Page 77 of Shadows of the Soul

My grandmother spun from her position on the outside of the circle. She cocked a brow at us. “Good, you started with the praying. We are going to need it. This sucker Bune is buried deep inside my daughter.”

“Phrasing,” Rockhard muttered. The supernaturals collected a charm from him and then fanned around the edge of the circle, each taking a point at a lit candle. Four shifters, two vampires, and six elementals. With Aunt Liz in the center, we had our thirteen. She counted, she had to—because she had to fight. Aunt Liz’s face had become gaunt, her bloodshot eyes bulging, and her cracked lips dribbling blood. The malevolence was eating her raw from the inside. Something niggled in the back of my mind. What was the point of all of this? I’d rechecked my wards, not even Lucifer could get through. So why send a demon in my aunt?

“Cardinal rules of an exorcism,” my grandmother stated as she waved some burning sage in the air. “Cora.”

I grimaced. Even now, she was testing me. “Once our hands are joined, don’t break the circle.”

“Good, continue.”

“Don’t address it directly. Avoid eye contact. Don’t enter into conversion with it. It will try to goad you or bargain with you. Once you fall for it, it will know you and you will be vulnerable.”

“And the golden rule?” she prompted.

“Don’t step inside the circle.”

“Why?” Dave snapped. He watched Liz with a deep frown. He already wanted to get in there and rescue her, and things were about to get much worse.

“We all hold power. We are about to use it to draw out the demon and banish him back to Hell. Collectively, we will channel this power into my grandmother who wields the spell to complete the exorcism.”

“What’s that got to do with stepping in the circle?” Hudson asked.

“The power loops through us and around the circle, effectively squeezing the demon from its host. If someone steps inside that circle, it causes a kink in the power line, the energy will back up at that point and the demon can feed on it and fortify its hold on Aunt Liz. With enough power, it could make it permanent, and damn her soul to Hell in its place.”

“Don’t step in the circle—got it,” Maggie said, squaring her shoulders. I’d placed her between me and Rebecca. I was the most worried about our nervous little bobcat shifter and needed people who knew her to both support and keep control of her.

Harry shot through the wall. “Miss Roberts,” he exclaimed. I closed my eyes. Not now, Harry, one supernatural crisis at a time please.

“Halfling, filthy, bloodsucker,” Aunt Liz snarled. Her voice was inhuman and multilayered. The sound sent a shiver down my spine. Wait, who was she speaking to? My eyes sprung open to find her focus on Harry. “Heaven’s reject, your soul is soaked in the stench of sin.”

Harry gasped. “I’ll have you know I was an ethical vampire that helped others to lead good lives.”

Aunt Liz’s head twisted. She put her hands down her blouse and tugged on the garment to expose her bra.

“Don’t speak to it,” I warned, both the living and the dead.

Dave snarled and shook his head. Aunt Liz freed one of her breasts to taunt the shifter. She turned to me once she’d failed to get a reaction from him. I stared it down. I wasn’t under any threat of possession. I already housed a bigger and badder beast than the one staring at me. Bune hadn’t just met his match in me. He’d punched way above his weight. The only thing stopping me from squashing him like a bug was my love for my aunt.

“You’re all wearing your charms?” my grandmother checked.

A chorus of agreement echoed around the room. “I brought you a spray and a ladle for the holy water,” Maggie said as she wrung her hands together and tried to look at anything but the mess of my aunt on the floor.

My grandmother blinked. Ha ha, finally taken aback by the little shifter. “The spray will suffice. Give it to Cora,” she stated. Maggie grabbed the bottle and handed it to me. I filled it with the water I’d blessed and twisted the lid back on before handing it to my grandmother.

My grandmother nodded at me. “Ready?”

“Yes.” I was her assistant.

She draped a purple scarf around her neck. Its Latin name isstola, essentially it was the symbol of eternal life through the divine. It helped to convey His power and enforce His will upon the demon before us.

“Join hands,” she instructed. We formed a circle. I placed one hand in Maggie’s and the other on my grandmother’s shoulder. Aunt Dayna flanked her other side.

My grandmother chanted in Latin, some ancient words that called upon the higher power to imbue her with His grace. A rumble of energy echoed in the room. Aunt Liz paused her snarling and slurs and narrowed her gaze on my grandmother.

The candles flickered and my hair fluttered in the breeze as the spell gained traction and our combined magic channeled into my grandmother. She shuddered and gritted her teeth. She lifted the bottle and sprayed holy water over my aunt.

Aunt Liz flopped onto her back and arched her spine, her legs splayed obscenely wide as she gyrated and cackled. It was unfortunate she was wearing a skirt.

“Read with me now, Cora,” my grandmother demanded.

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