Grounded for All Eternity, page 23
I dove and spun, grabbing the candlestick out of a squall of wind and noise. I turned and flew straight toward Parris, who was currently occupied with Lilith and Crowley. Crowley was sparking magic in the air, and when our eyes met, he smiled victoriously. Parris started to turn, but Crowley yelled, “Over here, jerk!”
I flew faster than I ever had before and, using Crowley’s distraction, pressed the candlestick to Parris’s back and said the incantation, “Anima coniuncta!”
Flesh and gold merged where the candlestick touched. Parris tried to pull away. He failed. The candlestick knew Parris, and it was not letting him go. His modern black suit changed back into the original old style, the white ruffles coming back into view, before everything started trying to force itself into the candlestick.
But it wasn’t enough. For every gain the spell made in containing Parris, he took an inch back. Parris was still hanging on to this world. He had fed all night. He had juiced up on powerful witches, and he was still too strong.
We were going to fail.
Cassandra was gone. The squadron of thrones had us trapped. We had one object and no alternatives, and it wasn’t enough.
My eyes frantically searched the sky to take one last look at my squad. Lilith, beautiful and resigned. Crowley… Crowley was missing.
More weight. I almost laughed, hysterical as the thought of Sean’s expression came out of nowhere. My eyes fell to the ground to search the human out as I continued to push the candlestick against Parris’s back. There he was, green eyes blazing straight at me. Charity was at his side. And so was Crowley. Why was Crowley on the ground?
Almost in answer to my unspoken question, Charity and Crowley pressed their hands together. Purple light pulsed from Charity’s hands while the red from Crowley’s twisted and slithered. Then the light expanded and spread across the entire town, crashing against the net like a tsunami. I felt the same heat as when Charity had smeared that glittery stuff on us.
They had figured it out! They had figured out how to multiply their protection spell to the entire town. Everyone in Salem was safe from Parris’s influence. He couldn’t sway them anymore!
The people on the ground stumbled and collapsed.
Parris screamed a wordless cry of outrage, and the candlestick glowed and shuddered. The heat was becoming unbearable. I struggled to hang on, but no amount of pain was going to make me let go.
Charity and Crowley had silenced the void. Parris was cut off, and finally, finally the candlestick with all its object memory was able to gain ground.
Parris’s stolen power started releasing back into the world. I could feel it over every inch of my skin. I focused on holding my position in the air, keeping my contact with the candlestick and Parris, my feathers painful and charged.
I screamed as Parris resisted the pull, but kept my grip firm.
The candlestick burned my hand. For a moment I was terrified I would be fused with the candlestick too, but I still did not let go. If that was the price for stopping Parris and all his hate and madness, I’d pay it. I’d pay it a thousand times over to protect the balance, to protect good.
Parris was transparent again. His mouth formed a voiceless scream.
Then, in a final burst of wind, he was gone.
FORTY-THREE
I dropped lightly to the ground, stumbling slightly as my feet touched earth. I let the candlestick fall from my hand. Angry blisters lined my grip, next to the now-filthy bandage over my cut. I really hoped I didn’t actually end up with gangrene.
The cemetery was littered with broken stones and broken skeletons. Several of the witches lay recovering on the churned-up soil, with another casting healing spells. Charity was helping with her own healing spells.
“Hell, yes,” Lilith breathed.
Crowley strolled back to us, looking justifiably smug. I rolled my eyes but grinned anyway. We had captured an escaped soul without a morningstar. We were badass!
“Powers, huh?” Sean said. He smirked, but my stomach tightened, and my mood wavered. “Who calls themselves that? So pretentious.”
“I didn’t make up the name,” I said.
“You can get Parris back?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said quickly. “He’s trapped now. That wasn’t the case when he somehow ended up in our neighborhood.”
“The guards didn’t notice right away,” muttered Crowley. “If they had, he would never have made it to our woods.”
He’d been in the woods.
“I thought Crowley pushed us through the veil,” I said.
“Hey, we talked about this,” protested Crowley.
“Or that Aleister had knocked us over,” I said, continuing my thought.
“It wasn’t Aleister,” Lilith said, a hint of wonder in her voice. “It was us.”
“Say that again?” asked Crowley.
“It was us,” repeated Lilith. “Think about it. Parris was still a proper soul when we were home, so he couldn’t have pushed us. But we’ve seen his power. After being cooped up for so long, we wanted to go through. He gave us the mental push.”
“So we went through,” finished Crowley.
“And Parris came with us,” I said.
“Wow,” Sean said. “So you suck at this whole guardian angel thing, huh?”
But then he smiled, and I knew we were good.
And then the net snapped shut.
FORTY-FOUR
Oh, brimstone,” Lilith said. “How did we forget about them?”
“Are you kidding me? They still closed it?” I asked. “Didn’t they see all that?”
My ears popped as the pressure of the containment field shifted, and a high-pitched whine filled my ears. We might have stopped Parris’s influence and trapped him within the candlestick, but apparently that wasn’t enough for Heaven’s soldiers. Parris was still not where he belonged.
“We’ve got to get home,” Lilith said.
“Go,” said Sean, looking worriedly at the sky. We gripped left hands awkwardly as I tried not to cause any more pain to my poor tormented right hand. Although, it might have been worth it.
“Thanks,” I said, squeezing his hand and not immediately letting go. He nodded and, curiously, blushed. Lilith cleared her throat. I stepped back.
“Wait,” I said.
“No, fly,” said Crowley. “We have to get Parris back where he belongs.”
“We won’t get Parris to his circle in time. They’ll still destroy Salem even if we make it to the gate,” I said. “We have to try to talk to them. We have to convince them the situation is fixed.”
I glanced at the sky and vaguely wished Cassandra was still around, at least to act as a go-between. There were figures beyond the net, and I was sure they would talk to Cassandra. Would they talk to me?
“No way,” Crowley said, shaking his head.
“Yes way,” Lilith said, smiling at me.
“I would like to not die,” Sean said, raising his hand.
“Make. The. Call,” Crowley said, slowly and emphatically.
Crowley and Lilith turned to look at me, expectation clear on their faces, but not disdain or petulance, and I knew for sure in that moment that we’d be okay. I could take my role, or not, and either way, my squad would be there. It didn’t have to be the cold professional way my parents led their squads. It could be different.
“We’ll talk to the thrones,” I said. “Let’s go.”
We flew to the top of the dome. It was remarkably high and noticeably colder. We hovered back-to-back in a circle.
“Hey!” I shouted. “You can open this thing up. Everything’s okay now. Can you hear me?”
“There’s someone out there,” Lilith said.
A throne flew closer, so that only the white glow of the net separated us. She had blinding white wings, and a golden halo hovering proudly over her head. Her silver armor gleamed more like a costume than functional armor.
“Just wait,” I said, making hand gestures just in case sound couldn’t penetrate the net. I held up the golden candlestick. “We’ve got him. Okay? Wait.”
She didn’t respond.
“Please,” I said, panic clawing at my throat. “This isn’t necessary. His influence is gone. The balance is safe.”
She cocked her head, raised an eyebrow, then nodded and turned away. She made broad hand gestures to her warriors.
“We need to go,” said Crowley.
“Yes, now,” I said.
At the speed we flew, it took hardly any time to fly back to the statue. Lilith pulled the hand down, and the statue slid just as before. The flames glowed warm and bright, and I waited for the familiar sight of Terrence. We didn’t have any candy this time, but we were probably beyond the bribery point by now anyway.
But Terrence was not hunched over his counter, greedily gobbling chocolate or staring vacantly at his clipboard. Instead he was looking rather pathetic, and maybe a little pouty, sitting on a tiny chair while a large, very buff imp sat in the proper-sized chair in Terrence’s place. Even though imps rarely had anything more than wisps of hair, this one had a crew cut.
“Name, rank, and serial number,” demanded the larger imp.
“What? We don’t have serial numbers,” I said.
“Or ranks,” said Crowley.
“And our names aren’t exactly on that list,” Lilith said.
“No list, no entry,” said the imp. He moved as if to lower the booth.
“Wait!” I said. “We have the escaped soul. We have to get him back to the eighth circle.”
“I’ll put in the proper paperwork,” said the imp. “If it’s approved, someone will be here to check your claim. In six to eight years… probably.”
“Our claim?” I said. “We’re not making this up. And did you notice that? That glowing dome? Heaven is getting twitchy. This whole place might be destroyed if we don’t get him back in time.”
“Terrence knows us,” Lilith said. “He was just waiting for us to come back.”
“Terrence.” The imp snarled the name and gave a derisive look at the much smaller and dirtier imp behind him. “He’s unfit for the job. Guilty of taking bribes. Trying to bribe a gatekeeper is a Cage-worthy offense. You wouldn’t try to do that, would you?”
“No, no, no,” we all said with as much sincerity as possible.
Before the imp could say more, a glowing sword dropped in front of me, separating us from the booth.
“Dad, no!” yelled Sean, breathing hard as he burst into our group.
The man holding the sword, which glowed just like the amulet had in Charity’s house, was dressed in something like my parents’ field uniform, but more ornate, like a knight brought to a new age.
“Step away from that portal,” Sean’s dad said. “I won’t let you bring the forces of Hell into our world.”
“We’re trying to bring the forces of Hell back to Hell,” I said.
“Negative,” said the imp. “You don’t have the proper clearance. We’ll need to fill out forms 1205B, 13F, and 802HE at least.”
“Override per Article Seventeen,” said Lilith, “regarding emergency circumstances including apocalypse and near-apocalyptic events, and while we’re at it, I will remind you that any interference in the recapture of an escaped soul and its return is a Cage-worthy offense.”
Lilith crossed her arms, and I grinned. Leave it to Lilith to know obscure procedural overrides.
“Come on in, children,” said the imp quickly. Terrence smiled on his tiny chair of punishment.
“Not so fast,” said a new voice.
“Seriously?” Crowley asked.
It was the throne we had seen beyond the barrier.
I looked up. The top of the net was open again, and I noticed that the pressure had changed. I didn’t feel like my head was going to explode, and the high-pitched whine I had been hearing was gone. But I wasn’t quite relieved yet.
The light flared bright for a moment, and my eyes flicked to the gate. We had another newcomer, and this one I knew, oh so well.
My dad stepped through and cast furious eyes to the throne, who was not looking quite as confident anymore, and to Sean’s dad, who was still holding his glowing sword—very near us, in fact.
“We have a situation,” said the throne warrior. “This town is under an evil influence.”
“No, it isn’t,” said Crowley.
“I have a morningstar,” Dad sneered. “I’ll have the prisoner recaptured in moments, if you can wait that long before your eradication event.”
“With all due respect,” said Sean’s dad, “these demons must be destroyed.”
“Touch my son and die!” growled Dad.
“We’re the good guys,” Lilith said to Sean’s dad.
Why did we keep having to say that? It was like coming from Hell was some sort of mark against us.
“ENOUGH!” I yelled.
I swallowed. Was it getting hot out here? It felt like it was getting hot out here.
“We already took care of everything,” I said. “Literally, it’s all done. Crowley and Charity stopped Parris’s influence and cut him off from his power. And as for Parris? I’m holding him. Right here. In this.” I held up the candlestick.
“Ezra, he’s telling the truth,” said a woman with familiar green eyes. She had one hand on Sean’s shoulder, and I recognized her as the one he had run toward in the cemetery. Charity was standing next to her, looking tired.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Sean’s dad. “This isn’t something children can fix. Certainly not demons.”
“Get these children out of the way so we can remedy Hell’s mistake,” snarled the throne.
“I will take care of this, I assure you,” argued my dad, his eyes glowing.
“Oh, my unholy darkness!” I growled. My wings arched high over my back, and I could feel the flames of Hell illuminating my eyes. “All of you have only made everything worse. Seriously? Mass extinction? That’s your go-to move? I get that you are all Very Important Grown-Ups, but listen to me when I say: WE GOT THIS!”
I cleared my throat from where it had dropped to a deep growl, and blinked my eyes rapidly to force the flaming glow away.
“Well, what do you expect?” spat the throne. “Fallen angels.”
“Fallen?” I demanded.
Maybe it was because I had been called a demon all night, but I. Was. Done.
“The first powers flew with great purpose to do a job that had to be done. They were the ones, and we are still the ones, who make the sacrifice to protect creation. And do you even appreciate it? No, you’re all about the public relations. The myth that somehow you’re good, and we’re bad, because we dirty ourselves while you get to keep your hands nice and clean. What you were going to do tonight was not good. Just because it’s easy doesn’t mean it’s right. If you think being a power means that I’m fallen, then you’d better believe I’m proud to have fallen. If you think protecting people and seeking justice is falling, then I will choose to fall every time.”
Unholy night! I was proud to be a power. And I wanted to be a guardian, maybe even the Commander I was destined to be. I was good at this leader gig!
The throne looked as stunned as Sean’s dad looked confused, but Sean’s mom looked like she found all this very amusing. Charity was laughing behind her hand. And my dad? He was looking prouder than I had ever seen him.
“So mote it be,” muttered Sean with a smirk. Charity held out her fist, and Sean bumped it with his knuckles.
“Well,” said Dad. “I guess we’re all set here. I’d drop that containment net if I were you.”
“Very well,” grumbled the throne.
Dad looked at me, and I swallowed again nervously. “Captured him without a morningstar, huh?”
He clapped his hands on my and Lilith’s shoulders and with a gentle but firm push moved us toward the veil, where Crowley was already waiting. Breathing a sigh of relief, I waved goodbye and grinned over my shoulder.
“Hey, Dad?” I asked. “That was a great speech, right?”
“Yes, it was,” replied Dad. “But you’re still grounded.”
FORTY-FIVE
Parris was returned to his place in the eighth circle. My mother oversaw his new security measures, and if I never saw that look of absolute murderous intent on my mother’s face again, it would be too soon. I was very glad not to have it directed at me. My mother was a scary woman, and it was suddenly very clear to me why she ranked so high.
For a week Parris screamed and raged; then he fell silent. My parents weren’t sure if that was good or not, but since Parris had messed with the balance, he had earned Mom’s specific attention, as did anyone else who personally threatened existence. Dad was incredibly proud of us both, which was kind of nice. The fence receded to its proper level; the flames returned to their homey glow.
Parris wasn’t saying how he had done it, but as far as they could tell, he had manipulated several bored powers and hitched rides on residents of Hell before going through the veil with us. None of us were punished by the Powers That Be, since they deemed our actions unintentional and not based on corrupt hearts. Dad’s testimony probably helped.
But… the reality was, Parris had been released to the mortal coil only because we had broken the rules. We may have been influenced at the veil, but it had been our choice to go there in the first place. I liked to comfort myself that if it wasn’t us, it would have been someone else, and to a certain extent, people agreed. Thankfully, tales of our recapture of Parris had spread, and so our only punishment was parental and not infernal, and if anything, escaping official reprimand only added to my already awesome reputation.
I was still being punished a month later, allowed to go only to school and training, and I hadn’t worked up the courage to ask how much longer that was going to go on. My parents were back to working normal hours, which should have meant I’d have roughly two and a half hours to goof off before they got home, but since I was grounded…
“Is that you? Is someone here?” asked Methuselah as I made my way toward the kitchen.
