“I can’t believe I didn’t see this before,” I said and dropped my head in my hands. “I befriended him, I wanted to help him. .. I should have sensed he was a demon.”
Xavier put his hand on the small of my back. “This is not your fault.” His eyes swept over the congregation gathered at Jake’s feet. “Are they all demons?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Jake seems to be conjuring vengeful spirits to possess his followers.”
“This just keeps getting better and better,” Xavier muttered. “Where do the spirits come from? Are they the people in these graves?”
“I doubt it,” I said. “They’re probably the souls of the damned from the Underworld, quite different from demons. A demon is a creature created by Lucifer himself, and they worship none but him. It’s the same concept as angels in Heaven; there are millions of souls that go to Heaven, but they don’t become angels. Angels and demons were never human. They’re in a league of their own.”
“Are these spirits still dangerous?” Xavier asked. “What will happen to the people they possess?”
“Their main purpose is to cause destruction,” I said. “When they take over the body of a human, they can make that person do anything. It’s like having two souls within the one shell. Most people can survive it unless the spirit intentionally damages their body. They aren’t much of a threat to us, our powers are far greater than theirs. Jake is the only one we need to worry about.”
Xavier and I fell silent as Jake led the next victim forward. But I was not prepared for what happened next. When he pulled back the hood, I saw a familiar cascade of russet curls and wide, frightened blue eyes.
“Don’t worry, my dear,” said Jake, tracing his finger lightly across Molly’s neck and down to her chest. “It won’t hurt much.”
I gripped Xavier’s arm. “We have to stop him,” I said. “We can’t let him hurt Molly!”
Xavier’s face was pale. “I want to bring Jake down too, but if we intervene now, we don’t stand a chance against all of them. We need your brother and sister.” He shook his head, and I realized he was finally accepting that he couldn’t defeat Jake alone.
Overcome with jealousy and desire, one of Jake’s followers threw herself on the ground and began to writhe. Her eyes rolled back so that only the whites showed, her mouth opening and closing in silent moans. I recognized her immediately as Alexandra from my lit class. Jake bent down and stilled her thrashing by grasping her hair in one hand. He ran a finger suggestively along her exposed throat and let it linger over her mouth. She was breathing heavily and seemed to arch toward him in ecstasy, but he moved away from her and used the tip of his boot to trace a line down her body.
“We should leave,” Xavier whispered. “This is more than we can handle.”
“We can’t go without Molly.”
“Beth, we can’t let Jake know we’re here.”
“I can’t leave her, Xavier.”
He sighed. “Okay, I think I have an idea for getting her back, but you have to trust me and listen to what I say. A wrong move could cost her safety.”
I nodded and waited for Xavier to say more, but a blood-curdling scream commanded my attention. Molly was on her knees, Jake’s hand gripping the back of her neck. Her own hands were tied behind her with rope. The black fog was erupting from the stone angel’s mouth. Molly’s face was white with pain and confusion, but her eyes fixed intently on Jake. I couldn’t stand to see it. I stumbled out from behind the tombstone, ignoring Xavier’s yell of protest.
“What are you doing?” I screamed. “Stop this! Jake, let her go!” When I looked at Jake’s face, it was distorted with anger. I felt Xavier’s presence by my side. He positioned himself protectively between me and Jake.
Upon seeing him, Jake’s anger seemed to dissipate, and he folded his arms and cocked one eyebrow in an expression of amusement.
“Well, well,” he said. “What have we here? If it’s not the Angel of Mercy and her…”
“Molly, get down from there,” Xavier called out, and she obeyed dumbly, too stunned to argue or formulate any sort of response. Jake snarled.
“Don’t move,” he commanded her and Molly froze.
“You!” I pointed a finger at Jake. “We know what you are.”
He clapped his hands slowly and mockingly. “Well done. What a first-rate detective you are.”
“We’re not going to let you get away with this,” Xavier said. “There are four of us, and there’s only one of you.”
Jake laughed and waved a hand around him. “Actually there are many more of us, and the numbers increase daily,” he snickered. “It seems I’m quite popular.”
I stared at him in horror, feeling any confidence I’d had trickle away.
“You and your good deeds don’t stand a chance,” Jake said. “You might as well give up.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Xavier growled.
“Oh my, how sweet,” Jake said. “The human boy thinks he can defend the angel.”
“Believe me, I can and I will.”
“Do you actually think that you can hurt me?” Jake asked.
“You’ll find out if you try and hurt her,” Xavier replied.
Jake’s lip curled back, revealing his small, sharp teeth. “You should know that you’re playing with fire,” he smirked.
“And I’m not scared of getting burned,” Xavier spit out.
They glared at each other for a long moment, as if one was daring the other to act. I stepped forward.
“Just let Molly go,” I said. “There’s no need to hurt her; it doesn’t gain you anything.”
“I’ll gladly release her,” Jake smiled. “On one condition…”
“And what’s that?” Xavier asked.
“Beth must take her place.”
Xavier’s body tensed with anger, and his blue eyes flashed.
“Go to hell!”
“You poor, helpless human,” Jake taunted. “You’ve already lost one love, and now you’re about to lose another one?”
“What did you say?” asked Xavier, his eyes narrowing. “How do you know about her?”
“Oh, I remember her quite well.” Jake smiled sickeningly. “Emily, wasn’t it? Didn’t you ever wonder why her whole family made it out alive, but not her?” Xavier looked like he was about to throw up. I gripped his hand as Jake continued. “It was almost too easy — tying her to her bed, while the house went up in flames. Everybody thought she slept through the alarm, they didn’t hear her screaming over the roar of the flames.”
“You son of a bitch.” Xavier took several strides toward Jake but didn’t get very far. Jake smirked and his fingers twitched and before he could reach him, Xavier doubled over in pain, clutching his abdomen. He tried to right himself, but Jake sent him to the ground with a flick of his wrist.
“Xavier!” I cried, rushing to his aid. I felt his shoulders shuddering in pain. “Leave him alone!” I begged Jake. “Stop, please!”
In my head I tried to silently invoke God’s help by issuing a mental prayer:
But Jake’s powers clouded my prayer like a thick, black fog descending on me, forcing the words to stick in my mind until I felt my head might burst. Jake Thorn thrived on misery and pain, and I knew I couldn’t defeat someone like that alone. Xavier had been right. I wished I had listened. And, since no one was coming to my aid, there was only one way to help him and Molly, the only way I knew how.
“You can have me!” I shouted, opening my arms.
“No!” Xavier heaved himself to his feet, but he was no match for Jake’s dark strength, and he crumpled once again.
I didn’t hesitate; I ran forward, propeling myself into the circle. The group pressed forward, chanting in crazed voices until Jake raised a hand indicating they should retreat.
I reached out to Molly and managed to pry her away from his grasp.
“Run!” I gasped.
