Page 46 of Malum Discordiae

She surged up on the table, fighting the hold the others had on her.

“Jesus Christ, she’s strong,” Aaron said, the muscles in his huge arms bunching with the effort to keep her down.

I opened my bottle of holy water and sprinkled some over her. Invoking the Holy Trinity. She hissed and thrashed. I held my crucifix against her shirt between her breasts, and she screamed, yelling that it burned.

“Keep up with the prayers and spells. Don’t stop,” I instructed, my gut a roiling mess.

I flipped open the Bible and started reading. I read from Ephesians. I read from Peter. I read from Leviticus—I only pissed it off. I’d seen no marked improvement, and I and the rest of the team were sweaty messes of exhaustion.

“I can’t do this,” I said and couldn’t stop the tears if I wanted to. “I can’t save her.”

“You can.” I heard a voice and looked up to see Burke standing in front of me.

“How?” I begged, my body shaking with fear and my voice trembling.

“Reagan and the rest of our crew have Seiko and Lance occupied. They’re trying to get Seiko away from the bastard and make sure he can’t do anything to thwart what you guys are doing. All you have to worry about right now is this.” He pointed at Sky on the table.

“But I can’t do this. I’m not strong enough. I don’t have enough experience. I need help. And I can’t get my dad to help because he won’t lift a finger until the archdiocese says he can. And we know how long it takes for the Church to approve an exorcism.Ifthey approve one at all.”

“You don’t need your dad,” Burke said, and I got even more confused.

I glanced back at Sky and saw that she had calmed a bit, but she was panting now, and growls issued from her slightly parted lips that I knew weren’t hers. “If not him, then who?” I looked back up and almost fell on my ass. Burke wasn’t there anymore. Instead, I saw a face that used to bring me so much joy. I saw a face I missed like a limb some days.

“Grandda?”

CHAPTER23

~Paxton~

“Hello, my son,” Grandda said and moved closer. He looked the same as I remembered him. Same ice-blue eyes as mine. Full, thick head of snow-white hair. No stooped posture for him—he always carried himself with a regality I envied. He wore his uniform of black pants, black shirt, and bright white priest’s collar.

“I can help you, Paxton,” he said, and I became even more confused. Then it hit me. This may not be my grandfather. Demons were master manipulators and liars. They could cause all sorts of hallucinations and mess with your head to get what they wanted.

“Be gone, evil one,” I said and brandished my crucifix at the specter.

“That’s really Dougal, Padre,” Dev said, and I looked over at him.

“How can you be sure?” I asked.

“It’s part of my gifts. I always know a spirit from an illusion.” He resumed his chanting, and I looked back at the ghost, realizing that I wouldn’t feel such a connection if it weren’t Grandda.

“I’ve missed you so much,” I said.

“And I, you, my boy,” he said with a sad smile and then looked at Sky. She’d started writhing in earnest again, and the team was having trouble keeping her down with as exhausted as they had to be, and how strong the demon likely was. “If you want my help, all you need do is ask. We can help each other to right a wrong. To vanquish an evil that has no place on this plane. I thought I saved her once. Let me help you ensure she’s safe now.”

“How?” I asked.

“Do you still have the scapular I left to you?” he asked.

I pulled it out of my pocket and held it up. “I gave it to Sky, but the demon ripped it off when it hauled her into the storage space. The clasp’s broken.”

“It doesn’t matter. We just need a tether.”

“A . . . tether?” I asked.

“If you allow it,” Grandda said, “I can enter your body temporarily via the tether that ties us. We have both blood and an earthly object. Once I do, you will be yourself, but you will be imbued with all my knowledge and skills. You will have the blessing of the Church becauseIhave the blessing of the Church and I didn’t lose that. Even in death.”

“You can . . . we can do that?”

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