A realization hit me; the demon hadn’t distorted physical reality, only our perception of it. This was a demonic mind trick, nothing more. Which meant we were still on the road.
The sudden insight shattered the demonic illusion. All this time we’d been in motion, my Equus Bass 770 roaring along at full speed. The illusionary cop took my focus off the actual road. As reality snapped back to normal, I saw that the Equus Bass had veered into the path of an oncoming bus. I recognized the terror in the bus driver’s eyes—it mirrored my own.
Celeste let out a shrill scream as I twisted the steering wheel and cut back into my lane. The bus barreled past and almost clipped us as the tortured wail of screeching tires filled the air. A cold sweat ran down my face. Had I failed to snap out of the illusion, Celeste and I would now be wrapped in a cocoon of twisted metal and shattered glass. Not exactly a comforting visual.
I turned toward Celeste, who stared at me with shocked eyes. “What just happened?”
The demon almost won, I thought, but I kept my mouth shut. As the road flashed by, another realization sunk in. The mark of the demon on my chest hadn’t lit up during the attack. Talk about disturbing developments. I relied on my scar to detect approaching threats; it had saved my ass on numerous occasions and prevented the creatures of the night from catching me off guard. So why had it failed me today?
“I’m sorry,” Celeste said, breaking my chain of thought.
Her voice quaked as she continued, “Meeting me put you in terrible danger. I should never have gotten you involved.”
“Listen, Celeste, this is what I do. I fight the dark side. I eat demons for breakfast.”
I grinned, but she didn’t seem convinced by my bravado. Her eyes were dull with defeat. If she succumbed to despair, the demon would win.
“How can one hope to beat the devil himself?” she muttered.
Excellent question. Skulick and I had been trying to answer it for the last few years, ever since the door between our realms was cracked open. We weren’t any closer to figuring it out. All I knew was that I had to stand up to a bully, no matter how powerful he might be.
“I need to buy us some time,” I said. “Learn more about the demon. The more we know about the enemy we’re up against here, the better our odds…”
Of saving your soul, I thought, but kept that last part to myself. Celeste was all too aware of the stakes without me having to remind her again. Instead I tried to say something a bit more encouraging. “My partner has forgotten more about demonology than I’ll ever know. He might have some ideas.”
Skulick wouldn’t approve of what I was about to do next, but I didn’t see any other choice. I turned left and jumped onto the freeway. My new destination was the one place in this city that was off limits to Hell’s infernal legions.
CHAPTER SEVEN
LOOK UP “INNER sanctum” in the dictionary and you’ll get the following definition: A private or secret place to which few other people are admitted to. I was bringing Celeste to our own secret place and breaking one of our key rules of engagement. Our headquarters was off-limits to clients. But I couldn’t just leave her out in the cold.
Celeste’s situation was different from our usual cases. The way I saw it, I didn’t have much of a choice. Nevertheless, I expected Skulick to be pissed.
I turned out to be right.
My partner was waiting for us at the elevator, and his disapproving scowl spoke volumes. Before I could explain myself, he brusquely pulled me aside. His legs might be useless, but his upper body rippled with muscle. “Ms. Solos, it’s a pleasure meeting you in person,” he said, putting emphasis on the last two words, “but would you please excuse me for a moment while I have a quick word with my partner? We’ll be right with you.”
We were barely out of hearing range when Skulick got into it. “What were you thinking, bringing her here?”
“There’s no other way. We were attacked by Hellhounds!”
“And now they have her scent. She’ll lead them right to us.”
“I couldn’t hold off a sustained demonic assault out there on my own. At least here, we stand a fighting chance. The wards will hold them back.”
“Can you be certain of that? We don’t even know which entity we’re up against.”
“That’s your department,” I retorted, unable to suppress my own growing irritation. “I thought this through, believe me.”
Skulick stole another mistrustful glance at Celeste, who leaned uncertainly against the elevator door. “Which head were you doing your thinking with?”