Abaddon had slipped from the ether into her still form, filling her limbs once again with life.
A puddle of blood pooled at her feet, and I knew the body would be useless to the demon soon. Demons invaded the dead—it was their most common modus operandi. But where the human’s death was caused by a mortal wound, the demon’s squatter’s rights lasted only as long as the body itself could remain alive. Here, with nothing to stanch the flow, Abaddon would be kicked back to the ether once sufficient blood drained from Cami’s body.
Somehow, the short duration of Abaddon’s lease on Cami’s body didn’t make me feel any better.
“Do not mourn, little one,” Abaddon sneered. “I think perhaps your Cami would have liked it this way, sharing her body with me even for so fleeting an instant. Surely she did not have faith enough to keep me from taking refuge within these long, lithe limbs.” He stroked her body as he talked, moving his hands as if Cami were pleasuring herself. “Nor, for that matter, did any of your ilk.”
“Bastard,” I said.
“Cami’s faith was strong,” Eric said, his voice loud and firm, yet clearly meant for me. A demon can’t possess the body of the faithful. As the human soul leaves the body, it fights . And those with faith have the strength to ward off the evil. “If her faith wavered at the end, that only means she’s human.”
“It means she was stupid,” Abaddon said. “Foolish and unprepared, not to mention uninformed. Much like you two,” he added in a sickly polite voice that seemed to come not from Cami but from the room itself.
In front of us, Abaddon pressed his hand against Cami’s jugular, temporarily stanching the flow of blood. As he did, I saw what he held there—the shard of the Golgotha stone.
I whipped around, my gaze going first to the chains overhanging the urn and then to Eric, his expression as confused as I felt. His eyes still searched the room, though, and I realized he’d gotten my earlier message. He was waiting and watching, searching for a way out of this mess.
I hoped he found it soon. Not only was I out of ideas, but even if I had a brilliant one, I wasn’t exactly in a position to implement it.
“You really must insist that your researchers do a better job,” Abaddon said, continuing to speak in that haughty, affected tone. “You’re right, boy. Her faith never wavered.”
The demon took a step closer, eyes fixed on mine. “Does that make you feel better?” Abaddon said, now in Cami’s voice, the tone simpering. “Make you feel all safe and secure knowing Cami kept her faith until the end? Faith in what, Kate? Oh, yes, I know your name. Katherine Andrews, so eager. So ambitious. Will you retain your faith when I slit your throat? And I will kill you. You know you have no chance. What use can faith possibly be against me when I have command of all the dark power of the occult? Forces powerful enough to circumvent faith and find a stronghold in your young, lithe limbs.”
“The Golgotha stone,” I said. “ Forza was wrong. It doesn’t prevent your ritual—”
“Oh, no, child. Your pitiful leaders were right. The blooded stone of Golgotha earns both my respect and my fear. But Kate, my darling little poppet, neither you nor yours have the stone. This stone,” he said, holding the shard high above his head, “has no name. How fortunate I learned of its existence. How fortunate it came into the light so that I could draw it back with me into the dark.”
The demon spread his arms wide, as if inviting me close for a hug. I managed to hurl a wad of spit right at the demon’s feet.
“So sullen,” the demon said, again in Cami’s voice. “Katie, I thought we were friends. Best buddies.”
She moved away, finally reaching the urn. She released her hold on the wound in her neck, and allowed Cami’s blood to spill into the vessel. Then she slipped the shard into the last link of the fifth chain. Once it was
A puddle of blood pooled at her feet, and I knew the body would be useless to the demon soon. Demons invaded the dead—it was their most common modus operandi. But where the human’s death was caused by a mortal wound, the demon’s squatter’s rights lasted only as long as the body itself could remain alive. Here, with nothing to stanch the flow, Abaddon would be kicked back to the ether once sufficient blood drained from Cami’s body.
Somehow, the short duration of Abaddon’s lease on Cami’s body didn’t make me feel any better.
“Do not mourn, little one,” Abaddon sneered. “I think perhaps your Cami would have liked it this way, sharing her body with me even for so fleeting an instant. Surely she did not have faith enough to keep me from taking refuge within these long, lithe limbs.” He stroked her body as he talked, moving his hands as if Cami were pleasuring herself. “Nor, for that matter, did any of your ilk.”
“Bastard,” I said.
“Cami’s faith was strong,” Eric said, his voice loud and firm, yet clearly meant for me. A demon can’t possess the body of the faithful. As the human soul leaves the body, it fights . And those with faith have the strength to ward off the evil. “If her faith wavered at the end, that only means she’s human.”
“It means she was stupid,” Abaddon said. “Foolish and unprepared, not to mention uninformed. Much like you two,” he added in a sickly polite voice that seemed to come not from Cami but from the room itself.
In front of us, Abaddon pressed his hand against Cami’s jugular, temporarily stanching the flow of blood. As he did, I saw what he held there—the shard of the Golgotha stone.
I whipped around, my gaze going first to the chains overhanging the urn and then to Eric, his expression as confused as I felt. His eyes still searched the room, though, and I realized he’d gotten my earlier message. He was waiting and watching, searching for a way out of this mess.
I hoped he found it soon. Not only was I out of ideas, but even if I had a brilliant one, I wasn’t exactly in a position to implement it.
“You really must insist that your researchers do a better job,” Abaddon said, continuing to speak in that haughty, affected tone. “You’re right, boy. Her faith never wavered.”
The demon took a step closer, eyes fixed on mine. “Does that make you feel better?” Abaddon said, now in Cami’s voice, the tone simpering. “Make you feel all safe and secure knowing Cami kept her faith until the end? Faith in what, Kate? Oh, yes, I know your name. Katherine Andrews, so eager. So ambitious. Will you retain your faith when I slit your throat? And I will kill you. You know you have no chance. What use can faith possibly be against me when I have command of all the dark power of the occult? Forces powerful enough to circumvent faith and find a stronghold in your young, lithe limbs.”
“The Golgotha stone,” I said. “ Forza was wrong. It doesn’t prevent your ritual—”
“Oh, no, child. Your pitiful leaders were right. The blooded stone of Golgotha earns both my respect and my fear. But Kate, my darling little poppet, neither you nor yours have the stone. This stone,” he said, holding the shard high above his head, “has no name. How fortunate I learned of its existence. How fortunate it came into the light so that I could draw it back with me into the dark.”
The demon spread his arms wide, as if inviting me close for a hug. I managed to hurl a wad of spit right at the demon’s feet.
“So sullen,” the demon said, again in Cami’s voice. “Katie, I thought we were friends. Best buddies.”
She moved away, finally reaching the urn. She released her hold on the wound in her neck, and allowed Cami’s blood to spill into the vessel. Then she slipped the shard into the last link of the fifth chain. Once it was
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