Darkness Descends (The Silver Legacy Book 1) (30 page)

Ames shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t know enough about ghosts and spirits to know what all they can do to her to get her to cough it up.” Ames studied Denny a minute. “You going somewhere?”

“Downstairs. I’m ready for more training. It’s time for me to get my sister out of harm’s way and show those douche canoes what I’m made of.”

***

“S
urely you’ve seen it. You’re a fucking ghost, for Christ’s sake. You’ve been all over that house.”

Rush studied her fingernails in feigned boredom. “I’m a woman. I’m not interested in secret passages like some twelve-year-old boy. I spend most of my time watching T.V.”

“T.V.? Are you crazy? What a stupid waste of time. All the time in the world and
that’s
how you choose to spend it?” The demon shook his head. “What a stupid bitch.”

“Have you ever seen
Laverne and Shirley
? Funniest show ever. Well, maybe not as funny as
I Love Lucy
. That Lucy can sure get herself in some crazy predicaments.”

The duplo walked around her. “You better rethink your answers, sweetheart. We’re not gonna dick around with you much longer.”

“Boris, I’m
dead
. There isn’t jack shit you can do to me.”

“Are you so sure of that? How much do you know about the spiritual world?”

“I know enough to know I’m dead. Beyond that, I don’t give a shit. Denny isn’t some loser who happens to have a demon inside her. She’s going to tear you fuckers apart and I am going to enjoy watching her do it.”

The demon hung upside down from the ceiling like a bat––arms folded across his chest. “Don’t go all self-righteous on me now, honey. You knew all along what she had within her, yet you
never
shared that with her. Why not?”

“Fuck you.”

He laughed. “I’ll tell you why. Because the truth would have set you free, and you’re scared to death of losing her. Your ghostly existence would fade into the wallpaper if she stopped loving you.”

“She loves me. I’m not going to lose her.”

“You’re right about that, because she’s coming to join you in the spiritual realm soon. You should be glad. Together forever and all that rot.”

Rush walked to a window overlooking the river. “We’ll see. You underestimate her...and that’s a big, big mistake.” Rush sighed. “I want her to live forever. Dying sucks.”

“Dying is part of the gig. Being in limbo, where you are, is what sucks. If you tell us where it is, you can save both sisters. We’ll walk away and everyone can go back to the business of living...demon free.”

“Boris, you are boring the shit out of me. Whatever you and your goons are gonna do, I wish you’d just do it and stop talking about it. I am not—now or ever—going to show you shit, so fuck off.”

“Oh, we will. You can count on that.” The demon hopped down and joined Rush at the window. “Thinking about the times you used to play out there?”

“No.”

“What ended your life anyway?”

“None of your fucking business. You know, I liked you better when you were the strong, silent type.”

“I’ll be quiet when you tell me what I want to know. Your lover’s life depends on it. Her family’s life depends on it. We hold all the cards in a game she doesn’t even know the rules to.”

“She doesn’t need my help.”

“Are you so sure of that?”

Rush nodded, her eyes welling with tears. She
had
to be sure of that.

She simply had to.

***

D
enny’s first stop after her nearly nine hours of training was to her lair. After she retrieved one of the syringes, she tied a scarf around her right bicep and slapped her inner elbow for a vein.

She plunged a needle into the vein and withdrew enough blood to fill the syringe, then set the full syringe on the desk and retrieved a fountain pen from the desk drawer. After a short hunt for a Dixie cup, she moistened the towel and squeezed some of the blood into it.

She opened the legacy book and began writing about her last kills.

Strange to dip the nib of the pen in a cup of blood. It took a few sentences before she got used to the feel of the fountain pen, but once she started writing, everything flowed smoothly.

Including the blood.

When she finished, she sat back and watched in amazement as the blood ink soaked into the paper. That was the moment she knew the true power of the book and what it was capable of doing. Maybe Ames was right about her being in the supernatural world. There was so much she needed to understand and so little time in which to do it.

After Denny cleaned up her blood work, she started reading through the thick tome. If a duplo had been killed, that book was where she would find the answers she needed about how to kill it. Surely, someone else had faced them and killed them before. She just needed to know how.

So she read.

And read.

Shortly after midnight she fell asleep, her face on the desk.

Just past one a.m., she heard someone scream. Denny closed the lair and bolted down the stairs.

“Pure?”

The ground floor was dark.

She raced back up the stairs, knowing even before she turned on Pure’s light that she was gone.

“Motherfucker.”

Checking to make sure she had her weapons before running out the door, Denny jumped in her car and headed for Mike Cockerton’s house. She knew he had her. Knew he had somehow managed to get to her. Then and there Denny vowed she was going to kill that son of a bitch tonight.

She couldn’t save Rush.

But she
would
kill anyone who threatened Pure.

Anyone.

***

R
ush stood over the worm hole and stared down into the dark abyss of nothingness––the place where spirits go prior to their final destination. It was the first time she’d felt afraid in decades.

“Perfect scream,” Boris said, grinning. “God job. That got her moving. You think I underestimated her? She didn’t even stop to question where the scream came from.”

Rush stared at the dark hole. When Boris had pretended to push her into it, she’d been terrified. She wasn’t ready to leave this world behind even if she was only partly in it. But now, a piece of her wanted to jump and end it so Denny would be safe.

It would be so easy. Just jump. Leave the living behind.

But she couldn’t.

She loved the living too much––insomuch as she wasn’t completely dead and could still feel emotions. She loved Denny, who must be doing everything she could to get to her.

But then if Rush was gone, Denny could focus on saving Pure.

She wanted to be the bigger person. She wanted to be brave and strong for Denny, but she wasn’t. In so many ways, she had managed to fail her, and now––now that Denny needed her to suck it up and move on, Rush didn’t have the courage.

And she was ashamed.

Bowing her head, she wished she could cry.

“What’s the matter with you?” Boris asked.

“Nothing.”

“No, you been staring at that hole for fifteen minutes. Why don’t you just go? Let her have a chance at a real life? At real love?”

Rush knew there were tears in her eyes and wished like hell she could really feel them. “I want to jump in but I...I can’t.”

Boris chuckled. “You like being half alive, huh?”

Rush nodded. “Half is better than not at all.”

“Yeah, we know. We counted on it. Your feelings for her made you an easy target. As long as a hunter loves, she is vulnerable...even if that love is a fucking ghost.”

“You don’t think I can do it? You don’t think I have the guts to jump?”

“Am I guarding the hole? Nope. You wanna end it, knock yourself out, but I seen your kind before. Don’t wanna die...too invested in the living to remember you’re already dead. So go on. Prove me wrong.”

Rush backed away from the hole. “Fuck you.”

The demon laughed. “That’s what I thought.”

“I’m not giving up on Denny. Friends don’t quit their friends.”

“Whatever you want to tell yourself. Would it make a difference to you to know she’s been hanging out with a witch?”

Rush shrugged. “She has a lot of different friends.”

The demon laughed again. “Look, doll, here’s how this is gonna go down. Your precious hunter is gonna die. When that happens, you’re free to go on haunting or floating, or doing whatever ghosts like you do. She has no idea what she’s doing. Trust me. This is over before it’s even begun. She’s flailing. If you end it, then she can protect her sister, but she can’t be two places at once. Who do you think she’s gonna pick to save? You? Hardly. You are already dead.”

Rush glanced back at the hole. If she was out of the picture, Denny would stand a better chance. Just three steps.

Three little steps.

Bowing her head, Rush cried tearlessly.

Her inability to look out after her loved ones was the reason she was dead.

Apparently, ghost-hood hadn’t changed her at all.

***

D
enny called Pure’s cell phone but nobody answered. Next she called Victor and Lauren. Neither were thrilled with her cryptic account of what to do if anything happened to her, but she didn’t have time for lengthy explanations. She wrote Pure a letter telling her to get out of Savannah as soon as she could with nothing but the clothes on her back...and that Sterling would know what to do in the event Denny died. Then she called Sterling and left a message.

Sterling, Pure is in trouble. I can’t save Rush, but I can save Pure as long as I get to her before they do. Before he does. I know what they want. They can’t have it. If I don’t make it, know that you did a great job of raising us. You’re a great big sister. Give Quick a hug for me and tell him I did my best. I love you.”

Denny hung up and was staring at the phone when it started vibrating in her hand.

Brianna.

“Hey.”

“I’m picking up some not so good vibes from you, Denny. Are you okay?”

Witches. They were more in tune to the universe than almost anyone else, and Denny hoped she would have the chance to learn more about them.

“Actually, I’m on my way to finish this once and for all. I know what they want and they can’t have it. They can’t have
it
and they can’t have my sister.”

“What about Rush?”

Denny said nothing.

“Oh Denny.” Brianna’s voice fell. “I’m sorry.”

“I can’t risk my sister’s life to save a dead woman.” Her eyes filled with tears as she said it and she’d never felt more disloyal in her life.

“Let me help.”

Denny wiped her eyes. “I wish I could, but I can’t. It’s way too dangerous.”

“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”

“What can you do?”

“You’d be surprised. Demons do not like to deal with Wiccans. You leave those particulars to me. I just need in your house and some time.”

“My house?”

“That’s where Rush’s spirit is. She needs help in the spiritual realm, Denny. Not even you can get to her there, but
we
can. We’re not afraid. Trust me. This is what we do.”

Denny told Brianna where she was and agreed to meet her.

Fifteen minutes later, Brianna pulled up behind her and hopped into the Prius.

“I don’t know how to thank you,” Denny said, hugging her.

“Don’t thank me yet.” Brianna took both of Denny’s hands in hers. “I know there’s more you’re not telling me, and I’m okay with that, but you just stepped into this demon hunter role and you’re a virtual virgin in dealing with the supernatural world. Let us help. Let
me
support you in this.

Denny looked into Brianna’s eyes and realized she did, in fact, need an ally in this battle. She told Brianna, with as few words as possible, about everything that had happened and what the demons wanted from her.

“So we need to figure out a way to destroy both aspects of this duplo at pretty much the same time or it can kill the one who is being held by the surviving half. Does that about sum it up?”

Denny nodded. “Pretty much. But how will you––”

“Leave that up to me. Banishing a spirit is almost as good as destroying it. I’ll do everything in my power to protect Rush, but we need to banish that spirit from the house as close to when you destroy the one holding Pure.”

“And you think that is possible?”

Brianna held up her cell phone. “With the help of technology, anything is possible, yeah.”

“Thank you. Thank so much for this.”

“Put my number on speed dial. Punch it up the moment you have that demon in your crosshairs. Leave the rest to us.”

“Who is the
us
?”

“Me and Cassandra. We are the strongest and most capable. I think you’d be surprised by how incredibly powerful she is.” Brianna smiled softly. “She was
very
impressed with you.”

Denny took the house key off her key ring and handed it to Brianna.

“And?” There was a hint of something in her voice.

“And I told her to back the hell off.”

“Back off?”

Brianna shook her head. “Pull your head out, Denny, she was..
.is
...attracted to you. While I
didn’t
tell her you have a ghost for a girlfriend, I
did
tell her I’d shove a broom up her ass if she made a move on you.”

Denny laughed out loud.

“I know. Cassandra said I should have just lifted my leg and peed on you, but there you have it. I like you, Golden Silver. I like you a lot. And if you ever decide to join the living, I sure as hell hope you give me a shot at showing you just how awesome I think you are.”

Brianna caressed Denny’s cheek with the back of her hand. “You’re a good thing, and if all goes well, we’ll get your girl, your sister, and send your demons packing.” She got out of the car. “Trust me, Denny. We can do this. Now, you go get your sister. Let us handle the rest, okay?”

“Thank you, Brianna. Really.” Denny watched her walk back to her car.

If she ever decided to join the living
?

Denny wasn’t at all sure she would make it out of this alive in order to
be
the living.

***