Original Sin

Envy was sniffing Lily, its tongue touching her flesh. It reached her mouth, shot the forked end in, and leapt backward, its form turning back into the hoofed creature. “You are contaminated!” it screamed. Envy spat onto the floor; steam rose where its black saliva fell.

Moira ran over to Lily. The girl was shaking. Blood oozed from where Envy’s tongue had cut her skin. “Hold on,” she said, though she had no clue how they were going to get out of this.

The coven members started chanting again. Serena held an oversized book with thick pages and began to read.

The Conoscenza. Moira could destroy it now.

Blood and fire.

How could she destroy it with Father Philip and Lily here? Moira was prepared to die to destroy the book, but she wasn’t going to take innocent lives with her.

As Serena read, the demon writhed, losing form. It was furious; anger was rolling off the creature, palpable, as it grew in rage and jealousy.

“You think you’re better,” Envy growled. “I took your lives before, I can take them now!”

Envy grew as it lost shape. It moved faster and faster in the circle. Furniture in the building began to shake.

Serena read faster. Envy hovered over Lily, drawn to her in spite of her “contamination.” Moira looked around for a weapon, anything to fight with, though without form how could she kill Envy? Envy wrapped its form around Lily and she screamed.

Father Philip began an exorcism prayer, reached out, his hands touching the demon. Envy hissed in agony and rapidly fled from Lily. It screamed at him, taking the form of a beast. “You can’t stop ME!”

It exhaled and Father Philip was brought to his knees, his hands at his throat, his face turning red. The demon rushed him, drawing out Father’s breath.

“NO! Let him go!” Moira screamed. She put herself between the demon and Father, but it didn’t stop. She glanced behind her. Father was convulsing as he fell to the floor. No, not him. Not Father.

“Damn you all!” she screamed. “Avertet mala inimicis meis in veritate tua disperde illos! Voluntarie sacrificabo tibi confitebor nomini tuo Domine quoniam bonum!”

Envy turned his attention to her.

“Release him!” she commanded.

“You have no power over me. You gave up your power,” it hissed. Father lay still. Too still.

Why him? Why not me? Why the only good thing in my life, you take from me?

Envy laughed, turning into dark smoke, washing over her. She was frozen, encased by Envy as it sought a way into her body.

Then it pulled back, again took solid form. Showing off. Proving it was powerful. Proving it was in charge. Moira was inches away from its face as it stared at her. Envy opened its mouth and Moira saw the fangs, the maggots, as it came toward her.

A commanding voice resonated through the room, overpowering the demon, the chanting, the rumbling.

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” Rafe shouted, “you are banished back to the lowest level of Hell.”

Then he spoke in the same language that Serena had used.

Moira turned from Envy to Rafe, stunned.

Rafe knew the ancient language of demons! The language of the Conoscenza, the book of evil, the spells that focused on the destruction of all that was good in the world.

How did he know it?

Her heart broke when she realized that Rafe was using battle magic to counteract Serena’s spell, repeating the opposite of everything Serena said-Moira understood that not in the words, which she didn’t understand, but in the conflicting energy in the room. As the energy increased in strength, each kind battling the other, it was growing, expanding, practically visible to Moira, light and dark, hot and cold. Her senses were overloading and she could scarcely think.

The pain in her head was so intense she fell to her knees, her hands on her ears, on the back of head, willing the agony to end.

With the tabernacle in a sack on his back, Anthony couldn’t reach the roof. There was no place to climb up. He didn’t have the keys to Skye’s truck to drive it to the building to use as a ladder.

“Dammit!”

He ran around the corner and right into Tom Young.

“You’re supposed to be dead.” Tom looked upset and scared. He pulled his gun. “You don’t get two chances.”

Bright lights shone on the side of the building. When Tom glanced at them, Anthony kicked the gun from his hand. A shot went wild.

Hank Santos jumped from the car. For a minute, Anthony feared he was on an Envy-induced rampage. If Hank stopped him, there was no way to trap Envy and Lily would be possessed. Father Philip, Rafe, Moira-they’d all die. He stood his ground.

Jared got out from the passenger side. “Where’s Lily?”

Anthony looked from Hank to Jared. “Are you both okay?”

“Yes,” Jared said. “My father is fine.”

Anthony didn’t know whether he could believe the kid, but he didn’t really have much choice now.

“I need to get on the roof.”

Jared looked at his father. “Dad?”

“I have an idea.” Hank jumped back into his truck and drove it to the edge of the building.

Anthony climbed up to the hood, then the roof, and with the sack on his back, he pulled himself up using the gutter.

He ran along the flat roof to the ventilation access panel and prayed he wasn’t too late.

Envy screamed and slithered to the edge of the circle. “Let me out!” it screamed to Serena. “I want that one!”

Its tail stabbed toward Rafe. Rafe froze in his place, like a deer in the headlights. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t think. He only saw Envy. It stared at him, silently calling him.

You have power. Power I want.

Rafe fought the demon’s will. He couldn’t give in.

You are mine. You were always mine.

Rafe turned his head from the demon, tried to block the slick voice in his mind. He reminded himself that demons could get into his head, but they couldn’t read his thoughts or know his soul until he gave it to them or they stole it. He fought, but was weak. And getting even weaker.

He saw Lily on the altar, tried to focus on saving her. He had done it before; what was fighting him now?

Moira was on her knees, her hands over her head, in pain. He stepped toward her, and she looked up at him. “Stop,” she cried. “Stop.”

He didn’t take another step. Her mouth opened and her eyes closed as she withstood another wave of pain.

Who was doing this to her? He looked around the room, saw Matthew Walker-he knew him. Not the name, but the face. Rafe’s head ached as he tried to place how he knew the man.

Fiona walked over to the edge of the circle and used her foot to rub out a small section of the trap.

Moira screamed. “No! Fiona, don’t!”

“He deserves to die.” Fiona stared at Moira. “You’ll be responsible for killing him. You brought him here; he’s your responsibility.”

Rafe began a traditional exorcism, buying more time for Anthony to get the tabernacle in place. The demon laughed, turned back into black smoke, and wrapped itself around the inside of the demon trap, blocking Rafe’s line