Chapter 7

Seven

Esau slipped the hotel key card through the lock on the door well north of the city. While they'd driven for two hours, it still didn't feel far enough. He entered, flipped on the first light switch he found, and turned to watch Joaquin shut, lock, and bolt the door. Esau lifted the box of salt from the bag hanging around his wrist and handed it to his mate. Joaquin lined the entry with salt before moving to the window across the room to do the same.

"Hopefully that buys us a little protection for the night," Joaquin murmured. He rose to full height and eyed Esau. "We should get some shuteye while we can."

"I've got to email work and let them know I won't be in tomorrow."

Joaquin nodded, little to say. He hadn't said much on the ride up, either. He'd just held Esau's hand, lending his strength as he always did. He was right. Joaquin had never allowed harm to come to him. In their years of hunting demons, the worst injury he'd received was either the sprained wrist or the scratches across the chest, he wasn't sure which was worse. His jaguar was powerful and a deadly fighter.

But one shifter against a horde of demons?

They needed help.

Problem was, they were both orphans—thanks to demons. They'd both ended up in foster care before joining the military. They'd joined to simply have a place to lay their heads at night after they'd aged out of the system. The Marines had been easy compared to foster care. Stability was what he'd longed for, and he'd gotten that in spades. It had also left him with trauma after watching two of his closest Marine brothers die in Syria.

A third friend had died on home soil, unable to live with the things they'd seen and done overseas. Joaquin wasn't in much better shape, suffering some of the same trauma their freind had, along with living with the fear of being found out. He'd had to suppress his shifter side most of his life. Jaguars were, by nature, solitary beasts, so he had no pack.

Upon their release, they'd relied on one another. Making friends wasn't easy when all you did was work and hunt.

What all that meant was—there was nowhere to run.

After emailing his boss for a couple of sick days, he tossed his phone onto the nightstand, sensing it was going to take much more than that to get themselves straight.

"Go ahead and get some sleep. I'll keep watch. I can sleep on the way back in the morning," Joaquin murmured.

"Where do we go?" Esau asked.

Joaquin was silent, but Esau could sense his mind spinning, searching for a way out.

"Just sleep," Joaquin finally murmured after a minute.

Esau slid off his shoes, pulled off his shirt, and fell onto the bed, resting his head on the pillow. Joaquin lay down facing him, fully dressed. Esau saw love in his mate's eyes and found strength in that. They'd always had each other to turn to.

"We'll find a way through, babe. We always do. Our families are watching over us. Keeping us safe." He trailed two fingers gently over the mate's mark near Esau's shoulder—the two black waves that had formed the first time they'd both touched.

Joaquin had the identical mark but said one wave had already been there since his birth. Supposedly human marks were hidden to protect them from those that might harm them.

Esau smiled, though it was a bit bittersweet. He missed his parents, brothers, and his abuela. What he wouldn't have done to have them back. "Yeah. I know."

Joaquin rolled onto his back and outstretched his arm. "Come're."

Esau slid closer and cuddled into Joaquin's embrace. There, he was protected. He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, he was alone on the bed.

"Keeno?" Esau scanned the room but saw no signs. Heard no movement. He slid from the bed, his heart beating faster. He whipped open the bathroom door, but no one was inside.

When he turned, he saw a glowing light and froze.

"Abuelita?"

Her smile warmed him. She stretched out her arms. "Come, mijo."

He raced into her embrace, knowing it was a dream, but he didn't care. He'd longed for family—and she'd come to grant his wish. He inhaled, nose deep in her short, dark curls. She smelled the same, a mixture of the passionflower and honeysuckle that had grown in the courtyard of her hacienda and hints of the many traditional spices she'd often cooked with.

"Oh, mijo, you've gotten yourself into a mess here."

He leaned back and eyed her. She cupped his cheek and smiled.

"Good thing your Abuelita is here to help, hmm?"

"Help? How?"

She tsked, eyeing him. "Your novio was right when he said your family watches over and protects you. I've kept my eye on you both."

He smiled at her easy acceptance of his unconventional relationship, although her being a witch wasn't exactly conventional, either. "He's my mate, not my boyfriend."

"I don't see a ring on your finger. Until you stand up and say the words before God, you are not married. Mated. Whatever his kind do. It's all the same thing." She crossed herself, shaking her head, and raised a hand to the sky.

Esau chuckled. "If we survive this, I'll drag him into the nearest church and make sure we take care of that. Okay?"

"Oh, you will survive this. Your destiny doesn't end here."

Esau relaxed, but only by degrees. "That's good to know. Mind sharing more?"

"I need you to listen closely, mijo. You must leave this place. If you stay, only death comes."

"The hotel?"

"No, you must leave California."

Esau tensed. He'd worked hard to build a life and career in San Diego, the very city where his life had been decimated. Now it stood to be decimated again.

"Massachusetts is your destination. They're in dire need of a man like you in Boston." She smiled. "Tomorrow, your job here will be no more and you will take one in Boston. Your novio is untethered. Pack your bags and leave this place."

He frowned. "Boston? The whole other side of the country?"

"You will find your people in Massachusetts. The familia you've longed for." She leaned up and dragged him closer, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "And I will always be watching out for you and yours."

"I love you, Abuelita."

"And I you, mi amor."

She began to fade from sight. Esau reached for her, but she was gone. The room began to spin, slowly fading away like the sands of an hourglass. When it began to pull him down, he clutched the falling ground around him before screaming for Joaquin.

"Esau? Esau!"

Esau opened his eyes to daylight pouring in around Joaquin's head—which was directly above his. He turned his gaze slightly and slid his fingers over the crisp, cool white sheets of the hotel room's bed.

"You were having a nightmare, babe. It's okay. We're safe," Joaquin murmured, brushing Esau's hair back from where sweat dotted his forehead.

"It wasn't a nightmare. Well, the last couple of seconds were bad, but the rest." He shook his head, sitting up in the bed. "I saw my abuela."

"And?"

"She said she has watched out for us all along, just like you said. Then she said we were in danger here and would have to leave. She says we should go to Boston."

"Massachusetts?Sounds cold."

"Yeah. But hearing her say it—it felt right. If that makes sense? As soon as she said it, it was as if I'd been waiting to be sent there my entire life."

Joaquin's brow furrowed a moment, but slowly shook his head. "Yeah. I don't understand why, but I feel it, too. Boston."

A memory from the dream popped into his head. He reached for his phone to check his work email. His boss had replied to his sick day request with a simple, ‘Call me.'

He rang the number and lifted it to his ear. His boss called on the third ring. "This is Captain Shortt."

"Hey, this is Esau. I just saw your email."

His boss sighed deeply. "Esau, I had planned to sit down with you today when you came in and do this face-to-face, but unfortunately, it has to be over the phone if you're unwell."

Esau frowned. "Okay."

"With the recent budget cuts, we've had to do some trimming. While your work has been exemplary, I'm afraid that your team has been flagged. Today's your last day."

Esau was speechless. Just like that, he was let go?

Or had his grandmother played a hand in that? His ego hoped for the latter. "The entire team?"

"You've all been an asset here and I hate to let you go, but I have no other choice. Your team is the newest one formed, even though it's been a few years now. You'll, of course, receive a glowing letter of recommendation. I've already drafted it and it'll be in your inbox," he paused and clicked some buttons in the background. "Now. You'll also get two-month's severance."

Esau released a breath. He'd never been fired before, and even though they needed to go, it was still hard to hear. "I understand. I've been thinking it's time for a change anyway, so this is clearly the time for it."

"I wish you nothing but the best, Esau. Good luck."

"Thanks." He ended the call and eyed Joaquin.

"What was that?"

"I'm no longer employed," he said. "Which my grandmother told me would happen. She said when I woke up, my job would be no more."

"Well, your grandmother was a bruja."

Esau nodded. "Do you think she made that happen?"

"Did she use a bit of her magic from the beyond?" Joaquin sat on the side of the bed and shrugged. "I don't know. Hell, maybe you made that happen. You do have her witch blood in your veins. Strong emotions can cause latent powers to kick in."

Esau chuckled. "Me, a witch? No."

"You can see a glow in the eyes of otherworldly creatures, so don't tell me you don't have a little magic in you."

Esau rose onto his knees and wrapped his arms around Joaquin's shoulders, nuzzling into his shifter's neck. He closed his eyes and inhaled Joaquin's scent—mixed with a little lingering honeysuckle and passionflower. He smiled, happy she'd come to him. Joaquin slid his hand over Esau's and turned his head. He pressed a kiss to Esau's cheek.

"I'm unemployed. You can work from anywhere. So, do we go?"

Joaquin snorted with laughter. "I'm not telling your bruja grandmother no. I don't need her coming back and cursing me. If she can play with the strings of fate from beyond, I'm not crossing that woman."

"She called you my novio."

Joaquin frowned. "I'm more than a boyfriend."

"Hey, she didn't balk I'm with a man, now, did she?"

Joaquin snorted.

"A good Catholic woman accepting her bisexual grandson? Give her a little credit."

"Can a bruja be a good Catholic?" Joaquin asked with a grin.

"Don't let her hear you talking shit," Esau murmured. "She said we're not official until there's a ring on my finger." Esau smiled. "I told her if we survived this, I'm dragging you to the nearest church and making things official."

"Oh, we're surviving this," Joaquin murmured before dragging Esau onto his lap. He slid the fingers of one hand up into the nape of Esau's neck, sliding through the strands there and tugging him closer.

Esau met his mate's stare and saw the heat there.

"I wish we had time for me to show you just how official we are," Joaquin murmured. "This will have to suffice."

He captured Esau's lips in a rough hold, plundering what was his. Esau had long accepted his jaguar was a possessive man and come to realize he rather enjoyed being possessed. He yielded to Joaquin's strong lips, melting against his mate's muscled chest.

They parted, breathless.

Joaquin pressed his forehead to Esau's. "We go home, check if it's safe. If it is, we pack whatever we can't live without, toss it into the back of my truck, and we drive east for as long as we can, putting as much distance between us as we can. Tonight, when we stop to rest, I'll finish what I started here."

"Tease,"Esau whispered, smiling.

"Damned straight," Joaquin replied, grinning wickedly. "I want you thinking about that, nothing else."

Not the danger.Esau smiled wanly. Joaquin didn't want him to worry. It was sweet, but he'd still worry until they were long gone. "Tonight. I can't wait."

Joaquin kissed him again, softer. "We should get on the road. If you can drive, I can nap on the way home."

"Yeah," Esau murmured, not interested in going anywhere. He smiled at Joaquin, the word home whispering through his mind. San Diego was no longer home. Not for them. Their destiny was east.

Home was the man holding him.

Wherever they were, as long as they were together, they'd be okay.

Three weeks later…

Salem

"This is the last of them,"Cassius murmured after he appeared in his studio and gazed at the demon bound in the iron chair. He turned to eye Gideon. "One last time."

"One last time," Gideon murmured to himself.

They'd been lucky. No demons had come to their door in the weeks it had taken Gideon to perform the spells. Each one had taken its toll, leaving him frail afterwards, making it impossible to do quickly. He'd needed two or three days between each of them to recharge his magic enough to face another.

Gideon surveyed the beast concealed in human flesh, the acrid aroma of sulfur swelling as the hellish minion thrashed in the chair. At least this one was quiet. The others had screamed and screeched, the noise unbearable. Unsure he had the strength for one more, Gideon drew in a long, slow breath, steeling himself, his stomach turning knowing what came next.

Just one more.

He had to finish or else… or else…

He didn't want to think of ‘or else.'

They'd had eleven before this one to practice. Locking it down had been easy, especially when their final demon didn't seem to have much fight in it. The others departed once the creature was secured, leaving it him, Luca, and Cassius once more.

Luca glanced his way. "You good?"

Gideon forced a broad smile. "Of course." He was anything but. The horrors he'd witnessed made it impossible to sleep. The nightmares were constant. He spent his sleepless nights using Grindr and its supernatural cousin, Beastr, looking for hookup after hookup every night. Sex magic was potent stuff, and the only thing maintaining his power—and sanity. One more and he could lock away what he'd seen and release it to the ether and sleep peacefully again.

Hopefully.

"Luc, can you put up a forcefield? This one stinks to high heaven."

The demon hissed at the word heaven. It was cut short by Luca's spell, wrapping the demon in silence.

Gideon eyed Cassius. "How're Atlas and Quill doing on that banishment spell? Have they found any leads?"

"Nothing," Cassius muttered. "We're all on book duty. Quilliam has new books coming every day. Three of us read each one, just to be sure no one's missed anything. I've even reached out to some of the other Salem and Boston covens, hoping some of the older families might allow us into their ancient family libraries to search."

"And have they?"

"One," Cassius said. "Just one. And we found nothing."

"Maybe we stop asking for permission and switch to forgiveness," Luca said.

"We're already dealing with demons and the Council. Do you really want to add the Salem covens to our list of enemies right now?" Cassius asked Luca.

"No," Luca muttered.

"If we can't find something to bind these demons to Hell, I've…" Gideon paused. I've tormented myself for no good reason. "I've wasted my magic for nothing. This is only a stop-gap measure."

"I realize, Gid." Cassius pinched the bridge of his nose. He dropped his hands, shoulder sagging. "I'm nearing the end of my list of places to look. The only other possibility is to reach out to the Celestial Council and I?—"

"No!"Gideon cried.

Cassius chuckled. The exhaustion in his eyes belied any humor. "If you'd let me finish… I won't do that, especially knowing they might be involved with the demons somehow. I'm working on that issue, too, searching for answers I'm not sure I'll find."

"I think the demons take priority," Luca said.

"Yes, but if the Council's involved, learning what's happening there might lead to answers," Cassius murmured.

"Maybe," Gideon said.

"There's not much else," Cassius whispered. "I don't know where else to turn."

"What about outside of Salem?" Luca said. "Mom's down in New Orleans, perhaps I can take a trip down there to see her and reach out to the covens there?"

"Worth a shot," Cassius said. "If you're willing."

"She's been hounding me to meet Colby and Daniel, so two birds, one stone."

Cassius sighed, closing his eyes.

"What is it?" Gideon asked.

"There's one final option to find the spell we need, but I can't." Cassius' eyes shone with a weariness Gideon had never seen. "I can't."

"What is it?" Gideon asked.

"Quilliam thinks Hammer of the Witches might change according to who's reading it. While Quill didn't find the spell, if we hand Atlas the book again, there's a chance he might be able to."

Luca shook his head. "We all know what it did to Atlas last time. We let him have it again and the evil in that book might not let him go," Luca added.

"Then let Atlas search again… supervised by you both and Quilliam," Gideon suggested. "You can pull him away if the tide turns."

"I fear he's already spent too much time with the book as it is," Cassius said. "It's left something behind. Atlas… is not well."

"I thought Dee did a cleansing?"

"She did," Cassius murmured. "And it seemed to have done the job, but I've noticed the past few days that he's slipping into the darkness again. We're doing another cleansing tonight. Eli's using his ancestral magic."

"Those demons could murder thousands. Isn't it worth the risk to try?" Gideon asked.

Cassius met his stare. "Are you suggesting we potentially sacrifice Atlas for that spell?"

Though it's apparently okay to sacrifice me and my sanity to imprison the demons."I suppose not," Gideon whispered, heartsick. He was too tired to fight, not when he was about to face one last beast.

"I know what you've done is not easy," Cassius said. "But I knew you were equal to the task. I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't think you capable. Atlas? I don't think this is a fight he could win."

"Sure." Gideon brushed past Cassius and stopped a fraction of an inch from the ward on the floor, the pointed tips of his lace-up, platform boots nearly touching it. He ran his hands down the black miniskirt and fishnet stockings he wore, drying his damp palms before lifting them and calling forth his magic.

Pink tendrils of power collected in each, the hue growing from pale to a bright, dark rosy shade as he drew from the last of his supply. There was a cost to all magic… he was paying it in more ways than one.

If this works… it will be worth it.

He used his fingers to draw the spell in the air one last time and pushed it forward. He closed his eyes, burrowing into the demon's memories. When he opened them again, he stood on another cliff overlooking Hell again, the demon standing before him. It smiled at him, the human covering gone, leaving behind the beast's true form. Curling, brick-red horns rose above its misshapen head filled with razor-sharp teeth and eyes the color of bile.

It snickered at him, as if it saw him. A shiver ran down Gideon's spine as it marched closer. He took a step back, gasping.

I'm not strong enough…

Seconds before the beast was within reach, it passed by and on toward a damned human dangling from one of the many rock spikes along the edge of the cliff. Gideon took a breath, his chest tight from the lack of air mixed with fear. As soon as he inhaled, he wished he hadn't. The acrid smell of brimstone and slaughter turned his stomach.

The beast marched up to the human and Gideon trailed behind, careful with every step. When he neared the screaming human, he realized a massive stalagmite skewered the man through the rectum. A point pressed against his chest, pushing out before it pierced him and exposed blood and gore behind it. Gideon closed his eyes, but it was no good. He'd see it over and over again in his nightmares that night.

Why his magic would demand such a cost, he did not know. With each demon, he'd had to live through at least one experience of torture before he could break away and bind the memories.

He was forced to watch horrors before wiping it all away.

Blood poured from the chest wound, more from the human's mouth. With a flash, it was over. The man was whole again, unharmed, and standing beside the spike he'd been impaled on.

"Time for another round," the demon snarled before hefting the human above its head and sliding the tip back between the man's ass cheeks. The screams began anew, louder than before—likely due to the fact his lungs weren't yet perforated by the stone. Gideon pressed his hands to his ears, but it did no good.

Tears streamed down his cheeks as he watched the torment on the human's face and noted the smug satisfaction on the demon's. Inch by inch the man slid, stretching him open. Blood soon soaked the spike as it rent the man in two.

How many times had the human suffered the same torture? Another round, the demon had said. Was it the second or the seven-thousandth? Was that damned soul still in Hell, experiencing that same pain over and over again?

Bile rose in Gideon's throat, and he backed away. Yet, he put no space between him and the evil vision. When the man slid further, Gideon heard a bubbling sound to the screams—the same as he'd heard when he'd first arrived. His lungs…

Gideon struggled for air. Rancid, sulfuric air not fit to breathe.

Not long after, the spike pierced the man's chest and blood rushed out from the wound. In a snap, the man was no longer there, but standing beside the spike once more.

"Another round," the demon repeated, smiling with its razor teeth.

Only this time, instead of hefting the human over its head, it grabbed Gideon and slammed him onto the spike. A scream poured from his lips as the pointed stone stabbed his insides…

Not mine. His.

He repeated the mantra through the pain until there was only darkness. He'd gotten better at pulling himself out of the final moment, quicker each and every time.

The pain was soon gone.

Gideon dragged air into his lungs, the pungent odor gone.

There was only nothingness.

He culled magic into his palms, desperate for light to mark his path out of the nightmare he was entangled in. Luckily for him, the demon was not as ancient as the ones who'd come before. His memories were easier to contain. He forged the egg and went in hunt of the human, the twelfth such search he'd undertaken. When it was over, he opened his eyes and was once again in Cassius' studio in the Enchanted Ink building.

Home. He was home.

Tears wet his cheeks as he came to the end, the final demon trapped. Gideon collapsed, but Cassius and Luca were there to catch him. They laid him on the small settee in Cassius' studio and allowed him to rest, Luca never leaving his side.

I'm home. I'm safe. It was all a dream.

All a dream.

It wasn't real.

Gideon knew it had been very real for someone else, but it was simply a memory. A lingering remnant from the past. There was nothing he could do to stop it from happening, not that he would if he could. He'd sensed evil in the spiked human's heart. Perhaps the man had earned that torment.

Gideon hadn't though.

"Gid," Luca whispered. "Gideon?"

Gideon searched his friend's face, soon realizing Luca hadn't been whispering at all. He'd barely heard his name called through the fog of what he'd experienced.

"It's done."

Gideon forced another smile. "Did you ever doubt me?"

Luca tenderly wiped away his tears. "You're not okay."

"I am. These are happy tears. I'm glad it's finally over. At least this part of it."

"Don't lie to me," Luca growled. "I can see you're not okay."

"You go trudging through a dozen demon's minds and we'll see how you fare, hmm?" Gideon snapped. He pushed Luca's hands away and rose to his feet, wobbling in the process.

Luca reached out to steady him, but Gideon stumbled away. He felt dirty. Covered in filth from head to toe. He needed another shower. Another long cry to get it all out.

"Gideon?"

"I'll be fine," Gideon said. "I have a cleansing ritual I plan to do tonight." A fib. It was a binding, where he'd tie all the memories of Hell and remove them from his own memory. Not what he'd done, but what he'd seen while doing it. That would allow him to sleep at night.

Gideon ignored the concern in Luca's eyes. Cassius' too.

"I need a shower. A nap." He brushed his hands down his thighs, the trembling under his palms disconcerting. "And then the cleansing."

"I can help," Luca said. "Share my power to make sure it's done."

"No," Gideon whispered. "I have to do this alone."

Luca looked to Cassius, who looked to him.

"I've bounced back after each one. Never used as a conduit. And this cleansing should clear the way for me to heal," Gideon said. "You'll see… by tomorrow, I'll feel like myself again."

"At least let me help you to your apartment."

Gideon turned, spinning. He was thankful he didn't fall over. "I'm good. That last one was easier than the rest. He was a young one." He forced a bright smile. "I don't need my babysitter for this one."

Cassius and Luca clearly didn't want to let him leave alone, so he gave them a wave and walked out. In the hallway, there was no throng of people to ensure he was well. He'd lied well enough that most assumed he was okay. They hadn't seen through his lies like Luca and Cassius did.

He made it to the elevator before they stopped him. It opened for him as soon as he arrived, as if it lay in wait. Instead of going up, he went down. After arriving on the first floor of the tattoo shop, he marched through the space.

Each of the apprentices hovered over a human canvas, hard at work. A half dozen more clients lingered in the waiting area, poring over the albums chock-full of sample tattoos. Gideon paused at the reception desk where their recently hired receptionist, Betty, was greeting a new arrival. "Why, yes, we do take walk-ins, but it might be a while. All our artists are currently busy, and there are a few ahead of you."

"That's okay," the human said. He glanced to the side and noticed Gideon, and his eyes widened.

Betty eyed him, as well, her lips pursing.

"I know you've already canceled my appointments for this week. Can you call and cancel my appointments for the next? I know some of them were already rescheduled, so it might not be pretty."

"Anything for you, Gideon," Betty replied, smiling. She cocked her head to the side. "You look beat, darling."

"An understatement," Gideon said before pushing off the edge of the desk and heading for the back door, which emptied out to the lobby of the building. Another quick elevator ride and he was on the floor of his apartment.

Once inside his own space, he peeled his clothes off on his path to the shower. Flicking it on, he allowed the water to warm as he peeled off his boots, followed by his stockings and panties until he was bare. The warm water sluiced over his naked body, the heat filling the cold spaces left behind by the demons. He stayed there until the water turned icy. Only then did he feel clean.

After sliding into a silk robe and twisting his hair into a towel, he collected the items he needed for his spell. Kneeling on the floor with the items, he lit the incense before laying out stones and crystals and then lighting a bunch of sage. He lifted the centuries-old incantation he'd found, reading over it once more before he spoke it aloud.

I crept betwixt the earth and moon;

the warming sun long fell;

in glad pursuit of shadows strewn;

within the dark they dwell.

Thine eve did hold a chilling feel;

ill humors of the night;

a candle's brilliance might reveal;

wee beasties in my sight.

Fiends engolfe the gloaming's black;

with claws and fangs that bite;

come follow us to Hell and back;

they chant with grim delight.

He waved the sage to the north, to the south, and east and west. "Mother, I implore you to eliminate these visions of Hell from my memory, the price I've paid too steep. I've given of myself in service to my brother witches. Please, do not allow them to haunt my dreams."

Gideon closed his eyes and whispered a prayer to the universe. A breeze blew over him and he smiled, hopeful his plea had been answered.

Not realizing the Mother could only protect that of Earth and not what lay beneath it.