Demon's Moon: A Celia Winters Novel Book 2 (4 page)

She woke immediately and fully at the sound of broken glass
and looked at the window.  The pane was broken, and then she heard a few thumps
and something rolling on the floor.  She looked over in that direction in
disbelief. 

Someone had thrown a grenade in through her window
. 

That was a thought she’d never expected to have.  She leapt
from the bed screaming grenade so Ed wouldn’t run inside her room, while she
hurtled her body out of the window.

It was only thirty feet or so, and she knew she’d fall on
her feet.  She felt a sting of impact along her side at the same time she heard
the gunshot.  Her wards held, but it couldn’t block many bullets before it
cracked.  Crap.  She saw the guy, he was across the street and already dodging
and moving randomly as if expecting magic.

Luckily that seemed to ruin his accuracy, at least enough to
allow her to make it to the ground alive, as she landed she heard another shot
but wasn’t hit.

She dove behind Ed’s car, then heard a low laugh, and
another clunk followed be a roll.  Shit, Ed was going to kill her.  She dove to
the side and pulled hard as hard as she dared on her magic while yielding control
of their body to Silva.  She was in tiger form and three quarters across the
street before the grenade blew behind her.  A secondary explosion, completely
taking out the car, followed a second later.

Silva ran him down in a zigzag motion while she distracted
the bastard with flares in his eyes, and small hits of air in his eyes, throat,
and groin.  The shifter screamed in anger at that last one, but Silva closed
the distance before he could aim the weapon and lunged at him, took him down, and
ripped out his throat.  Silva felt a strong sense of satisfaction, but Celia
was freaked out.  She looked around, realized that she was on a main street, as
a tiger, with a dead man, and her bedroom was on fire behind her with smoke
pouring out the window.

Luckily, it wasn’t residential and there weren’t many people
around at three in the morning.  She cast a glamour over herself and the dead
shifter, and then waited.

Ed stuck his head out of her window, “You okay?  Fire is
out, but… Your bed is dead I’m afraid, as is your dresser.”

She roared.

He jumped a little at the sound and Silva preened.

Ed frowned, “I’ll be right down to… let you in.”

Ed let her in and took care of the corpse as she went
upstairs and got in the shower before changing back human.  She took a fast
shower, put on a robe and went to her room.  It was a mess, the bed had chunks
blasted out of it, and some mattress springs were sticking out of the
mattress.  Her dresser was full of holes as well.  Surprisingly that was most
of the damage outside of the little crater in the wood floor.

She had no trouble finding a pair of undamaged panties in
the top drawer though, and the clothes in her closet were fine.  She was
dressed before Ed got back upstairs.

Ed sounded annoyed, “Nothing we can use, I mean the guy is
from Virginia, but nothing on him to help us find out who’s behind it.”

She sighed, “I wasn’t expecting hand grenades.”

Ed shook his head, “It was a more common tactic than you’d
believe during the war.  Shifters realized early on a grenade would rip right
through a witch’s wards, much faster than going through a magazine of bullets.”

She raised an eyebrow, she’d never heard that before.  Of
course, her mother had never really talked much about the war, Fran either.

“I need to get this window boarded up or something.”

Ed asked, “Do you have duct tape?”

She nodded.

Ed shrugged, “Just tape a bag over it, we can call for an
emergency window replacement in the morning.”

She nodded, but where was she going to sleep?  The couch was
kind of small for two.  She’d need a new bed tomorrow as well.  Maybe she
should just wait until it was over, or she’d be buying new stuff every night…

Ed seemed to realize the problem at the same time, “Let’s go
to my house?  I even have a guest room.  We can come back here before you
open?”

She nodded in agreement and covered the window before they
left.  As they pulled away from the curb her phone went off.  It was Fran and
she got a bad feeling.

“Hey, what happened?”

Fran sounded a little frayed on the edges, “We were attacked
tonight, by a vampire.  He just walked in through the wards like he owned the
place, doesn’t make no sense.  He… was after Elaine.  She’s alright, we got
almost everyone to the ritual room, for some reason those wards stopped him. 
It just doesn’t make sense, he shouldn’t have been able to get in at all.”

She choked out, “Almost?”

Fran cleared her throat, “Sharon… didn’t make it.  He umm,
drained her in the chaos of the fight.  It was a mess, our spells just seemed
to not affect him at all, even fire was just absorbed.  That’s… not right, a
vampire should have gone up in flames faster than anything.  More of us would
have died, but Berny used her telekinesis against him indirectly, using the
couch, and held him against the wall long enough for us all… the rest of us to
make it.”

She said softly, “I’m sorry Fran, how do you know he was
after Elaine.”

Fran’s voice was more fragile than she’d ever heard, “He
taunted her, said she’d been a bad girl and he was here to take her back to
Gerald, but that he’d have plenty of time to play with her and her daughter
first.  I can’t repeat what he actually said, it was vulgar and… sexual in
nature.  Said no one could stop him.  When he was stopped by the circle, he
just smiled, like he was just having fun, and said he’d be back for her later. 
It was… creepy, and his voice sounded wrong.  Then he left.”

She frowned, “Could it have been a demon Fran?  One
possessing the vampire?  It would explain the magic part, and the passing
through the protection wards.  Only a spell circle against evil like the ones
protecting a ritual room can trap or keep out a demon right?  And even the
binding spells only work if the demon actually agrees to a deal.”

It was why dealing with Demons was so dangerous, if they
escaped the summoning circle, or somehow got around the deal, a witches magic
was pretty much useless to stop them.

Fran gasped, “Do you really think Gerald sent a demon here?”

She wasn’t sure, but it kind of made sense.

“I can’t say for sure, but it would explain why he waited so
long to try again, he needed the full moon from a couple of nights ago to
summon it.  It’s probably why he put out the contract on Ed and I at the same
time, revenge and a distraction so the demon would have a relatively free hand
here.  Of course, I’m assuming he’s the one that sent assassins, but it’s
looking a lot more likely by the minute.

“Based on what Elaine has told us about him, I certainly
wouldn’t put it past him to use evil magic like this.  Do you need Ed and I to
come there?”

Fran asked, “Is that a good idea?”

She sighed, “Maybe not, I’d be adding assassins to a vampire
demon to what might be attacking.  But then, I’d have a better chance fighting
the demon, since magic won’t work.  My shifter side has the speed and strength
to match a vampire’s.  If I harm his body enough, he’ll lose the connection and
get sent back to hell.”

Fran asked, “What about your store?”

She replied, “Well, I can leave in the morning, the demon
might have a stronger host, but it also has a vampires disadvantages.  It won’t
be able to bear the light of the sun at all, so it won’t be attacking during
the day.  We can figure something out, and if I have to I’ll close the store
early and get back before sunset.”

What she really wanted to do was drive to Albany and rip
Gerald’s throat out.  But that would be a mistake.  He’s strongest on his home
ground but she’d have to figure something out.  The bastard had sent assassins
after her and Ed, and a demon into another coven to reclaim Elaine as
property.  She’d find a way to make him pay for it.

She filled in Ed as they went to his house first so he could
pack a bag.  Then as he started to head for the coven house, he called the
council.  Ed agreed with her on pretty much all of it, but wasn’t ready to
close his mind to other possibilities yet.  It could be two unrelated things,
though she didn’t think he really believed that.  Either way, by sending a
demon after a local coven, it would be more than her that Gerald would end up facing,
the council wouldn’t stand still for it…

The coven house for the Rock Hill coven wasn’t nearly as
grand as the coven house in Charlotte.  It was still large however, an eighteen
room mansion with currently twelve coven members in residence.  There were more
than that in the coven of course.  Some lived separately with their own family,
but close by in the neighborhood. 

When they pulled up in front of the large white mansion
Celia had herself at a high alert level.  There was nothing that said the demon
couldn’t come back tonight, or even that it wasn’t waiting patiently for
something to change before it attacked again.  They wouldn’t be safe until
daybreak, which was still over two hours away.  She half expected someone would
foolishly come outside to greet them, and was glad when they didn’t.

She and Ed got out of the car and felt the glamour on the
front door.  They both ignored the illusion and walked right through it, as the
real door had been kicked in and damaged.  She felt… strange as she walked back
to the ritual room.  She knew where it was from the few times she’d visited the
coven house, but she’d never seen it before not being a part of the coven.

It felt like a violation, so she stood by the doorway and
noticed Ed looked equally uncomfortable as they looked into the room stuffed
with frightened and tired witches.  Sharon was around her age, just twenty six,
and missing from the circle.  They didn’t see her body on the way in, had the
demon taken it?  She was so angry she swore internally she would get Gerald for
this, and then Silva’s soulful howl invaded her inner mind it solidified the
oath.

If the council here didn’t take action, she would.  Even if
she had to buy a sniper rifle and wait for the bastard to leave his home. 
She’d just have to learn to shoot it first…

“We’re here Fran,” she said softly in sadness, her anger was
kept coiled deep inside.

She wasn’t in the coven, but they were all hers anyway.  At
least, that’s how she felt.  She didn’t love them all like she did Fran and
Berny.  Even Mia was getting close to inner circle status in her mind, but she
cared about all of them, even the ones that didn’t like her all that much.

Fran looked up, she had a book in her hand.

“I think you’re right, I’ve been reading through the entries
I have on facing demons.  It does explain everything, how did you think of it?”

She shrugged, “My mom told stories, she didn’t want me to
ever mess with one, so she scared me silly and the stories stuck.”

Fran chuckled a bit darkly, “I can see her doing that.  You
mentioned destroying the body, and I can verify that’s one way, the other is to
trap it in a circle, and perform a banishment.  It usually takes a full circle
of witches to do it, but it’s possible.”

She nodded, that probably would be the only way for a witch
to deal with one.  They wouldn’t be able to destroy the demon’s body with their
magic not working on it.

Fran added, “I just wish I could do a circle against evil
large enough to encompass the house.”

She sighed, that would be impossible.  A circle to a ward
was like… a brick building to one made of paper machete.  The wider the circle,
the more magic it would take in a geometric progression, like squared law. 
Twice as big, four times more magic.  Ten times bigger, a hundred times more
magic.  It just wasn’t possible, which is why circles were generally pretty
small in comparison, and wards were used on buildings.

Unfortunately a demon could walk right through wards.

She looked around the room and saw Cheryl asleep on Elaine’s
lap.  The young mother had a guilty look on her face, like any of this was her
fault.  It wasn’t, it was Gerald’s, but she really couldn’t think of anything
to say to convince her.  She also didn’t want to force that conversation on her
in front of the whole coven.

Berny looked angry more than scared and that seemed to sum
up the room.  Fear, anger, and grief, it wasn’t a great combination.

Ed said diffidently, “I can try and fix that door, and guard
if you all want to try and get more sleep.  I can try and catch some myself during
the day at Celia’s store or something.”

They all looked a little nervous about returning to their
rooms, and she couldn’t blame them.

Ed continued, “Maybe tomorrow you can work on circles in
just a couple of bedrooms?  Drag a mattress inside it and share tomorrow night? 
I know they’re a bear to build, but if you double or triple up you should be
able to get four or five done tomorrow.”

Fran seemed to brighten, “That’s a good idea, I think we’ll
do that.”

She smiled at Ed gratefully, she hadn’t even considered
multiple small circles, just that doing the whole house was impossible.  She
got hugs from a Berny, Elaine, Cheryl, Fran, Mia, and surprisingly Dan and
Stacey.  The rest of them just gave her a grateful nod for coming out.  She
felt kind of useless though, she didn’t do anything.  Although, just being here
meant she could fight if the thing came back tonight.

She walked over to the couch in the living room close by to
the door and laid on it.  Hopefully it wouldn’t attack again tonight, because
she could really use the three hours of sleep…

She woke up and felt relief when she saw the sunlight coming
in the windows.  She looked over at the front door, and Ed was drawing a very
complex design on the floor.  She walked over and took a look.  It was a
standard protection circle, but there was a complex ward she’d never seen
before inside of it.  It was kind of beautiful in a way.

“What is that?” she asked softly, not wanting to startle
him.

He replied, “Damon sent me the design last night, on my
phone after everyone went to bed.  It’s a demon trap circle.  If he uses the
front door again tonight, he’ll regret it.  You can see the normal circle here,
but instead of powering it, I’ll power the inner spell.  When the spell senses
a demon standing on it, it discharges the magic and charges the circle. 
Instant prison.”

He finished up writing, poured a ton of magic into the
center, and then grabbed the entryway rug and dragged it to the door, dropping
the end over the design.  She looked at him sheepishly as she held her phone,
she’d managed to snap a picture of it before it was covered.

He laughed at her guilty expression, “It’s fine, it’s part
of enforcer work even if it doesn’t come up all that often.  Damon also asked
us to stop by this afternoon, as the council wants to talk to us.”

They found Fran in the kitchen, who insisted they eat before
they went anywhere.  But it wasn’t too long before they were headed to the
store, with Berny in the backseat so she wouldn’t need a ride this morning. 
They stopped for a small sheet of ply wood, since she’d decided she didn’t want
to fix her window until the line of assassins stopped.

She just didn’t have any idea how to do that.  She couldn’t
go after Gerald, not until the demon was taken care of.  Even if they stopped
him… killed him she admitted to herself, would that cancel the contract?  Plus,
she didn’t want to step on the council’s toes if they already had a plan in the
works.

Ed went in the back and sat at her desk, he was snoring into
his arms in a few moments.  She just stood there a moment and watched him, he
looked so different with his face relaxed, no annoyance in his expression at
all.  She wondered what happened to him that made him that way… bitter about
life, yet he did his best not to take that out on those around him most of the
time.

She went upstairs and nailed the board over her window, took
a quick shower, and got back downstairs to work.  The whole time she was up
there, she was paranoid there’d be an attack and Berny would have to face it
alone.  She did however, make the time to bring a couple of cups of coffee
down, neither Berny nor her had gotten a full night’s sleep and the caffeine
was welcome.

She hadn’t gotten a chance to run this morning either, plus
Silva was getting restless, she hadn’t been out since the full moon, three days
ago now.  How could she shift and run if Ed had to stay with her?  They’d have
to figure something out, have him hang with Josh while she went for a run with
Kelly or something, or Joe maybe, if they didn’t want to risk Kelly being around
her right now.

She flinched a little when another air elemental popped in
out of the corner of her eye.

Berny said dryly, “I can smell the wood burning from here,
what’s on your mind Celia?”

“Elementals,” just slipped out.

She smiled at Berny, “And I want to run.  But can’t.”

Berny’s mouth dropped open, “What about them?” she asked
cautiously.

So much for the redirect.

“Ugh, I’ve been seeing them for a couple of weeks now, it
isn’t related to the assassins or demons though.  I need to do some research.”

Berny shook her head, “Witches can’t see elementals, are you
sure?”

They can’t?  Celia took a sip of her coffee to cover up a
mini panic attack.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve seen both fire and air ones, maybe
because I’m half shifter?  I actually thought for a while I was seeing things,
that’s why I haven’t mentioned it.  But then yesterday, one of them was all
crazy and freaking out right before the first assassin attacked.  I don’t think
they mean any harm, they seemed if anything friendly… just shy.”

Berny frowned, “Shy?  Maybe, but you should have shared
before now.”

She nodded guiltily, she was still hiding so much more.  She
was crazy after all, had a damaged split soul.

“Sorry, really though, it’s just something on my peripheral
vision, they won’t let me look at them.  If I turn my head it will disappear.”

She shrugged at Berny’s penetrating look.

“I swear, that’s all I know about it.”

Berny let it go, but she could swear the girl was going to
do some research on it tonight, research she wanted to do herself.  But if she
did, she’d have to share the info with Ed.

The door opened and she jumped up as she looked at the
door.  Crap.  It was detective Jim Peters and he was looking at her funny with
his hand on his gun.  Maybe she’d moved a little too fast.

Berny smiled brightly and said in her best dumb blonde
voice, “Good morning detective, what can we do for you?”

He looked at Berny for a moment and then started to relax.

“I was passing by and noticed the window, did something
happen here last night?  No report was filed.”

Ugh… what a pain.  She forced herself to smile, knowing the
guy believed her to be a murderer who got away with it, and crazy besides.  Not
her split personality kind of crazy and able to manage it, but the bad psychopathic
emotionless killer kind of crazy.  Which she wasn’t, at least she didn’t think
she was.  But Bernie just continued her dumb blonde routine so she just watched
with a straight face, though laughing on the inside.

Berny shrugged, “It happened late last night officer,
someone threw a rock through the window.  Probably some teenage vandal, but we
have no proof, and no one saw who did it so why call the police?”

Detective Peters just nodded, “Uh huh, and you witnessed
this?”

Berny blushed and looked scandalized, “No, of course not officer,
that window is Celia’s bedroom.  But I did hear it, and the glass was inside
her bedroom, so obviously it was broken from the outside.”

Berny got a cute confused look on her face, “That’s true
isn’t it?  I’ve seen that on TV, but I know I probably shouldn’t believe
everything I see.”

Jim frowned, as if not quite sure if Berny was messing with
him or not.  Celia was biting her tongue to keep from laughing.

“Alright, well if it happens again, you should call it in. 
If nothing else, you destroyed any possible evidence when you cleaned up and
got rid of the rock.”

Berny tilted her head, “Okay officer.”

Jim grunted, “Detective.”

Berny’s mouth dropped open in confusion again.

Jim shook his head, “Never mind,” and walked out.

Celia shook her head, “You’re so bad Berny.”

Berny shrugged unrepentantly, “And your jumpy, you scared
the shit out of him.  One second you were sitting, the next you were standing
with a scary look on your face.”

She blushed, “Sorry, and thanks.  I guess I am a bit jumpy
this morning.”

Berny opened her mouth to reply when the door opened again. 
They both looked up and it was a man in a pair of jeans, cowboy boots, and a
flannel shirt.  He raised his hand and shot fire at them as they dove beneath
the counter.  The wards detected the fire magic as not Celia’s and dampened
it.  The fire was weak and sputtering before it came even close to them.

Berny frowned, “I love you Celia, but I think I need a
raise.”

Celia chuckled before racing around the counter and charging
the fourth assassin.  He cast fire at her again, but this was her home, and
between the wards on the shop and the ones around her, the fire barely licked
her clothes before she closed the distance and punched him hard enough to snap
his head around and break his neck.  There was no reason to question him, his
story would be the same as the other three.  The man fell at her feet like a
sack of potatoes.

Berny said softly, “Crap, window…”

She looked up and Detective Jim Peters was right outside,
with his mouth hanging open and horror in his eyes as he stared through the
glass window.

“You can say that again…  Hold him up will you?”

Berny looked confused until Celia shot a stunning spell at
the detective right through the glass front of the store.  His body froze and
he went a bit cross eyed, and Berny grabbed him with her telekinesis before he
fell.

She opened the door and ‘helped’ the detective inside by
holding him up by her shoulder under his armpit.  Then with the other hand she
grabbed the dead witch by his foot and dragged him along the floor as she went
to the back.  What the heck was she going to do now?  Damn assassins should be
more careful about exposure she thought absurdly.