Demon Divine

John Conroe

This book is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Copyright © 2019 John Conroe

Smashwords edition.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

The Demon Accords:

God Touched

Demon Driven

Brutal Asset

Black Frost

Duel Nature

Fallen Stars

Executable

Forced Ascent

College Arcane

God Hammer

Rogues

Snake Eyes

Winterfall

Summer Reign

The Demon Accords Compendium, Volume 1

The Demon Accords Compendium, Volume 2

Demon Divine

C.A.E.C.O. (Summer, 2019)

The Zone War series:

Zone War

Borough of Bones (coming Spring, 2019)

Web of Extinction (coming Fall, 2019)

Cover art by Gareth Otton.

Prologue

The dentist’s office, being the place of business for one Dr. Gary Reynolds, DDS, occupied what had once been a single-family ranch-style house, one that had seen better days. Located right on the border between Burlington’s commercial and residential neighborhoods, it suffered from the beginnings of neglect. None of the deferred maintenance had yet reached a truly extensive level, mostly consisting of peeling paint, degrading roof shingles, and weatherproofing that was beginning to be less proof and more weathered.

The dark of deep night hid most of the negligence; not even the light from the rear employees’ bathroom illuminated more than a few peels of loose paint. As the night concealed the damage on the outside, so too did the closed doors and unlit rooms of the building, at least for a few hours, cover the damage strewn about the inside.

A shower ran in the little three-quarters bath, the sounds of contented humming interwoven into the splash and trickle of running water. In the rest of the office, other liquids and some semi-solids ran down walls and over almost every available surface. Concentrated mostly in the reception area and examination room Number Two, the fluids were almost uniformly blackish in the dark gloom of the unlit office. But here and there, in those places touched ever so slightly by the meager illumination that managed to make its way from the open bathroom doorway, the fluid was more of a deep, dark red. The tiny, feminine-sized footprints of fluid in the carpet just outside the bathroom were as red as they were small. Their trail ran backward to the exam room and, curiously, their size increased the farther back the trail led. In fact, the very shape of the footprints changed from a dainty size five by the bathroom to a long, reptilian three-toed structure larger than that of an average NBA shoe coming out of E2.

The shower abruptly stopped, the humming continuing on for a moment or two. The glass door popped open, revealing feminine perfection impossible to describe. Black hair, black eyes, perfect skin that glowed with the warm mocha tones of Middle Eastern or possibly African heritage, and a flawless figure whose measurements achieved the biologically optimum ratios instinctively sought by human males.

No towel was handy in the office restroom, but apparently none was needed, as the woman’s skin was almost immediately dry and her thick waves of glossy black hair were bereft of moisture only a few moments later.

Stepping gracefully across the small room, the vision of loveliness regarded a neatly folded stack of clothing. Slim, strong fingers plucked a dull grey dress from the pile, holding it up to a critical view that revealed it to be a shapeless sack. She slipped it over her head, foregoing any underthings, and turned to study her reflection in the glass of the shower door.

The horrible dress did little to hide the curves of the body underneath it, although the lady frowned at her reflection in distaste. Then a thought occurred to her and her distaste became the reluctant regret of undertaking an unpleasant task. After a moment, her frown evened out, her expression becoming one of determination.

Instantly everything about her began to change. Her slightly above average height visibly diminished to something under average and her slim figure filled out into a shape commonly referred to as middle-aged spread.

The lustrous black hair became dry, gray, and brittle, the perfect skin wrinkled and leathery. Long legs became short, toned muscle turned to veiny gristle, and a bosom that would melt male minds sagged and drooped.

She frowned at the total result, yet nodded once in reluctant satisfaction, sighing to herself as she slipped still-dainty feet into plain flat shoes. Besides her feet, the only other physical feature unchanged was the black of her bottomless eyes.

Picking up a largish plain pocketbook, the much-changed woman walked out of the bathroom, across the lobby, and out the unlocked door, her stride changing from confident and athletic to a shortened, unstable hobble as she moved. It was as if her personality had changed enough to catch up with her body. The bells strung on the door tinkled merrily as it swung closed behind her, shutting in the unspeakable horror of the gore-strewn office.

The office of death sat quiet for a time, the hours of night clicking past till just a few were left before dawn. A rented Toyota Prius ghosted onto the street, electric motors making little noise as it pulled to a stop two doors down. A slim figure, all in black, slipped out of the car, closing the door with a soft click. The car’s interior lights never came on.

The figure was feminine, but the dark clothing and tight black cap obscured most details. Her head tilted back and finely formed nostrils flared slightly in the cool night. The pale jaw immediately clenched and her throat flexed as she swallowed in a nearly uncontrollable reflex.

Pausing, the woman seemed to gather herself, head tilted as if listening. Then she was simply gone, disappearing so fast it was as if she had been snatched away by the hand of God. The dying night settled again, just the soft ping of the vehicle cooling disturbing the silence.

At the back of the dental office, the shadow of a leafless lilac bush suddenly swelled outward as if pregnant, birthing the slim figure in black in complete silence. The woman opened the door so slowly that not a single bell jingled or chimed. It closed behind her just as softly, leaving no disturbance to mark the woman’s passage.

Minutes ticked by and the building sat waiting. In the east, the sky changed from star-sprinkled blackness to a deep purple. On the street, the Prius stopped ticking; metal finally cooled in the fall temperatures of northern Vermont.

The door suddenly opened, still without a sound, yet much faster than before. The figure in black exited quickly, closing the door with exquisite care. She paused, the pale flesh of her face just visible in the purple of the astronomical dawn. She swallowed again, a hungry sort of thing, before looking first at her gloved hands, then at the ground by her soft-soled boots. Glancing at her right shoulder, she grimaced slightly as she pulled a single strand of hair from her clothing. A stray glimmer from the nearest streetlight illuminated the hair, revealing it to be a golden blonde color.

With a glance at the lightening sky, she paused to think. Then she was gone again and a moment later, the Prius’s driver door clicked shut and the hybrid vehicle pulled away with almost no sound.

Chapter 1

“I’mmmm hunting babies. Where are the little tasty babies?” the man said as he opened the playroom door and peered inside. Purple eyes took in the toy-strewn madness, then he pushed the door open the rest of the way and strode inside, closing the only exit off behind him.

His loose gray t-shirt clung to a musculature defined to an improbable degree. It was as if all the fat had been vacuumed off the body of the world’s greatest Cross Fit champion. His dark hair was short, his sculpted face clean shaved. He moved with an easy, fluid grace.

“Where are the little morsels I crave?” he said, wincing at his own words.

There was no sign of the owners of the plastic trucks, stuffed animals, and children’s books that covered the floor in a pattern closer to bomb debris than any sort of organization.

“Oh, the babies have been playing hard. They must be nearby,” he said, shaking his head at the room’s destruction. A look of what might have been awe flashed across his features.

There came a tiny noise from one corner, just the slightest sound of bare skin brushing carpet. The man with the purple eyes didn’t really need to hear it to know something was occupying space in that part of the room—something unseen. His exceptional hearing had been tracking two fast little heartbeats since he had entered the room. One in the corner where the whisper of friction had come from and the other bird-fast flutter from directly over his head, up high near the ceiling. He had carefully avoided looking up, but now, at the sound, he did turn his head to take in the corner. There was nothing visible except a large stuffed toy gorilla whose stomach looked like it had been caved in. In fact, the ape’s tummy was pressed inward in almost the exact shape of a tiny human rump.

“You can’t fool me. Gorillas don’t have butt-shaped bellies,” he said with a sly grin. A slight feather of air brushed his forehead and he looked up, muscled arms snapping out to catch the tiny body that plummeted at him from three feet above.

“Got you, Cora. Now it’s time for food!” he said, fingers finding enough tickle spots to make the small girl child giggle.

“No!” another voice said from the corner and suddenly a small boy was there, sitting on the gorilla’s stomach, face frowning in worry and anger. “Cora no food.”

“No Wulf, Cora is not food,” the man both agreed and corrected. “But it is time for dinner.”

Outside the playroom’s floor-to-ceiling windows, the sky was growing lighter as dawn approached.

The little boy still frowned, but his father, holding Cora in one hand, leaped lightly over a mound of toy rubble to land next to the boy. He scooped him up with his free hand, tossing him a foot into the air before catching him smoothly with just the single hand.

The toddler laughed and his sister immediately spoke up. “Me too!”

“As you command, Princess Cora,” her father said, throwing her almost to the nine-foot-high ceiling. Her male twin demanded another toss and so Chris Gordon, God’s warrior on Earth, began to systematically juggle his young children like living bowling pins.

The door behind him opened and a black-haired, blue-eyed beauty poked her head in.

“We’ve got a call from Nika up north. And stop calling her princess. Bad enough so many of the Coven does it, not you too.”

“Hey Nika, what’s the word?” Chris asked the empty air, smirking at his wife’s comment.

“You’re not going to stamp out that prince and princess stuff, Tanya. Especially with Arkady leading the mob.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll work on that later. What’s the word up in Burlington?” Tanya Demidova asked.

“The dentist is dead. Missed him and his killer by just a few hours,” came a soft voice from the ceiling speaker.

“The demon is covering his tracks,” Chris said.

“Her tracks, and she didn’t cover them very well because they’re very prominent in the carpet.”

“That nurse that Toni remembered?” Tanya asked.

“Most likely. Tore the dentist and another person, maybe a receptionist or technician, into bloody chunks.”

“You didn’t feed, did you?” Chris asked, which instantly earned him an incredulous glare from his wife.

“Of course not, and you deserve every bit of the look you’re getting from Tanya right now. I’m a professional.”

“Sorry,” he said, giving his wife a silent, apologetic shrug, a toddler balanced on each upturned palm. Interestingly, both youngsters were sitting quietly, heads tilted almost exactly alike, listening to the familiar voice on the room’s audio system.

“Do I hear a note of concern in your voice?” Tanya asked.

“There is a possibility that I could have left a hair strand or two in the crime scene,” Nika said. “I’m on my way to Arcane to enlist Declan’s help.”

“Good plan. Listen, with confirmation of the demon’s presence, Chris and I will head up there immediately, as soon as the plane is ready,” Tanya said. “Gina at Arcane should be able to provide day cover.”

“Yeah, or I’ll just hunker down in the Kid Wonder’s dorm room for the day.”

“That could work, but make sure you tell Stacia, or better yet, have him do it,” Chris said, looking slightly worried.

Tanya rolled her eyes but said nothing.

“Okay, well, I’m pulling into the parking lot at Arcane, so I’ll hang up now.”

“Right. We’ll see you when you get up later today,” Tanya said.

“Call is ended,” came a different voice through the speakers. It sounded like a young male. “Filing a flight plan for Burlington and have called up the pilots to prep for takeoff.”

Chris grinned at his wife, who frowned at the voice. “Thank you Omega,” he said while Tanya stuck her tongue out at him. Her initial awe of the world’s most advanced computer had turned to something like worry.

“Nika?” Cora asked.

“Yes, that was Auntie Nika on the phone,” Tanya said, attention now completely focused on her children. “How was the baby hunting?”

“They are getting craftier by the day. Although this one,” Chris said, hefting Cora, “likes to attack from ambush. And this one,” hefting Wulf, “is as protective of his sister as she is of him.”

“They shouldn’t attack at all. They have no weapons yet.”

“That will come with time. For now, they are learning to hone their talents. A human would not have found them. Eventually, they’ll learn to fool supernaturals too.”

“Well, for now, they need to eat their dinner and get ready for bed,” Tanya said, moving across the room so fast, she seemed to disappear and reappear. She snatched Wulf out of his father’s hand, swinging the delighted little boy in a circle as she danced out of the room. Chris looked at his daughter and found her frowning. Imperiously, she pointed one hand for him to follow the other two. “You truly are your mother’s daughter.” Then he swooped and swung her like a toy plane, jetting out of the playroom.

The family of four was all in the hallway together when the audio system spoke again.

“Tanya, there is an incoming call from someone purporting to be an assistant to an Elder.”

“Must be Grandmother,” Tanya said, handing Wulf to her husband.

“No, I believe the Elder in question is named Mausya.”

Tanya shared a frown with Chris before turning back toward the living room to take the call.

Thirty minutes later, she appeared in the doorway to the twins’ bedroom, standing silently as Chris read a story about a family of bears going on a mountain vacation where everything went wrong. The fact that all three of them were leaning against a furry bear mountain of their own was ironic enough to make Tanya’s serious expression slip into an affectionate smile. The story finished and she swooped in to claim Cora for bed tucking while Chris handled Wulf. Awasos shrank from ginormous bear to merely huge wolf and gave each twin a lick before trotting off toward the kitchen.

“What’s up,” Chris asked, carefully shutting the door as they exited the twins’ room.

Tanya frowned. “I don’t know. The Elders are calling me to Europe… to Paris. Elders, as in Tzao and Mausya. It has something to do with Grandmother. She called after Mausya and demanded I back her, but wouldn’t tell me what I was to back her on.”

“Lydia?” he asked.

She nodded. “She’s reaching out to her network of Coven sources, but it looks like I have to go to Europe. Omega is filing new flight plans. Mother is coming as well.”

“We’ll go with you then,” he said.

“No, you’ll go deal with that demon bitch before she does whatever she’s here to do. Nika will help, and I understand Stacia and Holly are coming back to Maine today with their new recruit, that deputy that got bit when Steclan was dealing with the rogues and the witch up there.”

“Twins with you?” he asked.

“No, you. You have a babysitter who lives in a guarded facility, surrounded by werewolves and witches, wearing your God Tear necklace. Me, I’ll have all kinds of vampire factions who might do something stupid like try to kidnap the twins.”

His face hardened to stone and she could just about see his purple eyes glow as he considered anyone kidnapping his children.

“I should be with you.”

“You are the only one who can deal with a demon incarnate. Plus, your past dealings with the old vampires didn’t go very smoothly. I actually spoke to Mausya and she said Senka was being measured for being faithless. Used that word like three or four times. I could almost hear a capital F.”

“But you don’t know what that means?”

“It means she is being considered to be untrue to her allegiances to the Coven that she leads,” a new voice said. They turned to find Galina, Tanya’s mother, standing with Lydia in the doorway.

“So that’s a thing? I never heard of it,” Tanya said.

“It’s rare to elect new Elders, and it’s even rarer for one to be charged as Faithless. We must go and help her,” Galina said.

“What do we do?” Tanya asked, frowning.

“She is being judged on her actions. Her own words will carry little weight. It will be the testimony of others that makes a difference.”

“Are you sure I shouldn’t come too?” Chris asked.

“No!” all three adult vampires said at the same time.

“Christian dear, you have grown on me as a son-in-law,” Galina said with a smirk. “But you left an indelible impression on the elders, particularly Mausya. This is not a time for threats or strength of forces. It will require imagination, skilled oration, careful manipulation of emotion, guile, and exquisite judgment of circumstance. The delicacy of a jeweler. You—you’re a hammer. A sledgehammer.”

“And you need to deal with that demon… you know… the one loose in Burlington where we keep the world’s most powerful witch kid,” Lydia said.

“Okay, then I’ll have Deckert get a convoy together and we’ll head up to Burlington by car a little later today. But let’s get you packed. And you are taking Arkady. Let’s go. It’s almost daylight.”

Chapter 2

“Father? Wake up, Father.”

Declan scrunched his eyes tighter as the voice intruded on meaningless dreams and comforting sleep. After a second thought, he opened them, blinking rapidly.

“What? What is it Omega?”

“Nika needs your assistance. She is outside but I have cleared her through security. She will be at your door in approximately one minute.”

The thought of getting caught in just sleep shorts got him moving. He changed into yesterday’s clothes, picking each piece from where he had dropped it on the floor the night before. Glancing at the clock showed it was a wicked early hour of the morning, a fact borne out by the darkness outside his window.

He was just pulling his hoodie on over his head when a soft rapping came at the door. He stumbled across the room and unlocked the door while disarming his wards. Of the two, the wards were a much greater deterrent.

A very pretty blonde woman stood waiting, dressed in black long-sleeve shirt, black slim-fit pants, and even a black cap. She gave him a quick smile before glancing behind him into his room.

Taking the hint, he stepped back and waved her in.

“Omega said you need help. Did you find the demon?” he asked, knuckling one eye.

“Yes and no. I found where she was, not where she is.”

“So what kind of help do you need? And isn’t it almost daylight?”

“Well, where she was is a murder scene and I might have left DNA evidence,” she said, touching a strand of her hair where it hung out from under the cap. “And I was hoping to crash here,” she added, pointing at his bed.

“Oh,” he said, looking at the bed with concern. “Well, I can go take care of any loose hairs or other DNA if you give me a strand or two. Ah, you’re welcome to my room, but I, ah, need to tell Stacia.”

She smirked at him and he puffed up a bit, opening his mouth to speak. She beat him to it.

“I already texted Stacia, but points to you for thinking of that right away,” she said, reaching up to yank some strands of hair out of her head. “Here,” she said, handing him the wisps of blondeness. Then she turned and strode to the windows, lowering and closing the blinds.

“Ah, I think I have clean sheets here somewhere,” he said, moving hesitantly toward his closet as he tied off the lock around his right ring finger.

“Don’t bother. I’m actually going to sleep under the bed,” she said, pointing to the little cave his half-lofted bed had under it. “We don’t feel much during daylight hours, so just a blanket and a pillow are all I need.”

“Oh. Are you sure?” he said, shoulders relaxing, tone unconvincing.

“Yes. Are you sure you can blot out my sloppy tradecraft?”

“What? Oh yeah, no problem. I’m also gonna add you to the door wards so you could leave if you had too. Um, I should also take my book bag cause I’ll just head to class right after breakfast.”

“Great,” she said with a big smile, turning and bending over to pull a few boxes from under the bed. He whirled away, forcing his mind to pull up a more complex spell for hair eradication. Bad enough to get caught ogling a girl from behind, let alone a really powerful telepath. It wouldn’t have even meant anything, just a hardwired male reflex. Never caught girls ogling boys, but guys seemed helpless to stop themselves.

“It’s because you’re all so visual,” Nika said without looking around.

“Right, well, sleep, ah, well,” he said, fleeing his own room. My face is flaming red and I didn’t even do anything, he thought.

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