We park near the trail into the swimming pit, and I open the door and start to move away from the car.
Taylor-or whoever this is-swings behind me in a flash. "Hey, where you going?"
That's a really good question. Where am am I going? I look up the dirt road. The main road is at least half a mile away and the dense woods are quiet. Too early for the groups of summer swimmers. There's nowhere to run. "Nowhere. So, what are we doing here?" I going? I look up the dirt road. The main road is at least half a mile away and the dense woods are quiet. Too early for the groups of summer swimmers. There's nowhere to run. "Nowhere. So, what are we doing here?"
"Just hanging out. Maybe skinny-dipping. Sound good?"
Yeah, sounds great. "Not really up for skinny-dipping. Water's freezing."
Taylor shoots a glance at Riley, and her eyes flash red. "We'll have to huddle up for body heat," she says with a lascivious grin.
This is bad. I watch Riley slide her keys into the pocket of her cutoff shorts as she heads up the path. Taylor is hanging back, waiting for me to go first. I follow Riley, trying to figure out how to get those keys.
We wind our way down the wooded path, and when we get to the quarry, Taylor saunters over to the edge and sits on a rock. Her eyes flash, and an evil smile turns up the corners of her mouth. "I say we get naked. The water looks great."
"Mmm ... sounds good." Riley says, eyeing me with that same gleam. "But I gotta take a piss. I'll be right back." She slinks off into the woods. Crap Crap-there went the keys.
Taylor gets up and comes over to where I'm standing. "You look so uptight. Chill," she says, grabbing my hand and pulling me to the rocks. She's as hot as Luc ever was. She sits me down and stands behind me, rubbing my shoulders, then starts pulling my shirt over my head.
I yank it down. "It's way too cold for that. I'm serious," I say. I don't turn to look when I hear her growl. I need to think, but my heart is thundering in my ears, making it hard to concentrate. Then I hear the faintest rustling in the woods. I look up and exhale the breath I'd been holding as he walks out of the trees, silky black hair glistening in the sun. Thank God Thank God. "Luc," I say, shaking Taylor off and standing up. I take a step forward, but then he lifts his head.
"Hi Frannie," he says with a wicked gleam in his glowing red eyes. "I'm Belias."
I look at him and know I should run, but my feet seem rooted to the ground, and I'm feeling a little dizzy all of a sudden. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Taylor slink off up the path.
"I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since the night we met in front of your house." His voice is velvet, and I feel my legs go soft. He steps slowly forward till he's right in front of me. He touches my face and traces a burning path across my cheekbone. "Everything is fine, Frannie. It's going to be great." His hot hands slide around my waist, pulling me to his burning body.
The black fog permeates my brain as I melt into him. He feels like Luc, and I can't help but lose myself in his touch. When his lips touch mine I can barely breathe. My hands slide around him and I press into the curve of his body, but then some little corner of my mind screams, "No." I pull a deep breath and try to think. Almost instinctively, my hand gravitates to the cross dangling from my neck as I fight to hold on to my remaining shred of conscious thought. With my last scrap of free will, I pull back from his kiss, look up at him, and smile.
Then I yank the cross from my neck and jam it into his eye.
A bestial roar shakes the woods as he drops to his knees, clawing at his bubbling face. He shimmers for a second, almost like a mirage, as something terrifying peeks out from under his skin.
The smell of rotten eggs instantly clears my head. I turn and run full speed up the path without looking back. I don't know what the hell I'm gonna do when I get to the car. Is there a car? Were Riley and Taylor ever really here? I don't know what's real.
I'm trying not to cry, a useless effort, since I'm pretty much crying anyway, and everything is a green blur as I stumble up the path, so I don't see Taylor lying there till I trip over her and launch face first into the dirt. As I scramble to my feet, I hear something moving through the woods toward us. Belias. Damn! Damn!
I grab Taylor under the arms and drag her, but we're moving too slowly and he catches us. I prop her against a tree and step in front of her, crouching into judo stance, as he bursts out of the woods and onto the path.
"Frannie! Thank God!" Luc grabs Taylor and throws her over his shoulder. "Let's go!" He pushes me in front of him as we run up the path, and when we get to the road he throws Taylor into the backseat of the Shelby with Riley, who's lying there unconscious.
We climb into the car and slam the doors.
"Jesus, Luc! What ..." But then I remember.
Belias! He was in a Black '68 Shelby Cobra that night. This isn't Luc. He was in a Black '68 Shelby Cobra that night. This isn't Luc.
My heart stops. "Oh, shit!"
"What is it, Frannie? Are you okay?" The Shelby fishtails as he guns the engine, sending gravel flying up behind us.
I look in the backseat at Taylor and Riley, then back at Belias. What do I do? I breathe and try to think. And when I look back at the road there's a tall, raven-haired girl standing in the middle of it. The girl from Luc's bed. "Oh, shit!" I say again.
I expect Belias to slow down, but instead he stares out the windshield, determined, and speeds up. I bring my arms up, expecting her to come crashing through the windshield, but instead she evaporates. Poof-gone.
When we get near the main road, I grab the steering wheel and yank. The car swerves to the right, nearly swiping a tree before Belias yanks the wheel back and brings the car up onto the dirt road.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Go to Hell!" I yell and try to grab the wheel again, but he pushes me back.
"Frannie, please! Stop trying to kill us, will you?"
I look in his eyes. God, he looks just like Luc. And then it hits me ... what he said when he found us on the path. He said, "Thank God." Would Belias say that? Would Luc?
"Luc?"
"Who were you expecting?" The rasp from the backseat makes me jump, and the smell of rotten eggs chokes me.
I turn to see the real Belias-I think. But he doesn't look like Luc anymore. There's no mistaking what he is: steaming, crimson skin, flat, pinched face, and horns, with one clawed hand around each of my best friends' necks. But what gives him away as Belias is the black ooze dripping from where his left eye once was.
Luc slams on the breaks and I nearly slide onto the floor. Then he turns and points a glowing fist at Belias.
"Do you really want to do that?" Belias says, shaking Riley and Taylor's unconscious bodies. "Course, Frannie didn't come out all that worse for wear, did she?" A grimace pulls at his leathery lips, exposing a mouthful of fangs. "Go ahead. Give it a shot."
LUC.
"Luc?" Frannie says, urging me with her eyes.
"I can't," I say, dropping my fist. "He's right. If he doesn't shield them it would kill them."
"Good boy," Belias smirks.
"What do you want?" I say.
He coughs out a rasping chuckle. "You have to ask? I thought you were smarter than that, being a First Level and all."
Unholy Hell.
I look back at Riley and Taylor. Can I sacrifice them for Frannie? My head says yes, but my annoying new conscience tells me it's wrong. Plus, if we survive this, Frannie would never forgive me.
"So how is this supposed to work?" I ask past the lump in my throat.
"Frannie gets out of the car," Belias says, gesturing to the side of the car, where Avaira is now standing, a scowl gracing her flawless face, "and she and I have a little party in the woods," he finishes with a heinous grin.
I look at Frannie as she reaches for the door handle, the tangy citrus scent of her terror replaced with the spicy-sweet of clove and currant-her soul, ready for the taking. My hand shoots out involuntarily and grabs her wrist. She tries to pull away, but I shake my head, pleading with my eyes.
"There's no choice, Luc," she says, her expression calm, resigned.
She tugs her arm away and I let her, my mind racing. Pushing open the door, she looks back at me one last time before climbing out and standing next to Avaira. With a burst of brimstone, Belias is standing next to her, slamming Frannie's door.
I pull slowly forward and watch in the rearview mirror as Belias takes Frannie's wrist and starts to drag her across the road, toward the woods. As he moves, I can see he's weak. The crucifix did more damage than he let on. He shouldn't need Avaira, but she's following behind for backup, her glowing fist targeting the back of the Shelby.
And then I drop the Shelby into reverse and floor it, sending Riley and Taylor to the floor in the backseat. I duck as Avaira's blast takes out the back window. Belias drops Frannie's wrist and lifts his fist just as I slam into him at full speed. He goes careening over the car and onto the dirt road in front of me, but I don't wait to see if he stays down. I throw it into first and push open the passenger door, slowing as I reach Frannie. She throws herself into the seat, and I floor it, door still open, running over Belias on our way to the main road.
She pulls herself the rest of the way into the car, slams the door, and looks out the shattered back window at the lump in the dirt-Belias. Avaira is nowhere in sight. "Is he ... dead?"
"Unfortunately, it'd take a lot more than a 1968 Shelby Cobra to kill him, but he'll feel it for a while." I can hear the shake in my voice. "Truth is, your crucifix to his eye probably did more long-term damage. That's going to set him back a bit." I grab her hand. "Are you okay?"
"I think so," she says, checking herself over as we pull out onto the main road.
I feel her shake as I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her close. This is as far from me as she's ever going to get.
19.
Dance with the Devil
LUC.
Frannie straightens Riley's legs and sits next to her friends on my bed. "Are they gonna be okay?"
"Yeah. It'll take a little while for them to come around. Demon possession can knock the Hell out of you."
"You can just jump into other people's bodies whenever you want?"
I nearly gag thinking about it, but then I remember being in Frannie-how incredible it was. "If they're tagged for Heaven they're off limits, but otherwise, yeah. It's usually pretty uncomfortable. It's cramped ... and sort of sticky and slimy."
"How does it work? Are you, like, both in there at the same time?"
"Pretty much. It takes a very strong mortal to hold his own against a demon who is trying to control him, so it's usually like the mortal's not even there, aside from taking up space. But it's not always like that." I think about dancing with Frannie again and feel a tingle work through me, making me shudder.
She looks at Taylor and Riley on the bed. "Will they remember anything about Belias and Avaira?"
"Probably not. When a mortal is possessed it's almost like they go dormant. They won't remember, and it's probably best if they don't know what happened."
She stands up, meanders over, and wraps her arms around me. "How did you know?"
And that's the problem. I didn't until it was almost too late. I shake my head. "My sixth sense was buzzing when we got out of the car. It never occurred to me that Belias and Avaira would resort to possession. I figured when you left with Taylor and Riley, Belias would make a move to follow and I could take him down. But as soon as you pulled out of the parking lot, the buzz stopped. I'm embarrassed to say it took me a few minutes to figure it out, and, when I did, it was almost too late. I knew which direction you went ... and then I remembered the quarry. Belias was there that night."
"What does he want with me?"
"The same thing I did." My heart aches. I know how hard this is for her to hear. But she needs to understand that they won't give up until she's tagged-one way or the other. "They'll keep coming for you."
She stiffens. "I hate this. Why is this happening to me?"
I hold her tighter. "I don't know," I say, wishing I did.
She sighs and presses her face into my chest. "So it's always going to be like this." A tear slips over her lashes, and I wipe it away. "I just want a normal life."
I want to hold her and tell her it's all going to be okay, but I'm not going to lie to Frannie anymore. "I think you gave up normal when you fell for a demon." And maybe an angel And maybe an angel. The thought sits like a stone in my core, weighing me down. I kiss the top of her head and sigh, "But I don't see them stopping until they have you."
"There's nothing we can do?"
"We can try running, but I'm not sure there's anywhere we could go that they wouldn't find us."
Her expression is suddenly determined. "I'm going going to live my life. Otherwise what's the point of fighting? I may as well just let them tag me now." to live my life. Otherwise what's the point of fighting? I may as well just let them tag me now."
I pull her closer, wishing it could be that easy. "There's your Sway, Frannie."
"What do you mean?"
"Your Sway. If it's strong enough to change me, you should at least be able to use it to defend yourself."
"How does it work?"
"That's something you'll have to figure out for yourself, but once you learn to control it, it should be some protection."
She looks up at me, and I see the fear and trepidation in her eyes. "What was Belias gonna do?"
"Belias is a creature of lust, an incubus, so his technique usually involves seduction and soul sucking. But that's only with mortals who are already tagged-I think." I remember my conversation with Belias under Frannie's tree. "He did did say the rules were changing ..." I feel her shudder in my arms. say the rules were changing ..." I feel her shudder in my arms.
"This sucks," she says, looking back at Riley and Taylor on the bed.
And just then, Taylor's eyes snap open. Taylor gasps and sits up. "What the hell ... ?"
"Hey, Tay," Frannie says, walking over and sitting next to her. Riley groans and opens her eyes, still looking groggy.
"What's going on?" Taylor checks her clothes and looks around suspiciously.
"Just hanging out," I say with a little push.
Riley sits up, still dazed.
"Hey, Ry. How you feeling?" Frannie says.
"Like shit," she answers.
Taylor swings around and stares at me. "Where the hell are we?"
"Welcome to my humble abode," I say through a smile with another push. "Don't you remember coming up?"