The Order Boxed Set (56 page)

Jack’s boss, she presumed.

She was a demon, that much was obvious; Roz could feel it in the power that thrummed in the night air. Asmodai had told her that there were many different kinds of demons, some more powerful than others. Some were merely scary monsters, like Jack’s friends, with little potential other than carnage. Others had incredible powers. Asmodai had never admitted it, but she’d always gotten the impression that he was one of the more powerful creatures of the Abyss. Maybe because he was such an arrogant bastard—she couldn’t imagine anyone telling him what to do, and he must have gotten that attitude from somewhere.

The woman looked around her, her gaze locking on Roz, and a cold, hard lump of fear formed in Roz’s gut.

“I am Andarta,” she said.

Roz shrugged. “Am I supposed to be impressed?”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. “The Key,” she said. “Give it to me.”

“Let them go, and I will.” Roz waved toward Ryan and Maria.

A slow smile curled her beautiful lips. “Jack’s taken a fancy to your little friend. I think he’d like to keep her. So why don’t we just take the Key and you with it?”

Roz curled her upper lip and rolled her eyes. “You think I’m that stupid?”

Andarta’s gaze ran down over her, then back up to her face, and Roz had to fight the urge to squirm.

Pure evil.

“I don’t actually know. In fact, I have no clue what you are. There’s fae in there, I think, but you’re shrouded, hidden…”

“Does it matter? Could we get back to the point of this meeting?”

“So tell us how bright you are. Give me a reason not to take the Key and hand you over to Jack.”

Roz took a deep breath. Let the lies begin. “There’s a spell on the Key. If I don’t remove it then it will go bang when it leaves my person.”

“Really? A spell?”

“A big powerful one.”

Andarta turned to Jack. “You believe her?”

He shrugged. “Where did you get the spell?”

“A man I met at the Order. Jonas—he’s a warlock.”

“She’s telling the truth—about the warlock at least. I’ve heard of him—very powerful.”

Andarta let out a long-suffering sigh. “Let them go.” She waved a hand at Ryan and Maria, and the demons around them parted.

Roz strode across, trying to appear confident. She came to a halt in front of Ryan. “Is she okay?”

“No. That bastard—”

“Could I have my Key now?” Andarta interrupted.

God, the woman was impatient, but she’d have to wait a little while longer. “No. They need to get away first, and thanks to your asshole friend there”—she waved a hand in Jack’s direction—“she’s not in a condition to walk anywhere.”

Jack took a step toward her. Roz whirled to face him and snarled. “Back off, or I will destroy it.”

Roz usually went to amazing lengths to hide her powers. Now, a little show might do some good, help with the next part of the plan. She reached out a hand. Ryan flinched and she realized that beneath his show of strength, he was terrified. It made her think more of him. “Let me help,” she said.

She rested a hand on his bruised cheek and allowed the magic to flow through her and into him. His lashes lowered for a moment. When he raised them, some of the terror was gone, and the bruises began to fade. She shifted her touch to the arm cradled across his middle. She could tell by the way he held it that the wrist was broken.

“You tried to protect her?” she asked, nodding at Maria.

“Yeah, for all the good it did her.”

“You tried, and that’s what matters.”

“You really believe that?” He glanced behind her. “We can ‘try’ all we like and it will make no difference.”

Roz didn’t answer. What could she say? Instead, she sent out a pulse of magic and healed the fracture, saw the last of the pain clear from his eyes.

“What are you?” he asked.

“Yes, what are you?” Andarta added. Her impatience had faded, and now she studied Roz as though she might be something interesting after all.

“I’m a witch,” Roz said. She realized as the words popped out that she’d never actually said them aloud. “Let me look at her,” she said to Ryan.

He still held Maria tight against his side. Her eyes were closed now, and she hadn’t reacted in any way to their conversation. Reaching out, Roz touched Maria’s cheek lightly. Her lashes flickered up, her eyes dead.

Roz could do this. After all, she’d helped Jessica; she could help Maria. Closing her eyes, she searched for the door, and this time she found it easily. Her palm rested on Maria’s forehead, and she sent the power down, like liquid light along the connection between them. For a minute, nothing happened; there was no answering spark from Maria.

Roz pressed her fingers harder into the other woman’s forehead.

“Come on, Maria,” she muttered. “Don’t let the bastard get the better of you. He’s an insignificant piece of shit scum, not worth it.”

Soft laughter drifted up from behind her; at least Andarta found her amusing.

She felt a small flicker of response from Maria and flooded her mind with warmth, sending her power into the other woman’s mind. She could sense the fear and pain, but it was more than that—a deep, dark despair, the loss of everything she had believed in. Had Maria prayed to her God? At what point had she accepted that he wouldn’t save her?

Where had Maria’s God been when she needed him against the demons from Hell? Roz understood how she felt—she’d been there, but it was worse for Maria. The sister had devoted her whole life to that God and in a short time, she had lost everyone and everything she held dear. And now she had lost her faith.

“There are other things to believe in,” Roz whispered. “There is evil in the world, but there are also beings who fight that evil, who keep the world safe.” She thought of Piers but didn’t think he would make a good God substitute for Maria. “You can help others, Maria. Don’t let the bad guys win.”

Maria’s eyes opened, and there was someone home.
Halleluiah.

“Welcome back,” Roz murmured.

“Are you telling the truth? Are there people out there, fighting for us?”

“Of course. Now, you two have to get out of here. Go as quickly as you can.”

“We can’t leave you,” Ryan answered.

“You have to get Maria away. She’s still weak, and you can’t help me.” She gave him a smile. “Don’t be so worried. I have a plan and you being here won’t help—they’ll just be able to use you against me, and all this will be wasted.”

He gave her a long look before nodding once.

“Good.” She turned to Maria. “You must go to the Order. Tell Piers what happened. Tell him…” She shook her head. Hopefully, she didn’t have to tell him anything else. He would know. Soon both she and the Key would be destroyed.

She hoped he felt guilty for spoiling her last night alive. He should, the bastard.

Lowering her arm, she stepped back. “Go.”

Maria paused as she passed and kissed her on the forehead. “Thank you—you’re a good person, whatever you may think.”

“Yeah, yeah.” But she couldn’t prevent a small smile creeping over her face.

Ryan hugged her. “Keep safe.”

She watched as they hurried away along the embankment, then closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. Turning, she surveyed the small group. On to phase two.

Ryan and Maria needed a few more minutes to get clear of the area. She shoved her hands in her pockets, tried to appear cool, and strolled over to where Andarta stood beside Jack. The lesser demons formed a semi-circle around them, but as she drew closer, they shifted to form a ring, which circled her inside them.

She halted just in front of Andarta and looked up. Why the hell was everyone taller than she was? “I want in,” she said.

“In?”

“To be part of what you’re doing. I want a place in your new world.”

“And why would
we
want
you
?”

“You saw a little of what I can do, and I’m also a Seeker. I can be of help to you.”

“Hmm, you have power, that’s true. You healed those two with no effort whatsoever. But the problem is, I don’t trust you. I don’t understand you—why give over something as valuable as the Key for a couple of humans who’ll be dead in a few years anyway?”

She shrugged. “I’m loyal to my friends. I could be a good friend.”

“And you seek to be friends with me? Why?”

“I need your help.”

“In doing what?”

Roz unbuttoned her shirt and slipped it down off her shoulder to reveal the sigil wrapped around her upper arm. “I’m enslaved to a demon, and I’d prefer to be free.”

Andarta pursed her lips. “A powerful demon, but I think we can get rid of that with a little effort. Now show me the Key.”

Roz reached into her pocket. She peered over her shoulder; Maria and Ryan had vanished. They’d be safe by now.

Phase three.

The part she really wasn’t looking forward to.

…

“Well, we can be pretty sure she’s somewhere close by,” Christian said.

“What?” Piers had been thinking about what he was going to do to Roz once he found her. He had a few options; it was which one would come first he couldn’t decide upon. Christian was driving, but now he slowed the vehicle and pulled up at the side of the road. Through the side-mirror, Piers could see the black van with Carl and his men pull in behind them.

He glanced up ahead as Christian gestured toward the couple who were heading their way. Sister Maria he recognized immediately even without the habit, but the tall man beside her, helping her along, he didn’t know.

They saw them at that moment and came to an abrupt stop about fifteen meters away. Piers climbed out of the car. Sister Maria obviously recognized him. She spoke quickly to the man and hurried up to them.

Piers examined her closely; she had a bite mark on the side of her neck, her skin was pale, but otherwise she appeared unharmed. The man had an impressive set of bruises that were healing fast, fading as Piers stared.

“Mr. Lamont—” Sister Maria began.

“Where’s Roz?” he interrupted her.

“We need to call the police, get back-up,” the man beside her said. “I’m Detective Ryan of the Metropolitan police.”

Piers turned to him. “Do you really think the police can help here, detective? Now where is Rosamund?”

The detective opened his mouth, no doubt to argue, but they didn’t have time for this. Christian stepped forward. “We have to get Roz first. Afterward, we can call the police, if they’re needed. I can assure you we’re better equipped for this than the police. You’ve seen what we’re up against.”

The detective studied the group. Christian stood beside him at the front, Carl with four of his werewolves behind, and Jonas looking frail and old in the middle. The magic had exhausted him, but he’d insisted on coming, and Piers hadn’t tried to dissuade him. The warlock might come in useful, and this was to some extent his fault. He claimed he couldn’t reverse the spell, but it was still better he was here in case magic was required.

“Go get her,” Maria said. “She’s by the bridge. She gave us time to get away, but they’ll kill her—or worse.”

Piers didn’t believe there was anything worse than killing her. Death was final. But he didn’t bother explaining that to the sister. Religious types tended to have some weird ideas on the subject of dying, though he suspected Sister Maria’s beliefs might have undergone a radical turnaround in the last few days. He looked a little closer and saw that she was holding the ripped pieces of her shirt together at the front. He removed his coat and handed it to her, revealing the firepower beneath.

“Hope you’ve got licenses for those,” Ryan said. “Though come to think about it, I don’t think it’s possible to get licenses for sawed-off shotguns.”

Piers didn’t bother replying. He glanced around. The night appeared quiet, but he preferred not to involve any more humans in this. Time to get it over with.

“How many with her?” he asked.

Ryan answered. “A guy called Jack, a whole load of these monster things, and a woman—I don’t know her name; she just turned up tonight.”

“A blond woman?”

“Yeah, with these weird marks on her face.”

“Shit.” Andarta. She must be getting stronger.

He could feel something building up inside him and realized with a flash of shock that it was panic. Jack and a whole bunch of lesser demons they could deal with, no problem. Andarta was another matter entirely.

“Come on.” He had a feeling time was running out. “Carl, your guys take on the lesser demons. Christian, you take Jack.”

“And you?”

“I’m going to save Roz, then go after Andarta.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Chapter Sixteen

This was it.

The end.

A fine sheen of sweat formed on her forehead. Any minute now, it would roll down her face and probably drip off the end of her nose. What a weird last thought.

She tugged the Key out of her pocket, and the metal snagged almost as though it didn’t want to come. But it did—no magical reprieve there. Was she still hoping for a happy ending? She’d believed she’d given up on them long ago.

She dangled the Key in front of her. Jack reached for it, and she edged away. “Wait, I have to remove the spell first. Otherwise…poof.”

He cast her a dirty glance, but he did step back. No one wanted to go “poof.” Andarta was watching her, her face expressionless, but at least she didn’t appear suspicious.

“So you’ll take me with you, let me be part of this?”

“Of course. I said so, didn’t I?” Andarta sounded just a mite irritated.

“So you did.”

And of course, demons never lie.

She dug into her other pocket and pulled out a pin; she needed blood. Then she had to speak some words. For a second, her mind went blank. Crap, she couldn’t remember the words.