And he felt certain that the Eye was staring back at him.
More of the Cabalists fell back, breaking ranks carefully.
“Stay!” Jonas yelled again. “You will stay here and help us maintain contact!”
Warren had no idea what the man would do if the Cabalists didn’t do as he told them to. But Warren wasn’t really interested in that. He was more interested in the Eye.
“It’s him,” someone whispered.
“He’s doing this.”
“We’ve never done this before.”
“He’s going to get us killed.”
“No one is going to be killed!” Jonas roared. “We’ve trained for this. We’re stronger than the demons. We own the Eye. Concentrate on your wards. You will be safe.”
Warren felt the resistance to his gaze. It felt like he was asleep and trying to get his eyes open during a dream and couldn’t. He redoubled his efforts, willing the resistance to go away.
Molten agony lanced through his body. Before he knew what he was doing, Warren was kneeling on the floor, hands flat before him.
“Who are you, human?” a deep, terrible voice demanded.
Fear gripped Warren’s heart then. He felt as scared then—You’ll never be that scared again!—as he did the night his parents died.
“Speak!” the deep voice ordered.
“Warren,” he whispered.
“Do you want to die?”
“No. I want to live.”
“Then you’re on a fool’s errand.”
Barely aware of the rest of the room and the fact that the Cabalists were in shock around him, Warren stared at the Eye. Heat raged through him, like the worst fever he’d ever had.
“You have no business here,” the voice said.
“Who are you?” Jonas asked.
The light at the top of the Eye flared out into an elliptical shape that kept shifting. The shape was silver as well, but hints of blue figures moved within its depths.
“Arrogance,” the deep voice said. “One of the few admirable human emotions. At least it has strength to it, unearned though it may be.”
“I am Jonas Wayne. A Voice among the Cabal. You will obey me.”
Raucous laughter filled the room, pealing from the walls.
Warren shivered, fearing for his life. His mother had gone on at length about learning to speak with “friendly” ghosts, but the voice that spoke through the Eye sounded purely evil.
“I obey no human.”
“I command you to name yourself!” Jonas shouted. His tattoos burned with amber light.
Warren knew that names traditionally were supposed to give power over a demon. But since he’d never had a true interaction with a demon—especially one of this creature’s caliber—he wasn’t so sure that was true.
The silver ellipse cleared like a tri-dee with an improved signal. A face, blunt and harsh as a lizard’s, covered in red scales and showing scars from past battles, stared back.
“I am Merihim, the Bringer of Pestilence,” the demon roared. “Before me, you are nothing.”
Growing larger, the silver ellipse showed the demon astride some great beast that didn’t fit in the view. It looked vaguely like an elephant covered in scales the size of manhole covers and with massive, curved horns.
Merihim raised his right hand, holding tight to a trident made of green metal that crackled with energy. Shimmering waves passed through the silver ellipse.
Gripped by an invisible hand, Jonas was raised from the floor. He screamed, high and shrill like a woman. He wasn’t in control of the situation or of himself. Futilely, he beat his hands against the force that surrounded him. He tried to move his legs and couldn’t.
A moment later, Jonas jackknifed like he’d been twisted and bent. His back folded backwards. Bones snapped and shattered.
The Cabalists who were gathered around the circle leaped to their feet and started for the doors. The doors swung shut, trapping them inside. They started crying and pleading for mercy.
Edith made a show of trying to regroup them, but it was a lost cause. Warren felt the fear rolling off her in waves.
The woman ran to Jonas, taking a dagger from beneath her robe. Even from across the room with all the magic already present in the room, Warren felt the power that radiated from the curved blade. It had an Eastern cast to it, like a scimitar.
With his free hand, Merihim gestured again. Immediately demons that looked like gargantuan hounds leaped through the portal and landed in the room. They snarled and snapped, flailing spiked tails.
“I’d been held back so far,” the demon said. “Thanks to you, I no longer have to wait for the Hellgates.” He caught the edges of the magical window and heaved himself through.
Standing in the room, the demon’s horned head scraped against the ceiling. He had to have been at least eight feet tall. Massively thewed, he was as sculpted and built as a dedicated weight lifter. He wore blue-green armor made of lizard scales. A huge sword was belted at his waist.
“No!” Edith shrilled. She threw her hands out before her and pushed.
Waves of shimmering force broke across Merihim’s chest.
The demon rocked back silently, then grinned. “Not bad. For a human. But you’ve no true mastery of the forces you wield.” His face looked hideous. “I’ll show you power.” He gestured with the trident again.
Jonas screamed even though Warren wouldn’t have believed the man would have had the capacity to do so. His tattoos burned golden, so bright that Warren almost couldn’t stand to look at them. Then, in a twinkling, they turned an angry red, the color of sunset over a dust-filled horizon.
Impossibly, Jonas exploded. Pieces of him flew all over the room.
Warren was hit by the gore, then realized how hot it was and had to claw the pieces from his body. He mopped the blood as best as he could from his body.
Giving a strangled cry, Edith lurched toward the demon. Warren was certain she knew she was going to her doom, but she didn’t hesitate.
Casually, as if the act were nothing, Merihim flicked his trident at her. The three prongs pierced the woman’s chest and propelled her back across the room, pinning her against the wall like an insect on display.
Edith struggled weakly
