Mrs. Rits’ voice boomed. “Get out of my house!” The house shook harder as the ghost of Krystan’s grandma fought back Emma’s hold.
Getting to my feet as quickly as I could, I tapped into my power and light flashed. I grabbed the demonic spirits possessing the dolls and yanked them out. For a moment, the black shadows hung in the air, wriggling, trying to fight free.
Closing my eyes, I chanted a prayer, sending their darkness into the light. The suspended spirits melted away into nothing.
Energy tripped along my nerve endings. Emma was still a battering ram against the house but she was in a standstill. Holding up my hands, I sent my magic to aide Mrs. Rits in protecting this domain.
At first it felt like a sheet of hot metal pressed down against me. Then Mrs. Rits’ energy came in a burst of light and love. With our powers combined, we pushed Emma’s darkness away.
A sudden chaotic screeching went through the room, then silence. The dolls didn’t get up again. Shattering porcelain and lace dresses littered the floor.
“She’s gone,” I said, my shoulders slumped. I was both relieved and distraught. As dangerous as Emma was to have nearby, I wanted to know where she was.
“Calan.” Krystan held her baby, looking at me with a face so white, she looked close to death. Her mouth, a thin, slanted slash, made her dark eyes look larger than normal. “We have to kill her. She threatened to kill my baby. Emma would have never...” A psychotic fire sparked in her eye. “The Orders are right. That’s not Emma.”
Before she could say anything else, I was out on the street.
Maybe it was the liquor still in my system, but I hoped Emma was still here. I ran up the road, hoping she would apparate. I’d found my power again. Maybe if I tried to exorcise her one more time, it would work. I believed in her, I believed in us. Nothing could stop that, right?
I stopped at the end of the street, panting for breath. Tightness closed around my chest and I struggled to breathe, though I ran ten miles nearly every day. What was happening to me?
A hand fell on my shoulder and I whirled around, stumbling back, unbalanced.
It was Travis. He held up his hands. “Hey man, it’s just me.”
“I can’t... I can’t breathe.”
Travis was there at my side, helping steady me. “It’s okay, I got you. I know. I know it sucks. Like you’ve been kicked in the chest by a donkey and your brain is on fire?”
Looking up at him, I was bewildered by how he could explain what I was feeling. Travis’ head was tipped forward and he had a concerned but knowing look in his eyes. “You’re having a panic attack. I used to get them all the time. It’ll pass. In the meantime, why don’t you come back. Krystan has calmed down. We’ll clear the dolls out from the guest room.”
Allowing Travis to direct me back toward the house, I said, “I don’t think I can sleep.”
He patted my back. “I don’t feel much like falling asleep either. Let’s take all the dolls out back and set them ablaze.”
This man who I once viewed as a spineless coward was now my rock. Amazed how things changed so much and so fast, the world was too much for me to take. There was no certainty to be found anywhere.
Closing my eyes, I breathed in deeply through my nose. If there was no certainty to be found. I’d have to make some for myself.
24
Krystan pointed the lamp into Snarp’s eyes. “What does she want with you bird brain?”
The parrot shut his eyes against the harsh light, his head straining to get away, but unable to escape. Travis had his hands wrapped around Snarp’s feathered body, holding the bird still. The interrogation took place in the dining room.
I crossed my arms, watching them act everything out as if it were a dramatic soap opera. Looking down at my godson in his basinet, snug in a light blue onesie with tiny skulls on it, we shared the same skeptical expression.
All the news channels were reporting the significant drop in demonic activity worldwide. People were celebrating and taking it is as good news, but we were running out of time.
“Nooooos, nooooos, it’s too brightssss,” the bird wailed.
Krystan bared her teeth at the parrot. “Emma wants you. Tell us why or Travis will start shaking you. He’ll shake you until we rattle out all the snack cakes you’ve ever swallowed down, shit for brains.”
“Noooos. Noooos, don’t shake Snarpsss. Snarpss has done nothingsss.”
Krystan stood up, pouting. “Dammit, he’s telling the truth. I was hoping he’d set off my sensor and we could water board him.” Then pointing a finger at Snarp, she said, “You better give us something or we’ll cook you. It’s amazing you are alive after not telling us Emma was infected. Even more amazing no one has fried you after you choked down a piece of the book of Luxis. Maybe we’ll hand you over to the Order of Luxis and let them exact vengeance on you after all.”
Snarp dissolved into pitiful screeches, insisting he would not taste good and that we should eat some Twinkies and share with him. I raised a hand to rub my forehead.
