Burn

CHAPTER 27

A million things were hidden in those two words.

I don't want to leave either. I want to stay with you. I want more time. All the time. And I want to spend it with you.

Behind them, Margo cleared her throat.

"Are we ready?" She asked awkwardly.

"Yeah," Ryu answered, not taking his eyes from Carter's. "We are."

Margo instructed Carter and Ryu to sit cross-legged in the circle of candles across from each other and hold hands.

"You're connected by the bargain, so to exorcise Ryu, we need to sever it," Margo had explained when they'd shot her matching quizzical glances. "Now, make sure your knees are touching-oh, don't look at me like that."

Margo then went around the circle and cautiously inspected each candle, muttering strange words as she went. Despite the sheer abnormality of the situation, she seemed to be taking everything in stride, book propped open in her hands and brow furrowed in concentration. Carter felt a rush for gratitude for her.

"Hey, Margo?" He called when she'd finished with the last candle.

Margo glanced up from the book with a distracted frown. "Yes?"

"Thankyou. For, you know...doing this."

Margo's gaze softened, and a smile bloomed across her face. "Of course." She returned to the page she'd been reading, then nodded and bit her lip. "Okay, I think we're ready for the next step. Hopefully my pronunciation isn't too shoddy."

Clearing her throat, Margo stretched out a hand and held it over the circle. Then she began to chant in strange tongues, voice rising and falling like a cresting wave, and each word seemed to cut Carter to his core.

"Voco te! Audi me! Contractus confractus! Et vade in domum tuam!"

Around them, the candles flared to life, flickering in the gathering gloom of dusk. Carter flinched, and Ryu gave his hand a comforting squeeze.

Margo continued to chant, repeating the phrases with building confidence. The flames of the candles washed her in amber tones and lit up her eyes like rounded wicks, conjuring a mystical, eerie atmosphere.

"Voco te! Audi me! Contractus confractus! Et vade in domum tuam!"

"I think I can feel it!" Ryu called, and Carter realised he could barely over him over the sudden wind that had picked up, howling through the field and sending the stalks fluttering violently.

Ryu said something else, but it was lost to the breeze; Carter squeezed his hand and Ryu squeezed back, and somehow there was so much more meaning in that gesture than any word could express.

Ryu's gaze warmed, the red of it less scorching and more crackling, like the comfort of a winter fire on a cold evening. There was something shining in them, something so intoxicating it took all of Carter's strength not to lean forward-

Ryu gave a sudden warning cry and reared back, eyes widening at a spot over Carter's shoulder.

Carter whirled, still gripping Ryu's hands, and gaped at the sight; a tall, fiery-haired woman with glowing eyes and purple skin was stalking through the field toward them, black plumes engulfing her every step.

Carter's heart plummeted like a stone to the pit of his stomach, waves of nausea engulfing him as bile rose in his throat.

Fear and anger and misery all surged through him, and when he turned back, he could see his sentiments echoed on Ryu's face.

"Fuck," Ryu whispered, gazing widely at the half-finished ritual unfurling around them. The  candles were flaring brighter and brighter, and Margo's hair had started to float about her face, lifting elegant from her shoulders. "Fuck, fuck, fuck-"

The ground trembled beneath their feet, neatly upending a candle, and Margo, still chanting, turned to stare in terror at the demon approaching through the gathering night, the brush of her skirts leaving dead earth and brown grass in her wake.

Of all the demons they'd faced thus far, this one was the most human in appearance; it was only her bright violet skin and the skeletal horns protruding from her forehead that proclaimed her otherworldly origins. She wouldn't be remiss at a comic convention, or perhaps a medieval fair. The dress she wore was black and skin-tight, hugging the curves of her hips and pooling in elegant sheets at her bare feet.

As she reached the outskirts of their ritual, a malicious smile broke across her face, revealing twin rows of too-sharp teeth and a black, oily tongue.

"Mortals," she purred, and Carter spotted a tail unfurling behind her, lashing in time with the stalks of grass blowing in the wind. "My, my, what a treat." Her terrible gaze swung to Ryu and pinned him in place. "How kind of you, comrade, to have delivered two souls to me."

Ryu bared his own teeth and shifted into a defensive stance. "Leave. Them. The fuck. Alone."

To Carter's dismay, she only laughed and reached out a clawed hand, reaching through the circle of candles-

A howl of fury and pain shattered through the air as she jerked her hand back, staring narrow-eyed at the circle; a flare of light had exploded outward, forming a dome around Ryu and Carter. On the picnic blanket, the white symbols Margo had drawn glowed atop the tartan fabric, feeding into the shield.

Carter stared at it, at the light crackling around them, and then at Margo, still chanting, voice shaking with evident terror. The book in her hands was also glowing, casting her face in sharp relief and setting her eyes alight.

Carter figured it out at the same time the demon did.

"MARGO-"

Carter leapt to his feet, but he was too slow; the demon leapt at Margo, shoving the book from her hands and toppling her to the ground. Margo's chanting cut off with an abrupt shriek, and Carter watched in horror as the candles extinguished with a collective hiss, taking the glowing light, and the protective shield, with them.

Heart thundering, Carter tore across the rug, gaze fixated on Margo's struggling shape as she kicked and scratched at the demon holding her down.

But he'd only just managed to clear the candles when a hand shot out and gripped his arm, yanking him backward.

"What?!" Carter demanded, whirling on Ryu. He wouldn't stay on the sidelines this time. He wouldn't. "I'm not just gonna-"

But he broke off at the look on Ryu's face, somehow both blank and stricken at the same time.

And when he spoke, his voice was almost a whisper.

"Burn me, Carter."

A/N: Please feel free leave a comment and/or vote if you enjoyed!