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“We can.”
“Yes. Yes, of course, I give you permission.Pleasehelp me save her.”
He moved closer to me, near the hand that still held the scapular. I felt a tingling sensation all over my body, little bolts of electricity, and the air felt a tiny bit colder. He reached out and touched me, and my body jerked. It was . . . strange. It didn’t hurt, it just felt weird. In a couple of breaths, things regulated, and he was right—I knew everything I needed to know to kick this demon’s ass.
I squatted and reached into my messenger bag. I didn’t usually wear a stole because I didn’t exactly have the right to do so anymore, but these weren’t normal circumstances. I dug out my purple stole and draped it over my neck, looping my rosary over my head to join my cross and Saint Michael medallion. When I stood again, I handed one exorcism rite book off to Hanlen and opened the other, swallowing the lump in my throat.
“Page one eighty-six,” I told Hanlen. “Only read the responses, and only when I tell you. Everyone else,”—I looked around at the others—“echo what she says when she says it.”
I sprinkled Sky with holy water again and once again held my crucifix against her chest, trying not to let her thrashing and straining into shapes that shouldn’t be humanly possible derail me. I started the rite, invoking the Archangel in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I repeated the holy water and kept going, giving blessings, thanking those who would be helping, and asking for assistance. When I reached the participation portion of the rite, I signaled for Hanlen to answer after I read my parts, and everyone else echoed her. The entire time, Sky thrashed and roared, spoke in tongues, and spat vile lies.
At one point, she turned her head to Larken and told her that she could no longer run. Could no longer hide from her past and those who would find and destroy her. I saw Birdie’s face pale, but she was a strong witch and a professional and she maintained her composure and kept up with her spell. I had no time to think on that, but I would ask her about it when this was all said and done.
Because itwouldbe done.
“Be gone, unclean spirit. We drive you from this innocent. All satanic powers, infernal invaders, wicked legions, assemblies, and sects, we command you to leave. The Most High compels you. The power of God compels you. Jesus Christ, our Savior, compels you. The Holy Mother compels you.”
Her back bowed, and I heard a crack, my heart falling to my stomach. I felt myself start to waver a little, but I had to keep it together.
I yanked my rosary off and wrapped it around my fist, putting my hand on Sky’s head. It kicked up her fighting a bit, but everyone seemed to be holding well. “Be gone, Moloch, devourer of souls. Stoop beneath the powerful hand of God, tremble in his name and flee this place.”
Sky roared, the demon not liking that we knew its name. “I will roast you on a spit and eat you like I should have crunched on this one’s fragile bones.”
“No, you will not!” I shouted. “Sky, I know you’re in there. Fight. Come back to us!”
I sprinkled her with holy water again and winced at the hiss, even though I knew it was the demon and not her. “Be gone, Moloch, destroyer of children. Tremble in the presence of the light of Heaven and return to Hell where you belong. The power of Christ compels you. I command you by the power invested in me, by this joining of blood, by the one who defeated you before . . . LEAVE this vessel!!” I shouted the last and pressed my hand a little harder against Sky’s forehead. Her back bowed, and she shrieked, letting loose a sound unlike anything I’d heard from a human before. It nearly tore a hole in my heart.
Suddenly, a sickening black mass poured out of her mouth in a cloud the size of a basketball and then exploded, sending all of us flying back.
And then . . . nothing.
* * *
When I woke,my head aching and my throat raw, I sat up gingerly, looking around and noticing that everyone else was doing the same. Some helped others. Some simply sat there with heads in hands. I looked up at the table and saw Sky still lying there, her body prone.
I flew up and ran over, relief flooding me as I saw her chest rise and fall with breath. Her color was better, but I didn’t dare trust that everything was okay. Not until she opened her eyes, and I knew for sure. There was one big difference, though. A thick chunk of her hair had turned a bright, snowy white. I fingered the tendril, hoping it was the worst of the fallout from what’d happened.
Just as I was thinking that, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked over to find my grandfather.
“We did it, son,” he said. “Moloch is gone. Back to Hell where he should have been all those years ago.”
I looked back down at Sky and brushed some more hair away from her face. “Are you sure?” I asked.
“I’m sure,” he answered.
I looked over at him. “Thank you.”
“No need. This was my purpose. It’s why I’m still here. Now, I can finally rest.”
I hadn’t even thought of that. This unfinished business was why he hadn’t been able to move on to paradise. Decades of lingering. “I’m so sorry, Grandda.”
“It’s not your fault, Paxton.” He smiled. “And God’s plan is great. He just sometimes plays the long game.”
It was my turn to smile. “I’ve missed you so much. What happened when you disappeared?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t disappear, I just went away. After everything that happened with the Moon Call Coven, I was never really myself again. I hid it well from you and your sister when I was allowed to see you—by the grace of God alone. You were going through a lot on your own, and your father didn’t want anything to do with either of us. So, I bought a little secluded place in the mountains in Montana. I was oppressed and virtually hunted by the public, and it was better and safer for you all if I wasn’t around. If we were in olden times, they probably would have come after me with pitchforks in the night.” He shook his head.
“But what happened? Did the oppression become possession and finally kill you?”
