“I see it,” I whispered.
He leaned closer. “You see the one that wants you to see it. You still aren’t seeing the other two that don’t.”
That did it. I pushed in and pushed out at the same time, sending my light out to illuminate the world around me, and two more demons came into focus. Sadly, they were all three hanging from the ceiling, their slick black heads twisting in curiosity, their teeth glistening.
One fell from the ceiling like a spider and partly unfolded itself in front of me, its limbs full of sharp angles and odd positions. Osh quickly traded places with me, his head lowered, his fists at his sides as he prepared for an attack. I could feel excitement rush through his veins with the promise of battle.
The demon hissed and scurried back, and I could have sworn I heard the word champion on the air. It was in a language I knew but didn’t recognize. Either way, they knew who he was. What he was.
I could also see Reyes, his cloak enveloping me like a protective layer undulating around me as he stood at my side. I felt the heat of his visage slide over my skin.
Along with my newfound sight, the colors like a kaleidoscope glittering before my eyes, came other sensory clues that I was no longer just on the earthly plane. The scent of the demons hit me hard, like someone burning an animal that had been dead for days, its fur acrid, the smell of death strong.
“You’ve been making an awful lot of commotion to get me over here,” I said to them. “It will be a costly mistake on your part.”
“Reaper,” one of them said, its voice nothing more than a rasp, one that stabbed me like a dentist’s drill hitting a nerve. And it came from behind us.
I turned while Osh stayed glued to the ones in front of us. The one behind us was still attached to the ceiling. Its face upside down came nose-to-nose with mine. Or it would have if it had had a nose. They looked so alienlike. So misshapen.
I could so very easily turn them to dust, but I was curious as to why they would practically invite me over for tea and scones. “Why are you here?” I asked in the same language they were speaking.
“You realize that by summoning me here, you signed your own death warrant.” Demons were nothing to take lightly. I’d seen what they were capable of, but I also knew they were no match against the light that shone inside me.
“I do,” it said, and I fought to place the language we were speaking. I knew it was ancient. Possibly the first language ever spoken in the universe. “Unless we sign yours first.”
“Is that what you think will happen here?”
“Dutch,” Reyes said into my ear, “stop playing with your dinner.”
“I just want to know why they’ve come onto my plane so brazenly. So callously.”
“We are quedeau,” it said, and I had to translate the word in my mind.
“Hunters,” I said, but it was more than that. “Bounty hunters.”
“Close enough.”
“If you’re going to do something, now would be a good time,” Osh said.
I glanced around. The hall had filled with the slick, insectlike beasts. I felt a ball of oppressive energy gathering near the end of the hall, where the demons were entering through a crack in the wall. They looked like a horde of spiders emerging from a nest. Before I knew it, there were dozens of them surrounding us.
“Why did you want me here?” I asked the one staring me down.
“We are strongest here.”
“Look closer,” Reyes whispered, and I saw that beyond the crack in the wall was a darkness, thick and a million miles deep, and it was literally hemorrhaging demons.
“A gate?” I asked him, taken aback.
“One of several gates to hell,” Osh said. “But the trip even to get this far is perilous. They must have emptied hell of these lice to get this many across.
“There are more,” the demon said, his head twisting as though curious about me. “The Twelve have been sent. You are not long for this world, Reaper.”
“There are more gates?” I asked Osh.
“Yes. I came through one similar to this centuries ago, but I looked a lot better than these roaches.”
As we spoke, the demon closest to me decided to take advantage of the distraction. He lurched toward me, claws extended, teeth bared, and in one blinding moment, I let loose the light that would burn them all alive. I focused my energy on the gate, tried to close it, but even my light couldn’t accomplish such a feat.
Still, after I reined in my energy, they stopped coming through. Either they’d wised up and decided to stay on the other side, or I’d killed all those that had made it this far.
“We should go just in case one of the Twelve had a passport stamped at this particular checkpoint.”
“How many are there?” I asked as we hurried out of the house. “How many gates?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“What do you mean?”
“They aren’t what you think.”
I stopped short and glanced up at something shiny in a corner where wall met ceiling. A small circle reflected light down at us, and if I was not mistaken, it belonged to a camera lens.
“Coming?” he asked.
I nodded and followed him out, wondering about the good father who’d summoned me here. Did he know this house sat on a hellmouth? Of course, the family could have placed cameras about the place themselves in an attempt to catch paranormal activity. It wasn’t the camera itself that caught my attention, but the fact that it was so well hidden, almost undetectable. And it looked like a professional installation.