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Granny followed the direction of her finger and we all gazed upon a row of people slowly walking down the road from the heart of Hanna. They were all women of various shapes and sizes. I recognized them as fellow residents of town. Dr. Richt, the kind veterinarian, Lara Clary, who taught me how to ride a horse, Rachel McKoy, a girl I’d grown up playing with. And so many more. They tread upon the blacktop, faces impassive to the noises of battle around them.
Their solemn march wasn’t what caused me to tremble. It was the flashes of red I saw in each of their eyes. Evil taking root in their bodies. Demons had possessed each of them and were steadily marching them in our direction.
“See?” Mona waved her hand. “More recruits for my Prince’s army. A demon is far stronger with a human host. It won’t be long before he rules this world.”
I wasn’t sure if she was talking for my benefit or Granny’s, but it didn’t matter. She had the reaction she wanted. As I silently mourned for the friends I saw among the horde, Granny’s neck went red. She turned slowly, her mouth pulled down into a fearsome snarl.
“You’ll regret the day you stepped foot into this town, girly.”
“I don’t think so.” She shook her head. “We’ve got plans for you. We’ve got plans for all of you.”
Half a dozen ferals appeared from behind the burning building. The flames didn’t seem to faze them. They stalked through the heat and surrounded Granny like lions on a hunt. She unloaded her shotgun into the first to charge, blasting a hole through its middle. Still, five more attacked, overwhelming her within seconds.
What are you doing?
I wrestled with the conflicted feelings in my head. One of disinterest and of concern. Would Granny have cared if our roles were reversed? I could answer that with a strong no.
“Don’t pretend you care what happens to that old hag.” Mona examined her nails, picking at them. “One more human body is one more feral stronger in the Prince’s army. What don’t you understand about that?”
So, that’s why you attacked Hanna? Warm bodies?
“Pretty much.” She huffed and glanced up at the fight still going on.
Granny had managed to reload her gun, but was losing the battle. They had her on her knees, her gray hair ripped free from its ponytail.
The lengths that Seth was going through to strengthen his army scared me. If he set his eyes on the city of Spearfish, there would be no telling how many humans he could possess and recruit to his army. Many more ferals had escaped the Hell Gate last summer than we’d predicted. Who knew how many more had joined his cause since then? This war was looking grim for the Nephilim. They couldn’t fight this many demons—even if they all battled together.
“Give it up, lady.” Mona finally stopped messing with her fingernails and strutted closer to her. “You’ve lost. The end.”
A feral swiped at her gun, but she swung it out of reach at the last moment. A dark glow of decisiveness settled into her eyes. Surrounded by demons and no way out, she clasped the gun to her chest and pointed the end of the barrel up at the base of her chin, her finger on the trigger.
“You’ll never take me alive.”
My impulse was to close my eyes. If I’d been in control of my own body, I would’ve done so. But Mona didn’t blink. In a burst of speed, she yanked the gun from Granny’s clutches and struck her over the head with it.
“Don’t just stand there,” she yelled at the nearest feral. Granny moaned on the ground, her temple bloodied. “Complete your orders.”
I prayed in vain that someone would show up at that moment. That Gabe would come rushing around the corner of the Pump N’ Go with his sword held high. That Raquel, wielding her duel guns, would stop this monstrosity. But no one came.
A feral with striking orange hair and freckled skin kneeled next to Granny’s lifeless form. He clasped her chin hard and forced two fingers between her paper thin lips. She gagged and heaved, despite having her eyes clamped shut. The feral leaned back on his haunches and took a deep breath. Expelling it in a hiss, a shadowy black form began to leak from his mouth, entering Granny’s open mouth.
I watched, paralyzed in the back of my own mind. In a matter of seconds, the feral dematerialized his body and entered Granny. The moment he was gone, her eyes snapped open and bright red flashed. Sitting up, she tested the way her fingers bent, the girth of her strong arms, and the strength in her legs. Finally, she stood and shook out her mane.
“Join the others,” Mona ordered impatiently. “And give a message to our Prince: I await his orders and will begin the siege as soon as he demands it.”
Granny nodded, the features in her face slack. Then, she turned on her heel, abandoning her favorite shotgun, and trailed after the townspeople who had disappeared in the forest.
How could you do that? I finally found my tongue.
“It’s only right,” she huffed. I could feel anger rolling off of her as her shoulders shook.
Rage burned through me. How can you destroy lives like this?
“Because none of them deserve to live!” she screamed, digging her nails into her thighs. “None of you! You walk around, not realizing the freedom you have and take for granted. And yet, you whine and you fight and you worry about things that don’t even matter in the long run. Can you imagine what it was like, living my entire life in the back of your head? Not knowing how I got there or why I was trapped? Having to listen to your thoughts, day in and day out, without being able to speak to you.” She kicked the dirt and took a deep breath. “You don’t know what Hell is. That was Hell.”
I gritted my teeth and held my tongue. No, I didn’t know what being locked inside a body for years was like, but I was starting to get a good picture. It wasn’t pretty. Now, I couldn’t be sure whether it was those years of isolation or simply her evil nature driving her. But I could tell that Mona was unraveling, little by little. She shuddered and huffed as she hoofed it on the outskirts of town, avoiding the Nephilim still doing clean up duty.
Most of the ferals had either been defeated or ran away by now. From what I could see, most of the town had been taken. It was a sad sight and I prayed that my old friend Kate wasn’t among them. I hated the thought of having to exorcise her. So many times, the process went wrong.
