Corruption Read online

  “Such a simple version of my people,” Lorelei scoffed. She looked up at Andy, and there was a hint of coyness in her body language now. “We do not simply put someone on like a child wearing a costume. We take over. When I possess someone, I insinuate myself into every facet of their being. I invade not only their flesh, but their heart, their mind.” She toyed with his collar, brushing a finger over his neck. “I corrupt,” she whispered, making the word sound far more sensual that it should have. “I free my host from the chains that keep them locked in unhappiness, in servitude. I give them the strength and courage to seize their own happiness, their own pleasure.”

  “A gift that leads to a great deal of procreation,” I inserted. “But unlike succubi who seek true love, dybbuks procreate for prestige, for creating their own host of demons. The first thing a demon does nowadays on possessing a host is to get rid of any birth control in their possession.”

  Lorelei grinned at me. “That was rather crudely put. Perhaps you are not a complete bore.”

  “So pleased,” I deadpanned.

  Andy reached into his pocket and pulled out his notebook and pen. “You came here for an exorcism?”

  Lorelei brushed at an imaginary piece of lint on Andy’s suit jacket. “Yes. Laurie and I are sick of one another, and Corban and Christophe believed they could perform the rite.” She scowled. “It seems they overestimated their abilities.”

  Andy took her hand and removed it from his shoulder. “What do you remember about what happened today?”

  Lorelei crossed her arms, using the motion to push her breasts higher. “So many questions. I’m sure I’d be able to answer them if I weren’t so disoriented. Maybe if you told me what happened, I could fill in the details…?” She caressed his cheek.

  “Andy, she’s trying to read your mind,” I said, not shouting, but raising my voice enough to be heard. “She can only read surface thoughts. Think of something else, something unrelated to anything going on here.”

  “But what’s going on here is so important, isn’t it, Agent Bradford?” Lorelei said softly.

  Andy’s eyes darted from side to side as he tried to escape the demon’s gaze. I empathized. It was hard to avoid thinking about something after someone told you not to think about it.

  “Majesty disappeared before I could catch him,” I offered. “He could be at your house summoning a whole herd of rhinos.”

  Andy jerked, his eyelid twitching. “Are you serious?”

  Lorelei pulled at his face, trying to bring his gaze back to hers. “What happened to the twins?” she asked.

  “Or maybe elephants,” I added. “Elephants could do a lot of damage.”

  “You said it wasn’t an elephant!” Peasblossom’s muffled voice came from inside my shirt.

  “It wasn’t, but there might be elephants now.”

  “I want to believe you’re saying that to help me think of something else, but you don’t sound like you’re kidding,” Andy muttered.

  “Ignore her,” Lorelei commanded. She put her other hand on his opposite cheek. “Look at me.”

  Andy’s eyes slid to hers like magnets drawn to iron. I didn’t need a spell to tell me Lorelei was flexing her power, using an influence not unlike the charm I used to get reluctant witnesses talking. She leaned closer to Andy, invading his personal space. “Tell me—”

  I splashed the holy water out of the bottle, sending it in an arc toward the demon. Sunlight hit the droplets, turning them to gold as they sailed through the air to splatter against her neck and bare shoulders.

  She shouted and jerked away, retreating a foot from Andy so she could glare at us both. “How dare you!” She took a step toward me, one fist rising in the air. “You’ll pay for that.”

  Something was wrong. I stared at her skin, noting the way it had turned pink where the holy water hit it. She scratched at the pink spots as though they were itchy, but not painful. The skin didn’t blister or smoke. “It didn’t burn you.”

  Lorelei clenched her teeth, scratching at another grouping of red spots on her other arm. “What are you going on about?”

  I waggled the empty bottle at her. “This is holy water. It should have burnt you.”

  “Perhaps your magic is not as strong as you think,” she snapped.

  “I didn’t bless it,” I argued, staring at the bottle. “It was blessed by a proper paladin. At least I thought he was a proper paladin.” I narrowed my eyes. “He better have been a proper paladin.”

  “It did not affect her as it should, because she is not pure demon,” Father Salvatore told me. He lowered his rosary, letting it fall against his side. “She is no longer affected in the same fashion as other evil creatures are.”

  “The benefit of being bonded to a paladin,” the demon agreed, seeming somewhat mollified at the mention of her partial immunity. “If you wish for a fight, I will give you a moment to arm yourself. For what good it will do you.”

  “Answer three questions, and I’ll tell you why you’re still trapped,” I countered, dropping the empty bottle into my pocket.

  “You fear a true fight,” the demon taunted.

  “I consider it a waste of time.” I shifted her blouse in my grip, making sure I could thrust forward with the dagger if I had to. The blouse wouldn’t provide too much resistance, thin as it was.

  The demon shuffled closer to Andy, her gaze traveling over him from head to toe in a manner that made me choose the perfect spot for the dagger.

  “Why don’t we let the human question me?” she suggested. “Wouldn’t you like that? Agent Bradford? Andy…”

  Father Salvatore circled the bench and put himself between Lorelei and Andy. The rosary beads clicked together as he moved, drawing the demon’s attention downward to the glowing gold cross. Lorelei leapt away from him as if he’d shoved her, stumbling over a patch of uneven ground.

  “Ask your questions, Ms. Renard,” Father Salvatore said, not looking away from the demon. “She will answer you.”

  “You do not speak for me,” Lorelei hissed. “I don’t have to stand here and listen to your insults.”

  “You will answer her questions, or I will call the Ministry of Deliverance,” Father Salvatore said. “After what happened today, I suspect you will find they are no longer hesitant to address your…unique case.”

  Lorelei hesitated, as if only now realizing she was in trouble. “What has happened today?”

  “Answer my questions, and I’ll tell you,” I reminded her.

  With a small growl of frustration, Lorelei stomped back to the bench to sit. “Fine. Ask your questions, witch.”

  “There was an exorcism scheduled for today,” I said. “An exorcism that would pry you out of that body and send you straight to Hell. But the way you talk about it, you sound as if you wanted to be exorcised. Is that true?”

  “Yes,” Lorelei snapped. “I wanted the exorcism. I’ve been in this woman for too long, and I’m tired of sharing a mind with a simpering former paladin.”

  “She is not a former paladin,” Thomas said, shoving his rosary into his pocket. “She is every bit a paladin as she was the day she joined the service of God.”

  Lorelei snorted. “Fool yourself if you wish, but do not attempt to fool me. I know what she is.” She smirked. “And what she was.”

  “Hell is not usually considered more desirable than a host here,” I pointed out. “It’s my understanding you gain status through deeds you accomplish on this plane of existence, for which you need a physical body.”

  “I have been in this lump of flesh for over nine hundred years,” Lorelei said. “I am bored.” A hint of red flame burned at the heart of her hazel eyes, giving them a faraway look, as if she were staring at a fire I couldn’t see. “When I return to Hell, I will return as the demon who held a paladin for a millennium. I will be famous, revered, worshipped. Laurie is my crowning achievement.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “I hated her as soon as I met her. I was possessing a king I had believed t
o be mighty, and worthy of my presence.”

  Her jaw tightened. “That miserable holy warrior made him kneel in the snow for three days. Made him beg for an audience with her mistress, freezing like some pathetic pauper in the ice and cold. I hate being cold. I left him that day, and I vowed I would make her pay.” The anger vanished a second later, replaced by a broad grin. “And I did.”

  “How?” Andy asked.

  “I’ll let the simpering Laurie tell you that tale,” she said. “It sounds so much worse coming from her, and she hates to talk about it.”

  Andy clicked his pen and wrote something in the notebook. The click drew Lorelei’s attention, and she watched with amusement as the FBI agent took notes.

  “When you say ‘Hell,’” he asked, “do you mean Hell, as in Satan?”

  Lorelei sniffed. “Please do not write off my home world as some pit of fire where we spend all our time torturing mortals. Demons do not exist only to punish the worst of your kind.”

  “When humans refer to Hell, they’re using one word to encompass several different worlds,” I explained. “In the interest of saving time, think of Hell as another plane of existence whose inhabitants can travel here, either as a physical being, or as a manifestation.”

  “How?”

  “Depends on the realm. One can be reached by means of a river—”

  “The River Styx,” Andy guessed.

  I nodded. “And others can be accessed only by ghosts, or astral projections of living people, there’s no way to physically travel there.”

  He looked at Lorelei. “And your world?”

  “I’d be delighted to show you,” she offered.

  “You couldn’t show him if you wanted to,” Peasblossom retorted. “You’re bound.”

  Lorelei glared at my shirt where the pixie was hiding. “Say that to my face, you little pest.”

  Peasblossom hesitated. Through our empathic link, I felt her emotions shift as she gathered her courage. She grabbed hold of my bra strap and used it to pull herself up my back. I rolled my shoulders as she climbed higher, popping her face out of my shirt. “You’re bound,” she said defiantly.

  Lorelei hissed and I turned my body to keep myself between her and Peasblossom. “I’ve only asked one question, I have two more.”

  The demon’s nostrils flared as she breathed harder, and the air between us grew warm.

  “What do you mean, she’s bound?” I asked Peasblossom.

  “She’s stuck,” Peasblossom said, a hint of defiance in her voice. “She possessed the paladin, and now she can’t get out. That’s why she needed the twins. She needed an exorcism because she can’t leave Laurie on her own.”

  Lorelei snarled and shot to her feet, fixing her gaze on Andy. “Come here.”

  Andy let out a surprised grunt as his body jerked toward the demon. The flex of telekinesis brought him flush against her, and she curled a fist into his shirt, sliding her fingers through the space between his buttons to hold him fast.

  “Look at me, only at me,” Lorelei ground out. “Tell me what happened to the twins.”

  My magic burned against my palm, but I held back. It would be too hard to hurt the demon without hurting Andy, and if the holy water hadn’t bothered her, I doubted the blessed dagger would fare much better. I drew the dagger free of the blouse. Blessed or not, it would get her attention off Andy.

  “Enough!” Father Salvatore’s voice boomed over the small churchyard. The priest who had seemed content to remain in the background strode forward, thrusting the rosary at the demon. Lorelei released Andy and jerked away, hissing at the priest as if she were part cat.

  “Stop your interfering,” she snarled. “Or I’ll make it a priority to see what flesh lies beneath your virginal black garments.”

  The priest didn’t rise to her bait. Instead, he raised his face to the sunlight, both hands held out in a plea. “Heavenly Father, fill Agent Bradford with your light so he may resist the temptation of this foul creature. We ask for your love and protection in the name of your son, Jesus Christ.”

  Thomas stepped forward to join Father Salvatore. Together they repeated the prayer.

  I watched with interest as Andy swayed on his feet as if coming out of a fog. He blinked and looked around, taking in the praying priests and the stewing demon.

  “What was that?” he mumbled.

  “That was Lorelei trying to influence you,” I said tightly. “Get away from her.”

  Andy didn’t hesitate, just took a few steps away from Lorelei. I was pleased to see he stood closer to the priests. Faith in God would be better protection against the demon, but trusting in God’s servants was a strong step.

  Lorelei made a show of rolling her eyes. “Finish your questions, witch. I want my answers.”

  “Is Peasblossom right? Are you bound?”

  “Yes,” she hissed.

  “Tell me everything you remember about the exorcism.”

  “I remember nothing. I had a farewell party last night to celebrate my final night in this holy prison. Per our agreement, I allowed Laurie to have full control after my party ended—in the very early hours of the morning.” She shrugged one bare shoulder. “I have no memory after that before rising to find your plain face beside me.”

  “Did you tell anyone about the exorcism?” I asked.

  “They knew I was leaving, but no details beyond that. They knew neither where nor when the exorcism would take place.”

  She’d lived up to her end of the bargain. I had no choice but to give her the answers she wanted. “The twins were murdered.”

  Lorelei froze. The red light in her eyes was the only movement, the flame growing brighter, spreading over her irises, swallowing her pupils. “What did you say?”

  “Murdered. They’re both dead.”

  “That is not possible. They are holy men, two of the most powerful paladins the Ministry of Deliverance has ever seen. They are minotaurs!” She clenched her hands into fists. “How?”

  “Shot,” Andy answered.

  “Shot,” she echoed. “Shot with what?”

  “A gun.”

  She looked at him, and if I’d doubted the genuineness of her confusion before, I didn’t now. She didn’t even try to flirt with Andy this time, didn’t use her power at all. “A human gun. A mundane weapon killed them? That’s not possible. That’s not— They are minotaurs. They are warriors, pathetic dedication to holy ventures aside. They were not killed by something so pathetic as a human gun.”

  “There is nothing pathetic about human guns,” I countered. “Especially if the shooter caught them in the middle of a complicated ritual…?”

  Lorelei dropped her head back and screamed. The sound erupted from the small churchyard, rolling over the surrounding city like a spiritual sonic boom. I clapped my hands over my ears, bending in half as the sound rolled over me, threatened to turn my insides to liquid. Andy mirrored my position, and even the two priests winced as they continued a steady prayer.

  When it was over, I stumbled forward before regaining my balance. I turned to where Lorelei had planted herself on the bench, feet flat on the ground, hands gripping the stone seat hard enough to threaten the integrity of the rock.

  “You remember nothing of what happened?” I asked when the ringing in my ears stopped.

  “They were my only hope,” Lorelei said, her voice empty. “The only ones who believed they could disentangle me from this wretched…” She pursed her lips. “I will kill whoever did this.”

  “That’s why I’m here,” I told her. “But I need more information. Could I speak with Laurie?”

  “No.” Lorelei stood. “Show me the crime scene. I need to find who did this and make them pay.”

  “And I need to talk to Laurie,” I said.

  “I want to see the crime scene, and I want to destroy the killer,” Lorelei responded. “I’m not leaving until I do.” She took a sudden step closer, crowding my personal space. “Do you think you can stop me?” Another step.
“You’re no holy warrior.”

  “No,” I agreed. “I’m no holy warrior. I can’t focus my faith into a weapon, I can’t exorcise you from that body.”

  Lorelei barked out a laugh at that. “Even a paladin could not exorcise me. I am this body now.” There was something in her voice when she said the last sentence, a bitterness that said she regretted her choice, however she might brag about it.

  “You’re not alone, though. And I’d like to talk to the other occupant. She’s the one who can tell me what happened.”

  The demon’s eyes glittered with specks of cherry red. “Show me the crime scene.”

  I sighed. I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this. “Do you know many children?”

  Lorelei blinked. “I’m sorry?”

  “Children. Do you know many children? Have you seen them on the playground?”

  “Having children is the one thing Laurie was wretchedly successful at preventing,” Lorelei muttered. “And I do not find hanging around playgrounds a worthy way to spend my time.”

  “Good.”

  I tucked my foot behind Lorelei’s and shoved her in the chest—hard. Surprise widened her eyes a second before she pitched backward. Andy shouted, and Father Salvatore ceased his steady prayer. Time slowed, and I watched Lorelei’s skull slam into the stone bench with a stomach-turning crunch. Her body went limp as she slumped to the grass, leaving behind a shining red patch of blood on the seat, with more crimson flowing to stain the grass around her.

  Her eyes closed and she lay still.

  Chapter 4

  I followed Lorelei down, dropping to my knees in the bloodstained grass and laying my hands over her head. Split scalp, broken skull, and something slimy that could have been brain matter slid against the pads of my fingers. And there, beneath the gore, a hissing snapping energy licked at the wound—the demon’s inherent magic. The demon’s infernal energy alone would heal Laurie, but since I was the one to inflict the damage, I didn’t wait to make sure.

  “Sana,” I whispered.