Once Broken (Dove Creek Chronicles) (20 page)

I understood then that she hadn’t been trying to kill my father. She was using him, offering him up as a vessel for Apollyon’s use.

The demon accepted the offering.

As he rose, I found myself staring into eyes that were no longer my father’s. He looked pleased as punch and I was more frightened than I could remember being since the night Valan killed Dominic. Cerise sank to her knees along with the others remaining with her. Apollyon didn’t seem to notice his faithful followers.

Jescha appeared at my side and Hugo wasn’t far behind. I knew what they intended to do.

“Don’t hurt him,” I whispered, pleading.

The angel used her light and spoke words that carried the power of Heaven with them. Hugo pulled out his
crucifix and recited the litany for exorcism. I couldn’t yet tell if they were a match for the powerful demon.

Though I could’ve helped them, it was up to Gabriel and me to hold off Cerise and the other two.

Gabe wore a look of concentration, his mind directing a heavy wooden chair at the man next to Cerise. He toppled under the force of the blow and was put out of commission for a few moments. I decided that trying to attack Cerise from afar was a losing battle – I had to get up close and personal. Or put a muzzle on her.

She came straight after me, letting loose a blast of fire that would have burned me alive. I hit the floor and rolled, dodging the inferno. The altar sparked like a pile of kindling as the flames hit it
instead.

I popped up and ran straight at her, ducking my shoulder to put on a tackle that a pro linebacker could be proud of. We both went down hard. I lifted my si
lver knife because I was past the point of caring if I killed her, but Cerise fought me off with a black-taloned hand and knocked it from my grip. She slashed at my face and I turned my head, grunting as I felt the sharp fingernails tear at my skin. Looking back up, I hauled a fist back and punched her ruby-red mouth. There was blood and lipstick on my knuckles and I drew my hand back to clock her again. I bloodied her as she had bloodied me.

Cerise’ features were harsh and cruel in the wavering light of the burning altar, and I was certain that she would not stop until she killed me. With the help of her patron demon, she intended to kill all of us. Her eyes blazing with hatred and desperation, she heaved me off of her and we both scrambled to our feet. I snatched an aluminum chair and blocked a blast of her flames just in
time. The metal heated rapidly, and I was forced to drop the chair as my hands blistered. Cerise looked unnerved that I was countering her every attempt at dealing me a fatal blow.

I could see furniture flying all around me as Gabriel kept the other two Triple Six on the run. Hugo and Jescha were still speaking rapidly, doing their best to expel the demon who had taken over my father’s body. They were losing ground. Apollyon no longer looked tormented by their words, and I thought for one desperate moment that we could not let him out of that room.

Sliding feet first on the slick tile floor, I was on Cerise before she knew what I’d done. I snagged my silver dagger from where she had tossed it aside before, and I stabbed her in the hip. She shrieked and fell, clutching the bleeding gash.

The room was becoming engulfed with fire, so I followed the fray out into the hallway and turned to look at Cerise. In a few seconds, she was overtaken by her own fire.
Burned alive. It was an ugly death for a woman who was only in it for the power, but I had no time to feel sorry for her.

To my horror, the demon was coming for me.

“This man fought against us for many years. He will be punished, and I will begin with his progeny,” Apollyon said, referring to my father and the body he now inhabited. His merciless eyes bored into me, and I didn’t doubt his words for a moment.

Now, I’m not one to run away when the chips are down, but when that was what Hugo told us to do, I kicked it into gear. We scampered out of that hallway as fire
spilled out from the music room and the ceiling gave way, and it gave us enough of a chance to escape Apollyon to regroup.

I spoke into my headset to warn my brother: “Dylan, if you see someone who looks like dad, it’s not dad.”

“What?”

“If you see anyone who looks like dad, haul ass.”

I didn’t wait for an answer as Jescha, Hugo, Gabriel, and I burst through the exit doors to the front of the building. There were only a few of the Triple Six left, and we saw that the rest of the Amasai had done a bang-up job of hog-tying the injured ones so that we didn’t have to kill needlessly, and we could leave them for the cops later. But judging by the amount of fire that was now consuming the old school building, I reckoned that firemen and police alike would be showing up in a matter of minutes. Not only did we have a powerful demon to defeat, but now we were on the clock.

My dad had said that when he faced Amon, the Prince of Hell, he had trapped him in order to exorcise him. It gave me an idea.

“Okay,” I said, still catching my breath from our sprint through the smoky building. “Do we have a way to draw? Chalk, spray paint – anything?”

“I can make markings,” Jescha answered. “What do you want to do?”

“Are you familiar with the runes used to trap a demon? We need to draw them, but make sure they’re camouflaged so that he won’t know they’re there.”

“Of course,” she said.

“Just how do you propose we get this demon into your trap, Remi?” Gabriel asked.

“I’m gonna lure him into it.
”

“The hell you are.”

“You heard him . . . He’s gonna kill Dylan and me first. Might as well use that to our advantage.”

Gabe looked like he was going to continue his protest, but Hugo spoke first. “
She is right. It is the only plan we have, and we do not have much time.”

Jescha and I ran across the parking lot to a spot in the grass just before the trees. We chose the place because she, Hugo, and Gabriel could take cover in the trees and wait for just the right moment. She used her hands to cast the runes into the dry lawn with what looked like a radiant sort of heat. The blades of grass smoldered for a moment, then the shapes went black and became less conspicuous.

We could hear the rest of the fighting beginning to wane. I thought that it sounded like we had won, though we didn’t know at what cost. The battle wasn’t finished yet.

My three comrades took their places and I moved away from our trap and back toward the parking lot. I wanted to make sure that I was the first one Apollyon saw when he came out of that building.

Fire was beginning to break the windows, and smoke was billowing out of the openings. I was sure that concerned citizens were already on their phones, calling the fire department.

The Destroyer came crashing through one of the front windows and to my horror, I could see that my dad’s body was badly burned. He looked around and spotted me, alone in the parking lot. My heart fell to the pit of my stomach like so much lead. I turned and ran.

I went headlong, as fast as I could without looking back. The demon was hot on my heels. As I neared our well-laid trap, I was overtaken by a moment of fear that I wouldn’t make it. My only help was on the other side of it and if Apollyon got his hands on me, I would be on my own until they could get to me.

But I made it. I stepped into the circle of runes and paused just long enough to tempt Apollyon into making a grab for me. I darted out of the other side of the circle, but he was trapped. The demon figured out what had happened, and he pierced me with a blistering look.

“Now!” I yelled.

Jescha, Hugo, and Gabriel stepped out from the trees and ran toward me.

“You will die for this, just as your father will pay for what he has done to my brethren. Not even the Creator can save you from what I have in store for you,” Apollyon told me.

“Go to hell,” I said, every ounce of conviction I had ringing in my words.

The other three joined me, and we combined our abilities to wrest the demon from my father’s body. He struggled and cursed us from inside his trap, and resisted with everything he had. I thought we had gained the upper hand – we all did – but Apollyon had one last evil trick to perform.

He produced a knife, the very same silver knife I had lost in the clash. I leaped forward, trying to take it from the demon’s grip. But even with my attempt, I could not stop Apollyon from drawing a slash across my dad’s throat just before his tormented soul was banished back to Hell.

I caught my father’s body as it fell, lifeless.

There was nothing. No final words. No goodbyes.

Nothing.

Only my choked sob broke the stunned silence.

I cradled my father’s head in my lap, his blood staining my jeans. I didn’t notice when the rest of the Amasai came running. I didn’t hear or see anything for how long, I don’t know. I was numb with shock until Dylan hit his knees next to me, and then I felt nothing but unbearable remorse.

He took our father’s hand in his and bowed his head over it. I looked at him and watched tears slip from his closed eyes and trail down his face, all without him ever making a sound.

There was nothing I could say, nothing that could express the depth of my sorrow that I had not been honest with Dylan sooner. He should have had the chance to know who our father really was. I thought of James, our other brother who had escaped all of the violence and bloodshed. I wondered how he would take the news, but set aside that thought for later.

I put a hand on my younger brother’s shoulder, reaching out for comfort just as much as I was trying to give it. He turned to me, hugging me tightly and I embraced him back.

“I’m so sorry, Dyl,” I whispered, hoping that he understood just how much I was sorry for.

Hearing sirens coming closer, I looked up and searched out Hugo with my eyes and was surprised to see Solomon with him. They would know what to do.

“Remi, the fire department is on the way. There will be an ambulance to take John,” Hugo said gently.

I nodded mutely to show that I understood.

“The PD is coming in force to take away the Triple Six you detained,” Solomon said to us in general. “As far as I told them, y’all are concerned citizens who showed up on scene when you heard a fight break out in the building. That’ll be the end of it.”

I was grateful – as I was sure everyone else was – that we had Sol to run interference for us where the law was concerned.

The detective placed a hand on my shoulder and added, “I’m sorry about your dad, Remi.”

Flashes of red and blue mingled with the orange and red of the burning school building and the gray smoke billowing from every window. Several fire trucks, police cruisers, and two ambulances converged on the parking lot, and Solomon went to meet them. A pair of paramedics came to where my father laid, both of them aware immediately that their job was transport only. They looked at me with compassion as they took him
from me and loaded him into the ambulance – this was not their first time to deal with a grieving loved one. I knew they would take him to the coroner, wishing that the formality wasn’t necessary.

The firemen went to work putting out the flames, though it was too late to save the old landmark. I saw uniformed officers rounding up the Triple Six who were bound and waiting, though the police had only the barest form of the truth of what those people had been a part of. Sol made sure that we all left in peace, without questioning from the officers; he touted us as good citizens.

I went back through the oak grove for what seemed like the tenth time that night. This time there was no sense of urgency, nothing driving me to get along the trail as fast as I could. Dylan and I walked together in silence. No words were necessary . . . As though either of us could even think of any. Everyone else was quiet, too. We had accomplished what we’d set out to do, but at great cost.

In pairs and singles, we filtered out of the trees and went to get into our vehicles. Hugo asked that we all meet back at headquarters, so that’s what we would do. I couldn’t imagine just going home alone after an ordeal like the one we’d just had, so I readily agreed.

“Remi, your hands.” Meredith approached me before I could get into my truck, face full of concern. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

I looked down at my blistered palms, realizing that I had forgotten the burns during the fray.

“Here,” she said, reaching for my hands. “Let me.”

Meredith turned my hands palm up and positioned her own hands above them. What little air that was left between them shimmered and distorted as fresh, undamaged skin appeared where the burned flesh had been. I flexed my hands, feeling no pain.

“Amazing,” I said quietly, awed by the power Jescha had given her. “Thank you.”

She simply smiled her gentle smile and took another few moments to heal the cuts on my face and the knife wound on my neck. I was still covered in blood, but at least I was no longer adding to it. It was a small thing compared to everything else, but it was a relief to have the pain of injuries taken away.

I looked around to find Dylan staring in amazement. He had already seen so much that night, and I had even more to explain to him. I had no idea where to begin, but I felt a weight lift from my shoulders at the thought of being able to finally tell him the truth.