My eyes shot open and Cole stormed into the room. “What the hell is going on?” He roared. He looked at me and his eyes widened. Then he looked at Sam and his eyes narrowed.
“I couldn’t take it anymore. It was driving me crazy.” I lay back against the pillows and everything around me fell silent.
“Can you heal her?” Sam asked Gemma quietly.
Gemma leaned over the couch and looked down at my chest. “What the hell is that?”
I looked down, trying to see. Fresh claw marks blistered beneath my skin, puffing up the edges like giant bubbles filled with blood. The skin around them appeared to be bruised. I glanced briefly at the claw marks on my stomach. They weren’t healed, but they looked good compared to this new mark.
“Beelzebub had Hecate trap some kind of demon or beast or something inside her. It’s been trying to get out.” Sam explained, his voice strained. Then he looked up at Cole. “Will you get her some ice?”
He rushed from the room.
“I can try, but I’m not sure I can heal this.” Gemma came around the couch and sat in front of me. She held her hands palm down above my chest and closed her eyes. My skin warmed and tingled, but the pain didn’t stop.
“It’s not working,” I said.
“Try.” Sam insisted. The look on his face was enough to get me to close my eyes and focus on the warmth that Gemma was creating. But I didn’t think it would work. Slowly, the pain ebbed and I was able to relax against the couch. Gemma fell back, looking drained. Cole was at her side, helping her into a nearby chair, momentarily forgetting the ice bag in his hand.
“Are you okay?” I asked Gemma.
“I’m sorry. Whatever they did to you, I can’t undo.”
“I feel better, though.” I insisted. Well, sort of. My claw marks didn’t hurt, but otherwise, I still felt the same, which wasn’t good.
“They’re still there,” Sam said, staring at the marks.
“Sorry,” I muttered, feeling like it was somehow my fault.
The front door opened and Riley waltzed through, whistling a tune. We all stopped and stared as he came into the room. When he noticed us all staring, he stopped. “No one called to invite me to the meeting?”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Sam demanded.
Riley smirked. “Can’t a guy visit his friends?”
“What do you want, Riley?” Sam said, barely holding onto his patience.
He shrugged. “Just curious as to what the Mickey Mouse Club is up to today.” Then he glanced at me. “Love the pink.”
Sam moved in front of me and looked down. “You need a shirt,” he said softly.
I didn’t want to put on a shirt. The thought of the fabric pressing in on me was horrible. But I couldn’t lay there in my bra either. Sam went up the stairs and then reappeared moments later with a black tank top dangling from his fingers. I took it and carefully pulled it on. It wasn’t too bad because the neck was low enough that the marks on my chest weren’t covered. I settled back against the pillow after I was decent and Sam sat on the floor in front of me, leaning back against the sofa.
“Are you going to tell us what’s going on?” Cole asked, tossing Sam the ice pack and sitting on the arm of the chair that Gemma was sitting in. Across from them, Riley dropped into a chair and propped his feet on the coffee table, making himself at home.
Sam handed me the ice pack and I grimaced, setting it beside me and not placing it on the newest claw marks.
“I thought you said they didn’t hurt.” Sam worried.
“They don’t, when you don’t touch them.” I looked at Gemma. “Is there a way I can get this thing out of me?”
“What is it?” she asked.
“I don’t know. All I heard was the word ‘beast’ when Hecate was chanting over me.”
Gemma shook her head. “Hecate’s magic is very powerful. Usually she alone is the only one who can undo the spells she creates.”
Well, that was positive news. Not.
From behind the couch, Logan spoke up. Until now, I forgot he was there. “Can’t you stab her with the dagger like you did me? It got the demon out…”
Sam stiffened, no doubt replaying the horrible memory of when he stabbed his brother to protect me. I looked over the back of the couch at him. “That’s definitely an idea, Logan.” I patted the end of the couch where I was lying and he came around to sit down.
Look at what that did to him, Heven. He’s weak… he’s… I’m not going to stab you with a dagger.
It might be our only choice, but I didn’t think it was a good time to point that out. I shifted my weight on the couch to make room for Logan. I was still feeling dizzy and my stomach was turning.
Sam twisted so his side was leaning against the couch and his arm was across my waist, consciously avoiding the claw marks on my belly. His fingers were warm and reassuring, folded around mine, and I gave him a small smile.
“I’m sorry, Heven. I wish I had an answer… I’ll see what I can find,” Gemma said.
I nodded. With no solution in sight for that problem, I turned to the next one. “Gemma, do you know if Beelzebub takes people’s souls?”
Gemma sat up a little straighter in her chair. “Of course he does. All of the princes of hell collect souls.”
“There is more than one prince of hell?” Logan asked.
“There are seven. One for each of the seven deadly sins.”
“How come we’ve only ever seen Beelzebub?”
Gemma shrugged. “I would assume because he seems to have an interest in the scroll.”
I cleared my throat. “He has it. He got it open and read it.”
Gemma and Cole gasped. “How could he get it open? I thought you were the only one that could open it?” Gemma asked.
“I really don’t know how he stole it, or how he got it open.” I reached up to finger the key necklace around my neck when I remembered I took it off and placed it in my jewelry box when I realized I no longer had to protect it. No one would come for it now. “Airis has turned her back on me, on us. She said my soul has been compromised and she will no longer help me on my journey.”
“Did she tell you what that was?” Cole asked.
I shook my head sadly. “Her and Ana both said I had to figure that out on my own.”
“Who’s Ana?” Gemma asked.
“Aniano,” Sam said, pronouncing her full name (and pronouncing it correctly!). “We met her in hell. After I destroyed the body that Beelzebub was in, The Devourer took us for a ride… to an island.”