Page 5 of Destined for Eternity
The demon wailed as his head swung to the side with such force it would have killed a human. Ivan used that opportunity to press his bloody palm into his target’s mouth. Everyone watched with bated breath. A moment later, the demon slumped. Micah kept his hold tight but allowed the body to sink to the ground. The creature’s eyes were still open with a hint of red.
“He’s still in there.” Ivan poked his dagger into the demon’s arm. “But it seems he can’t move.”
They’d had no way of knowing how the attempt would go, but it wasn’t quite what Bartol had expected. They waited a few minutes. First, the demon blinked, and then its fingers began to twitch. By the ten minute mark, his feet were kicking across the ground.
“Should I give him more blood?” Ivan asked.
“No,” Lucas replied. “I doubt it will make any difference. If you could kill or banish him, it would have worked already.”
Bartol felt the itch to kill the demon the longer he stood near it. That was part of his nature because of his abilities, though he’d gotten much better at handling it after his experience in London. “Have you questioned it yet?”
Lucas nodded. “It was the first thing we did, but like most of their kind, he didn’t have much of anything useful to say.”
“Very well.”
Bartol slowly walked toward the demon while Lucas and Micah held it down by both arms. Bartol pressed his hand to the creature’s chest, searching for the essence inside. He could feel it churning there, dark and malevolent. The demon cursed at him and tried to jerk away. It was strong but not strong enough to get away.
Bartol pulled on the essence, letting it flow into him through his palm. His stomach turned at first, the evilness of it making him ill, but then he felt the intoxicating power as it filled him completely. If he kept that for himself, he’d become something different—something dangerous. It was possibly what happened with Tormod and what had changed him. Bartol had to resist the urge. Instead, he looked up at the blue sky and let the essence flow out of his body, disintegrating into inert particles in the air. A moment of regret hit him at letting it go, but he tamped down those feelings. He was meant to destroy demons, not take their powers for himself. The few times he’d held on for too long, he’d become insane and dangerous.
“It’s done,” he said, stepping back.
The demon presence was gone, and all that was left was a human carcass. Bartol couldn’t have saved the man who’d once been in there. He’d been possessed too long and his body too ill-used, so he’d probably died and his soul had moved on days or weeks ago. The only chance of saving humans from possession came in the first couple of days—if they were lucky.
Lucas and Micah lowered the body to the ground and instructed one of the nerou to wrap it in a tarp. They intended to return the corpse to his family as soon as possible.
“Is there anything else?” Bartol asked.
“No.” Lucas shook his head. “You may go.”
