Night Unbound [Claiming series, #1]

- Final -

               

"It's near."

An hour later Julie and Asher were in the warehouse district, entering an abandoned brick building filled with dust, rats and discarded trash. Asher hadn't worn his usual leather coat, but instead a linen jacket. She suspected, with a sick and heavy heart, that he had chosen the jacket for its flammability.

"How do you know?" she asked. The darkness frightened her, pierced only by their flashlights, the huge echoing space seemed full of threat.

"I smelled it. I know the scent now. It's not here yet, but we passed it."

Faster than she could see, he cleared s pace on the cement floor. His movements were so quick that they stirred the dust up into choking clouds. Her heart hammered, feeling as if it had risen into her throat.

Then Asher approached, took the flashlight from her and set it on the floor. "I'm going to tie you to that pillar."

"But how can I help if I can't move?" Her mouth seemed to have turned into the Sahara.

"Only until I make the circle. In case if arrives early, I don't want it to be able to stop me. Believe me, I'll untie you as soon as I deem it wise."

She licked her lips and walked over to the concrete post nearby. Leaning her back against it, she closed her eyes and said the St. Michael prayer silently as she felt ropes wind around her, snug but not too tight."

"Don't pray too hard," Asher said humorously. "We don't want to keep it away, remember?"

"This is not funny!"

"No," he agreed. "It's not. Just trying to cheer you up. If it makes you feel better, keep praying until I'm done making the circle."

She did exactly that, but watched intently because she realized she might be called upon to close that circle if things went awry.

He spoke as he worked. "I'm not going to close it just yet. If it possesses me, you're going to have to be able to force me into this circle. No demon can cross this circle once it's closed, whatever the provocation. However, as long as you're not possessed, and I'm not possessed, we can cross that circle simply by stepping over it. But don't step on the lines or smudge them."

He drew a large circle with chalk. Inside it, he drew a pentagram, ensuring that the other corners touched the edges of the circle. "Depending on the direction," he said, "this can be protective or demonic."

"How's that?"

"Upside-down it can be interpreted at a horned goat. Right side up it signifies the crucifixion."

"How do you know which is which?"

"North is considered up."

She watched uneasily as he drew it upside-down. "Why are you making the goat then?"

"Because it's hell I want to open a gate to."

Her skin began to crawl, and the room seemed to be growing colder. Just her imagination, she told herself. Nothing but imagination.

At each point of the star, he placed a thick, tall candle and lit it. Outside, he arranged the incense sticks in small holders and started them all burning. Then just outside the circle, he lay some bound, dried herbs.

"Sage," he said. "With a few other powerful herbs mixed in. I don't know why, but demons tend to find safe smoke utterly repellant. If I get possessed, light it and wave it everywhere, but stay outside the circle." Then he held up the want lighter and struck it, adjusting it so that a large flame shot from its tip. "Use this against me if you have to, to force me inside the circle, and don't be afraid to set my clothes afire. That demon won' want me immolated any more than I do."