Demontouched: The Demontouched Saga (Book 1) by Douglas Wayne Page A

loves you for that.”
    I ball my hand into a fist and shatter the passenger window. “And you took her from me anyway. I gave up my life, my soul, to keep her alive.” I can’t stop the flood of tears at this point. She was everything to me. Even knowing what I know now, I doubt I would have done things different. It doesn’t make things any easier. “Then why not take me?”
    Zeke reaches over and touched my sternum. “Einuir tainted your soul enough that we were not able to find you.” He looks over at me. “You are one of the good ones Mitch. There aren’t many of you left. Help us end this and you will be with her for eternity.”
    “So, tell me about Duncan.”
    “Duncan is here to finish what Astar started.”
    “The portal?”
    “Yes. He has been spending his time in Memphis building his own army to protect the rift. With Michael now occupied in Chicago, he believes that now is the time to open it.”
    “But the arch was destroyed.”
    “He has had a crew downtown repairing it. They should have it repaired within the next few weeks, thats why we need to end this now.”
    We pull up to an abandoned YMCA building and make our way to the pool area in the back.
    “We need to get you up to speed with that blade, and fast.”
    “What did you have in mind?”
    He pulls his blade off of his belt and comes at me.
     

     
    * * *
     
     
     
    “That mark on the ground, if drawn properly, will prevent a demon from leaving. This won’t work on the more powerful ones, but it may work on Duncan.”
    I look at the drawing closely. It would take some time to draw one, but it didn’t look that difficult. “What if I run into one of those?”
    He hands me a dagger. On the hilt I notice some sort of ancient writing that I can’t make out. “Then you can use this. The angel blade is not made out of metal, so your powers will not work on it. The dagger is made out of iron, so you can move it around. It was enchanted with these runes which gives it the ability to kill a demon instantly, just like the sword.”
    “What if Eunie decides he doesn’t want to help again? Like where you rescued me from.”
    “Did you look around that room? They had markings all over the wall that suppressed your powers.”
    “They wouldn’t do that, it would have suppressed their powers too.”
    “It did. But your demon friend was still there. That’s why the water still burned your hand.”
    “Why would they willingly go into that place like that?”
    “They wanted to kill you, but they knew they couldn’t as long as your demon friend was around to play. They could overpower a human pretty easily, but you are a different story.”
    “Why would they kill a live host though? We aren’t exactly an abundant resource anymore.”
    “Your bond is not pure. When you gave up part of your soul to save your wife it kept us from finding you years ago. It also keeps him from being able to completely take over. They are trying to free him so he can find a more suitable host.”
    “Sara?”
    Zeke nods. “They would have broken her spirit. Once that was done they would have finally killed you letting Einuir out.”
    “And right into her body.”
    “That’s why Uriel sent me. She knew that you wouldn’t make it out of there any other way.”
    “So. Are you going to give me a hand with Duncan?”
    “That is your fight.” He puts his sword back on his hip. “But, I can keep his minions at bay while you take care of him.”
    “So, what’s the plan?”

 
     
     
     
     
     
    -11-
     
     
     
     
     
     
    After sword practice, we park the car at the top of a hill facing the warehouse. The building houses nearly eighty percent of Nal’s drug manufacturing operations in the area. We figure Duncan has control of this building too, since this operation is far more valuable than the girls.
    I lie down on the ground, reach my arm under the car and poke a hole in the gas tank. I get up and watch Zeke put the car into neutral, allowing the