A Demon's Desire

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

The shadows kept him trapped in unconsciousness until warmth flared through him. He jolted awake, blinking his mother’s fuzzy gray head into focus. Morning light filtered in through the curtains.

“I warned you, son,” his mother said.

Morning. Emma. Tristan bolted to his feet and faced his mother. She rose from her seat on her haunches and sat calmly on the couch, ignoring the emotions boiling within him. He could hear Emma’s voice in his head. She was hurt and terrified.

“That’s all you’re going to say?” he charged. “Nothing about keeping the secret of a brother?”

“I hoped you’d never meet him.”

“Mother, you can see the future. You must’ve known!”

“Believe it or not, I’m not omniscient,” she replied brusquely. “I saw there was a chance, but there’s a chance at winning the lotto, too, son.”

Furious, Tristan sat down across from her. “Tell me everything.”

“There’s no time for everything,” she said. “Your Emma needs help, soon.”

“Then tell me what I need to know to face your son.”

“Don’t call him that. He’s your father’s son, not mine. You already know the answer. You must use what you’ve suppressed all these years. You control but a fraction of your dark powers. The rest you’ve buried and must free.”

“You make it sound just that easy.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t even know if I can anymore.”

“Trust me, the darkness will call to you once you’re there. Your problem won’t be tapping into it. Your problem will be coming back from the edge once you do.” The worry in her voice drew his gaze. She suddenly looked haggard and tired. “I brought this upon you, Tristan. I am so very sorry, son. Your father was a demon handler, a breed of black warlock who could control demons. I was too young to know. You and your brother were twins. I saw evil in both of you, but I saw your path was not one of darkness.”

“You chose to keep me,” he said, both pitying and angry at the small woman. “Did you throw my brother to the wolves?”

“No,” she said firmly. “Jeffrey was taken from me by his father before your first birthday. I never saw him again, except when I would peek into your futures.”

Tristan! Emma’s frantic calls were becoming more desperate.

“We’ll detangle our sordid family history later. I need to find Emma,” he said and rose. “He said he wants to go home to Father, and he said he needed Emma for ...” He thought hard. “…life for a life. Human sacrifice?”

His mother was quiet for a moment, features pensive. “Life for a life implies he’s raising the dead. It’s a powerful spell that requires that someone close to the dead must replace him in the ground. It’s an ancient blood spell, though why he thinks such a thing will be enough to open the gateway to Hell, I don’t know.”

“He said the gateway is already open.”

“If it is, it’s only a crack. You and I would both feel it if the gateway to Hell was open. The spell might be strong enough to shove it wide open.”

TRISTAN!

“I have to go, Mother,” he said. He started for the door.

“Wait, son!” she called and followed him to the door. She fished a small object from her pocket and handed it to him. “I made this many years ago. It’s a demon handler’s tool. If you can force the demons into it, toss it into Hell. They can’t come back without being re-summoned.”