Whatever they’d done, whatever those words evoked, the evil clearly did not have its cooperative pants on today, because everything just became worse.
A low hum, like a transformer sizzling before it blows, began an upward climb of noise, tearing at Poppy’s ears until the sound was all she could hear.
It whirled in her eardrums, pounding, ripping, punching its way to a frenzy, clawing at her, pulling her from Rick’s arms until, in a whoosh of air, it lifted her upward…
The intent obvious—crush her against the ceiling.
Everything happened in slow motion, the weightlessness of her limbs, her awareness that if she didn’t do something to stop this, she’d end up embedded in the sheetrock above her, the notion that whatever had a hold on her left her feeling dirty and ashamed.
“By all that is mine, I order thou to release!” Rick roared, so loud the shed reverberated with his demand.
“Arch! Look out!” Poppy heard Wanda cry out in distress before there was a loud thunk of what sounded like body-to-body contact and Nina was screaming, “I got her!”
Then she was falling, her limbs thrashing, her stomach dropping in similar fashion to that of riding a roller coaster. Arms caught her, the strength of them secure and comforting in their capture.
Nina grunted in her ear as they fell to the floor in a heap, knocking the wind out of her.
Rick’s was the first face she saw, his eyes masked in worry. Pulling her upward, he enveloped her in his arms, the scent of his cologne settling in her nose as he pressed his lips to the top of her head. “Jesus, Poppy. Are you okay?”
Her head fell back, limp and dizzy, but she managed a nod, her stomach hot with the ache of vomiting. “I think my intestines need to be stuffed back into my body. Is that a thing? I mean, can that actually be done? Somebody call the witch proctologist.”
His laughter slithered into her ears, almost making her smile, except her lips felt like someone had taken a shoehorn to them and stretched them out. “I think you still have your intestines. I don’t know how that’s possible after what just happened, but I think you’re good.”
She wanted to struggle out of his embrace, certain it was inappropriate, and January would report back to the powers that be that she was a dirty-dirty whore, but she had nothing left.
It had all flown out of her mouth.
“Give her to me, Rick,” January demanded, pulling Poppy from Rick’s embrace and saving her the embarrassment of a weak show of feministic strength. “Poppy, oh Goddess! Are you okay?”
As the doctor’s face came into focus, her hair wild about her face, her glasses cracked, Poppy forced a smile. “Duh. I just puked a demon. I think the purge is complete. What’s not okay about that?”
“Fuck, you’re GD awesome!” Nina crowed, looking down at her with a hint of admiration in her eyes.
“Is everyone okay? Carl? Archibald?” Poppy asked, attempting to sit up, only to be settled back against January with a gentle hand.
January patted her shoulder with a light touch. “Everyone’s fine. Just catch your breath.”
Calamity scampered near her head, pressing a paw to her cheek, making a clucking noise. “I’m sorry. I suck the ass of an elephant for getting you into this, Poppy-Seed. I’m the crappiest of crap. But I’m gonna tell ya the truth. We got big trouble.”
January bit the inside of her cheek, enforcing Calamity’s claim. “She’s right. We got trouble.”
“Should I have a scotch in hand when you define ‘big trouble’?”
Marty and Wanda helped January lift Poppy to her feet and brought her to the couch, where Rick plumped a shredded pillow behind her.
But Poppy waved them away. “Don’t fuss over me, just tell me what big trouble is.”
The silence to follow was deafening.
“I’m not hearing an answer.”
January knelt in front of her and took her hands. “The aura I told you about—the malevolent one? That’s what you vomited.”
She searched January’s eyes, not understanding the fear she read in them. “But that’s good, right? Rick told it to let go and it did. So all gone, no? Sort of like an exorcism.”
January shook her head, gripping her fingers. “No. It’s not all gone. That was only a taste of what it’s capable of. My protection spell should have at least kept this thing at bay. But it broke through the spell, Poppy. I’ve never seen that happen before.”
Poppy blanched, the remaining acrid taste on her tongue souring her stomach all over again. “And that means?”
Licking her lips, her face lined with concern, January held fast to her hands, her fingers digging into Poppy’s. “Whatever this force is, it’s latched onto you, and it’s not leaving. I’ve never seen anything so powerful. But worse, I don’t know how to get it out of you.”
Chapter 13