“No!” I screamed and lunged forward as Sam made it through the door to the safety of the outside.
Beelzebub stopped when I screamed and was now focused on me. “I’ve been expecting you.”
Riley moved to put himself in front of me. As he went, he whispered, “Take advantage of this and get the hell out of this house.”
I didn’t understand what he meant until Beelzebub looked away from me toward Riley.
“You!” he screamed. “You dare betray me after everything I have done for you!”
“I just couldn’t get enough of your pretty face,” Riley said in a biting tone.
They knew each other?
Sam lunged back inside the door, his wild eyes locking with mine. I raced forward, Gemma and Cole close behind as Sam stood, lifting his considerable frame (had he gotten bigger?) onto his back legs and used his body as a shield as the three of us ran past.
We all made it outside and were running across the drawbridge when I heard a loud crash and I looked over my shoulder to see Riley, now in hellhound form, bound out the door.
Beelzebub was seconds behind, screaming as usual. “Stop them!”
Hecate appeared before us and lifted her hands and we all skidded to a halt.
Cole came up behind me, brushing his hand against mine. “In case we get separated,” he said low as he deposited a Lucent Marble into my palm. I closed my fingers around it, not acknowledging what he had done.
Gemma gave a sudden cry and sent a dagger spiraling at an impossible speed at Beelzebub, who caught it. “I should have known you’d somehow be involved. I see you still haven’t accepted the fact that you are fallen.”
She didn’t bother getting into a verbal debate with him, which I found impressive. Personally, I would have tried to get in the last word. Instead, she pulled out yet another dagger and fell into a fighting stance.
“Is that why you wanted the curse broken after all these years? Are you picking up where your grandfather left off?” he said to Riley.
Cole wasn’t as good at ignoring Beelzebub’s taunts. He gave a shout and threw his own dagger at Beelzebub, which he dodged with ease.
“Ahhh, so it’s that way, is it?” Beelzebub said with amusement, then sent the dagger in his hand hurling through the air toward Cole. He wasn’t fast enough and it lodged itself in his belly.
He made a weird gurgling sound and went to pull it out.
“No!” Gemma and I cried at the same time. Pulling it out would only make him bleed faster.
Cole looked from the wound up to me and then Gemma. “Well, shit.”
“Cole,” I whispered, staring at my brother, the only family I had left besides Gran. I looked at Gemma. “You’ve got to get him out of here, now.”
Gemma nodded. I threw down the Lucent Marble that I was holding and a swirling portal to home appeared. “Go!” I yelled.
“Come with us,” Cole urged.
I looked over my shoulder at Sam and Riley who were circling Beelzebub like they had found a tasty snack.
“I’ll be right behind you,” I yelled and Cole handed me the last two Lucent Marbles he had before Gemma pulled him through the portal and disappeared.
Sam and Riley had backed Beelzebub up to the moat and were about to pounce when two demons, coated in black sludge, rose behind him and reached out, yanking Sam and Riley down into the nasty water.
They struggled to break free as Beelzebub grabbed my arm and yanked me off my feet. “Give me the name!” he demanded as I struggled to stand.
“What name?”
“Don’t play with me. I know you saw it!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Hecate appeared at my other side and stared at me with empty eyes.
“The name of the Soul Reaper. Tell me!” Beelzebub demanded again.
The Soul Reaper? I must have not answered fast enough because Beelzebub stamped down hard on my ankle and foot and I screamed as the bones gave way.
“This is only the beginning if you don’t tell me what I want to know.”
“But I don’t know,” I cried, as my ankle burned.
I heard Sam snarling and knew he would be here in seconds. Beelzebub seemed to realize he wouldn’t be able to torture me much longer because he pushed me toward Hecate. I stumbled, as my ankle wouldn’t support my weight, and I fell to my knees. Both Lucent Marbles fell from my hand and rolled away.
“I want her to know what it’s like to feel true evil inside her. I want her to come begging me to make the pain go away. I want the only peace she will know to be here, in the place she hates most. In hell.” Beelzebub ordered. And then he turned his evil face toward me. “Let’s see if this loosens your tongue.”
The witch started chanting. I didn’t understand a word she said, but I knew whatever she was doing would not be good. I tried to get up, to get away, but her words held me frozen, helpless to what she was doing. Sam and Riley also seemed to be held back by whatever spell Hecate was casting. My skin crawled when she muttered the word beast and cage and I flinched when a strong wind picked up and a dark cloud seemed to wrap around my body, then dissolve. I felt as if my skin was being ripped open. It hurt so much that I couldn’t even cry out.
And then it stopped.
Beelzebub looked down at me with satisfaction as Sam attacked him from behind. Beelzebub gave a startled yelp and looked to Hecate, who smiled a brittle smile, then disappeared—leaving him to be attacked. Yes, Beelzebub was powerful, but he was no match for the angry teeth and claws that ambushed him. It seemed Sam had finally gotten the upper hand.
He probably would’ve been able to fight off Sam if he had seen him coming, and if Sam’s teeth weren’t already buried in his neck. But they were. He made one feeble attempt to fight and then he didn’t move at all. I turned away from the carnage. Not because I was sorry Beelzebub’s latest body was ruined, but because it was gross.
I struggled to stand. Riley noticed and came to my side so I could use his body to lean on. But Sam beat him to me, sliding his bulky, furry frame beneath me.
The wind picked up and The Devourer swooped out of the sky. He landed right next to Beelzebub’s remains, sniffed, then drew back as a white cloud seemed to lift out of the body and float up into the sky. It didn’t really have a shape, but I knew it was Beelzebub’s immortal soul and it would be searching for a new “host” body.
I wasn’t sure what power he held without a body, and I watched warily for what he might do. But he did nothing, just floated into the air and disappeared. I let out the breath I was holding and then turned back to Sam, opening the backpack still strapped to my back, pulling out some clothes and dropping them on the ground.