The Demon Trappers: Foretold (27 page)

Nestled in her bed at Stewart’s house, Ori’s summons came in the middle of the night, a clarion call that interrupted her dreams and pulled Riley awake in a
heartbeat.

Dress. Or fight unclothed
, he ordered deep in her mind.

She’d barely managed to pull on her jeans, shirt and high-tops when the room around her faded. Her new surroundings came into focus: a broad, open field of green grass, the moon fat and
full in the midnight sky.

I know this place.
This was all angelic illusion, like the romantic picnic they’d shared when Ori had been trying to seduce her. This time there was no tasty watermelon or wine,
only Lucifer’s killer.

‘Sleep in your clothes from now on, unless you wish to fight nude,’ Ori said brusquely. ‘I will call you at a moment’s notice.’

Great.
‘During the day too?’

‘Perhaps.’

‘Someone will notice if I just disappear.’

‘I’ll ensure they don’t. Now extend your hand, the one with my master’s inscription upon it.’

Riley did as he asked, wondering what he had in mind, and the question was answered the instant her right palm flared to life in brilliant white flames. Crying out, she tried to wave them away,
but failed. There was no pain, but it freaked her to see her hand engulfed in fire. The flames gradually spread down her fingers and became a sword, a petite version of Ori’s blade.

‘How do you do that?’ she asked, staring at it in wonder. It was so bright it hurt her eyes.

‘I am sharing some of my Divine essence with you.’

Riley gave the blazing blade a couple of test swipes through the air. It was kind of cool.

This wasn’t a good idea. ‘Look, I am not a warrior. I can try to watch your back, but I’m not good at killing demons.’

‘You did well enough in the swamp.’

The blade ceased its lazy arcs. ‘You know what happened there?’

‘Of course. I’m your demi-lord. I knew exactly what was going on.’

‘Then why didn’t you help me find Beck?’ Riley demanded. ‘Why did you let me do all that on my own?’

‘It was your test, not mine,’ he responded. ‘Now I shall show you some basic sword techniques and then we’ll go hunting.’

Hunting?
This was getting out of hand. ‘What can I possibly do other than act as bait?’

The angel nodded agreeably. ‘I see you understand your role perfectly.’

When it was over and Riley had returned to her room, the clock indicated only an hour had passed. To her it felt like half a day. Her clothes were clean now, though
they’d been soaked in demon blood. Her muscles ached, but not as badly as when she’d been in the middle of the fight. Somehow Ori had shared some of his angel mojo to help her
recover.

As she’d warned him, she’d done very badly her first time out, unable to handle the blade. Their prey, as he’d called it, had been a quartet of rogue Threes, those who had
defied Lucifer. At the end of the killing, there was a pile of corpses which he’d burned with his angelic fire. Through it all, he’d shown no emotion as he’d cut them down. The
caring Divine who’d made love to her was gone, subsumed by the grim executioner.

The next morning Riley found herself in Demon Central with Simon, their master and the two new apprentices. She was sure Harper would see she was different somehow, call her
out for hanging with one of Lucifer’s dudes, but he hadn’t said a word.

In contrast to the demons Ori had slain, the single Gastro-Fiend they were trying to trap was one of the younger ones, plump, with only one row of teeth. It stood about four feet tall, with
black fur and glowing eyes. Currently it gnawed on a pawful of garbage, one of its usual food sources in Demon Central.

This time there was no fancy sword or angelic back-up, so one of them would serve as the ‘lure’ while the other wielded the Holy Water. If the trapper with the sphere missed, the
lure was in line for the demon’s fangs and claws.

Troubled, Riley looked over at Simon. Did she trust him to throw the sphere accurately? Would he change his mind at the last second and let the fiend attack her?

Simon was frowning as well.
He’s wondering if I’d do that to him.

‘I’ll be the bait,’ she said. It seemed to be her lot in life
.
‘You’re better with the spheres than I am.’

Her former boyfriend shook his head. ‘No, I’ll do it.’

Riley was taken aback. He trusted her after all that had happened between them? ‘Simon, you don’t—’

‘Yes, I do,’ he insisted. ‘You’ll hit it first time. I know you will.’

She wasn’t sure about that.

‘Get it done,’ Harper called out from where he and the newbies were tucked behind a dumpster. If the trapping went wrong, the master was the back-up plan if the demon got the upper
hand. It’d be his job to keep the thing from eating them, if possible.

‘Ready?’ Simon asked, testing the grip of the steel pipe in his left hand.

When she reluctantly nodded, he moved closer to the beast. Since one of these things had nearly killed him, this was an act of supreme courage. Simon’s fingers clenched the bag of chicken
entrails and his breath came in quick gasps.

You’re scared out of your mind.
He had to be reliving every agonizing second of the attack at the Tabernacle. Riley certainly was.

When Simon lifted up a bag of chicken entrails, the fiend dropped the handful of garbage and howled in delight. From its perspective, it’d gone from dumpster diving to two trappers on the
hoof with a chicken appetizer.

Once Simon tossed the entrails towards the beast, he didn’t have to wait long for the fiend to make its headlong rush at the offering. The chicken was gone in a gulp and then the Three
began to size up its next meal as this one was still a little green in the trapper-killing business. An older, more seasoned fiend would have already begun its run.

Riley edged into a better position and her movement caught the demon’s notice.

‘Blackthorne’s daughter,’ it grunted. Then those laser eyes sheered back to Simon as if she wasn’t on its menu. This was the second time a demon had ignored her and
chosen to target her fellow trapper. Was it because it knew Ori was her demi-lord?

‘Chew yourrrr bones!’ the fiend cried, and began its lumbering run towards her fellow trapper.

Riley forced herself to wait until the beast was within range and then threw the Holy Water sphere. It proved a perfect delivery as the glass orb hit the beast square on its ugly face. As the
liquid soaked in, it roared in agony, then crumbled to the ground in a furry heap.

Riley cried out in enthusiastic relief. As they crammed the rank fiend into one of the steel mesh bags, she whispered. ‘You trusted me. Why?’

Simon snapped the clips in place, then his vivid blue eyes sought hers. ‘Because I had to take the first step out of this endless darkness. That meant trusting someone I once thought had
betrayed me.’

Riley was stunned. ‘I could have missed the thing, Simon.’

‘It was a risk that I had to take.’

My God.

Before she could respond, Harper and the new guys joined them, the master explaining exactly what had gone right and what would have happened if Riley’s sphere hadn’t contacted the
Three. Why having a steel pipe with you at all times was vital for survival.

‘Would it really eat you?’ Fleming asked, his eyes wide like he’d just stepped into a horror movie.

‘It’ll make a meal of you in about fifteen minutes. Or less,’ Harper replied. ‘Their claws are filthy so if you get hurt, treat it with Holy Water pronto. If not, you
start dying.’ He pointed at Simon. ‘Ask Adler how that feels. Or Blackthorne for that matter. Both have been there.’

Though Fleming paled, the other apprentice didn’t seem troubled at all.

Harper noticed. ‘Any questions over there, Lambert?’

‘That demon didn’t seem that scary,’ the guy said. ‘You’d have to be pretty dumb to get ripped up by one of them. Why are we wasting time on these things? Why not
go for the bigger demons right off?’

Simon was on his feet in an instant, spoiling for a fight, and Riley grabbed on to his arm.

‘No. He’ll learn the hard way,’ she said.

‘Don’t worry, Lambert, you’ll get your chance at a Three in a month or so,’ Harper said, frowning. ‘If you’re still my apprentice, that is.’

As the trio walked away, Fleming peppered the master with questions. The other guy didn’t seem to care.

‘What is wrong with him?’ Simon asked, frowning. The flush of colour on her fellow trapper’s cheeks stood out against his pale skin.

‘He’s a hotshot. If he’s not afraid of a Three, he won’t make it very long.’

‘Thanks for stopping me. I would have . . . well . . .’

Totally nailed him.
That wasn’t the old Saint Simon she knew.

Riley hated to admit it, but she liked the new one better.

The moment Beck pushed open the door to his house and turned off the alarm, he felt better. In the past when he’d returned from Sadlersville it had been with extreme
relief. No visit to Sadie had ever been good and the horror of the Keneally brothers’ disappearance had dogged his every step. Now that was all behind him for the first time in his life, he
was a free man.

He immediately collected his rabbit from Mrs Merton, the neighbour next door. She prattled on about how much she’d enjoyed watching over Rennie and then offered her sympathies about his
mom. He took it all in his stride, thanking her, then retreated to his house in search of solace. After checking his messages, he settled on the couch, his bunny at his side. Beck savoured this
rare moment of tranquility as his mind tumbled with possibilities, unlike in the past.

‘I got a situation, Rennie,’ he said. Though he was sure that was crazy, he often talked to her because she always seemed to understand. ‘Paul’s daughter is in love with
me. Can you believe that?’ He shook his head in amazement. ‘Now I gotta decide what to do.’

Did he try to build a life with Riley or was it better to step back and not get hurt again? He’d argued both sides all the way back to Atlanta, for and against.

When Rennie gave a gentle tug on his shirt to remind him she was in need of some attention, he hoisted the small rabbit on to his lap and petted her. In her own way, she’d helped him find
the right path.

‘You know, yer right. We all deserve love,’ he murmured.

Even me
.

The
Demonland
location shoot was easy to find – all Riley had to do was follow the string of tractor trailers into the heart of Demon Central. There was a line of
them, some with generators to power the lights required to make Hollywood magic. Further on, she passed a portable trailer that housed the toilets and then one for costuming. It was like a mini
city had set up residence inside Five Points.

Riley was stopped by an off-duty Atlanta cop, and her trapper’s ID checked. Once she’d been vetted, she kept wandering around until she spied Lex Reynolds near a table stocked with
coffee and pastries. Reynolds wasn’t like most of the other trappers: he could easily pass as a surfer with his deep tan, shoulder-length blond hair and full beard. He was one of the nicer
guys in the Guild and Riley was pleased to spend some time with him. Like any trapper, he was unlikely to miss this opportunity – not if there was a pay cheque and free food.

‘Riley,’ he called out as she approached, half a plain doughnut in hand. ‘How was South Georgia?

‘Memorable,’ she said. ‘So what’s going here?’

‘Not a whole lot. They’re getting ready for Blaze’s next scene.’ He angled his head towards a knot of people near one of the cameras. ‘She’s over there. Man,
she’s totally hot.’

Riley suppressed a groan. The show was Hollywood’s idea of demon hunting though they’d completely ignored the Church’s role and their rules (no girls) and instead created a
team of hunky guys and ‘totally hot’ Blaze running all over the world killing Hellspawn in unrealistic ways. No surprise, the show was a hit and annoyed the Vatican to no end. In this
case, Riley agreed with Rome. Because the show was a hit, the public thought that demon hunters were the same as the trappers.
Demonland
just made Riley’s job that much harder.

Now that she saw her, Blaze seemed prettier on screen. That never worked when someone filmed Riley: she was usually covered in something vile and smelly.

Let her take on a real demon and see what happens.

Since the Vatican wouldn’t deal with these guys, the trappers had been asked to help increase the ‘accuracy’ of the show. Time passed and there was no request for assistance or
advice.

Riley huffed in annoyance. ‘Why do I think we’re just here to build up the show’s street cred?’

‘I got that impression too. Well, at least we’re being paid for our time.’ Reynolds studied the surrounding area. ‘They’ve got some stones setting up in the middle
of Demon Central. A Three could do a lot of damage to their fancy equipment.’

Her fellow trapper was right. ‘You think we should split up, keep an eye out for trouble?’

‘Yeah, I do. The Threes are getting more aggressive, working in teams now.’

‘What? I thought that was because of Ozy –’ She paused, aware that someone might overhear them discussing the necromancer-enhanced Hellspawn they’d battled at the
cemetery. ‘I thought we had that all sorted out.’

‘We did, but the everyday demons learned from the others. They’ve adopted new tactics.’

‘Thanks, Reynolds,’ she muttered. ‘You’ve made my night.’

With a sigh, Riley trudged to the far side of the set so between them they would have a clear field of vision in case of trouble. Crew hurried past her, doing whatever folks did on a television
series. It made no sense to her, but the end result was weekly episodes of a show that her friends adored.

After more discussion with a goateed guy in a
Demonland
T-shirt – Riley pegged him as the director – Blaze took her place in front of the cameras. She seemed displeased, but
so would anyone forced to wear stiletto boots, butt-hugging jeans and a chokingly tight spandex top. She was joined by a male actor and it took Riley a bit to recognize him: Jess Storm, the one
Brandy thought was so babelicious.