Raven Nightshade's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

The demon took another step. Raven's back hit the workbench. Her hand found the empty syringe, useless now. The thing that had been Marcus Donnelly flexed its clawed hands. The red symbol on its belly pulsed like a second heart. She had built this creature. She had no way to stop it. "Silas," she said. "Do what you did before. Drain its fear." Silas Graves stood by the door, bones still, red eyes fixed on the demon. He did not move. "It has no fear left, girl. I cannot feed on a thing that feels none." His jaw clicked. "You made it too well." The demon lunged. Raven dropped behind the bench. Claws raked the wood where her head had been. She crawled under the apparatus, glass crunching against her knees. The creature smashed the bench aside. Pipes burst. Green fluid sprayed across the stone. "It will tear you apart," Silas said. He had not stepped forward once. "Your serum gives power and no leash. I warned you." Raven's hand closed on something hard under the overturned cart. A book. Thick, bound in cracked black leather. She had never seen it. Silas must have set it there. She yanked it open while the demon tore through the far wall, hunting her by scent. The pages were covered in symbols. One matched the mark on the demon's belly exactly. A red circle crossed by two lines. Below it ran three lines of harsh, angled words she somehow understood. "Read it," Silas said. His voice was closer now, low and steady. "The serum is the match. The book is the leash. I kept it for the day you failed." The demon found her. It wrapped one hand around her ankle and dragged her into the open. Raven twisted, held the book up, and read the three lines aloud. The angled words burned her throat raw. The symbol on the demon's belly flared white. The creature froze. Its grip on her ankle loosened. Its head bowed. The red glow in its eyes dimmed to a dull, obedient ember. Raven pulled free and stood. She was shaking. The demon knelt on the broken floor, waiting. Watching her. Waiting for a command. "It hears you now," Silas said. He finally crossed the room, bones clicking through the spilled fluid. "Speak the mark, and it obeys. Each symbol has its own words. Each demon, its own leash." Raven looked at the book in her hands. Hundreds of symbols filled the pages. Hundreds of leashes. Enough for every person she planned to change. The serum alone had almost killed her. Paired with this, it would not. "Stand," she told the demon. It rose. "Guard the door." It went. Raven wiped blood from her lip and smiled. The virus worked. Now the virus could be controlled. She had the serum, and she had the book. She needed more subjects, and a bigger dose. She turned to Silas. "Bring me another."