Allowing my pain to show me the way, I wandered like a blind man through the library. After about ten minutes, I stopped in front of a shelf where the dull ache in my chest was at its most pronounced.
This had to be it! The entrance to the temple. I touched the books with the ring of protection. With a flash of magical energy, the Seal of Solomon ignited and the bookshelf evaporated into thin air. The secret doorway to the temple stood revealed.
I pulled open the door and entered the dimly lit space beyond. Stone steps disappeared into the darkness. I unholstered Hellseeker and began to descend the winding flight of stairs.
The pain in my chest intensified with each step. I’d expected a single flight of stairs but the stone steps ran much deeper. As I walked in darkness, I lost all sense of time. At last, I arrived at a doorway framed by two flickering torches. This was it. I opened the wooden door, steeled for the worst.
As far as sites of human sacrifice and demon worship went, I’d seen worse. Torches ran along the walls, offering their scant light and heat. A winged demonic statue loomed at the far end of the temple and formed the centerpiece to this unholy place of worship. A rough-hewn stone altar fronted the idol of evil. Drawing closer, I recognized the man tied to the altar—it was Desmond Horne.
The final sacrifice, I thought.
He was wearing pajamas and an expensive silk nightrobe and looked like he was trying for a role in a Hugh Hefner biopic. Clearly his attacker must’ve caught him off guard in his home.
Guard up, I approached the altar. More details of the statue jumped into view. It was a good rendition of the beast I had first laid eyes upon when I was eight years old. I snapped a picture of the statue with my phone and tried to send it to Skulick but failed to get a signal in the subterranean temple.
Desmond Horne’s wild eyes spotted me, and he desperately strained against the thick ropes holding him down. A gag made it impossible for him to say anything. To Horne, I appeared to be one of his loyal guards who’d arrived in the nick of time.
I walked past him. My gaze probed the temple’s shadows, looking for Celeste. My efforts were quickly rewarded as she stepped from behind the demonic idol.
“You can take off that silly mask, Raven. Your disguise can’t fool me.”
There was a beat of hesitation before I complied. The expression in Desmond Horne’s eyes changed from hope to panic as I reverted to my usual self.
“It’s midnight,” Celeste said. “Looks liked you arrived right on time for the big show.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I DIDN’T NEED to check my watch to know that midnight was upon us. The demon was near. Ever since I set foot in the temple, my whole being had been gripped by a sense of animal panic. Despite my years of hunting monsters, the demon’s approach was affecting me in a primal way. The hair on my arms stood up, and my stomach cramped with anxiety. For a moment I was just prey reacting to an approaching predator.
Weirdly enough, replaying my first encounter with the demon allowed me to ride out the waves of terror. Like so many times before, thinking about my dead parents and the beast that had taken their lives turned my fear into anger.
Your chance to face the demon has come. Dad, Mom—today your killer will pay for his crimes.
The torches flickered inside the temple, and the shadows grew more menacing.
“You can feel it, can’t you?” Celeste said. “He’s here. Any moment now, we’ll know if Morgal will accept my terms.”
Morgal. The name sent an electric a jolt through me.
For years, the demon had just been an abstract boogeyman. Now my parents’ killer had a name. It channeled my rage and anger, gave it a specific target. For the first time, closure was a possibility.
But first, I had to make it through the night alive.
Knowing the beast’s name was only the first step. Without Skulick’s knowledge of demonology, there was only one other person in the world who could tell me what I needed to know to defeat this monster. And this man was tied to the altar in front of me.
Muffled sounds of violence rang through the temple and brought my musings to an end. Bursts of machine gun fire echoed from above, followed by screams. I pictured the fog spreading into the mansion, down the long corridors, into the library and ultimately making its way down the secret stairway leading into the temple, all the while unleashing the hellhounds on Horne’s security forces. They didn’t stand a chance against the horror inside the hellish mist.
I focused on Celeste. “I don’t think your father sold your soul to Morgal in exchange for power and money. Your soul was payment for a hit on my parents.”
If Celeste was surprised by this latest revelation, she didn’t show it. Her gaze remained fixed on me.
“I want to know why Horne wanted my father out of the picture.”