"Good strike!"
Rubbing her ribs where Charlie had just landed a hit, Cassie backed off a couple of steps as the princess bobbed and weaved, preparing to strike again. She was impressed by how quickly the princess mastered each technique she demonstrated. It must have something to do with her demonic powers. At this pace, it wouldn't be long before Charlie matched her skill—or even surpassed it.
"Thanks!" Charlie breathed through her nose, her grin showing pride and eagerness.
Cassie mirrored the smile and repositioned herself for another strike. A sudden cough gripped her when she did, sharp spasms shooting through her torso, and she doubled over in pain.
The princess grimaced, concern clouding her face. "Are you okay? Did I hit you too hard?"
"It's fine, sis, nothing worse than what's expected with the level of sparring we've been doing," Cassie grinned at her concern, finding it endearing. "But I think this is enough for today. It's noon, and I'm hungry. I'm sure Kevin is waiting on us to finish up."
Charlie nodded, reaching to take her Bō. "Okay. I'll take care of these while you get our water bottles."
"Deal." As Cassie went to hand Charlie her staff, her face twisted, revealing more pain than she had admitted, accompanied by an audible hiss.
"I did hurt you!" Charlie looked scared. "How bad?"
"It's nothing, okay? I've dealt with far worse in the service."
Her stubborn denial did not calm the princess at all. Dropping the staffs, Charlie moved closer to Cassie, opening her arms.
"You really don't have to." Cassie raised her hands, but a sharp pain shot through her, causing her to wince again.
"Don't be stubborn!" Charlie scolded.
"Just don't use too much power on me, as I know it drains you." She stepped into her sister's arms.
"You're worth it."
Charlie held her close and summoned her wings, wrapping them around both of them to create a cocoon of warmth. A gentle, warm light pulsed outward as energy flowed from her wings into Cassie's body. Soon, all the bruises and cuts on both women vanished. As the soft glow faded, Charlie opened her arms.
Cassie didn't pull away immediately and repeated her statement from the night before, gently squeezing Charlie. "You are amazing."
Charlie smiled against her cheek while blushing softly. "So are you, sis. You've helped me more than I could have ever imagined."
"In some ways." Stepping back, Cassie aired out a sigh, "I still haven't found a way to restore your memories."
"I don't care anymore." Charlie shrugged softly. "I can't imagine a life in Hell could be any better than what I have here, with you and Angel. You're my family now. I never want to lose this."
"But," a look of real worry crossed her face, "what if Lucifer, if he is your father, came looking for you?"
"If he does find me?" Charlie's voice remained steady. "I'll declare you my new family, and I'll fight to protect you. Besides…" Her eyes looked distant. "I strongly feel that my father is much more benevolent than people were led to believe."
"I can't say that comforts me all that much." Cassie's lips turned down. "I didn't like the way my parents preached to me, but I still learned enough in Religious Formation and Bible studies to have both the fear of God and Satan driven into my soul."
"Some nights, after Angel fell asleep, I'd read from the Bibles stored in the motel nightstands. I wanted to see if any of it would trigger my mind." Charlie admitted. "But all it did was make me question if I wanted to remember, as it all seemed more like some manipulative fairy tale."
"You wouldn't be alone in those thoughts." Cassie gave her a half-smile. "But are you really sure you're okay if you don't remember? I will still do everything in my power to find out what's keeping your memories chained away, 'cause I want you to have—"
Charlie put a finger to her lips, cutting her off. "I know. But Angel and I agreed; we will face the risks together, just as we are, and that's all I need."
"Okay. And I trust you," Cassie emphasized, then gave her a full smile and a mid-waist bow. "I know you don't like the bows, but allow your sister this one time to thank you for healing a stubborn witch and show respect for Your Majesty's incredible power."
Charlie bowed back in kind. "And allow me to show respect to my Taiji Master, who taught me how to be more than a demon. I will never be able to thank you enough for it."
They shared a warm smile as Cassie bent down, pain-free, to pick up the staffs. Handing them to Charlie, she went to get their water bottles while Charlie stored the weapons. Then, together, they headed down to the apartment.
"Kev said most of the food should be salvageable, but I'm too tired to cook. We'll go out and grab some lunch nearby. Should be safe." Fishing her key from her pocket, Cassie unlocked the door. "We'll leave a note for Amanda and Davis on where we're going so she can join us."
"That sounds great. He mentioned a few places with vegan menus he wanted to introduce me to."
"Oh, Lord." Cassie laughed as she ushered Charlie in ahead of her. "I will never be able to get over the fact that the Princess of Hell is a vegetarian."
"All life is sacred," Charlie declared firmly, though anger edged her next words. "Except those who would try to kill my family."
Cassie paused and looked at her. "When it comes to the likes of Samedi, Bible, and the monsters that plague our world, if Charlie the demon takes them out, I will be right there by her side."
The two women exchanged a look of understanding before Cassie called, "Kevin? We're back. Are you hungry?"
Silence greeted them.
She looked at Charlie, who had tipped her head, her face showing concern. "I don't hear him. I also don't smell him."
"Is he in the store?"
Tilting her head more, Charlie opened up her hearing and quickly looked at her. "I can't hear anything. Not even Davis… or any customers."
Turning on her heels, Cassie ran towards the door, with Charlie right behind her. They hurried down the stairs into the hallway outside the shop. As they rushed toward the shop's entrance, she suddenly skidded to a stop, with Charlie almost crashing into her.
"Cassie?"
She indicated the broken frame. "The door."
Powering up, Charlie protectively stepped in front of her and carefully moved toward the entrance. Signaling Cassie to stay back, she slowly opened the door and looked inside. Almost immediately, Cassie heard her gasp in shock.
Without a word, she pushed Charlie aside and stumbled through the door, stopping in shock as she took in the destruction. Her eyes quickly scanned the shop, overwhelmed by emotional pain and grief, but it was nothing compared to what she saw next.
"DAVIS!" Cassie screamed.
Charlie turned her head away, squeezed her eyes shut, and whimpered. "No!"
Dropping next to the young man's body, Cassie lifted his head onto her lap. "No! No. Oh God, no, Davis!"
Sniffing loudly, Charlie came and knelt beside her. The initial shock had faded, so she looked over his mutilated body, inspecting the damage. Quickly, she identified the wounds and knew who—what—had done this.
Her demon voice growled deeply. "Rygen!"
Cassie wiped her eyes as she cradled Davis in her arms. "It can't be. You killed him!"
"I did!" She gazed at Cassie, her eyes filled with sorrow. "I mean, I thought I did. After I speared him, he vanished. I thought he'd died or at least gone back to Hell." Pivoting away, she raised her head to observe the shop more closely. "He used the same spell that burned the girl. This is magic fire."
"It should have been me." Tracing her fingers along his forehead, Cassie felt pain and outrage rise within her. He didn't deserve this. He had a future. He was innocent. Her shoulders shook with silent sobs. "He destroyed the shop because he was after me. Davis is dead because of me. This is all my fault."
"Cassie!" Charlie growled. "You're not to blame! Rygen is to blame. Rygen and Samedi!"
"But…" Her grief filled her with doubt. "If I'd been down here, waiting for Amanda with Kevin…"
The shock of finding Davis had momentarily distracted her, but hearing his name, Charlie suddenly realized, "Kevin! Where's Kevin?"
Her cry jolted Cassie from her grief. She swiveled her head around the shop, looking for her brother. "He's not here! Oh, God."
Charlie roared with a mighty growl, her demon form erupting into the dark-haired, demonic creature she became when she hunted. Her transformation rippled through the air like a shockwave, and with a banshee wail, she rushed toward the front door.
"Charlie!" Cassie shouted. "STOP!"
The demon jerked to a sudden stop and hovered near the ceiling, shrouded in a devilish cloud of flowing black hair. Blood-red eyes turned toward Cassie, and a ghoulish voice lacking Charlie's naturally sweet tone vibrated through the store. "He's missing! Let me go find him!"
"Not like that! You're not in control of yourself. Look at you!"
No answer came from the terror hovering near the ceiling, a visage of horror with pulsing globes glaring at Cassie as if she were the demon's next target. Yet, she did not make a move toward the front door.
Carefully laying Davis's head on the floor, Cassie stood up. Cold shivers ran down her spine, but she forced herself to remain calm. She took two slow steps toward Charlie. "Charlie, sweetie? My dear sister. We need to think. If you go out like this, you'll be discovered, and then what? How can we find Kevin if we're hunted?" With a stuttering breath, she raised her arm and held out her hand. "Please? Come down?"
The glow in the demon's eyes faded, and Cassie exhaled in relief as the mass of black hair slipped into the princess's warm, blonde tresses. Reaching down, Charlie took her hand, claws sheathed, as she floated toward the floor. When her hooves touched the ground, she dropped to her knees and bowed her head, crying softly.
Laying her hand on Charlie's shoulder, Cassie spoke softly, "I'll go get the keys to Kevin's van, alright? We'll go look for him. Together."
All Charlie could do was nod her agreement, for her throat felt too constricted to speak with the overwhelming force of fear pressing on her. Cassie dropped her hand, turned, and headed for the door when she noticed something sitting on the countertop. A cellphone. Stumbling over, she grabbed it along with the note beneath it. Holding it up, she asked, "Charlie?"
With a deep breath, Charlie wiped her nose and looked up as Cassie showed her the phone. Her voice quavered with wonder, "What is that?"
Cassie's voice turned cold as she read the note. "Dial the number, or Angel dies." She glared at Charlie, sneering a curse at the name on the note. "It's from Bible."
As if shot from a cannon, Charlie sprang to her feet and ran to her. "He has Kevin?" she asked, trembling at the thought.
"It appears so." Tracing the phone's screen, Cassie hesitated.
Charlie put a hand on her shoulder in support. "Make the call."
Taking a long, deep breath, she pressed the call button and turned on the speakerphone so Charlie could listen, too. The electronic ringtone echoed through the wrecked shop. In complete silence, they waited as it rang seven times before being answered.
The voice that flowed through the speaker was distorted by an app to mask their natural voice: "Greetings, Cassandra Collins."
"Bible?" she cursed the question.
"The one and only. You follow directions well, I see."
"Fuck you! Where's Kevin!?"
A deep chuckle preceded his answer. "Such sweet talk. Cass has sass, I see. As for Angel, he will soon be with me, and I promise you can have him back in exchange for the princess."
The demand came as no shock to either, and Charlie spoke up. "Don't you fucking hurt him!"
"Ah, the very princess herself. It is a true pleasure to speak with you, Your Majesty. But dismiss with the threats. I do not entertain them. If you want him alive, come to me willingly."
"Where?" Reaching around the counter, she opened a drawer to grab a pen and paper, then quickly scratched the pen across the pad to loosen the long-dried ink. She listened carefully, jotting down the information he relayed, and immediately recognized the area he was sending them to. Cursing, she dropped the pen when he finished. "It will take us a couple of days, you know that, right?"
"Of course. It's not like you can teleport to me." He laughed mockingly. "I'm patient, but don't dawdle. If you're late, I won't be able to guarantee his condition."
"Leave him alone, or I'll—" Charlie growled in her demon voice, her skin rippling angrily.
He cut her off. "Do nothing but what I command of you. It's you for him, so I suggest you make haste, dear princess." A quick pause, and he revealed another shocking detail. "And don't try anything funny. I have a nice collection of merchandise on site. If I sense any deception, I'll dispose of them."
Before Charlie could retort, the line went dead.
Cassie swallowed. "He has kids there."
Charlie shuddered at the thought, but narrowed her focus to the task at hand and looked at the paper on which she had taken the directions. "Where is this, 'Libya'?"
"It's overseas and lacks an extradition treaty with the U.S. Bible chose the place well." Her voice seemed distant.
Charlie touched her shoulder. "Cassie?"
"I've been there." She whispered. "When Angel and I were in the service, it was where it happened."
"It?" Charlie asked before it hit her. "You mean what he told me? What drove you both to resign? It was there?"
"Yes." Cassie turned to her. "We need backup."
"He said to come alone," Charlie warned, biting her lip. "Besides, who else can we call?"
She showed a grim, thin-lipped smile. "I never stopped keeping track of our old team from those days. I'm going to contact them. We need their expertise."
"I won't hide who I am from them." Charlie stated flatly, then asked, "Do you think they can handle fighting alongside a demon?"
"We used to fight for one." Her cryptic answer confused Charlie, but she was moving towards the door to the hallway. "I'm going to call one of them, explain things, and then call the police. I won't leave Davis like this."
"What do I do?" Charlie felt lost.
She stopped, her hand resting on the broken door handle, and turned to her. "Last time I told you to control your rage. No more. This time, we're going out for war!" Cassie angrily ripped the door open and stormed out.
Charlie stood there in silence and took one last look at Davis before she averted her eyes out of respect. Rest in peace, my friend.
She let his image, Bible's demand, and the fear of losing Angel fill her soul. Squaring her shoulders, she turned to follow Cassie, her hooves clomping on the tiles. She paused as she passed through the doorway, took a deep, shuddering breath, and eased the door shut on Cassie's shop.