We were halfway to Boulder when it happened. Hades growled. Isaac’s hand suddenly crushed mine. I gasped in pain as I looked up. Isaac’s face was in a snarl, his eyes glowing red through the black shadow completely covering him. His hand jerked away from mine. The zip tie broke; his fist snapped out. I felt the hit, tasted blood. I dropped out of my seat to the floor in an effort to get away.
“You fucking bitch!” A deep, demonic voice filled the cabin as the lights started flickering. There was shouting. I was pulled to my back. Isaac was over me, his weight on my waist pinning me down. “You think you can take him from me!” The demon pulled his fist back. “He’s mine, you’ve already lost.” Before I could block, a black blur knocked Isaac off me. I scrambled away from the fight between Isaac and Zeke. The plane suddenly plummeted. Asher moved to help. Zeke was hitting Isaac. That wasn’t going to work. The plane was in a nose dive. Heart hammering in my chest, I crawled to the wrestling guys. I moved to Isaac’s head while Asher got through to Zeke.
“Isaac!” I called to him. The demon reached for me. Both Asher and Zeke slammed Isaac’s arms to the floor of the plane. “Cookie Monster! Help us!” Isaac shook his head hard; the plane suddenly made a hard turn. Everyone was pressed into the floor. I held his face and lowered mine to his until his eyes were all I could see. “Isaac, fight,” I whispered. Isaac’s amber flickered in his wild red eye. He was fighting, he was just losing.
No! Something inside me snapped. My chest felt solid, strong. Without thinking, I sent my will searching for him. I focused on sending out that gold thread to grab onto his soul. I watched, as if in slow motion, that golden thread move over Isaac’s chest. Then it dove deep into his chest.
I was instantly thrown into Isaac. It was like I was skydiving and sliding down a rope at the same time. I held onto that thread and dove past all his memories; I wasn’t here for them. I was here for Isaac and nothing would stop me. Suddenly, there was darkness everywhere. I hit the ground hard. I moved to my feet. It was pitch black. Before I even wondered if it was possible, I conjured a light and threw it a few feet above me. The ground was rocky, dry, and covered with red clay. That voice was whispering again. I ran towards it, sending the light ahead of me.
“There is no point in fighting me. They don’t want you, they don’t care.” The voice was growing louder.
Isaac screamed. I increased the light and kept running along a small dirt path towards a craggy outcropping. I threw more lights up to brighten Isaac’s center.
"Isaac!" I shouted, hoping he'd hear me as I moved along a desert ridge.
“You are not me,” Isaac repeated over and over. “Get out, you fucker!” I ran into the middle of an outcropping of stone pillars and found Isaac, pacing, with his hands over his ears.
“You belong in the dark, Isaac. You know you do,” the demon called.
Oh, hell no! I instantly conjured a fireball and threw it towards the voice. It hit a boulder and lit it up, not burning, just making light. The demon roared. I sent another and another until there was enough light to see by. Isaac stood still, gaping at me.
“That’s not going to do it, girl,” the demon hissed from the darkness. I strode into the middle of the pillars of stone where Isaac was still eyeing me.
“You're in my territory now, bitch,” I warned the demon. Something in the shadows moved through the formations. I kept my eyes on it. “You may be stronger than me, but you don’t rule here.” I turned to Isaac; he backed up.
“Cookie Monster, it’s me,” I told him. He blinked.
“Red? How… how did you get here?” he asked, confused.
“I don’t exactly know. But I’m here. We need your help. I don’t know how much time I have here, so listen.” I pointed at the dirt. “This is your center, Isaac. This is who you are, everything you are. You control this world. Bring in the light and you'll drive it away.” I really hoped I wasn't lying. Isaac just stood in the sand.
“I don’t have any light left, Lexie.” Tears were running down his weary face. “I’m tired.”
“Then you can have mine.” I conjured a golden ball of light from my own energy. I made it grow. Made it brighter. I poured more energy into it, until my nose started bleeding. It was huge. I sent it up into the sky. The shadows fell back a good five hundred feet. There was a scream of pain from the demon as the light burned its flesh. I searched the remaining shadows for it. The shadow was gone, for now. When I turned back, Isaac was looking up at the light with hope in his eyes.
“It’s not gone, is it?” he asked wearily.
“No, but this will give us time,” I admitted. “You can get him to back off. Visualize light; imagine the heat on your skin, that sting in your eyes, and will it into existence. That’s how it works here.”
“Really?” he asked, his voice cracking.
“Yeah, that’s how it works.” I felt that pull. I quickly conjured a pack of road flares for him to use. “Shit, I’m being pulled back. We are with you, we are fighting for you. Hold on—”
I was jerked back and thrown out.
I opened my eyes and the world spun. I groaned and curled up on my side. Pain radiated from my temples and back over my head. It felt like I had broken something in my brain and the shards were digging in. What… Green eyes met mine. Miles gently brushed my hair from my face.
“Lexie?” Miles’ smooth, silky voice was nice on my mind. A tongue licked the back of my hand.
“Here… minute,” I whispered. I closed my eyes and floated in misery. Someone pressed a napkin to my nose. I held it there and groaned. Nausea had my stomach in my throat. “Kit,” I whispered. There was movement. Someone put a nausea tab in my hand. I popped it into my mouth and tasted cherries. When the nausea finally pulled back, I opened my eyes again.
“I take it we aren’t crashing?” I asked, feeling miserable.
“No, as soon as you closed your eyes the pilot was able to get control,” Miles told me. “What did you do?”
“Not now,” Dr. Zimmer told them. Miles moved so the doctor could kneel next to me. He pulled out a light and checked my eyes. I answered his questions to his satisfaction before he got to his feet.
“She checks out fine, let’s get her in a seat,” Dr. Zimmer announced.
I swallowed hard. “Let me get up.” I rolled to my stomach and pushed to my feet, swaying instantly. Zeke caught me, lifted me off my feet, and moved me to sit in the closest seat.
“What did you do?” Zeke snapped.
I checked my tissues before meeting his eyes. “Well, I kind of grabbed Isaac. I… I somehow went to his center.” Zeke frowned. “I found him in the dark, helped him, told him how his center works. Then I was yanked back out.”
“How the hell did you do that?” Asher demanded, his eyes wide.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I was desperate and just kinda did it.”
“But you spoke to him?” Ethan asked, his voice thick.
I met Ethan’s eyes. “Yeah.”
A wave of exhaustion crashed over me. I laid back against the seat. “I… I think I’m going to pass out…”
Miles hit a button and the comfy seat reclined. Oh, that was better. Engine grease filled my lungs as my belt was buckled.
“Rest, Ally,” Asher whispered. A hand took my left; I recognized the callouses on his fingers. It was Ethan. Darkness washed over me.
Chapter 13
Boulder, Colorado
We pulled the rented SUV into the parking lot of Saint Joseph's church. The church was beautiful, built from old, rough stone. The stunning stained glass shone in the fading sun light. A great place to take your possessed friend.