Demonicus (Overworld Underground Book 2) (28 page)

I felt my brow arch. "Yes to what?"

"I think Vallaena has a thing for you. If you want to explore that a little, you have my blessing so long as I get to watch."

I pulled away my hand and crossed my arms. "Tyler Rock, don't make me slap you."

He snorted. "I'm just saying."

Truthfully, I did find myself a little drawn to Vallaena, though not because of a sexual attraction, but because she was a strong, purposeful woman. She reminded me a bit of my mother in some ways. I also admired how precisely she controlled her raw strength, as she now did by pressing Vatna face down on the table while he screamed insults at her.

"A warehouse in the west part of town!" Vatna shouted. "That's all I heard. Karak was going to lead us there."

"And the other location?" Vallaena asked calmly.

"He said something about the south."

"What were his precise words?"

"The cardinal points must be sanctified, south and west." Vatna squeezed his eyes closed. "Then something about a warehouse on the west side."

Vallaena leaned down. "What else?"

"Something like, the deep one will complete the circuit." Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. "I don't know anything else."

Vallaena shoved him off the table then looked toward the window and motioned for us to come in.

"Who's out there?" Vatna's voice quavered with fear.

Tyler and I entered the room and the possessed man's demeanor erupted with anger.

"Grim, you piece of shit. I should've known you'd turn me into the authorities." He spat blood. "Then again, betraying your own kind is nothing new to you."

"I betrayed you?" Tyler belted a laugh. "After everything you forced me to do in this world and ours, you call me the betrayer?" He shook his head. "You deserved to be exorcised."

Vatna spat again. "Fine. Go ahead and exorcise me. I'll be back in a few months to make your life miserable, you sack of filth. I'll be more powerful than ever. I'm going to enjoy torturing you."

"Not this time." Tyler displayed a wide sarcastic grin. "This time, you're going to a very special place in hell."

The possessed's eyes narrowed. "Yeah? Like your secret hideout where you thought you were safe from us?" He sneered. "You'll never be safe from us."

"In this case, I believe you're wrong." Vallaena strode toward him. "Emily, if you'd be a dear." She flipped Vatna like a pancake and slammed him to the floor.

An agonizing cry tore from his throat. I touched his hand and gained what I needed to know.

"Vatnaphkkrryt." I didn't know how I was able to pronounce it, but it slid off my tongue easily.

"How?" Vatna shouted. "How does she know my name?"

Tyler knelt next to the prostrate man. "Have fun in the Abyss."

The other man's eyes bugged. "The Abyss? Please, no! Mercy! Mercy!"

"Just like the mercy you've always shown me?" Tyler shivered. "Like the time you and the others tortured my host body for a week and left me to die in the desert, all because it was fun?" His lips peeled into a snarl. "Or when you found me and Jalana in Haedaemos and tore her spirit to shreds just to laugh at my reaction?" Tears rolled down his cheeks.

Vatna snarled back. "You weak, stupid fuck. We tried to show you a good time, but you were too good for us."

A guttural roar burst from Tyler's lungs. "You and the others will have eternity to understand what a good time is." He leaned so close to the other man, their noses almost touched and whispered in a harsh voice. "I hear the Abyssals love to play with their food before they eat it."

This set off another screaming frenzy from Vatna, which Vallaena ended by striking his head on the floor.

"Sounds as though you and Daevadius have a lot to talk about." She put a hand on Tyler's cheek. "You are a rare, special jade, but you are not alone when it comes to mistreatment." With that, she herded us away from Vatna's body and began the exorcism.

The Abyssal demon appeared more quickly this time, as though he'd been waiting for another sacrifice. Vatna awoke at the last minute, screaming and struggling, but the vortex creature ignored his pleas and turned his glowing red eye on us.

"In the darkness hangs a pinpoint of light." The demon began to sink into the floor. "The one will soon call me. I will be his salvation and he will be mine."

"Who are you talking about?" I asked.

"He brings salvation to all." The demon's many voices echoed briefly in the small room as he vanished into the pitch black.

Vatna's body flopped onto the bare floor.

"Very odd," Vallaena said. "In the several banishments I've performed, I've never seen the same Abyssal twice."

"You've done this a lot?" I asked.

"Many times." She frowned. "That one must be very powerful indeed."

I probably should have been worried about the Abyssal's strange prophecy, but all I felt was relief. Nearly all of Tyler's nemeses were gone from this world forever.

"I have the name of a final demon, but he is probably still in Haedaemos." I gave her Barboar's name. "Can you banish him as well?"

"Gladly," she said. "After I question the remaining demon."

Relief flooded me.

Soon, Tyler and I would be safe.

Chapter 24

Safety was a relative term in my mind and it didn't take long for me to remember that just because Tyler's tormenters were gone from this world it didn't mean we were truly safe.
Karak and Abaddon might have something to say about that
.

"I can't tell you how thankful we are," I told Vallaena.

The other woman stroked my hair. "You are two rare jewels, bound together for a reason I cannot discern." She frowned. "I am in the business of knowing everything. I've read foreseeances from every possible source so I could have some hint of the future." She narrowed her eyes. "Yet, I've had no inkling of you."

"Surprise." I smiled and tried to lighten the foreboding mood, but the Daemas was having none of it.

"This hearkens back to the first war. The mortals proclaimed that Heaven and Hell were invading their world." She absentmindedly stroked my cheek. "'Armageddon', they said. 'We are undone.'" Vallaena seemed to snap back into the present and lowered her hand. "We were all nearly undone, but the forces of Hell stopped the invasion of Heaven."

"It sounds like the Bible," Tyler said.

"Hell is the same by any name, though the description varies wildly."

My brow pinched. "What about Heaven?"

"Seraphina, they call it." Vallaena sighed. "I have never seen it, but many mortals were taken there during the Seraphim rule of mankind. I do not think it quite so wondrous as the legends would have us believe." She turned and left the room without another word, then stopped and stared at the female possessed who now huddled in the corner of her room.

"What will they do with Astra?" I asked.

"What do you sense about her, Emily?"

"She feels warm, like you and Tyler." I closed my eyes and tried to get more of a feel. With Vatna and Xasha gone, I no longer felt the nauseating sense associated with their caustic spirits. I opened my eyes as a realization hit me. "She's not a caustic."

Vallaena gave me a sideways glance. "Can you tell what sort she is?"

"I haven't seen color when I—" I tried to think back to what I'd seen when gathering true names.

Tyler nudged me. "When you what?"

I thought back to the patterns flashing in my head and realized there had been a color to them. "I need to touch her."

"Very well." Vallaena went into the room.

Astra stood, fear plain on her face. "Are you here to exorcise me?"

"Perhaps, but I have some questions for you first."

The possessed woman straightened. "I have a sworn allegiance to Lord Karak. I cannot break my oath under any threat."

Vallaena smiled. "You are no lesser." She walked over to the woman and inspected her. "Yet, you are not a lord. You must be a knight."

The woman nodded stiffly. "I am."

"Emily, please enter."

I walked inside. Astra's eyes widened. "You're the one Vatna and Xasha saw on the news. They wanted to rape you to death."

"Miserable caustics," Vallaena said. She motioned me toward her.

"It's not that simple," I said. "She needs to be in pain."

"Oh?" Vallaena raised an eyebrow. "You might have told me that earlier."

"It wasn't necessary," I replied. "Since the others were in a lot of pain."

Astra stiffened even more. "Even under duress, I will not betray my lord."

"I must apologize in advance," Vallaena said.

The possessed woman swung her arm at Vallaena. The Daemas blocked her and the two struggled for a moment before Vallaena pinned her to the floor.

"Now, Emily." She gripped the other woman's index finger and savagely twisted it.

I touched Astra's arm as she screamed. At first there was nothing, but then Vallaena slammed the possessed's head against the floor. A large pattern flashed bright red in my mind.
Astranamastia
.

I remembered her pattern as one of those in between those of Karak's and the lesser demons'. I jumped back as Astra flailed. Vallaena leapt back, her face red with exertion. "She is stronger than the others, but not quite my match."

"Astranamastia," I said in a bold voice. "You will be still."

Astra froze, eyes wide with terror. "How did you know my name?"

I turned to Vallaena. "Her pattern is red."

"Ah, a ruby spirit." She looked at the very still woman. "What does Karak plan?"

"I do not know much, and what little I do, I will not tell you." She pushed herself up, favoring her broken finger. "You may have my true name, but you will not have my honor."

"Can't we force her to tell us?" I asked.

"A true name gives you power over a demon in spirit form, but even then, that power is limited." Vallaena folded her arms and looked at Astra. "I would so hate to send you to the Abyss as I did Vatna and Xasha."

Astra blanched. "Do your worst."

I couldn't help but admire her. "Why are you so loyal?"

"Karak has been my mentor for thousands of years. He has helped me thrive." Her lips trembled. "I cannot betray him."

"Can you at least tell me if he intends to do harm to Eden?" Vallaena asked.

"He proceeds by the order of Domathus," she replied. "I do not know if the master shared his designs for Eden with the others."

Tyler asked a question I hadn't thought of. "Do you know about Daelissa?"

At this, Astra gave away the merest hint of a flinch. "I will say no more."

Looks like she knows something.
Unfortunately, I wasn't a mind reader.

Vallaena pursed her lips and regarded the woman. "Well, we can't have you in Eden. I see no choice but to send you back from whence you came."

"Not to the Abyss?" Astra's voice sounded a hopeful note.

"I think not." The Daemas shook her head slowly. "You will, of course, lose a great deal of power from the exorcism. Perhaps not enough to keep you from Eden, but enough to make your next incarnation less powerful." She seemed hesitant, but after a long moment, her shoulders stiffened with resolve. "You are admirable in your loyalty. I pray it isn't misplaced."

"Misplaced or not, I will not waver from my duty." Astra pushed herself up and faced Vallaena defiantly. "I am ready."

Without further delay, the floor at her feet turned to pitch. Like tentacles grasping their prey, oily tendrils crept up Astra's legs and pulled at her. She tried to maintain her brave façade, but a scream tore from her throat at the last moment. Brilliant red mist poured from her eyes and mouth, forming humanoid shape. With one last wraithlike rattle, the hell portal drew her demon form into the ground and the woman's body slumped to the floor. Two grey shapes flitted into the air above her and vanished into the stone ceiling. I stared for a long moment, wondering if I'd truly seen them or not.

"Those other souls must have been bound to her spirit," Vallaena said, proving I hadn't imagined it. "No wonder she was so strong."

"Well, there will be three very confused people when they wake up," Tyler commented dryly as he regarded the unconscious woman. "How do the Custodians handle them?"

"The hosts will likely have no memories of their possession." Vallaena knelt and touched the woman's throat. "She and the others will be taken somewhere and left, I imagine."

"Too bad we don't know much more than before all this." I sighed and dropped into a chair. "At least there are three fewer demons walking around in human form."

"Granted, it is not much," Vallaena said, "but it's a start."

I noticed several new emails on my phone and opened them. Isabel had attached pictures of the apartment for George to use. I saved them to my phone and was able to forward them to George despite the weak internet signal while Tyler talked with Vallaena about their brother.

"Baal's children are legion," Vallaena noted dryly. "I wonder if we share a common mother."

Tyler chuckled. "There's no telling."

"What color demon is Baal?" I asked.

"I believe he was originally onyx," Vallaena said. "Though some claim he was ruby. He's absorbed so many other demons over the millennia, he can appear in just about any color."

"I'd never thought much about demonic colors until Professor Zuba told me I was a jade." Tyler leaned on his elbows. "How many colors are there, and what do they mean?"

"I don't think there is much meaning in the colors, only in the demons themselves." Vallaena stifled a yawn. "Caustics are not always born a sickly yellow. A demon can start out as one thing and become something entirely different."

Tyler frowned. "You mean, a jade could become a caustic?"

"Oh, yes. It is up to each individual to make decisions and ultimately decide their fate." She touched her forehead as if warding off a headache. "You are looking for simple explanations about demon behavior when none exist." Looking at the slumbering form of Astra, she sighed. "I must go and rest. This has been a very taxing evening and I still have much planning to do if my nephew is to be properly guided."