A groan from Devereux brought him back to centre stage in my attention. Something was happening to him. He stumbled, unable to remain erect. His eyes met mine and I saw fear again before he collapsed on the floor.
Lucifer loomed over him, slowly bending down.
‘I love you,’ Devereux whispered in my mind.
Something about the hopelessness and finality of the feeling he sent along with the words terrified me. A bone-chilling cold that rose from the horror of killing Bryce and the possibility of losing Devereux washed over me. I dropped to the floor and crawled to him. I stroked his cheek. ‘Devereux, please wake up. Don’t leave me.’ He didn’t answer.
Alan grabbed the athame from where it had fallen on the floor, leaped up onto Lucifer’s back and stabbed him repeatedly. Lucifer looked more annoyed than injured and flailed about, trying to dislodge the irritant between his shoulder blades.
Finally he reached over his shoulder, grabbed Alan by his thick hair and threw him into the former chanters. One of the vampires held on to Alan for a few seconds, a confused expression on his face. Maybe he wasn’t sure where his loyalties belonged since I had killed Bryce. He must have decided that it wasn’t wise to be on the losing team, so he let Alan go.
Grasping at straws, I screamed up at Lucifer, repeating all the words he’d said to me as one of his other personalities: ‘She must be punished. You are the warrior of God. The redeemer of lost souls. She’s a harlot! Jezebel! Whore!’
Lucifer froze. He reached down and grabbed a big chunk of my hair, pulling me up as he straightened. He locked his red eyes on mine and I felt my brain slide out of my ears.
I closed my eyes to break the eye-contact and kept repeating the words, trying to remember everything else he’d said, until I felt him relax his grip on my hair. Even before I opened my eyes I could tell he’d transformed. I knew for sure when he launched into his familiar Southern-accented rant.
‘Whore! Jezebel! You’ll be washed in the blood!’ He seemed to shrink before my eyes, the stained, horrible-smelling black coat now larger than his shrivelled frame, his eyes black coals again. He backed away from me, clutching his coat around him, rocking slightly.
I became aware of Alan standing next to me, his eyes wide, fascinated by the spectacle unfolding in front of him.
I hoped the transformation from one of the split-off personalities to another might release Devereux from whatever power-hold Brother Luther – or Lucifer, or whoever he really was – had on him, but Devereux lay still as death.
The ritual Bryce had set in motion had taken on a life of its own and fulfilled the original intention: to control Devereux.
Then several things happened at once. A loud noise drew my attention to one of the mirror panels on the other side of the room, which turned out to be a hidden door. Lieutenant Bullock’s costumed police officers stormed the room, yelling, ‘Police! Freeze!’ The human rescuers were followed by Luna and too many vampires to count.
The arrival of Devereux’s coven caused the vampires who’d been involved in the ritual to dash through the imaginary opening in the circle and pop out of the room.
Luna barrelled towards the ritual space and smashed into the invisible forcefield.
‘Fucking magic bullshit!’ she screamed. ‘They had the whole building protected so we couldn’t enter through thought. We had to follow the stupid humans who’d found a way in. Now we’ll have to erase their memories.’
Her expression became suddenly serious as she got a closer look at Devereux lying helplessly on the floor. Then her face contorted. Enraged, she screamed at Brother Luther, thinking he was Lucifer, not realising that for all intents and purposes he was a different person – er, different vampire.
Trying again unsuccessfully to enter the circle, Luna vented her anger and frustration on the stooped, pitiful vampire standing over Devereux.
The longer she yelled, the more upset he became, until eventually he covered his face with his hands and sobbed loudly.
I knew what would happen if he reached a breaking point, so I tried to convince Luna to stop haranguing him. ‘Please, Luna – you’ve got to stop. He’s calm for now. Trust me, if you keep screaming at him, something bad will happen. He’s sick.’
‘Fuck that! This asshole did something to Devereux and I’m going to find out what it was. Take your human psychobabble somewhere else.’ She’d been prowling around the perimeter of the circle, testing for an opening. Not finding one made her even angrier.
I stared down at Devereux’s beautiful face and remembered the music.
Keeping the dangerous, psychotic vampire subdued so we could remove Devereux from the circle was the highest priority. Maybe when he was freed from the influence of the spell, he’d revive.
Playing the lullaby, which would make Brother Luther shift into his child personality, seemed to be the best temporary solution. Perhaps he’d be immune to Luna’s threats in his regressed state.
All I could think about was saving Devereux, so I didn’t consider the repercussions when I sailed through the opening in the circle, heading towards the CD player.
‘Where are you going?’ Alan called out.
‘No time to explain.’ He’d missed the musical portion of the evening.
When I got there, the little CD drawer was open and empty.
Where was the CD? Where was Raleigh?
Luna yelled, ‘About fucking time,’ and leaped through the opening I’d shown her. She strode towards Brother Luther, snarling, fangs bared, a true vampire Amazon on the warpath.
Too late, I realised my mistake and ran after her. I tried to step in front of her and she pushed me aside effortlessly, shoving me into Alan so hard we both hit the floor.
The sight of her caused Brother Luther to shriek in terror. He clutched his stomach and performed the same up-and-down rocking motion he’d done at my house. Between sobs he begged, ‘Don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, help me, help me.’
Luna kicked him, screaming, ‘What have you done to Devereux, you festering piece of shit?’
He whimpered, ‘Mama!’ then dropped to his knees, covering his head with his hands and arms. A physical spasm rocked his body. He threw his head back and gave an ear-piercing primal scream.
As before, the transformation was rapid and astonishing.
Alan and I stood and watched Lucifer.
Shocked, Luna backed away. ‘What the fuck?’
He rose slowly to his feet, his no longer emaciated body filling the previously loose coat.
Alan sucked in a breath. ‘Jesus Christ!’
Somehow Brother Luther’s body had become taller, bulkier, more muscular. His actual bones had shifted. His eyes were on fire.
He advanced menacingly towards Luna, his mouth gaping, exposing his still-elongating fangs. She assumed a fighting stance, crouched low, waiting.
Several of the vampires Luna had brought with her crowded into the circle. They growled deep, flashed their fangs and surrounded Lucifer.
He took a step towards Luna, hand reaching for her throat.
Just then, Lieutenant Bullock crashed into the circle, gun pointed. ‘I said freeze!’
All eyes turned to her for a split-second, and in that tiny window of opportunity Lucifer scooped up Devereux and they both vanished.
We all froze for several seconds, stunned.
Staring down at the empty space on the floor, my brain finally registered that Devereux was gone and I lost it. I screamed like the Banshee from Hell. The walls reverberated as all the pain, fear, confusion, and grief I’d tried to hold inside burst forth in one long, gut-wrenching, soul-shattering cry. Then the tears began. I dropped to the floor and pressed my forehead on the spot where Devereux had been lying.
Everyone was silent while I sobbed.
Alan knelt down beside me and stroked my hair. ‘I’m sorry, Kismet. We all tried to save Devereux. He’s very powerful. If anyone can get away from that lunatic, it’s him. You’ve got to keep hoping.’