Page 50 of Commanding Flame and Shield
Sebastian!Even in her mind, his name was a sob. Lost to us. That was what she saw in the possessed man. We lost him. He had to be for the thing to invade his body. I shook my head, not as convinced. But I’d never witnessed an exorcism, so I didn’t know what it entailed. And I was sure beyond a doubt she had witnessed many. The giant envisioned in her mind snarled quietly.
As though he still heard her call.
“Where?” Aren thundered, his knuckles white, hand wrapped around his quickly unsheathed dagger. With a jolt, I realized I’d never seen him physically reveal that an emotion had overrun his discipline. Ally breathed in a deep, jagged inhale. The icy smell of metal and chemicals filled our minds, and Fae seemed to recoil.
“The morgue,” she whispered.
“Fuck,” Alec said in the same tone the Commander had, and he rolled his sleeves up. He and Fae both drew long knives from their belts. The hilts were jeweled with emeralds the color of Ally’s eyes, a Celtic pattern emblazoned under the stones. Alec dropped his shield, and the world grew immensely louder. Aren sent a blast to the others—The Commander delivering a Hail-Mary summons that I knew in my gut would be too late. We moved for the door, and Aren threw it open, so furious that it flew off its hinges. He cast it onto the floor, unflinching, and we ran down the abandoned hallway. The walls reeked of rotten eggs, and the lights had dimmed low with an ominous flicker. It was with horror in my stomach that I read the word on Fae's mind.
Brimstone.
She looked like she would be sick. Whether from the stench or the anxiety pulsing through the group of us, I wasn’t sure. But my mind lingered on the word she’d thought.
Like fire and brimstone. Is this creature straight from the gates of Hell?
Yes. Aren answered internally. I winced.
We ran in unison, our footsteps thundering off the walls of the endless, deserted hallway. Demons could sense us, as we could sense them, so there was no point in keeping quiet. Ally and Aren simultaneously summoned telekinetic shields, their hands raised eerily in front of them as they spun their heads from one side to the other. I kept my eyes glued straight ahead of us.
“Sebastian!” Aren roared, thunderous voice echoing in a battle summons. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, shaky breaths and tensing muscles preparing for the fight I knew I would not avoid. I drew my blade as the buzz of the flickering lights grew and the air ran cold.
The shadow rang with a long hiss. Like snakes hidden along the walls.
“Do you have a name for the demon?” Aren muttered to Ally, and she shook her head, lips pressed together. “Damn...Sebastian!” He roared again, as ice crept up the walls like stretching spiderwebs. The lights crackled and popped as frost ran over them, and then with a deafening crack, they all extinguished. We were enveloped in blackness, and my heart pounded a pleading drum of escape against my ribs.
“August,” Ally hissed. “Give us some light.”
“Right,” I rushed, before igniting a ball of fire above my palm. Ally turned back to me, eyed the flame, and then waved her own hand to do the same. She cast the flame out ahead of us, and I threw mine too. Together, we illuminated the hallway in the flickering light of fire. My heart sunk.
Standing at the end of the hallway, unmoving, stood Sebastian. He wore his angelic uniform of white pants, but was missing his breast plate, and the entire cloth had been dyed deep red, his chest streaked with it. We slowly advanced, each of us searching the doorways we passed for an attacker. The stench of brimstone filled my lungs, and the nausea Fae had fought off hit me with ferocity. I nearly doubled over, but staggered and held my ground.
Sebastian’s sacred dagger was still sheathed at his side, long bloody fingers dripping a trail on the ground below him. As we closed the gap, precariously close to him now, Aren spoke, his voice low and commanding.
“Bash! You’re stronger than this!”
“Bash is gone!” Its voice trembled the ground.
“Bullshit. Bash!” Aren rumbled, “Bash,bestronger than this.”
The man staggered forward, eyes rolling to the back of his head, and the baritone voice crept into my mind, exhausted and defeatedSky is dead. I—
The demon was back in a fraction of an instant and I felt the outrage and anger of my family burning in my veins. We fanned out, blocking the hallway, each holding our own shields. I stayed close to Fae, concealing her between Alec and me. She seemed so fragile compared to our larger frames.
“Bash!” Aren demanded and the ground shook with the power coming off him. “Revertere ad nos!” It was a command. The kind wehadto follow. Sebastian’s body began trembling, seizing. Aren threw his hand out, and the others did the same. To my astonishment, my own hands were in front of me, heeding The Commander, and the hallway exploded in light. I realized, with shock, they were sending him their strength.Wewere sending Bashour light.
The demon roared in pain, or panic, and lunged forward. But Ally was faster. She met his advance, throwing out her free hand to pin his seizing body telekinetically to the wall behind him. Her jaw was clenched, and fire burned in her eyes. The thing was vastly overpowered, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of trouble creeping through my bones.
Sebastian’s body was convulsing as we surged more light through it, and Aren roared, “Redeo ad lucem!”
The thing cried again, jaw hyperextending, a nightmare from a zombie game. Its black eyes were frantic as it looked for an out.
“The half-breed burns with me!” It bellowed, before screaming out in pain as Ally surged forward, her light filling the entire hallway. She twisted her hand into a fist and turned it, twisting a dagger that wasn’t there, and the thing screamed in agony. With a flick of her wrist, it fell to the ground, and she slammed her body down on top of it, smashing her palm onto Bash’s sweaty forehead.
“Impius Vincendum!” She screamed, and the light exploded out of Bash's eyes and between his lips. A dark cloud escaped his open mouth, and in a quick motion, she was on her feet, throwing her dagger into the mist, and it crackled like a hot kettle before vanishing.
“Bash!” Fae cried, diving forward. She scooped her arms under his armpits, and drug him to the wall, where she propped him upright. She gently wiped the blood away from the corner of his mouth and felt for a pulse.
It’s faint, and slow.
