Demonically Tempted (Frostbite) (18 page)

“
Michael to my right. Michael to my left. Michael over me. Michael under me
.” I snorted, as weird images flashed through my mind. “No, that can’t be right.” I was never going to remember it.

“If you’re there Michael, the Archangel, watch my back, will ya? And get that flaming blue sword of yours out and do some serious ass kicking.”

With a big push of determination, I strode forward and coldness washed across my soul. I rubbed my arms to warm myself. “Kipp,” I whispered. Hoping he’d hear me. Hoping he’d come. Alone, I was scared. With him here, I could take on anything.

But with each step I took, the awareness he wasn’t coming weighed heavily on my shoulders.

At the front door, I opened it, then stepped over the line of salt and spotted the medallions placed there, too. I entered the living room, hearing the floorboards complain under my feet as dust made my nose crinkle.

I’d only taken two steps in before
it
appeared.

It—the man—seemed to consider me before he said, “She’s returned.”

I wasn’t fooled by the kind look he possessed. The darkness in his gaze gave away the evil that lurked within him, even if by all appearances he seemed like a typical man with short brown buzzed hair, masculine features, and a tall frame. His uniform once again made me pause.

Where had I seen it before?

Not that it really mattered. My concentration stayed on those dark eyes of his. I hadn’t noticed it before, but my lingering disbelief that demons existed faded as I stared one right in the face. “Come to get rid of you.”

“You think you can?” His gaze travelled to the necklace at my throat. “You think
that
will protect you?”

I fought against the fear rising and attempted to hide it. “I believe so, yes.” I drew in on the strength I had within, pushed it to the surface. “And you wouldn’t be looking at it if you didn’t think so, too.”

“You thought wrong.” The demon shot forward to attack and only a hairsbreadth away it was as if he hit a brick wall. He flew backward, landing with a loud thud on the floor.

In a second, he was on his feet, he cursed in some language I didn’t understand, but sounded scary as hell.

“You can’t hurt me,” I told it.

Thank you, Gretchen
. She hadn’t steered me wrong. The medallion might have kept me safe from the demon entering my body, but the cream kept him from even coming close to me.

But my relief lasted a mere second, as a snarl sounded from its mouth, causing me to shake in my boots. He paced in front of me, never taking his focus off me, and Lord he scared me. “Seems that you’ve used further protection against me, but I smell the fear you’re trying to hide. That means you’re not as skilled, or as talented as the protection you have around you.”

I demanded the fear to fade. I didn’t want it feeding him. “I might not be exactly skilled, but I know enough to make you go away.” I pulled the wand from my pocket, unwrapped it from the silk and drew a circle.

The demon cackled. “A circle will do nothing to send me away.”

“So says the demon.”

I finished the circle and repeated the lines to enter it. When my memory didn't fail me and the words I needed to say came quick and clear, I was thrilled. Maybe panic made my brain sharper? Whatever it was, I was glad for it. Then, I stepped into the circle and looked at the demon, who appeared at complete ease.

“I can give you what you want,” he said in what might be taken as an alluring tone.

“There’s nothing you can give me, I assure you.”

A slow grin rose to his face and even those darks eyes seemed amused. “Ah, but you’re missing someone, are you not?” My stomach dropped, breath was lost to me, and I didn’t move an inch. “I can help
you
.”

Gretchen said this would happen. That he’d offer me something to get me to agree to him. Not that I would. But I was curious nonetheless. “Oh, really, and just how can you do that?”

“I’m a demon,” he said in a proud tone. “My power is endless.”

“Sorry to break it to you,
demon
,” I retorted. “But I don’t need
your
help.”

“That ghost of yours is trapped there.” A slow smile spread across his face. “Did you know that? He’s stuck and in turmoil wanting to return to you, but can’t.”

My heart clenched. How did he know about Kipp? I forced my voice out of my tight throat. “You have no way of knowing that.”

“But I do,” he countered. “I know at this moment your ghost is being tortured and is fighting to survive as lost souls devour him.”

I fought against the urge to scream at the horror that might be true, but even I couldn’t stop tears from welling. The images playing in my mind almost crippled me.

Gretchen said not to believe it, but then why did I? Why did the thought of Kipp being stuck seem possible? It’d explain why he hadn’t come back, and that theory almost sat better, as strange as that was. It meant he loved me, and his staying away wasn’t his choice. But believing that meant I had to believe a demon.

The worst part was, I wanted to.

Chapter Twenty

The demon continued to pace in front of me. “I’m growing tired of this game, witch.” He never got too close to the invisible shield around me. “You merely have to decide not to do this and I’ll bring him to you.” There was that grin again. “He would want that.”

I blinked as the trance the demon had woven over me faded. Hadn’t he given me a scenario that appealed to me? Didn’t I want so bad to believe that? To wish that Kipp hadn’t made the choice he did.

And hadn’t I totally fallen for it?

If I stood face-to-face with a demon who could take innocent lives, Kipp would be yelling at me to end this. Not save him. Because one thing was true about Kipp McGowen—he lived and breathed his role as a cop. Nothing would ever change that.

As much as I missed Kipp, I couldn’t go about it this way, even if what the demon said had a shred of truth. I stared at the demon and saw the lie written there in their evil depths of his eyes.

Kipp might be in the Netherworld, but this demon didn’t hold the power to bring him back. And that I believed.

How close had he come to bringing me into his trap?
Too damn close
. But the demon had made two mistakes. “Sorry about your luck, but I’m not a witch. I’m just a woman that has a seriously fucked up ability. And today isn’t the day that I’m going to believe you.”

The second I shut my mouth, a wave of energy surrounded me, raising every hair on my neck, and made my stomach heave. The man’s eyes rolled into the back of his head and he dropped to the ground.

In his place, stood a dark shadow—a downright scary as hell shadow.

It moved so quick I couldn’t even see it and I took that as it was trying to find a way to hurt me. It wasn’t so much as anything said, as it was a sensation that overtook me. I wasted no time.

I dropped down into my circle and with shaky hands, grabbed the mirror out of my bag. I tilted it into every corner of the room, making sure to get all the directions as Gretchen instructed. I drew in a long deep breath, shut my eyes to avoid looking at the demon searching for a way into my protection.

Once my heartbeat settled, I opened my eyes catching sight of it on my right side. And I forced every bit of emotion that lived within me into my voice. “Demon belonging to Baal, return to your house. By the protection of the Guardians to my north, east, south and west, I banish thee.”

Nothing happened.

Sweat formed a cold film on my body. The demon continued to try and break into the protection around me. The black blur whipped around me so fast I could hardly see it, and the stench of sulfur sped through the air.

My confidence shook. Gretchen had been right. I didn’t have the willpower I needed. Without that push from within this wouldn’t work. As much as I’d been going along with this, I didn’t truly believe myself capable.

The fear I tried to keep hidden stole over my thoughts. My heart thumped, my limbs trembled, and I grasped the mirror tight in my hands, panicking.

Everything I’d done had been steps I’d taken to get my life back to normal. The magic worked because I had no other choice than to believe in it to help me. But here, in front of this demon, I didn’t have enough confidence and because of that, the demon didn’t have to listen to me.

I closed my eyes, fear making it impossible to breathe, as the hissing sound filled the space around me seemingly touching my soul. The demon continued attacking the barrier trying to break through, and sweat dripped along my spine.

“You’re weak.” The scratchy, low voice sounded within the hum in the air.

And I didn’t doubt the demon was right. I was weak, always had been. Kipp had brought strength to my life. Before him, everything was a mess and I was lost. But he handed me stability with his love and now that was gone.

Tears leaked from the corners of my closed eyes and I squeezed them tight. Panic took on a whole new meaning. The only thing I heard now was my cries. For help. For freedom from this moment. For everything that happened since that blasted car crash that led me to now.

But within all that pain, Kipp’s face, his smile, stood out in my mind. The reminder of how much I gained from him. And that made me aware how much I didn’t want to lose it.

This wasn’t over between Kipp and I, not nearly. He hadn’t crossed over. My life wasn’t yet concluded. And I had choices. I didn’t have to be a victim of my abilities any longer, or not guide my own fate.

I drew on that purpose. On that fight to maintain what made me whole. I might be unsure in my steps, lost in the present without Kipp, and not have it all figured out, but Kipp gave me the strength to realize that was okay.

I didn’t have to be perfect and didn’t have to know all the answers, I only needed to try. Give myself the right to realize that just because I’d been dealt a shitty hand, only I controlled how it all unfolded.

With warmth replacing the iciness in my veins, I opened my eyes and relished the strength that he gave to me. The one that said I never asked for any of this and that meant I deserved to do this on my terms. I’d fought hard every step of the way for what was right, not out of duty, but because I believed in it.

That couldn’t end here. Not now. Not because of some demon. And certainly not because my abilities brought me to this moment. I controlled my future. I said when and where. I said who I let in and who I didn’t. I had put Dane in his place and I could do the same with this demon.

I fixated on the shadow spiraling through the air straight ahead of me, pulled on that heat burning in my gut, and held onto my belief of what was good.

Kipp, our love, ghosts, and the desire to see them find peace. I’d wrestled with my ability and purpose until things settled, and this demon couldn’t destroy it. He couldn’t steal the happy depths of me with empty promises because he controlled nothing. I held all the power.

I raised my voice and pushed all of my strength into it. “Demon belonging to Baal, return to your house. By the protection of the Guardians to my north, east, south and west, I banish thee.”

A loud roar erupted, a squeal of absolute terror as the deep scent of sulfur nearly suffocated me. The shadow sped around the room and transformed into a rope of fire. I held the mirror out in front of me and within a blink of an eye, the line of fire soared straight toward me then entered the mirror.

Without pause, I pulled the black silk out of the bag, flipped the mirror over, and then covered it in haste.

My breath hitched to break free on a cry, but was halted when sudden gasps filled the space around me. I jerked my head up, waited two-point-two seconds, then screamed.

Loud shouts followed mine.

I sucked in a harsh breath to stop my screaming, not to scare the ghosts in front of me and composed myself. “Err…” I scanned the room spotting more than ten ghosts. Their energy washed across my skin making me shiver. “I wasn’t expecting…err…this. For you all…um…to appear.”

They all stared at me wide-eyed, yet one woman standing near the back of the crowd caught my attention. I blinked a couple times for good measure to ensure I wasn’t imagining this, but she remained.

“It’s you,” I whispered, calling her forward with a jerk of my hand. “You. Come here.” She stepped free from the crowd, stopped in front of me, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. “Is your name Lizbeth?”

She exchanged a look with the others who all wore masks of shock before she turned to me. “Yes, that’s my name.” Her pretty blue eyes were just as I remembered from the picture I’d seen of her when I was first introduced to the case, and her dark long hair flowed over her white nighty. “How do you know my name?”

My mind spun in the same confusion they all appeared to hold. “Because I’m part of the police department and we were working your case.” Was this seriously happening? “That is, until it became unsolvable.” I shook my head to gather sense. “This is why you died?”

“It possessed me,” she said on a whisper that oozed with sadness.

The world for all of a second stopped. Memories rushed into my mind piecing it all together. “Your soul was devoured, trapped in the demon, and that’s why your ghost was missing. Then, the demon used Hector that night at the creek as a host because it needed another body after you died, and that’s why he didn’t remember anything of the past years. He wasn’t himself.”

Each piece seemed to fit perfectly together and I could hardly catch my breath. “The blue uniform the man’s wearing, I knew I recognized it.” I smacked myself in the forehead. “Now it all makes sense. The demon must have failed in stealing Hector’s soul, so he possessed one of the guards at the prison and that’s how it got out.”

My heart thumped at the clarity of it all. “And that’s why there hadn’t been any cases like yours since then. No evidence of the demon. No scared ghosts. The demon has been locked away in Hector.”

Lizbeth’s mouth had dropped open and she finally blinked. “What?”

I shook my head, not wanting to confuse an already baffled ghost. “Forget it. It’ll take way too long to explain. All that matters is you’re free.”