Chapter 28

She stood there, heart pounding, as the judge’s stern gaze bore into her. The videos had gone viral, capturing her actions in all their chaotic glory. Yet, despite the damning evidence, Suzi couldn’t quite believe what she’d done. The judge’s words echoed in her ears: traffic fines, court costs, and mandatory traffic classes. Assault charges had been conspicuously absent, leaving her both relieved and bewildered.

Escorted to the front of the building, Suzi clutched her belongings. The small, private bathroom offered a momentary respite. She changed mechanically, disappointment gnawing at her. She’d let Phin down and messed up his master plan. Worse, she might have squandered her only chance to uncover Ygritte’s shooter and find out who had taken and hurt Aiden. Ygritte was fine; Aiden was the priority. Obviously.

As they left the police station, dusk settled around them. Phineas drove her back to the truck, the sky clearing to reveal the first few stars. Suzi seized the opportunity to broach the subject that had been gnawing at her.

“What if you get me Spencer Isaacs’ address?” she suggested, her voice tentative. “I could bump into him, casually, and maybe extract some information.”

Phin’s response was swift and unequivocal. “Nooooooope! Not gonna happen, kid.” His eyes held a steely resolve. “Isaacs is slippery. Been in and out of the system, nothing sticks to him. You’re already in too deep. We’ll find another way. Be with Aiden. Go back to work. Live your life. Leave the police work to us and go be normal.”

“Normal?” Suzi sneered. “Does a normal person harbor an Amazon warrior that surfaces when demons are near? Or absorb a 30-pound lead cannonball into their body?” She knew she sounded absurd, but it was her reality.

Phin’s confusion was unmistakable. “30-pound lead cannonball?” he repeated.

“Yeah,” Suzi admitted. “Apparently, I can absorb a limited capacity of weapons, I guess.”

His anger flared, “The disappearing knife?”

“That too.”

“You fucking lied to me? You said you didn’t know what happened to it.”

“No. NO. Theoretically, no. Ok, maybe,” she confessed. “But technically, I didn’t know what happened to it until this morning. The warrior princess”—she tapped her temple—“she told me about our newfound ability.”

Phin’s disbelief hung heavy in the air. “I don’t buy it.” Was it the late revelation or the concept itself that troubled him? “Wait. I don’t remember ever seeing a 30-pound cannonball at the garage.”

“I’m sorry,” Suzi began, her confidence waning. “And about the 30-pound ball—it wasn’t at the garage. It was waiting for me at my apartment last night.”

He did not say anything. She did not say anything. She just watched him. He just drove, chewing on his lip. Thinking. Contemplating. Deducting. Detectiving.

“’Detectiving’ is not a word,” Judith corrected. “It should be ‘Detecting.’”

Suzi studied Phineas’ profile, noting the rugged handsomeness etched into his features. His strong jawline and dark hair lent him an air of authority, but he lacked the seasoned weariness of a veteran detective. He wasn’t quite “Columbo”; instead, she envisioned him as a young “Bruce Wayne,” minus the billions. Yet, she couldn’t shake the suspicion that he harbored a secret alter ego—perhaps not “Batman,” but something clandestine. After all, he straddled dual roles: detective by day, part of Tom’s covert black-ops team by night.

Judy’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Would we really call what they do ‘black-ops’?”

“Maybe ‘dark-grey-ops’?” Suzanne suggested.

“More like ‘off-white-ops,’” Judith scoffed.

At a stoplight, Phineas retrieved his phone, scrolling through contacts. The call connected, and he put it on speaker.

“Hey Poodle. What’s up?” Tom’s voice crackled through the car.

“Tom, I’ve got Suzi with me. Can you still access Rick’s security system?” Phin inquired.

“Hey Suz. Yeah, I should be able to. What are we after?” Tom’s efficiency impressed her.

Suzi seized the moment. “Someone delivered a hefty package to Ricky’s gallery yesterday, addressed to me. Not from the post office, though.”

“We’ll find out who that someone is,” Tom assured her.

“I need Kyle tonight, too,” Phineas pressed.

“No problem. Just finished unloading the truck. Alanna’s had him on a short leash, so he’ll be eager to cause some trouble,” Tom replied.

“Thanks. See you soon.” Phin ended the call.

Suzi’s excitement bubbled. “What’s our plan for tonight?”

“YOU,” Phin emphasized, “are going home or heading to Aiden. Keep your head down and your ass out of trouble. I’ve got another angle, and Tom will ID your phantom postmaster.”

They pulled over, and Suzi realized they were at the truck. “But what if you guys run into trouble?”

“Kyle’s a trained Navy SEAL. Tough as shit. Besides, Alanna would make me vanish if anything happened to him. She’s scarier than he is,” Phin reassured her.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“So, Kyle and Alanna—are they a couple? I couldn’t quite get the right vibe with them” Suzi probed.

Phin’s rare humor surfaced. “God, I hope not. Imagine their kids—huge, ugly little creatures calling them ‘Uncle Dad’ and ‘Aunt Mom.’”

“Wait, they’re siblings?” Suzi blinked.

“Yep,” Phin deadpanned. “They lost their parents in high school and sort of finished raising each other. Their closeness wrecks any romantic relationships they attempt.”

Suzi shifted gears. “And you? Officer Garrett?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Phin shook his head.

“She told me you two dated.”

“Get out of my car,” Phin snapped.

“Please?” Suzi persisted.

“It was a long time ago.”

“Are you dating anyone now?”

“Get out, please.”

“Seriously, though. Are you?”

“Are you asking me out?”

“No. I think you should give her another shot. Whatever got in the way, move past it.”

“Did she say it was my fault?”

“Nope. But you just did.”

“Get out of my car!” Phin’s anger flared.

“Fine.” Suzi opened the door, one foot on the curb. “One more thing—why does Tom call you ‘Poodle’?”

His gaze bore into her, anger simmering beneath the surface. “Get,” he commanded, pointing with a rigid index finger, as though shooing away a stray dog from his front porch.

Suzi frowned and stepped out of the car. “Good night, Phin. Please be careful.”

“I always am. See ya.”

The car door closed, and he drove off. Suzi climbed into the truck, torn between wanting to see Aiden and not wanting to encounter the mere semblance of him—trapped behind a plastic screen. The gloom pressed in, and for the first time in ages, she felt truly alone.

Naperville had been her home for two and a half years, a place where work consumed her existence. Friends and dating were non-existent. Ricky and Nick were the closest she had to friends here—Nick, her boss, and Ricky, the elusive type who didn’t “hang out.” Tom, Becca, and Phineas were new additions to her life. She’d known them only a few days, yet she’d already entangled them in her web of secrets and danger.

Her phone, left in the truck during her incarceration, buzzed. Reed’s text confirmed their safe landing, and Rio’s message assured her safe arrival home. Suzi decided it was time to return to her own apartment. There were things to clean up and decisions to make.

Back in her small space, she tended to Ygritte—the loyal dog who’d been through it all with her. She fed and watered her canine companion, gently changing the bandage on Ygritte’s side. Suzi wished her dog could heal as fast as she did.

“Hey, Judas,” she addressed her alternate persona. “How do we heal so quickly?”

“All humans possess regenerative capabilities,” Judas explained. “Celestials don’t age. Instead, that energy is channeled into accelerated healing. But our reserve energy is also used to contain these demons, so our healing is somewhat hindered.”

“Wait. So having demons in our head affects our healing?”

“Correct. It slows our recovery, though not drastically.”

“Is that what Kariel meant by ‘corrupted’?”

“Likely. And in theory, we could also bind an angel, using the same energy, limiting our healing potential.”

“Hold on. We can hold an angel like we’re holding these demons?” Suzi’s disbelief was palpable.

“Correct,” Judas replied, her tone bordering on ‘Weren’t you listening?’

“The more demons we hold, the more energy it takes?”

“Correct. But pushing those limits risks being overtaken. Hence, why we need to bind.”

“What happens when we bind a demon to a vessel?”

“With a small amount of our Will, we can bind an entity to a vessel for the duration of our Will.”

“What happens to the vessel?”

“I do not understand,” the warrioress confessed.

“Say if we bind a demon to a corpse, does it reanimate and become some sort of zombie?”

Suzi could feel the disappointment oozing from Judas’ glare, even though she was not in Guillermo to see it.

“No. A vessel with no power or will would remain a shell for the entity.”

“Couldn’t it just leave the shell?”

“Perhaps, after a time. It would have to be able to break your Will that bound it first. If the vessel is buried in consecrated ground, this should enhance the effectiveness of containing a demon. Or if the vessel is destroyed.”

“You said a corpse would be a vessel with no power or will. Can we bind a demon to a living vessel WITH power and will?”

“We can bind an entity to anything named. If it’s a living entity with greater power or will, they might battle for control, amplifying one another.”

“When Aiden died, you said he was bound to us. Did we share will and power then?”

“No. That was a different binding—a voluntary, willful union of souls through marriage. What we do is involuntary, forcing entities bound against their will.”

“There’s a lot of talk about Will and Power, but it’s not just ‘Will Power’ that I don’t understand,” Suzi mused aloud, her curiosity piqued. Silence hung in the air, Judas withholding any immediate response.

“Can I see the knife and the lead ball?” she pressed, her determination unwavering.

“Yes,” Judas replied. “You can summon them by speaking their name or relinquishing control of our vessel to me.”

“So, just say their names, and they appear?” Suzi clarified.

“Correct.”

Suzi retreated to her bedroom area, settling on the bed with her legs crossed and her back against the flat headboard. The room held an air of anticipation as she prepared to invoke the otherworldly artifacts.

“Rogziel’s Blade,” Suzi declared aloud, and a surge of heat coursed down her spine, through her chest, and into her outstretched arm. The grotesque blade materialized, reversing its dissolution from the previous day. She gripped the handle, flipping it between her hands and examining its form.

The blade defied her expectations—it was lighter than anticipated, almost weightless, yet it gleamed like polished silver. Handle and blade melded seamlessly, with no seams or separate parts. The blade was wider than the handle, resembling an artistic flame frozen in time, adorned with thorns and spikes. Terrifying yet strangely alluring.

The handle proved unwieldy for her hand, and a surge of power enveloped her when she squeezed it. Not anger or rage, but raw strength. She found herself drawn to it.

“Careful,” Judas cautioned. “The blade corrupts.”

“Is this how it’s wielded?” Suzi wondered aloud. “To wield something involves more than mere physical use—it’s about activating its power.” Only Ygritte, her loyal dog, bore witness to her musings.

“Correct,” Judas affirmed.

“And the pellet?” Suzi probed. “We don’t know how to wield it?”

“Again, correct,” Judas replied, her patience wearing thin.

“How did you know how to use the knife properly?” Suzi asked, addressing Judas once more.

“Demonic weapons often guide their users,” Judas explained. “They want to be used, to corrupt. This blade, in particular, responds to fear. Less fear, easier use. Too much fear, and it consumes.”

Suzi hesitated, placing the blade on the bed. Confidence waned; perhaps wielding it wasn’t wise.

She extended her left hand, resolute. “Miraleth’s Pellet.”

A cold wind swept across her neck and arm. The small pellet appeared, growing heavier by the second until she could no longer hold it in one hand. She cradled it, its intricate surface captivating her.

The lead-like ball revealed a maze of lightning bolts, each bolt itself a maze. Layers upon layers, like a mosaic of smaller pictures forming a grand design. Brighter metals—lead, steel, silver—interwoven. Perhaps even platinum, beyond her naked eye’s reach.

As she stared, becoming mesmerized by the intricacies of the design and details of each bolt, reality dissolved. She found herself not within Guillermo, the Ether, nor the darkness of some empty vessel but within a network of silver walls, with no perceivable escape in sight.