The air around them began to change. “The barrier between the worlds is really close,” she said.

  “I can feel it now.” He hesitated and added, “Hold on for a second.”

  She waited as he anointed himself with the Papal Holy Water, whispering a prayer as he did so. Though she wasn’t sure if it would help, Katia did the same. Then she anointed her bō on each tip and in the center because it felt right.

  Simon watched her, one eyebrow raised, then did the same to his sword.

  “Can’t hurt,” he said, re-sheathing the blade in its scabbard.

  After one last look behind them, they walked through the void and left their world behind.

  TWENTY-FOUR

  The moment they stepped into the new realm, it felt like she’d been run down by a semi. Katia took a few deep breaths, using her staff to keep her balance as her head spun.

  “Well, that was special,” Simon mumbled.

  Once her vision cleared, she stared at absolute darkness, the kind that absorbed both light and sound.

  “Looks like someone wants to meet us,” she said. The darkness continued. “Right now, it’d be great to be a necro and have one of those bobbing light things.”

  “Or we could use a flashlight,” he said, digging in his pack.

  Of course he’d be prepared.

  “Let me guess—you were a Boy Scout, right?”

  “Yup.” He clicked on the light and an entrance appeared in the gloom, one that led to a tunnel that had been constructed by someone who had zero masonry skills. The stones were ugly brown, not uniform or nestled flat in the wall, but just jammed in there as if someone hadn’t cared one way or another.

  “Is this real?” he asked, moving the light around to examine the various stones.

  “Not sure.”

  “Then let’s keep going until we figure out what is real.”

  As they moved forward, the glow of the flashlight bounced off the walls. Beneath their boots, the black dirt had bits of gravel that crunched as they walked. Katia gave a quick look over her shoulder and then winced.

  “Where we came in is all darkness now.”

  Her friend murmured under his breath, a prayer perhaps.

  “I talked to Ori right before you arrived.”

  “Good news or bad?”

  “I’m thinking bad.” Then she related what the angel had said about their journey here, and how to fight the evil they’d encounter. She purposely didn’t mention the ashes. Simon had enough on his mind at the moment.

  “You think he knows what this is?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure. If he does, someone higher up told him to keep quiet about it.”

  Simon sighed, moving ahead, the crunch-crunch of his boots the only sound. She knew he was parsing out what she’d just told him and was probably as pissed as she was.

  He suddenly halted, turning toward her. “Are we walking into a trap?”

  She hadn’t even thought of that possibility.

  “Chaffin didn’t act like he was setting us up. He seemed on the level.”

  “He might not have known,” Simon replied.

  With no other option they pushed on. The walls of the tunnel were still the same, and it occurred to her that maybe they were just going in a big circle. Before she could mention that a mist formed around them, white and clingy. Katia swore she felt it inside her mind, digging around, searching for something. She shoved it away and the sensation ended.

  “What was that?” she asked but got no reply. “Simon?”

  Finally, the mist thinned enough that she could see he was still standing next to her. His expression was blank. She touched his shoulder and got no reaction.

  “Simon! You okay?”

  He blinked a few times. “I think so. It felt like something was inside my head.”

  “Same with me.”

  The mist gradually evaporated revealing a new scene. It was the smell that hit her first, the stench of sulfur. Oh yes, there were the flames billowing upward from the cavern floor, the tortured faces in the walls screaming in agony. Small demons skittered around as bigger ones leered at her and Simon with their bright red eyes.

  The edges of the scene wavered as if it wasn’t solid. “It’s an illusion,” she said. “Not bad, but not the real deal. Probably why we got the mind probe thing.”

  The cavern gradually revealed itself: High, wide, full of Hellspawn, just like the other place. And just like the Pit there was a throne, and it was occupied. This time there were no massive Hellspawn guarding the occupant.

  Remember what you are, Ori’s voice echoed in her mind.

  The figure that rose from the throne wore a long cloak, its face obscured by a hood. The Unholy Terror, as Chaffin called it. When it raised its head, burning red eyes glowed at them. The kind of eyes she’d seen countless times in the past.

  “You’re kidding me! A demon? Here?” she exclaimed. “That can’t be right.”

  Simon stared at the figure. “Remember the necro said one of the fae brought it here. If they can possess mortals, why not a fairie?”

  Her mind still couldn’t quite make the leap. At least they knew how to kill the thing, which was what Ori had been trying to tell her in his own subtle way. Hopefully, she’d get the chance to ask him why he hadn’t bothered to tell her that right up front.

  “A Four, you think?” Simon nodded. “But how could Chaffin not know it was a demon?” she said, puzzled.

  “Most of them don’t have much to do with fiends. Mort and Ozymandias are exceptions. If it didn’t reveal itself, he wouldn’t have known.”

  “Huh.”

  Simon eyed the threat, no doubt trying to work out a strategy.

  “You dare to enter my realm?” the Hellspawn said, moving closer now. It was nearly seven feet tall, but then that might be what it wanted them to see. The cloak around it fell away now, revealing something even more frightening.

  They’d thought this was a Hypno-Fiend, a Grade Four Hellspawn. Trappers called them Mezmers as they were skilled at jacking with your head. A creature that sucked life out of others. But this was more than that. Bigger, wider, heavier. The beginnings of wings jutted out of its back. There were more than two eyes and far too many serrated teeth. This was Hell’s version of an orc.

  “Oh, God,” Simon murmured. “It’s morphing into an Archfiend.”

  She’d heard Mezmers could do that if they got enough power. This one certainly was. “Did the ring do that?”

  “I’m thinking so. That’s why it wanted it.”

  Keeping an eye on their foe, Katia pulled the trapping bag off her shoulder and let it settle on the ground next to her. The one thing they really needed—the metal demon prison—was back in Atlanta.

  Next time we bring everything. Providing there was a next time.

  “Did you own the soul of Elias Burnley Chaffin?” Simon said.

  A hiss. “Yes. He summoned me and then he was mine.”

  “But the necromancers exiled him to that other realm, along with his ring, because that Chaffin was too dangerous. And you couldn’t get to him there.”

  The fiend shifted on its feet, its many eyes glowing. “They took him away from me!”

  Now it made sense. “So, when you saw the current Chaffin in Atlanta you realized who he was,” Katia began. “Then you found out he was in love with one of the fae. That meant you could blackmail him into getting the ring.”

  Simon nodded in agreement, glaring at the monster now. “You took possession of one of the Kindly Folk and walked right in here. Because here the Prince can’t touch you,” he said, pointing at the ground beneath their feet. “If you’d tried that in Atlanta, Lucifer would have cut you down, and you knew it. How many Retrievers does he have looking for you right now?”

  The Unholy Terror hissed louder, which said that the Prince’s hench demons were doing just that.

  Time to push harder. “Speaking of Hell, where you down there when we came for a visit?” she said. “You remember, with Azagar? Oh wait, he’s dead, isn’t he? So sad.”

  Simon snorted at that.

  The flames shot higher around them, but their adversary didn’t do anything stupid. Usually, you could bait these things into making a mistake.

  “Were you one of his flunkies?” Katia nudged.

  The eyes flared brighter now. “I served him until his death. He was a fool.”

  No argument there.

  “I’m surprised you let us come here,” Simon said.

  “You are the enemy. Enemies must die.”

  It was right about that.

  “There’s only one option,” her partner said, shooting her a quick look.

  “Understood.” Not having the cross-covered box with them meant this thing had to die. “Remember the warning.”

  He gave a nod and after a deep breath, he called out, “I am Simon . . . Adler. I am a Child of God, a Follower of the Risen Lord and of the Light.” He took a deep breath. “We are your doom, fiend.”

  “You do not command me, Simon Michael David Adler. No one commands me. This is my world now.”

  So much for not revealing one’s full name.

  Though their foe didn’t move, the illusion began to shift. One by one the demons vanished, and then the cavern was gone, along with the flames and the nauseating smell.

  As the fae world began to appear, Katia gasped. She could only guess what it had been like before the Four had come. The forest was a wasteland, the towering tree trunks cracked open, leaking moldy sap. The breeze brought the thick stench of decay. The Mezmer gestured with a clawed hand and corpses appeared now, randomly discarded in the dying meadow, the remains of the inhabitants of this realm. All fae. All dead.

  This was a charnel house of a world.

  The fiend moved closer. “Now you are mine as well.”

  A glint of gold on its left hand caught her notice.

  The ring. “Do you see it?” she whispered.

  Simon nodded. “And when you’ve drained every bit of life from this place?”

  “Then there are other worlds that will be mine. No one will stop me. He cannot travel the realms, so I am safe.”

  Which meant their world would be spared because Lucifer was waiting for this fiend if it ever went back home. But other realms were in jeopardy because these things were insatiable.

  Simon shifted on his feet, his eyes alight, hand resting on the pommel of his sword. “You are the evil that destroys all that is good. You blame your master, but the darkness is yours. How dare you come into this world and claim it? How dare you harm those who have never harmed you?”

  The Hellspawn bristled. “These beings are nothing, just as mortals are nothing,” it said. With a gesture at least a dozen fae collapsed, writhing in torment as the Four tore the life out of them.

  “Your battle is with us, not them,” he shouted. “We’re your enemies, not them!”

  “So it shall be.”

  The demon made another gesture and the torture abruptly ended. Now it knew that they would sacrifice themselves to save the beings in this world. The damned thing had manipulated them like a pro.

  Out of the corner of her eye she saw one of the fae dart forward. For a moment she thought it was headed toward her and Simon, but it veered at the last moment. With a bloodthirsty cry it charged the fiend, dagger in hand.

  “No!” she called out, moving forward.

  With a sweep of its hand, the fiend slashed its claws across its attacker, then plunged them deep into its chest. It freed the heart and held it up high as the others in the clearing cried out in horror. Crushing the organ in its hands, it turned its eyes on them.

  “I will feed on your soul for eternity, Simon the Betrayer. It calls to me, even now. I crave the Light for it tastes of power.”

  “Bring it,” he said, drawing his sword. “Or are you too scared?”

  With a roar the demon charged forward. Katia clipped it with her staff, snapping its head back, and in response a fiery sword appeared in its hand, one like the angels wielded. With a curse she ducked, barely missing being sliced in two. Allowing her momentum to carry her around she reversed the bō and slashed across where the fiend’s knees should be, missing them entirely.

  “Move!” Simon shouted.

  As she complied, his sword thrust just past her shoulder and struck home. The fiend bellowed and retreated. As she shifted into another position, Katia’s legs began to tremble, and she felt her strength ebb. A quick look at Simon said he was feeling the same. The fiend had begun to drain them. All it had to do was wait them out.

  As if he’d come to the same conclusion, Simon’s expression grew grim. “May the Light give us victory,” he said.

  Katia came in from the left, he from the right. She usually fought alone, not with someone who had a blade. It cramped her moves, but between them they began to beat the demon back, step by bloody step. She swore she heard a cheer from somewhere near them. A cheer that was quickly hushed.

  “Death is yours!” it shouted, though there were wet patches on its robe and its arms.

  Another sword strike and suddenly a spell blossomed around it, enveloping the Mezmer. As if realizing their peril Simon attempted to sever the hand with the ring, but the blade was immediately repelled.

  “Dammit!” she shouted, then executed a vertical strike, followed by a solid side kick. Both hit the fiend, hard, and it staggered back. If she could just drop it to its knees Simon would decapitate it.

  Flames burst up around them now and they were not an illusion but true Hellfire. Simon fell back, trying to shield himself from being burnt alive.

  With a scream she threw herself at the demon, staff whirling so fast even she couldn’t see it. Then she was also on her knees, driven there by the power of that damned ring.

  The Mezmer’s hoarse laughter echoed around them. “Not so mighty now, mortals?”

  Another mist rose and it shrouded them from their foe. A sharp spear of demonic magic rammed itself into her mind and she cried out. When the pain ended she blinked away tears.

  “Remember it all. Live it all again. Suffer in agony!” the fiend cried out.

  The Mezmer and the dying world were gone, and instead she and Simon were inside an old building. There was no stone here, but an arched ceiling rose high above them, constructed from wood.

  The structure was two stories, had a stage at the far end, and seats on the second floor. It looked like a concert hall, until you saw the stained-glass windows.

  Slowly the mist rolled away, revealing that they were not alone. In front of them were thirty or forty people. They sat around tables, listening to someone speak.

  “What is this place?” Katia asked. It looked familiar, but she couldn’t place it.

  Simon’s mouth dropped open. “It’s the . . . Tabernacle.”

  “What? But it’s gone, destroyed.”

  And yet they were inside a building just like it. And so were Beck and Jackson, and the other trappers.

  “It’s an illusion. It wants me to relive that night,” he said, his eyes filling with fear.

  The trappers turned toward them now, but she knew they couldn’t see her or Simon. Riley gasped in shock when a man approached the group.

  “Dad?” she called out.

  “Run . . . Riley,” the man croaked. “Run. Too many.”

  “Demons!” someone else shouted.

  The howl of a fiend on the hunt came from behind them, a warning of the horror to come.

  Simon’s face went deathly pale. “Dear God, no. Not again.”

  † ~ ‡ ~ †

  It seemed like they’d been waiting for days. Katia and Simon had entered that other realm and then . . . nothing. Once Mort and Ayden laid out a series of magical traps just in case The Unholy Terror decided to visit the city, the summoner began pacing. He’d been doing that for the last fifteen minutes.

  To keep herself from doing the same, Riley texted updates, or the lack thereof, to Beck. Chaffin just stared at nothing, both hands resting on the handle of his cane.

  “How long should this take?” Ayden asked.

  Riley shrugged.

  Something ran out of the darkness, something small. Mort’s hand came up instantly, a blazing light surging around his fingers.

  “No, it’s one of them,” Chaffin said, moving forward.

  A little figure came to a halt in front of them, tears running down into its beard, its body shaking.

  “Wizard, help us!” it pleaded.

  “The mortals? Are they still alive?” Ayden asked.

  The little one peered at her. “Enchanted. Will die if you do not help.”

  Then it looked directly at Chaffin. “All will die.”

  The necro took a deep breath and then sighed. “As I figured.” He turned to Mort now, holding up the arm with the magical inhibitor. “I need to go into that world. I might not be able to save them, but I have to try. Remove this so I have a chance.”

  Mort gave a nod. “His lordship thought it would come to this.” He waved a hand over the bracelet, and it fell to the ground. Then he tugged something out of his pocket, a small sphere.

  “This will give you a burst of power. It won’t last long. Use it carefully.”

  Chaffin took it, then tucked it away. “Tell his lordship know I will honor the trust he has given me.”

  Then he turned on his heel and limped toward the darkness, the little man at his side.

  “Go with the Light,” Riley whispered.

  † ~ ‡ ~ †

  Another howl, then a deafening chorus of them. Out of the dark came Gastro-Fiends, their furry bodies racing toward the trappers. One of them threw itself against the Holy Water ward, repeatedly. More joined it.

  As Katia watched the ward broke, and the slaughter began.