Callie drew her sword, and kept her breathing steady so she could sense changes in the atmosphere, feel the pressure between this world and the next shift with the appearance of her quarry.
“You cut your hair.”
Callie spun on the spot, sword raised.
Johnny stood before her, hand in his pockets as he looked her over appreciatively with those all-seeing blue eyes that used to turn her knees to butter. Damn it, those eyes still had an effect on her. His gaze flickered over her skin like liquid heat. “I can’t say that I approve of these new styles, but I’m happy to see you’re well.”
Callie shifted her grip on her sword. “You bastard. You had me killed.”
A sly, crooked grin and fire in his eyes. “All in a good cause.”
“Not quite.” Callie swallowed. She really wasn’t ready for this, but she had no choice. She could only hope Eva was on schedule, despite her injuries. Just in case, she needed to play for time. “I won’t ask why you did it. I know.”
“There’s still time for you to change your mind, you know,” Johnny said. “Lillith is a demanding mistress, but a generous one.”
Callie cocked her head, feigning a calm she didn’t feel. “You underestimate me.”
“How so?”
“First, you actually thought I’d be on board with joining your side after you shot me. You actually thought I’d choose you before all of humanity. But I was already planning on leaving you that night.”
That stopped him smiling. “You were?”
“You should have taken me back in ‘33. Instead you gave me a fifty-year leg up. Fifty years of war, sacrificing myself for innocent people, experience in the hunt. I’ve gotten good, Johnny. And now I’m going to take you out instead.”
He grinned. “You’re magnificent.”
“And you’re done.”
There was no way they could take out four Hell Hounds. So they would have to banish their master instead. A flash in the dark told her Eva was ready.
Callie swung her sword, but not at Johnny. Instead she thrust her blade in the ground just as fire sprung up around the empty square. It seemed the Loa had also had enough of Johnny Sinclair.
Eva’s plan involved drawing all the Hell Hounds into a central area before cutting them off from the rest of the city. Eva would keep the other Hounds busy while Callie faced Johnny. “You’ll have time it right,” she’d said. “He’ll toy with you, see what you’re capable of, how powerful you’ve become. You’re still very young in his eyes, and you are—but there is one thing he will not take into consideration.”
“What’s that?” Callie wanted to know.
“He has always underestimated you.”
So Callie let him toy with her, while she gave it everything she had, knowing she couldn’t possibly win against an ancient Greater Demon. Mestopheles was not one of Lillith’s pets—he was a valued colleague, and utterly trusted. She wondered what the All-Mother’s reaction would be when Callie sent him straight back to Hell.
Of course, she would have to get that far first.
Johnny removed his hands from his pockets, and turned one open palm to the ground. Tendrils of fire danced to his hand, like snakes to a charmer. The tendrils grew, twisted into ghostly whorls until they formed the mirage of a fiery sword.
Callie barely parried the first blow, and when their weapons clashed fire washed over her face. It was all she could manage to defend herself against his mocking onslaught. She was fast, but he was faster, and inch by inch he drove her back. She made him work for it, though.
“Come on,” he growled. “Fight me. Show me what you are.”
“What I am,” Callie returned, “is beyond your ability to comprehend.”
That’s when she struck, forcing him to hit harder, to concede to his need to dominate her. To own her fire.
He taunted her, cajoled her, tried to seduce her with every swift maneuver. And when that didn’t work, he got angry. Angry enough to kill.
In other words, he played right into the palm of her hand. And then, he ran her through.
Brighid was waiting for her, there, in the dark between space and time. In between.
Callie turned her head from where she lay, and smiled. “I need you.”
“The Loa have agreed to let me in,” Brighid replied with a smile. “Take my hand, child. All will be well.”
Callie was lighter than air, bursting with internal fire. She had ascended before, but never like this. This was beyond her immature, fledgling light—this was a veritable supernova. Ancient, primordial, and endless—in this light, there was no place for darkness to hide.
Johnny didn’t stand a chance.
When Callie came to, she was kneeling on the ground, head lowered and her eyes shut, her hands curled around the pommel of her sword. She was felt as though she was about to fly apart, and only by remaining very still could she keep herself together. Then the fire began to sing through her veins, and she was compelled to answer its call.
She laughed as Johnny stumbled back under her sudden, unrelenting attack. Now he grew desperate for another reason. His sword went spinning from his hand as she knocked him back, and dissipated to smoke. His mesmerizing eyes flashed to orange red, and his fangs came out. When he unfurled his fists, iron talons extended, and he lunged.
Callie managed to keep hold her sword, but it was useless in close quarters. They rolled, Johnny teeth snapping at her jugular as his claws raked through her left side. He laughed as she screamed at the searing pain. “I can taste your blood, Keeper,” he hissed.
She gripped his neck, pushing him back from her. “And I taste your fear, Demon.” She shoved him off her with both feet, then sprung upright. But he slammed on foot into her knee, so hard it cracked and wouldn’t support her weight. She went down again.
As she hit her back she raised her sword just in time to catch Johnny like a fish hooked on the end of a spear. He full mouth gaped as he sank on her blade. She rolled them over until she straddled his torso, and pinned him to the ground. “Eva! Now!”
The fire bordering the square rushed forward in a crashing wave, the gate closing with breathtaking speed. Callie hung on to her sword, with Johnny trapped beneath her, and closed her eyes.
The fire took them both.
EPILOGUE
“It’s a lonely thing, Callie-girl,” Eva repeated. They were in the bar she favored, a mountain of empty oyster shells on the table between them, surrounded by a forest of empty beer bottles. Eva was waxing poetical again, and Callie let her.
“I trust you,” Callie pointed out, adjusting the ice pack on her outstretched knee. “Isn’t that enough?”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Eva emptied the remains of her bottle down her throat, and signaled for more. “Only time will tell. And I may not be around forever, you know.”
“You’ve been around this long.” Callie toasted her, feeling a little on the waxy side herself.
“So I have.” Eva’s eyes turned distant. “This town’s…different. Special. I know you feel the same way about Chicago. But this is something else.”
“How so?”
“The Tuatha aren’t the only ones on humanity’s side. There are others. This city is a convergence of beliefs and dreams, not to mention power. But the other side has more than demons on theirs, and there’s going to come a time when deals are going to be made. And then there’s going to be war.”
“So I gather.” They accepted fresh bottles from the waiter, and ordered more oysters as the jukebox fell silent. “What are you saying?”
“We need to be ready. And we’re going to need allies.”
“We’ll be ready,” Callie said. “What other choice do we have?”
THANK YOU FOR READING
Callie is one of my favorite characters that I’ve written, and I hope you enjoyed learning about the history that made her such a dedicated hunter and a ferocious champion for mankind. Read all about her biggest hunt yet—the biggest hunt of them all—in BRIGHID’S MARK.
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BRIGHID’S MARK
Cate Morgan