What Doesn't Kill You...

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Blood and gore flew as Charlie jerked her scythe out of the corpse demon she'd cut down. The moment Isabella started the summoning, the corpse demons had increased the intensity of their attack. They practically threw themselves in front of her. She waded through corpses to get to the altar. Just a few more feet and she could end the necromancer's life.

A tingle ran down her spine. It could only mean one thing.

Charlie spun on her heel in time to see Damon hit the floor and Zephyriel possess him. A slow smile stretched her lips. Damon was a unique vessel created purely by accident, but he wasn't the kind of vessel Zephyriel needed. The demon shade needed a vacant indestructible body. Damon's, while indestructible, was certainly not vacant.

With each death, Damon's soul faded from his flesh, but never completely let go. Charlie had figured out that much the first time she met him. He'd bounced into the Veil only mostly dead. She could see he was still anchored to the material plane. His soul was never completely in her domain. He just visited once in a while. 

Damon was only a useful vessel for Damon.

 "What the hell is that?!" Hazard yelled from across the rift in the floor.

Charlie turned her attention from Damon's inert form to the creature crawling out the darkness of the rift. She arched a dark brow. "Nothing good."

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"Did you actually think I'd leave if you asked me nicely?" Zephyriel mocked. He brushed invisible lint off his sleeve. He'd adopted his human form. He'd doubted the human could handle clearly seeing his true demon form. His red marbled skin faded to a dusky shade. His horns disappeared, leaving only dark hair on his head. Even in his human form, Zephyriel still towered over the human at nearly 7 feet tall.

Damon picked himself up off the forest floor wiped the blood from his lip. "No, but it was worth a shot." He rose, carefully watching the demon. Zephyriel. Damon had picked up its name from somewhere in their shared consciousness. The demon had gotten frustrated and forced him into another mental construct cobbled together from his past.

He'd recognized the trees instantly. It was into this forest that he'd run away from Isabella. If Zephyriel thought this would scare him, he thought wrong. It had been the site of his rebellion. The memory wasn't one of terror. It was one of freedom.

"What's next, human?" Zephyriel spat. He seethed with fury. If he couldn't have this vessel for himself, he was going to make sure that the occupant suffered. His rage was momentarily checked by the strange expression on the human's face. Was he smiling?

"Turn about is fair play. Let's take a peek at your memories." Damon charged the demon.

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Violet went down hard. She hit the wall and landed in a pile of dismembered corpse demons. She felt something snap in her mind. Pressure that she hadn't realized was there was suddenly released. Violet was alone in her mind since being drugged and kidnapped by Liz. Speaking of Liz, where was that backstabbing bitch?

She opened her eyes and looked around. The sight that greeted her gave her pause. She was sitting in a wrecked church surrounded by parts of corpses. Some of which were still twitching with demonic power. A loud roar drew her attention to the front of the church. Violet felt her mouth drop open.

Charlie was wielding death scythe and fighting what appeared to be a giant demonic squid. A short brunette was lighting rabid corpses on fire. Isabella was chanting something in a language that hurt her ears. Demon tongue. It was probably what broke the hold Isabella had over her. Behind her, Alistair was trussed up like a holiday turkey and blubbering.