Allison Brennan - Original Sin

Envy turned his attention to her.

“Release him!” she commanded.

“You have no power over me. You gave up your power,” it hissed. Father lay still. Too still.

Why him? Why not me? Why the only good thing in my life, you take from me?

Envy laughed, turning into dark smoke, washing over her. She was frozen, encased by Envy as it sought a way into her body.

Then it pulled back, again took solid form. Showing off. Proving it was powerful. Proving it was in charge. Moira was inches away from its face as it stared at her. Envy opened its mouth and Moira saw the fangs, the maggots, as it came toward her.

A commanding voice resonated through the room, overpowering the demon, the chanting, the rumbling.

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” Rafe shouted, “you are banished back to the lowest level of Hell.”

Then he spoke in the same language that Serena had used.

Moira turned from Envy to Rafe, stunned.

Rafe knew the ancient language of demons! The language of the Conoscenza , the book of evil, the spells that focused on the destruction of all that was good in the world.

How did he know it?

Her heart broke when she realized that Rafe was using battle magic to counteract Serena’s spell, repeating the opposite of everything Serena said-Moira understood that not in the words, which she didn’t understand, but in the conflicting energy in the room. As the energy increased in strength, each kind battling the other, it was growing, expanding, practically visible to Moira, light and dark, hot and cold. Her senses were overloading and she could scarcely think.

The pain in her head was so intense she fell to her knees, her hands on her ears, on the back of head, willing the agony to end.

With the tabernacle in a sack on his back, Anthony couldn’t reach the roof. There was no place to climb up. He didn’t have the keys to Skye’s truck to drive it to the building to use as a ladder.

“Dammit!”

He ran around the corner and right into Tom Young.

“You’re supposed to be dead.” Tom looked upset and scared. He pulled his gun. “You don’t get two chances.”

Bright lights shone on the side of the building. When Tom glanced at them, Anthony kicked the gun from his hand. A shot went wild.

Hank Santos jumped from the car. For a minute, Anthony feared he was on an Envy-induced rampage. If Hank stopped him, there was no way to trap Envy and Lily would be possessed. Father Philip, Rafe, Moira-they’d all die. He stood his ground.

Jared got out from the passenger side. “Where’s Lily?”

Anthony looked from Hank to Jared. “Are you both okay?”

“Yes,” Jared said. “My father is fine.”

Anthony didn’t know whether he could believe the kid, but he didn’t really have much choice now.

“I need to get on the roof.”

Jared looked at his father. “Dad?”

“I have an idea.” Hank jumped back into his truck and drove it to the edge of the building.

Anthony climbed up to the hood, then the roof, and with the sack on his back, he pulled himself up using the gutter.

He ran along the flat roof to the ventilation access panel and prayed he wasn’t too late.

Envy screamed and slithered to the edge of the circle. “Let me out!” it screamed to Serena. “I want that one!”

Its tail stabbed toward Rafe. Rafe froze in his place, like a deer in the headlights. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t think. He only saw Envy. It stared at him, silently calling him.

You have power. Power I want .

Rafe fought the demon’s will. He couldn’t give in.

You are mine. You were always mine .

Rafe turned his head from the demon, tried to block the slick voice in his mind. He reminded himself that demons could get into his head, but they couldn’t read his thoughts or know his soul until he gave it to them or they stole it. He fought, but was weak. And getting even weaker.

He saw Lily on the altar, tried to focus on saving her. He had done it before; what was fighting him now?

Moira was on her knees, her hands over her head, in pain. He stepped toward her, and she looked up at him. “Stop,” she cried. “Stop.”

He didn’t take another step. Her mouth opened and her eyes closed as she withstood another wave of pain.

Who was doing this to her? He looked around the room, saw Matthew Walker-he knew him. Not the name, but the face. Rafe’s head ached as he tried to place how he knew the man.

Fiona walked over to the edge of the circle and used her foot to rub out a small section of the trap.

Moira screamed. “No! Fiona, don’t!”

“He deserves to die.” Fiona stared at Moira. “You’ll be responsible for killing him. You brought him here; he’s your responsibility.”

Rafe began a traditional exorcism, buying more time for Anthony to get the tabernacle in place. The demon laughed, turned back into black smoke, and wrapped itself around the inside of the demon trap, blocking Rafe’s line of vision.

Suddenly, a searing pain hit Rafe in the back. He thought he’d been hit by a bullet but realized as he fell to his knees that it was electricity, a magical bolt coming from Matthew Walker.

Rafe kept the rite going, stumbling over the words as the spell Walker used sucked the air from his lungs. The more he inhaled, the less air he brought in. And the demon grew in size. Rafe cried out and saw Moira leap from the circle and tackle Walker with savage ferocity. Walker went down and Rafe regained his legs.

Serena was practically screaming her spell, and Rafe seemed to be countering it. The words came to him-he didn’t know from where, he didn’t want to think about where, he just wanted to survive. To save Lily. To save Moira.

Fiona was successful in breaching the spirit trap and she ran back to safety, a protective circle that she shared with her daughter Serena. But Envy didn’t want them, not yet. Envy wanted Rafe, and it slithered forward smiling, a hideous grin of death. It breathed his name.

“Raaaphaeeelll.”

Rafe reached behind his back and retrieved the dagger. He held it in front of him, expecting to be terrified, but instead experiencing complete calm. His eyesight sharpened, the pain from earlier attacks fading. He breathed fully, in and out, and stared Envy in the face.

“Come here, you bastard.”

Envy growled, lunging with a speed Rafe didn’t expect.

As the demon rushed him, Rafe charged. All thought left his mind; all he could think of was stopping the demon. Stopping Envy from spreading its wickedness throughout the earth.

He leapt, and slit the demon’s throat with the blessed dagger. The demon ripped off its own head and threw it across the room. The head turned into a thousand flies that buzzed all over, swarming.

What had he done? Why had he slit the throat? He didn’t know what he was doing. He froze, uncertain, his head throbbing.

The demon came for him, its head growing back, its eyes red and focused on him. Rafe stared. This was the end.

Moira screamed. Walker had her pinned, but his magic failed as he grew enraged. The bastard had his hands around her throat. He would choke her to death, a good old-fashioned human murder.

“I’ll kill you, Moira,” he said through clenched teeth. “And I will enjoy it.”

Moira had no doubt that Walker wanted her dead, and no doubt that he would enjoy squeezing the life out of her.

But Moira was not ready to die.

Simultaneously, she kneed him in the balls and shot her arms up between his, aiming right for his eyes. He turned his head at the last minute, avoiding permanent damage, but he loosened his grip and Moira slammed his biceps to push his hands away from her neck. She caught her breath, head butted him- Shit! That hurts- and flipped him.