Don't Fear the Reaper (26 page)

We just made it through the tail end of a yellow light. Someone blew a horn, but I barely registered the sound.

“Demon rule number one,” Daniel continued. “Ruthlessness over truthfulness. And, a common demon saying, a trick is the devil’s walking stick. Why didn’t I see this?”

“He who lies for you, lies to you,” Banning replied. “Old Bosnian proverb. Don’t be so hard on yourself, Daniel. I think he’s got a lot more experience than you do at reading souls.”

I nudged Daniel’s leg.

“It’s okay. We were
all
set up.” I don’t know why I cared, but I did. I couldn’t blame Jordan for wanting to save my soul, although I was still a little angry that Daniel would risk hers over mine. “You didn’t see this coming and I didn’t see what Jordan would do. Let’s just get to her quickly, okay?” I stared out the window. “Can’t we get out and walk or something?”

I hoped one of them had a better idea than sitting in traffic. “Banning?” I pleaded softly.

“We’ll get there,” he said, sounding not at all confident.

I leaned against Banning’s seat. “Don’t wait for me. Go. You’ve got to talk her out of it. Tell her to wait for me.”

“And if I do?” he said. “What would your sister do if I asked her to wait?”

Fear hammered away inside me. All I could picture was Jordan in a house full of demons and Pete. I recalled how helpless I’d been against the demons Daniel and I had encountered. “I don’t know. Maybe she’d still sacrifice herself for me. But, you’ve got to try. She might listen to you. At least it’ll buy us some time.”

I felt Daniel’s hand on my shoulder. “I’ll go.”

Banning turned toward Daniel. I’d seen that expression on Banning’s face before. Amazement that Daniel would make such an offer? Sure, but I suspected a hint of concern there, too.

“I can do it,” Daniel said. “Or, I can at least hold up the works until you get there.”

“Daniel—”

Banning joined in my protest, interrupting me. “You know what Lucifer will do if he finds out, Daniel, and he
will
find out. You’ll be hunted. You’ll be rogue.”

“Don’t you think he already knows?” Daniel retorted.

Jordan didn’t fully trust Daniel. She’d had a hard enough time trusting angels. Banning was a much better choice. He could stall her until I got there. “Guys, I know my sister. Sorry, Daniel. A demon won’t change her mind. Either we need to get me there right now, or Banning has to go talk some sense into her.”

Daniel stared absently up at the car’s roof. “And how do
you
think you’re going to stop her once you’re there?”

I didn’t want to say it.

“Make the deal yourself? Can’t let you do that, Sunshine.”

But that’s what Daniel was supposed to do—get
me
to make the deal. I stared out the window again. We were moving now, but not fast enough and the light up ahead turned red. “Banning, please? You’re her best chance.”

The driver slowed to a stop. Banning got out of the car and I quickly followed. Good. Now we were getting somewhere.

“I’ve got an idea,” Daniel said. “I can get you to Pete’s house faster.”

I paused, hoping he’d come up with something really good, because time was running out.

Banning raised an eyebrow.

Daniel smirked. “Yeah, well. I wasn’t counting on
you
liking it. But it’s all I’ve got.” He stared at a red street bike a couple of cars ahead of us.

Motorcycles weren’t my thing. I was more of a sports car girl, but it was hard to look at the glistening red bike and not see speed and maneuverability. “There’s only room for one. How will I know where to go?”

“He’s saying that while I go ahead, the two of you will hitch a ride on that bike,” Banning replied.

The bike’s owner pulled closer to the center lane to get a better handle on the situation ahead. Probably figuring the odds of riding down the middle, between lanes. He was checking for cops.

“We both won’t fit,” I commented.

Daniel grinned. “Oh, you, me,
and
that guy are all going. Dude’s going to take you for a ride, and I’m taking him for one.”

“You mean possession?” The hair stood up on my arms.

Daniel raised an eyebrow and grinned. “Are you with me, or not?”

The guy on the bike seemed like he was ready to take off any minute. “Let’s do it.”

“Be careful,” Banning said. His form darkened, as though eclipsed in shadow. It wavered and twisted, then slid across the sidewalk and up the side of the building in a swirl of black smoke and was gone. A raven cawed in the distance.

Daniel tugged at my arm. “Let’s go.”

We caught up with the biker easily enough. He hadn’t moved a whole lot farther than a minute ago, still inching his way along the street behind the cars.

“Get on,” Daniel instructed.

I hesitated. This guy had no idea what was coming. For that matter, neither did I. Traffic started to move forward.

“It’s now or never.” Daniel’s eyes sparked red and veins stood out on his forehead. He chanted words that sounded like a cross between Latin and something more ethereal. The words were fluid as they slithered from his tongue.

The guy on the bike relaxed, placing his hands on either side of his helmet. With a hard, swift motion, he cracked his neck—first to the left, then the right, the vertebrae going off like gunshots. Then the guy chimed in, repeating Daniel’s words, sounding more and more like Daniel as he spoke.

This was freaky. If I weren’t in such a hurry to get to Jordan, I wouldn’t have any part of this.

Daniel slid into the bike’s driver as effortlessly as he had slid onto the backseat of the Lexus. The guy stiffened momentarily, then unfastened his helmet and tossed it to the curb. He turned to look at me. The face belonged to a stranger—a guy who might have been in his mid-twenties with short spiked hair lighter in color, but otherwise not too different from Daniel’s. But it was his eyes that clearly stated who was
really
behind the handlebars. The guy revved the bike and grinned.

No one had a grin like Daniel.

I got on behind him and wrapped my arms tightly around his waist. I’d barely positioned my feet when he took off, veering right onto the sidewalk at breakneck speed.

“Careful!” I screamed. Daniel ignored me. Bikes might not be my thing, but I’d ridden them plenty of times. Miles had even taught me how to drive his. The speed itself wasn’t the problem—the problem was that there were people up ahead.

Daniel goosed the bike, maneuvering in between a bench and a light post and my grip around him tightened. A woman walking out of a shop dropped her bags and darted back inside. A guy walking a dog snatched up his Jack Russell and dove from our path.

“Sorry!” I yelled back, realizing the guy couldn’t see or hear me. Only Daniel. Or, the guy whose body he’d possessed. I wondered what the guy thought about all this. According to what Banning and Daniel had told me, possession was one of those times when the afterlife connected with the living.

“I thought you were made of tougher stuff,” Daniel yelled back at me.

“I
am
tough,” I replied. “But, you’re going to get this guy into a lot of trouble. He didn’t exactly invite you in. What if he’s a nice guy?”

Daniel dodged a skateboarder and zoomed into traffic, causing a truck to hit the brakes. We headed north, in between lanes of traffic, easily passing vehicles.

“He
is
a nice guy. Might not be after this, but hey. Right now, Mr. Nice Guy is worried about you. Yeah, I can hear his thoughts, in case you were wondering. He doesn’t realize that you’re earthbound. And don’t worry. He’s not going to get caught.” Daniel found an open lane and scooted into it, cutting off another car. The driver blared his horn, and Daniel looked back and grinned even wider.

“
WOOO!
” Daniel yelled. “I’d forgotten how much fun this was. The bike, not the possession.”

We wove around a few more cars. Horns sounded loudly and tires squealed as drivers hit the brakes. I looked for cops—with our luck, there were probably a few of them around, but unless I missed seeing them, which seemed all too likely the way Daniel drove—I never saw a marked car.

“Are you sure he won’t catch heat for this?” I asked.

“Nada, Sunshine. And we’ll be there in a few minutes.”

I leaned into him, resting my chin on his shoulder and pressing my mouth against his ear. “Then punch it.”

He glanced back at me, and with another disquieting, slanted grin, popped the front wheel up slightly and rocketed the bike forward.

A few minutes later, we came to a skidding stop in Pete’s driveway. The house was an older, split-level red brick ranch with a light gray roof and shutters. Whatever plants had once been in the planter along the walkway to the front door had long since died. Remnants of their stalks jutted up from the cracked, dry soil.

A flock of ravens watched us from a nearby pine, their caws echoing around us. Otherwise, nothing else stirred. No other birds, no squirrels. No children played outside in front of their houses.

“Banning’s already here,” I said, dismounting the bike. “Hope he’s okay.”

“I’m sure he is—for now. But there are more demons inside than he can handle.” Daniel shut the engine off and set the kickstand down. “And they’ll keep coming. Especially now that we’re here.” He dismounted the bike and stormed toward the house.

“Hey!” I called as I ran after him. “Don’t you want to ditch the biker guy first? It’s too dangerous for him.”

Daniel turned, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Not yet. Our buddy here is still useful. Pete’s human, remember? And this guy is pretty damn tough. Besides, Jordan’s inside. We might need this guy to help get her out of the house.”

“Why not just ditch him and change into one of those other types of demons?” I asked.

Daniel didn’t answer. But I thought I might already know why. Because no matter what, Daniel didn’t want to be like them. But he could have picked a better time to have standards.

“One thing,” Daniel warned. “Once inside, things are going to look different. This’ll be Hell’s funhouse. Once inside, it’ll be like passing into a different dimension.”

I nodded.

The front screen door protested with a long creak as we entered the house. I stood in the foyer, eyes scanning the room for demons. The fireplace had been lit, the flames dancing and casting odd, gyrating shadows on the walls. One of the shadows, as black as a starless night, disentangled itself from the wall and darted across the room. It was a grotesque being; squat with a protruding chin and joints that bent at odd angles. The creature paused and turned its head to look back at me, chortling darkly as it disappeared around the corner where Daniel had just gone.

Reluctantly, I followed.

Laughter, low and menacing, echoed on every side of me, coiling and twisting around the corners and furniture as I made my way across the room. I expected to find demons at every step—from the hallway to my right or bursting through the open basement door. I felt them watching.

Daniel and Banning were already in the kitchen along with a couple of demons when I entered. Then, I saw my sister and Pete.

Pete did a little dance and laughed gleefully. At least, it looked like Pete, although not entirely. A demon had possessed him, just as Daniel had done to the guy on the bike. The demon shone through his eyes, making them cold and distant. Pete had given me the creeps before, but this new Pete made my skin crawl. I also understood the saying
that
the eyes were the windows to the soul
better than ever.

Worse, though, was the other demon, the one clutching my sister in front of him like a shield, one taloned claw against her throat. His skin was blackened, as though he’d been through the worst of hell’s fires.

“Let her
GO!
” I demanded. Of course, I knew it wasn’t that simple. Not even if I’d said please.

“Come to watch her
bleeeed?
” Pete taunted in a low, thick voice that clearly wasn’t his own. On cue, the demon pressed his talon into my sister’s neck and a small trickle of blood trailed down her throat.

Jordan trembled, her face pale.

“Easy, Sunshine,” Daniel said. “It’s no big deal. It’s not like they can kill her, remember?”

I glared at Daniel for his insensitive remark. My fists clenched in anger, even as my knees shook with fear. True, they couldn’t kill her, but they
would
hurt her. They’d cause her pain far beyond what the living could bear. No one could stand by while a loved one was tortured—repeatedly. I turned my attention back to the demon.

Since I was no match for the demon, anger wouldn’t help me at the moment. I swallowed the rage inside me, deciding to try a gentler approach. “Don’t,” I pleaded.

“Maybe you’d rather watch something else?” Pete asked. He eyed my sister longingly. As if responding to Pete’s words, the demon kissed the side of my sister’s face, gently, seductively.

I wanted to throw up. Jordan was trying to be brave but I could see the sheer terror on her face. Clearly, reasoning and pleading weren’t working very well.

Pete’s eyes glittered in delight. “Nice party, isn’t it? Since I’m the host, let me explain how this will go. You and your sister here love each other so much that you’ll each offer up your souls just to prevent the other from suffering. I instruct the demons who suffers and how much while the other is helpless to do anything about it. Jordan will offer her soul to prevent anything from happening to her dear sister, won’t you, my sweet?” He grinned at Jordan.

“Don’t touch her!” Jordan shouted.

Pete held up a hand. “Quiet now! I’m not done talking. Don’t be rude,” the demon inside Pete said. “Keely can stop all this anytime she wants. All she has to do is ask the demons to kill Pete. Once she does, I’ll leave his body. It’s a win-win situation. My master gets four souls—the reaper and both of the sisters, and Pete gets his wish to spend eternity with both girls.”