Whiskey Witches, F.J. Blooding [ap literature book list .TXT] 📗

Brian hobbled over to Dexx. “Tell me this isn’t—” He shook his head.

“Don’t know why you’d ask me to lie.” Dexx pulled Paige to her feet. Honestly, he had no idea what the captain had been about to say. Tell him this wasn’t demons? Leprechauns? Halloween? Crazy? Insane? The man looked like he was about to freak. Dexx had to keep things together for everyone. “This mixture could wear off anytime. We need to get her inside.”

“Mixture of what?” Brian asked.

“Holy water and herbs.” Dexx headed for the front door. He stooped to retrieve his duffle bag on the way by. “Do you have a room without windows, scissors, or anything else this thing might be able to use?”

“Yeah.”

A car drove into the parking lot. The car shut off and someone got out.

“Hey, Doc,” Brian hailed. “We need ya in here.”

“Which way?” Dexx crested the entry, holding Paige’s upper arm.

She stumbled and fell against the wall.

“Nope. Come on, Pea. We’re almost there.”

Brian led the way. “Here.” He opened a door and stepped inside.

Dexx entered the room, guiding Paige to a chair. He found an empty box in the hallway, then walked to the desk. With his arm, he pushed all the papers, the in-box, the phone, the stapler, everything except the monitor into the box. “Brian, take this and get it out of here. Paige, I need you to keep that thing in the back of you. You focus on me and what I’m doing. You got me?”

She closed her eyes and nodded, sinking into the stiff chair.

Dexx dumped the contents of his duffel onto the desk, removing the rope. “I’m really sorry I have to do this, Pea, but I can’t trust you won’t let that thing come back to the surface again. Okay? I’m trying to help you. Just remember that.”

“I don’t know what happened.”

He began tying her to the chair.

“What are you doing?” Brian blockaded the doorway with his body, keeping the doctor outside.

“Gonna try to expel this demon. I need to wait for Alma, though. Tru’s bringing her over.”

“Why do you need Alma?”

“All my exorcisms involve the host dying. Alma’s a witch, and a damn strong one. If anyone can help me get the demon out without killing Paige, it’s her.” He hoped. He dug out his rubber band bound papers and thumbed through them until he found the one he was after. Careful not to rip it, he removed it from the bundle and knelt on the floor. Time to trap this demon.

“Water.” Paige leaned her head back, licking dry lips. “I’m so thirsty.”

“She’s coming down off the drug.” The doctor disappeared down the hall. “Be right back.”

Dexx had designed this trap using a mash-up of anything he could get his hands on; every culture, every myth, every legend. He traced it out with chalk and laid a circle of salt around it. It worked. He knew it worked. He’d test-driven it way too many times.

“Dexx.” Paige’s red-rimmed eyes sought out his gaze. “I really fucked up, didn’t I?”

He didn’t want to look at her, didn’t want to see her this way, knowing this might be the last time. The last time they talked. The last time they saw each other. She had a demon inside her, and he only knew of one way that ended. Badly with a side dish of dead. “Yeah, Pea. You kinda did. But we’re gonna get you out of this. Okay?”

“Please do.”

“Is he using your gifts?”

“No.” Her head dipped then swung back up like a kid fighting a nap.

“That’s one point for the home team.”

“You were shot.”

It still hurt, but only when he thought about it. “Yeah. Nicked some fat. Nothing much. Doesn’t aim well for a serial killer.”

Paige let out a dry chuckle. “Does it hurt?”

“Nah. Barely stings.” So he lied. Big deal.

“Your water,” the doctor said, coming into the room with a glass.

Dexx stopped him before he got too close. He flicked his gaze meaningfully at the salt circle on the floor. “Don’t break it.”

The doctor glared at him before kneeling in front of Paige. “Is this all necessary?” he asked, helping her drink. She choked, so he set the glass down, opening his bag. He pulled out a pair of blue, Latex gloves and slipped them on with well-practiced ease. “I think she’ll be fine now. The drug seems to be pretty much out of her system.”

“Yes, it’s necessary,” Dexx said. “And let’s hope to God she’s coming down. What the hell did they give her?”

“A hallucinogen, I’d wager from her reaction. I need more water.” The doctor gestured at Brian to fulfill his request. “In a bowl. And a rag. Can we please untie this woman?”

“No.” Dexx’s tone left no wiggle room. The man didn’t need to know what they were dealing with, but he did need to understand the gravity of their situation. “We cannot. Just do what you have to and get out of here.”

The older, balding man twisted around toward Dexx. He must have seen something that stopped the words that obviously wanted to come out. He turned back to Paige. He pulled back her torn shirt and fingered the wounds on her chest. “They’re not deep. That’s good at least.”

Dexx swallowed. Symbols. The assholes had carved symbols into her skin. Magickal symbols didn’t simply scar the flesh. The magick burned to the bone.

The doctor inspected the wounds on her forearms. “Neither are these.”

“Deep enough to scar.” To her bone. Dexx saw through the blood drying on Paige’s chest, saw the symbol carved directly over her heart. His rising rage froze in absolutely terror. Cold bum-rushed him, starting at his scalp and traveling to his feet. “Fuck.”

“She’ll heal,” the doctor reassured.

Dexx stormed across the room, throwing the book on the table. It sailed off and hit the floor. “Shit.” He knew that mark. An open door. An open fucking door to the demon world on a demon summoner. On his goddamned friend! He punched the wall beside him. “Fuck!”

“What’s going on?” Paige asked, her voice shaking. “What’s wrong?”

Dexx had to keep cool. They were fucked. The home team was fucking fucked, but he couldn’t let Paige see that. He braided his fingers over his head and forced a smile. “Nothing. I need you to remain calm. Any chink in that steel armor of yours, and your demon friend’s going to get out.”

She visibly fought to control her fear. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

He clenched his jaw. Hard. They had a whole mess of bad. Bad topped with bad. First her gift and now the symbols? And there was no way of getting rid of those. The bad one covered her chest, her heart chakra, her power. The others? Small, riddling her arms, her shoulders. Whoever had masterminded this either didn’t think she’d survive this nightmare, or was planning to use her again another time with another demon. He quirked his lips shoving shields over his expression. “Seen worse.”

She watched him for a long moment.

The chief set the bowl of water down on the floor beside the doctor.

“Liar.” But something shifted in her expression. Calm resignation.

Fear was a demon’s way in, so…yay. Go, team, go.

Fuck.

The doctor dressed her wounds with quick efficiency.