was ready for a break.”

“Only because of the subject.  If you remove him…”

“This isn’t a dating service, Agent Shaw,” she interrupted, her tone brooking no arguments.  “You’ll go where you’re needed and so will she.  Buck up, maybe you’ll see her at the Christmas party,” she smirked.  “You’re dismissed.”

Ethan didn’t think about arguing with her, half torn between trying to find Cady now to share the good news and not wanting to jinx it. 

“You can’t do this.”

“It’s not up to me.”

“I need to be with her.”

“You’ve got a much better chance of that being in Foster than you do with me.  They’re deliberately splitting us up, didn’t you hear?”

“You won’t really let that happen, will you?”

Ethan desperately tried not to think too hard about it either way.  If he formed even part of a plan, Ash would be able to ferret it out of him and he might screw things up.  He was much too close to getting what he wanted. 

* * *

This wasn’t his first rodeo.  He’d offloaded demons before, no sweat.  But Ethan’s nerves were strung tight as a drum as they pulled him into the ritual chamber.  The protective sigils were all in place, the salt, the herbs, anything and everything for their protection, but he couldn’t help but feel like something was about to go very wrong. 

Maybe it was Ash’s total silence.  Even when Ethan lay on the table, his hand lashed to Foster’s, Ash didn’t make so much as a peep.  He wasn’t sure if he should be saying goodbye or trying to gauge the demon’s mood, so in the end he did nothing, closing his eyes as the elder drew the black
dague
over his head and began the incantation. 

“
Et spiritus immundi, ne audirent me, et scio. Asherik potest custodire mandata mea invocabo. Es ligatus agitet te tenebras non in spiritu in saecula. Dimitte puerum hominis iubeo
.”

Ethan closed his eyes, bracing himself for the sting of the knife as it drew the glyph from his body to Foster’s.  Instead a searing pain came, not from the ceremonial dagger, but from inside him, as if his heart was gripped by razor sharp talons. 

This wasn’t right.  He was prepared for the burn, it always hurt when the subject was disturbed, separating its energy from his – but something was wrong.  Eyes snapping open, Ethan drew in a breath to let them know but all that came out was a hoarse scream as the pain pulsed into white hot agony. 

Something was wrong.

It started as a persistent, nagging sensation, up high in her stomach, like when you eat too many chili dogs without burping.  It quickly turned into a deep sense of foreboding that made her itch all over, her hands cold and clammy. 

Something was wrong with Ethan. 

It drove her out of the main house and out to bungalow three, but he was nowhere in sight.  Had he already been shipped out?  Intuition told her no – the same intuition that told her something was wrong.  Maybe it was the connection with Ash or something deeper she shared with Ethan (that’s how she preferred to think of it), but she knew without a doubt he was in trouble. 

That’s when she heard the screams. 

Horrible, otherworldly screams that sounded like nothing a human being could produce, but she knew it was Ethan, knew it deep in her bones.  Following the reverberating cries through the great house, half by sound and half by instinct Cady tracked him down to the ritual room and suddenly she understood. 

Ash didn’t want to let go.

There were no windows, but two guards stood poised outside, letting her know she’d found the right place.  Before she’d even come halfway across the hallway, they moved to block her way.  “You can’t go in there, Miss Garrett.”

Cady didn’t let it slow her down, if anything, it quickened her pace.  “You have to let me in.  Can’t you tell something’s wrong?”

The one by the doorknob took a step closer to her, his hands coming up to keep her back.  “This door doesn’t open.  It’s for our protection.”

“No, but it’s killing him.  Listen…” Eyes blinking back tears, she winced as another scream rent the air, but the guard wouldn’t budge.    

“This door doesn’t open.  Not even if they open a portal to hell itself.”

“Just let me in, you can close the door right after me,” she tried again, and he exchanged a look with his partner, who laid a hand on the butt of his gun.

“Move along or I’ll have you moved,” the other man growled. 

“Please, if you’ll just…”

“Just take her and secure her in the interrogation room until it’s over,” the first one said irritably. 

“No, wait…” 

The guard drew a collapsible baton from his belt and snapped it out, starting toward her.  Cady’s hands came up in self defense, not wanting to be taken and definitely not secured. 

“Come on,” he said, grabbing for her arm, baton at the ready and Cady’s other hand clamped around his wrist.  Almost immediately he froze, his features twisting in pain.  A low grunt wheezed out of him as he went down on his knees, eyes wide with panic and fear.  Not quite sure what’d happened to him, Cady tried to brace his weight, but instead he keeled over to twitch on the ground, eyes rolling up into the back of his head.  Cady stared down at his body, her jaw dropping in shock. 

“What the fuck?” the other guard muttered, kneeling at his friend’s neck to feel for a pulse.  “What did you do to him?”

“Nothing, I swear!”  Cady said, dropping to a crouch beside him to see if she could help.

“Back away from him!  Do it now!” he yelled, one hand on his fallen comrade, the other twitching closer to the butt of his gun.

“I’m trying to help, you dumbass!  Do you know CPR?  I’m not sure he’s breathing.”

“I…shit, no, I don’t.  I said back away from him!”  He pulled his gun, aiming it straight at Cady’s head.  Her world tipped on its axis as she tried to scramble away, flailing limbs preventing her from doing it fast enough to settle his nerves or her own. 

“Jesus, don’t shoot, I didn’t… I’m not… I’m getting away!” she yelled at the top of her lungs, hands coming up to shield her face – like that would’ve done any good. 

“What’s going on here?”  Rikard appeared at the end of the hall, his brows drawing together in a thunderous glare, and Cady couldn’t tell if it was aimed at her, or the fallen guard. 

“She assaulted Friel in an attempt to breach the ritual room.”

“Oh, I did not!” Cady returned hotly.  “The guy keeled over and I was trying to help.  Rikard, you have to let me get into the room to help Ethan, listen to him.  I don’t know how much longer he can hold out.”

Rikard’s steely gaze swept over the situation for exactly three seconds before he came to a decision. “Parker, go and get a medic.  I’ll take over your post.”

“But…”

“Move it, man, he needs medical attention quickly!”  Rikard’s tone left no room for argument, and Parker backed off, taking off down the hall at a run.  “What have you done?” he asked in a softer voice, touching two fingers to Friel’s wrist. 

“It wasn’t me, I didn’t do anything.  He just keeled over, like I said.  Thank you, for sending him away.  I need to get in there before it’s too late.”

Rikard stepped up to block her way, his hands coming up.  “I can’t let you go in.”

“Oh, come on, you of all people know how much I need to get in there.  Listen to him, he’ll die.  How much more of that do you think he can take?”

“He can take a lot more than you think.  With any luck he’ll pass out soon and they can get on with the rest of it.”

“No, but something’s wrong, I can feel it.”  Cady wrapped her hand around his, trying to make him understand she wasn’t being hysterical, something really
was
wrong.  “Ash doesn’t want to let him go.  I can help, I know I can.”

“I can’t let you in there.  It’s for your own safety as well as the rest of us.” 

“I don’t care about me, he wouldn’t hurt me,” she said, shaking her head.  “I can help him, I know I can.”

“I can’t let you pass,” he said, emotion twisting his features, but he still pushed her backwards, away from the door. 

“Please?”  Cady pressed one last time, thinking he might’ve changed his mind when she no longer felt that push.  Instead, his face clouded, mouth opening and closing as he faltered back on unsteady feet, going down on one knee.

“What did you do to me?” Rikard wheezed, weakly pulling his hand from her grasp and Cady let go of him, stepping back as he toppled to one side. 

“I didn’t…”  Or had she?  First the guard and then Rikard, both after touching her.  Whatever it was, she couldn’t waste the opportunity.  “I’m sorry.  Really, I am, but I have to get in there,” she said, stepping past him to lunge for the door, half expecting him to grab her in the process.  The knob turned easily in her hands, and she glanced back to see Rikard with one hand on his chest, struggling to take in a breath.  God, she hoped he wasn’t too badly hurt by whatever it was, but she had bigger things to focus on for the moment. 

The chanting was still going, Ethan’s screams weaker now as he’d grown hoarse, but just as sickening for the pain behind them.  The one guy held the black dagger in both hands, aimed at Ethan’s heart, the tip barely touching him.  Sweat streamed down the caster’s face with the effort to move the blade, but for every centimeter he nudged the glyph away from Ethan’s heart, it dragged back the same fraction seconds later. 

Ethan’s skin was a bloody mess as the tip of the knife sliced into him again and again from the jerky movements, but his body healed the damage easily enough.  Ethan’s eyes were tightly closed, unaware of her entrance.   The casters took immediate notice but didn’t dare halt the incantation, though the one closest to her tried to shoo Cady to the door like an offending insect.

Cady stepped boldly into the ring of salt, not caring if it exposed her to Ash or any danger.  The energy within the circle made her skin prickle uncomfortably, but she grit her teeth against it, focused on the man she loved.  “Ethan?” she said softly, reaching out to touch his hair.  He didn’t give any sign that he heard her or was aware of her touch, but she felt a flare of something from Ash.  Something very like panic mixed with rage – a dangerous combination. 

“You have to stop this,” she said, trying to catch the eye of the caster who held the dagger to Ethan’s heart.  “It’s clearly not working.”  All the man did was give the briefest shake of the head, his lips continuing to mouth the words. 

“Ash?” she tried again, not sure what else she could do for Ethan short of shoving the caster aside.  She didn’t know if that might hurt him even worse to break the spell with all the energy flying around in the circle.  “Ash, you have to stop this, you’re killing him.”  Cady felt the surge of emotion from Ash in that simple touch, but she couldn’t tell if her words had much effect on him. 

“Ash, please…” she said, her fingers trailing down the side of Ethan’s face and neck, across the top of his chest until she reached his heart.  The caster let go of the dagger with one hand to slap her away from touching the glyph, but she didn’t budge.  Instead she splayed her fingers over the tattoo, her eyes closing as she focused all her energy on reaching the demon. 

“Please, you have to let him go.  I need you to understand, you’re hurting me by hurting him.  Can you feel my pain?”  There was a surge of sorrow, but the edge of panic still shone bright.  The dagger jumped across his flesh as the caster gained an inch, slicing deep on its slow trek back to the center of Ethan’s chest as Ash dug in.  Ethan’s screams had ceased now, the only noise coming from him a labored grunt as he drew in shallow breaths, his chest twitching with the movement.  There wasn’t much time.

“Asherik, I’m begging you,” Cady sobbed, her tears mingling with the blood over Ethan’s heart.  “If you ever loved me, let him go.  You’ve taken so much, give him back to me.  Please…”  Her fingers caressed the lines of the tattoo, slick with blood and tears and she felt a wave of love mingled with regret.  The symbol rippled across his skin, curving after her touch, and she slid her fingers along the top of his pec, amazed when the glyph pursued her. 

The caster was quick to follow, dragging the burning dagger in its wake, the words of the spell coming louder now, with more confidence.  Cady’s fingers inched along, maddeningly slowly, afraid of losing Ash’s compliance if she moved too fast.  Across the top of his chest and down the curve of his bicep, she murmured soft words of encouragement, not knowing what else to do. 

The caster, supportive now and encouraging in his nods, showed her with his free hand where to bridge the two reapers, and Cady held her breath as she drew Ash out of Ethan’s body and into Foster’s.  She paused for a moment, blinking back tears and drawing in a shuddering breath as the demon let Ethan go.  She almost wanted to snatch her hand back there and then, not caring if the glyph ended up on the back of Foster’s hand or his forearm or what, but the caster seemed to want her to keep going, so she did. 

Only Ash didn’t follow her any longer when her hand drifted up Foster’s arm.  In fact, she couldn’t feel him at all.  Eyes flying up in panic, she caught the caster’s gaze, only to see him calm and in control for the first time since she’d entered the room.  The black dagger took the lead, drawing the glyph along with the stench of burning flesh and Cady stepped out of the way, her part in it finished. 

“
Asherik constringo vos, ut ubi non malum facient. Asherik, adiuro vos hoc et filius hominis unus caro unus spiritus
.”

Foster’s jaw clenched with tension but he didn’t cry out at the sting of the blade, his breathing coming slow and deep while the caster relocated Ash to his final resting place, on the reaper’s shoulder.  Only then did his head fall to one side as he lost consciousness.  The chanting ceased and the four casters fell back in exhaustion even as Cady rushed forward to cradle Ethan’s head to her body. 

“Ethan?  Can you hear me?  Are you alright?”  His pulse beat good and strong, but he didn’t rouse from his slumber.  The black dagger lay on the table beside her and Cady snatched it up, slicing through the bonds that bound Ethan and Foster together, not much caring if it was supposed to be used for ceremonial purposes only.  “Ethan?” she tried again, touching his cheek.

“They’ll both likely be out for at least a couple of hours,” the lead caster said, his voice raspy like he needed a lozenge.  “You saved him though.  Without you, he would’ve been lost,” he nodded in approval. 

Cady had a few things she wouldn’t have minded saying to the guy for dragging Ethan through so much pain, but she held her tongue.  Without him they wouldn’t have been able to get rid of Ash at all.  The sight of Ash’s glyph on Foster’s shoulder drew her attention from the man in her arms, and she reached a tentative hand to it, afraid of what she’d find there.  Instead all she felt was Foster’s clammy skin, and the same pinwheel of energy she picked up from the other demons bound to him.

Her shoulders sagged in relief as she traced the contour of the tattoo for the last time.  “Goodbye, Ash,” she said softly, letting him go.

Speaking of energy, her entire body thrummed with it, a result of an adrenaline spike, she was sure.  And then came another rush as the door burst open and two more guards barreled in, Alma standing behind them, her steely gaze taking in the scene. 

“I don’t want her hurt, but take her down, boys.”