Chapter 12 - Owen - Purge With My Demons

The Void was waiting for us when we arrived. My knife was trained on Kyle’s back as we approached the dog, and Kyle was clearly nervous. “Have you been here before?” I asked him, chuckling, because I could feel him trembling. Everyone was scared of The Void the first time they saw him, the paralysis demon igniting fear in some of the most fearless demons.

I shoved Kyle toward The Void, and he fell to the ground. “Did Finn or Cora inform you that we were coming?” I approached The Void as he was sniffing Kyle, who wouldn’t stop shaking. He huffed in response, which we had collectively decided meant yes.

As The Void backed away, I kicked Kyle. “Get up,” I growled. He did as I said, staring at the paralysis demon. The Void had successfully violated his space and licked his face like any good dog would.

Once we were in the Hallways, Kyle looked over at me, and his eyes widened. “Were you not expecting this?” My arms opened wide, showcasing my tattooed torso and hooded cloak. My skull-like face was perfectly clear to him. Smoke was pouring off me, pooling around my feet. My appearance was unlike any other demon. My powers had determined my appearance, which was uncommon. Then again, how I got into my current state was uncommon as well.

* * *

The dungeon door was propped open, and I could hear Finn and Cora talking as we approached. “I know I need to tell him, Finn. I won’t keep this from him.”

“I’m not telling you to. I would never do that. I’m just trying to better understand how you are feeling about it all.”

“I don’t have a feeling about it. I just want him to be happy, and I don’t want him to go through the same shit he did with the last—"

The door creaked as it opened the rest of the way, cutting Cora off. “Hey Owen, I was just telling Finn what I need to talk to you about.” Her tone was serious.

I took Kyle by the back of his neck and shoved him to the ground at Finn’s feet. “He’s ready, just tie him up.” Finn nodded and grabbed Kyle under the arm to pull him to another chair next to the horned demon they brought there.

Cora and I walked over to the other side of the room. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing you like this,” she said, staring at my face.

“The feeling is mutual,” I said with a smirk. Cora’s demon form was only a subtle change, four small purple horns across her forehead, a beautifully long, dangerous whip-like tail with a sharp end, and fangs for teeth. “What do you need to tell me, Cora?” My question was finished with muffled screams from Todd and Kyle, then silence.

“Sorry, guys.” Finn stood behind the demons with his hands braced on each of their heads. “This should keep them quiet for a while.” Finn was able to invoke peaceful emotions into them to calm them.

I turned back, and Cora was ready to speak.

“I had another premonition, right after we got to the restaurant. That’s what I’m calling them for now, anyway. I felt it coming, so I went to the bathroom. I felt just a tingle sensation through my body. But Owen, there were flashes of several things, but with every single one, Eleanor was there.”

The moment I heard Eleanor’s name, everything around me stilled. “Is she in trouble, Cora?” I did my best to ask this calmly, but my insides were on fire. Just the chance that she could be in danger had me reeling.

“No, Owen, in everything I saw, she was safe.” Cora placed her hand gently on my arm. “Owen, you know what this probably means, right?”

“That your premonitions are related to her somehow.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Nothing I saw showed her in any danger. It was all her walking in Brooklyn, walking her dog, at home, very normal stuff. But you should keep an eye on her just in case it means more.” She gave my arm a reassuring squeeze.

“I already am watching her, Cora, trust me. Every chance I get.” I needed to see her right now. “You’re good though, right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Promise.” Cora smiled, her fangs glinting in the fluorescent lights.

“Good. I’ll be back. Call if you guys need anything. Tristan and Ash should be here soon.” I was out the door before either of them had a chance to object or ask questions.

* * *

Flying faster than I’d flown in a long time, my muscles strained with each beat of my wings. I had to know she was safe. Cora’s premonitions being associated with Eleanor was a welcome discovery. But no one else had ever had any type of connection to any of my souls before. Too many things were happening. A moment to sit down and figure this out was long overdue.

The lights on Eleanor’s street were mostly out. Her house, however, still has a light on in one of the front windows. I sat and watched, seeing no movement inside, but I knew she was there, feeling the familiar pull to her. The pull I feel to Eleanor is warm. A burning, tingling sensation in my chest that is both familiar and comforting. A feeling you would crave to feel over and over, it hurt in just the right way.

Basking in the feeling that was Eleanor, I noticed movement on the sidewalk. When I looked closer, I saw it was Giordana. I felt a slight sting of jealousy, wishing I was walking up to Eleanor’s door right now.

One day soon, I would be.

Giordana reached to unlock the door, but not before slowly turning her gaze directly at me. I was perched on a branch, hidden in the shadows. Still in crow form, holding tightly to that thread of power to keep my shift in place. She winked and waved in my direction.

How the fuck did she know I was here?

The door shut with Giordana inside, and I launched into the air.

Soaring through the air at top speed yet again, the Gates were my destination to finish what we started. Tristan and Ashton should have made it back with the final charge. I was less than enthused about dealing with them. But thinking about having to interrogate them already had my madness boiling inside.

I shifted in the alley, and The Void let out an approving bark when I approached. Leaning down, I scratched him behind the ears, then stormed through the Gates.

The Hallways were dark, but a single light shone from the dungeon doorway. Cora, Ashton, Tristan, and Finn all sat around my table of knives chatting, as I walked in the room. The three demons, Mackenzie, Todd, and Kyle, sat in a circle with their backs to each other over the drain.

Finn saw me enter the room. He stood from the stool, shaking out his tattered bat-like wings, cracking his back.

“We already got some information from them,” Finn told me as he nodded his head toward the trio of demons. “Not anything groundbreaking, but they’ve heard the new queen is a human here in New York somewhere and only recently have her powers started manifesting.”

I gripped Finn on the shoulder. “Thanks for that. I’m not in the mood to ask questions and deal with bullshit.” I turned to the demons, who were mostly avoiding me. It was Mackenzie who narrowed her eyes at me, begging for a challenge. I close my eyes, sighing deeply. Turning back to my friends, I cracked my neck. “Head home, you guys, I’ll be there soon.”

“You good, man?” Finn asked.

His ability to sense emotion meant there was no hiding it. “Mostly yes. I’m just boiling over a bit. I’ll get it out. You guys should go, I’ll be fine.” Smoke around me began to thicken.

He gave me a reassuring pat on the back and everyone else followed suit. They left me to handle the rest of this.

“I’m a man of few words in situations like this.” I circled the trio, making sure each of them looked into the darkness of my eye sockets. “I know my friends got information from you already, but if there’s anything else you failed to mention to them, now is your chance.”

“Chance? You’re insinuating that we may leave here tonight when we all know we won’t. We know what happens when demons are taken by you, Alastor.” This statement comes from the other male, Todd.

“You’re right,” I said with a shrug. “You're not leaving here tonight, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to get as much information from you as I can.”

Mackenzie scoffed, and I whipped my head in her direction. With deft speed, I moved to squat directly in front of her. She gasped as I held the knife I took from the table earlier to her femoral artery, the short skirt she was wearing making it easy to access. Like never before, smoke enveloped us both. “Did you want to share something?” I did my best to ignore how my smoke was acting and lightly pushed the knife into her leg. She finally looked up at me and spat in my face.

My hand reached out, gripping Mackenzie’s jaw tight. “That was a very stupid choice, little girl.” I shoved her face away from me with so much force her chair rocks, disturbing the smoke around us. “If none of you have anything else to say. Guess it’s time for some fun. Well, for me.”

Maneuvering their chairs to be in a row, I strategically placed Mackenzie in the middle. I needed to unleash the madness, though. It was raging and apparently the smoke around me was an indicator of that now.

Sitting on the floor in front of them, they stared at me, confused. With a phantom grip, I constricted each of their airways.

Then, my eyes drifted closed, and I let the madness go.