Tirade (Heven and Hell #3)(82)
Author: Cambria Hebert

Then the ash was gone and we could all fully see him.

“There you are,” he said, reaching out a hand to me. I felt the familiar squeeze in the back of my skull. It was his way of reminding me he was still in my head, that he still had control over me. “I thought you’d be dead by now.”

His new body was just as good-looking as the last, but his soul ruined it. It didn’t matter how beautiful the person he found to live in because he was ugly inside and it always showed through. He was larger than before, with broad muscled shoulders and arms. He had sandy brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail at the base of his neck and a square jaw covered with stubble. He was dressed in black slacks and a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled to the elbows. I took a moment to feel sorry for whomever he took this body from. What a sad waste of a human life.

I decided to meet this challenge head on and I opened the Jeep door and climbed out. Sam followed, keeping one hand tucked into the back waistband of my jeans. “It turns out that thing and I didn’t get along very well so I got rid of it.”

His eyes widened, then narrowed as he took in my well appearance and began screaming for Hecate. In that moment he reminded me of a spoiled child screaming at his mother for something he wanted but couldn’t have. She appeared beside him, wearing a long, dark cloak.

My friends all gathered around me and the five of us stood in a line to face these two villains together. I looked off to the side and was incredibly relieved to see that The Devourer was still nearby.

“How did you get that beast out of you?” Hecate asked, coming closer, as if to study me. “What have you been up to?”

She was far more astute than Beelzebub. She could sense that we had found a source of power and she wanted it. She knew that we were more resourceful than he gave us credit for. After all, why else did she follow us the first time we went to the island? She, too, must be searching for the ‘life’ of hell, for the power it would give her. Thank God she didn’t know what we did. It was all the more reason she had to go down with Beelzebub. She would only get closer until one day she stumbled upon the secret.

As she drew closer, Sam shifted his stance so he was half in front of me, using himself as a shield. Hecate cackled and threw her hand out, sending Sam flying backward through the air.

“Don’t you have any new tricks?” I asked wearily. “That one is so old.”

She smiled and used her invisible power on me too, yanking me closer. She grabbed my face between her fingers and squeezed, looking into my eyes.

I stared back, refusing to back down, praying Sam wasn’t hurt.

“She’s mine,” Beelzebub said from just behind the witch.

She threw me on the ground away from her and I scrambled to my feet to go after Sam.

“Where do you think you are going?” Beelzebub grabbed my arm and yanked it hard. I felt something in my shoulder pop and give way, but I didn’t cry out. This pain was nothing compared to what I suffered before.

“I always knew you were tough. You do belong here,” Beelzebub said the words in appreciation and ran a finger down my cheek. I resisted the urge to spit on him.

“But first, I must have the name.”

“I’m not giving you the name.”

“So you do have it?” He lifted an eyebrow. “What will it take to get it from that pretty little head of yours?”

He glared at me, a sadistic grin splitting his face. I braced for the blow, but it never came. Instead, he raised a hand and I heard a roar behind me. I turned to see Sam’s body, now a hellhound, suspended in the air. He didn’t appear hurt, but as he hung there Beelzebub pulled out a dagger and tossed it into the air. The dagger buried into the dark fur of Sam’s side.

“No!” I screamed and threw myself at Beelzebub. I caught him off balance and we fell. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sam fall to the ground and launch himself at us.

Riley was there, knocking me out of the way and creating a clear path for Sam to pounce on Beelzebub. Hecate went after Cole, using her magic to send him flying backward into a rock. He got up instantly and charged at her, daggers appearing in both his hands.

I didn’t know where to look. Sam and Riley were fighting Beelzebub and Cole was fighting Hecate. I saw Gemma take out her bow and take aim at Hecate so I launched myself into the fight with Sam.

Beelzebub threw Riley back and away, then did the same to Sam. Instead of doing the same to me, he grabbed me by the throat. I kicked and fought as fiercely as I could, but he just stood there, holding me, laughing. Then he looked into my eyes and pain burst through my head. I tried to look away, but I was suspended by his stare. I couldn’t hear anything and my eyesight began to dim. I felt as though my head might fall off my shoulders.

Sam knocked into him from the side with an enraged roar and took a huge chunk of flesh out of Beelzebub’s face. I fell back, stunned.

Sam pinned him to the ground and tore into his flesh like he was an excited kid on Christmas opening a gift. Beelzebub screamed and fought, but Sam wouldn’t back down. Riley stood off to the side, pacing, waiting to pounce.

“Heven, hurry!” Gemma called and I turned. She shot Hecate through both shoulders with two arrows, pinning her to a large rock. The witch closed her eyes and began chanting, my brother stood nearby, bleeding from his mouth.

I dug the pouch out of my pocket and rushed forward, stopping just in front of the chanting witch. I hurried to pour the dust into my palm and then I held it up.

She opened her eyes and paused in her chant. Her eyes focused on the golden dust I was poised to blow and she gasped. “No.”

I blew the dust, emptying my lungs of air, and prayed it would do what we hoped. The dust floated out of my palm and danced around the witch. It looked like millions of golden lightning bugs playing on a warm summer night. She began to scream and cry as the dust clung to her clothing and skin. It shimmered around her and I imagined it was heating against her skin and causing some sort of burning sensation.

“What have you done?” Hecate screamed, and I knew then it would work. Before my eyes she seemed to shrivel. She didn’t get smaller, but the air around her did. I wasn’t sure how old she was, but suddenly she looked far older than she had before, her skin becoming paper thin and taking on a translucent cast.

Once she stopped screaming and had slouched against the rock, I knew her powers were bound and we were safe from her evil.

I heard a cry behind me and I turned. Riley was lying unconscious a few feet from where Sam and Beelzebub were fighting. Sam had yet another dagger sticking out of his side and I could tell he was beginning to feel the pain. Beelzebub tossed him away and came toward me.