The Reckoning

I went wild, kicking and punching, but it held me down with superhuman strength and then it was on me, crouched over me, pi

I punched and kicked and imagined releasing it and for a second felt that iron grip loosen. I heaved and rolled, and managed to get free, scrabbling backward until I hit the wall.

I pushed to my feet and tried to run, but tripped over the chair I’d toppled earlier. I caught myself before I fell, then scurried back, expecting any moment the thing would pounce and knock me down. But it didn’t, and when I listened I could hear a wet rasping noise where I’d left it. I backed away slowly.

With a click, the lights came on, and I saw the guard crouched on all fours, arms and legs bent…wrong, bent where arms and legs shouldn’t bend. It looked like some kind of monstrous insect, limbs broken and twisted, bones sticking through fabric. Its head was down and it kept making those wet rasping noises.

I stepped to the side and saw what it was doing-licking my blood from the floor. I backed up fast, and it turned its head-completely turned it, the flesh on its neck ripped through, the head swiveling freely. It curled its bloodied lips back, bared its teeth, and hissed. Then it skittered toward me, those broken and twisted limbs moving so fast they seemed to skim the floor, body held only inches above it.

I ran for the closet door. With lightning speed it raced into my path. Then it reared up, hissing and spitting.

“Release it, child,” a familiar voice whispered at my ear.

“Y-you’re back.” I looked around, bracing against the pokes and pinches. “The others…”

“Gone, and staying gone. Only this one remains. Release it and you’ll be done.”

“I’ve tried.”

“And now I’m here to distract it while you try again.”

A gust of hot air whooshed between me and the thing, and it reared again, gaze following the wind as the demi-demon whipped past.

I closed my eyes.

“Your necklace,” she said.

“R-right.” I tugged it off and looked at it, reluctant to put it down.

The thing spun on me again. The demi-demon said something in another language, getting its attention. I set the necklace on a chair, within grabbing distance, then closed my eyes and worked at dismissing it.

I felt the spirit slipping away, snarling. At a click, my eyes shot open, gaze following the sound to the door.

“Yes, it’s open,” the demi-demon said. “And not a moment too soon. Now finish this.”

Knowing the door was open gave me the extra boost I needed, and the next sound I heard was a thump as the guard’s broken body fell to the floor.

“Excellent,” the demi-demon said. “Now retrieve your trinket and-”

A furnace blast of hot air hit me, so strong it made the others seem like a gentle breeze.

“Wh-what’s that?” I said.

“Nothing, child,” she said quickly. “Now, hurry.”

Forty-five

I GRABBED MY NECKLACE and pulled it on as I raced for the door. I was about to veer around the guard’s body when it rose, pushing to its feet as if its bones weren’t broken in a dozen places. I started around it.

“Stop!” it thundered.

I did. I have no idea why. It was just that kind of voice.

I turned to see the guard’s body standing straight, chin up, eyes blazing an unearthly green. I could feel the heat radiating off it even from a half-dozen feet away.

“Diriel!” it roared, peering about the room.

“Um, over here, my lord,” the demi-demon said. “And may I say, it’s a pleasure to see you-”

He spun in her direction, and when he spoke, his voice was weirdly melodic. Like the demi-demon’s, only deeper, masculine, hypnotic even. I stood there, rooted to the floor, just listening.

“For over two decades you have not answered my summons. Where have you been?”

“Well, you know, it’s a fu

“Are you asking me to wait on your convenience?” His voice was low, but it made me shiver in spite of the heat.

“Certainly not, sir, but I’ve made a bargain with this-”

“Mortal?” He wheeled, as if seeing me for the first time. “You made a bargain with a mortal child?”

“Like I said, fu

“She’s a necromancer.” He stepped toward me. “That glow…”

“Isn’t it pretty? There’s such charming variation among these mortal supernaturals. Even the weakest among them gets something, like that lovely glow.”

“A necromancer’s glow is indicative of her power.”

“Quite right, and it’s a good thing, too, because being such a weak necromancer, she needs a very strong glow to attract any ghosts.”

He gave a dismissive snort and walked over to me. I didn’t flinch-but only because I was frozen with terror.

This was a demon. A full demon. I knew that with a certainty that made my legs quiver.

He stopped in front of me and tilted his head, sizing me up. Then he smiled.

“So,” said the demi-demon-Diriel. “I’m just going to help this poor, defenseless necromancer child…”

“Out of the goodness of your heart, I suppose.”

“Well, no, it seems the silly chit freed me. Completely accidental. You know children, always playing with the forces of darkness. So it seems she’s done me a favor, and if you’ll let me complete the contract, sir, I will be right with you-”

“How powerful does a child necromancer need to be to free a demi-demon?” he mused. “I can feel your power, little one. They’ve done something to you, haven’t they? I have no idea what, but it is wondrous.”

His eyes gleamed, and I felt them slicing through me as if he were peering into the heart of my power, and when he did, he smiled again, and it made me shiver.

“Perhaps, but she’s a child, my lord. You know what the Berithian Treaty says about wooing youths. Quite unfair, I agree, but she will be an adult soon enough, and if you allow me to cultivate the child by completing my contract…”

He glanced in her direction. “Whatever deal you’ve made with the child can be completed another time. I’m not letting you slip away again so easily. You have a penchant for disappearing.”

“But she-”

“Is powerful enough to summon you when she wishes.” He turned back to me and before I could move away, his hand was under my chin, holding it, the guard’s dead fingers oddly warm. He tilted my face up to his and murmured, “Grow up strong, little one. Strong and powerful.”

A blast of hot air. Diriel whispered, “I’m sorry, child.” And then they were gone.

I jumped over the guard’s fallen body and raced to the door. The handle turned before I touched it. I looked around, ready to run, but there was no place to run to. I took out the gun and backed against the wall. The door opened. A figure peeked in.

“A-aunt Lauren,” I whispered.

My knees wobbled. There’d been a time when I’d chafed under Aunt Lauren’s constant mothering, but after two weeks of relying on myself and other kids who were as scared and lost as I was, her look of concern was like a warm blanket on a freezing night, and I wanted to throw myself into her arms and say, Take care of me. Fix this.

But I didn’t. She was the one who ran over and hugged me and as wonderful as it was, that feeling of wanting to be rescued passed, and I felt myself pulling away and heard myself saying “Come on. I know the way.”

As we hurried out, she glanced back in the room and saw the guard’s body.

She gasped. “Isn’t that-?”

Without missing a beat, I cut her off, stammering, “I-I don’t know what happened. I g-got scared and he just walked in here and-”

She hugged me, whispering, “It’s okay, hon.”

She believed me, of course. I was still her little Chloe who’d never think of raising the dead.