Renegade (20 page)

I ran over a few more demons on my way back to the castle (What? That’s what Jeeps are for.) and parked by the drawbridge, which was up. I laid on the horn until it slowly began to lower.

I stormed into the castle where Jeeves was waiting in the entry hall. “Why was the bridge up?” I barked.

“We… uh…” he stuttered, glancing at me. I grabbed a lit torch off the wall and held it to the side of his face I hadn’t yet burned and he seemed to find his vocabulary. “We didn’t think you were coming back.”

“Why?” I growled.

“Because our real master got out.”

I cocked an eyebrow and slowly lowered the raging torch to his skin. It began to melt and drip down toward his chin. He screamed. It didn’t bother me. “Who’s the master here?” I said dangerously soft.

“You are,” he wailed and some of his face dripped on my shoe.

I dropped the torch onto the floor and walked through the hallway, through the “sitting” room and threw open the door to the dungeon. I stomped down the stone stairs and into the dark hole below.

The cell where we trapped Beelzebub and Hecate was at the end and I went there, stopping where the wall of fire should be.

It wasn’t.

I looked into the cell, turning so I was sideways and my back was toward the wall. I wasn’t about to have Jeeves come up behind me and push me in because he was upset about his face. I didn’t know if this cell was still spelled or not, but I wasn’t about to find out.

The cell was empty. There was no shriveled old witch. There was no twisted soul without a body. So it was true.

They were out.

I started back down the hallway, skidding to a stop when I saw Jeeves standing at the bottom of the stone stairs. “Where is he?” I snapped, preparing myself for a battle when Beelzebub appeared wanting to take back his address.

“I haven’t seen him,” Jeeves cowered. I noted the skin on his face was no longer dripping and had settled into a mass of scars.

“Are you lying?” I growled.

“No! I swear. I knew he was out… I heard him… but he never came upstairs.”

“You heard him get out and you didn’t come to tell me!” I demanded. It didn’t matter if I was here or not when it happened; the entire staff in this house knew they were to come find me and keep me informed of everything that went on here.

“You don’t understand,” Jeeves said, following along behind me as I stomped back upstairs. “
He
was here.”

“Did that heat scramble your brain?” I asked. “You already said Beelzebub was here and he got out.”

“No,” Jeeves explained, glancing around and lowering his voice to hushed tones. “We didn’t come for you because
he
was here.”

Was he still talking about Beelzebub? There was a new kind of fear on his face. The kind of fear I knew for a fact I hadn’t inspired. I was mean, but I didn’t make the demons here shake.

“Who?”

“
He
let them out. It wasn’t us,” Jeeves said, still looking around the room like the boogeyman was going to pop out and yell, “Boo!”

“Tell me who!” I roared, my patience breaking.

Jeeves stepped closer to me and whispered.

“The Devil.”

Heven

A strange sound awakened me from a deep sleep and I lay there for long moments, listening, trying to pinpoint what it was. I kept my eyes closed until I was certain there was no one else in the room with me.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

It was coming from outside the window. It was the same sound I heard before.

I pushed back the covers and climbed out of bed, creeping closer to the window. The curtains were drawn and the blinds were closed. Very slowly, I pulled back the curtains.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

It was almost as if something was trying to get in.

Here’s goes nothing.
I told myself and pulled the cord, lifting the blinds, revealing the night. I reached over, unlocked the window, and pushed it up. If something wanted in, I’d let it.

And then burn it to a crisp.

I waited a few minutes, ready to leap out of the way, but nothing happened. Several moments ticked by and then something hit the side of the house, making me jump. I braced my hands on the windowsill and leaned out, looking to see what was there.

Off to my right and next to me something black hit the house. It was large and I let out a little squeal, moving to rush back inside. It bounced back, flapping its wide wings and lifting up into the air. It flew unevenly, kind of like a butterfly, but this was
no
butterfly.

I would have thought it was a bat if it wasn’t so big.

It circled around and came back, heading for me once more, and I realized I was still hanging my head out the window like an idiot. I hurried inside and slid the window closed just at the bird-thing hit the glass, vibrating it beneath my hands.

It was just a large ball of black. I could make out nothing—no features, no face, nothing. Except for the fact that it was creepy.

I shuddered and went away from the window to wake Sam. Maybe he would know what it was. I headed for the stairs, wishing Sam would sleep in his room already, but he still refused because to him it was Logan’s.

Halfway down the staircase I could have sworn that something outside howled. A long, lingering kind of sound that echoed through my ears. Forget being quiet. I raced the rest of the way over to the couch, stumbling a bit, trying to catch myself but failing and falling right on top of Sam.

Only Sam wasn’t there.

The couch was empty.

I sat up, pushing away the tangle of blankets and switching on the lamp on the end table. “Sam?” I whispered, going into the kitchen, thinking he might be getting a drink. Then I wandered into the bathroom, but he wasn’t there either. Taking a chance, I crept back upstairs, pushing open the door to Logan’s old room—the room that was now for Sam. The air smelled stale and unused and the bed was still perfectly made from the last time Gran cleaned.

Where is he?

I went back downstairs and stood next to the couch, looking down. A pair of shorts still lay by the bed and so was his T-shirt. Wherever he was, he wasn’t dressed.

Worry began to break through my curiosity and I glanced over at the front door. It was unlocked.

Maybe he heard that thing outside and went out on his own to see what it was. I resisted the urge to call out through our Mindbond. If he was out there with that thing, I wouldn’t want him to get distracted and possibly hurt.

I went outside, down the steps, and out into the grass. “Sam!” I whisper-called. “Are you out here?”

A snort and a low growl resonated above my head and I looked up just in time to see the bird thing descending down over me. I threw my arms over my head and ran back toward the house. Something claw-like dug into my hair and twisted, pulling my head back and causing me to cry out. I tried to run, but it was holding me and the more I struggled the more my hair became tangled.

I grabbed at its foot and tried to untangle myself, but the feel of it made me shudder and pull back. It was all rough and sandpapery.

And then it started growling.

If I wasn’t the strong girl I knew I was, I would’ve peed myself right there.

So, instead of peeing myself, instead of screaming (okay, maybe I did that… but only a little), I found the flame that always seemed to be lit within me and I used it. It must have lit on fire because it began to make these sounds… Sounds that would keep me from peaceful sleep for a very long time—part wail, part scream, and part screech. It began to flail about wildly.

“Ouch!” I cried, finally reaching up and untangling my hair. I raced up onto the porch, pressing myself against the door as the creature turned flaming ball dropped from the sky and onto the ground. I watched as it burned, making sure the flames didn’t spread, until the fire began to die down.

Heven.

Sam’s voice startled me, drawing my attention away from the creature.
Sam? Where are you?
I was so relieved that he was reaching out to me, that he wasn’t hurt.

I’m near my hometown.

Shock rippled through me. That was so far away…
What are you doing all the way over there? What happened? Are you hurt?

No. I need you to come get me.

There was something in his voice. Something that wasn’t right. Did this have something to do with his reaction when Kimber told us about the dead bodies?

It didn’t matter.

Nothing mattered except making sure he was okay.
I’m coming right now.

I ran into the house and grabbed my keys, which were thankfully right next to the door, and then back out into the yard. I skidded to a stop just feet away from the creature that attacked me. It was definitely dead. It lay there in a blackened and burned heap, with dark gray tendrils of smoke curling up into the cool night air.

I looked above me, making sure there wasn’t another one lurking and then I left it there and ran for my car.

Sam

Escape.
It’s the only coherent thought I could form. I wanted to escape from my cage, to let it all go. To run.

And so I did.

I came to, groggily, lifting my shoulders and torso of the ground, looking around for something I might recognize. Nothing here was familiar. The sky was still dark, but the stars were fading and I knew in just a couple hours time twilight would break and night would be in the past.

I wished I could leave all this in the past.

Get up from here, walk home, and never think about it again.

But I was once again covered in blood.

It was warm this time.

Sticky and thick.

I didn’t recognize this place, but it felt vaguely familiar. I was in an empty lot—a large grassy area without any trees. I stood up, doing what I usually did, which was to search for dead bodies. There weren’t any. My thoughts went to the things Kimber told us about the police finding dead bodies around the county. Bodies that were mutilated, gruesome. It scared me.