BACK...BACK AGAIN...PANDORA's Back...

Story #3 from the Pandora Collection of shorts:

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AND HERE WE GO...

The streets were quieter at this time of night. While Las Vegas was technically open twenty-four/seven, the human psyche was coditioned to seek the comfort of the indoors between the hours of three and five AM.

Barring the drunks, the newly destitute, and the homeless, there was no one around. No one but the woman whose walk clearly radiated the message, "Try your luck and die, motherfucker."

This is becoming a habit, Pandora drawled in a bored voice. You, me, and the ass-crack of dawn. Ooh, I have one. In that alley. I would barely classify it as a level-one demon. Are you sure you want to expend the effort for one smelly misanthrope?

Yes, I do. The fight with Barro was a wake-up call. Your brother has his plans, and I have mine. Katie picked up her pace as Pandora concealed her presence from the Damned skulking in the alley. I'm not the only one who needs to step up my game. Humanity as a whole is suffering, and where that is happening because of these pissant low-powered demons turning good people from the lives they should be living, I will be there to send them crawling back to the fiery pits of hell.

I don't see the point in providing community service if no one knows you're doing it, Pandora continued as Katie stalked past the dumpster that blocked the entrance.

Sure, I'll tell Korbin what we've been doing the last few nights. Katie flexed her hand, and her fingers extended into talons. Then I will never be allowed to leave the base without a babysitter again.

Confession is bad for the soul, Pandora opined.

You mean, for your chances of pushing the limits of how much Italian food I can eat in one sitting, Katie countered.

I don't know which is worse, doing good things and knowing there will be no accolades—or pay—or the stench of rotten fish guts and whatever other shit I smell. Pandora made a gagging sound. It's enough to put me off tacos. Almost.

Did you ever come across a silence you didn't feel the need to fill? Katie snarked.

If you're bringing the conversation around to things that should be filled… Pandora commented in a sly voice.

Not the time for your mind to be in the gutter, Katie stated as the demon-infected man she was tracking emerged from the shadows of the restaurant's fire escape. She wrinkled her nose as the smell of cheap vodka added another note to the miasma clouding the alley.

Whose mind is in the gutter? Pandora retorted. I was just going to suggest we get donuts on the way back to the base.

"Pretty," the man slurred as he shambled toward Katie. "What you doin' out alone?"

"Saving your Damned ass," Katie replied.

The man stumbled to a halt. "You one of those bible types? Gonna save my soul?"

Katie snickered. "No, and yes." She crossed the distance between them and laid her hand on his chest.

The man scuttled back in fear when she pulled the squirming demon out of him, then tripped over his feet, landing heavily in a pile of garbage bags. "Wathafuckisthat?"

"You can see it?" Katie asked in surprise.

Don't look so shocked, Pandora snarked. This guy is two or three shots away from being able to see God.

Katie drew the knife Joshua had made, stepped back, and plunged it into the screaming demon's face. As the demon evaporated into dust, she stepped closer to the man and held out her hand to help him to his feet. "You have a choice. Reclaim your life and start fresh."

"You… I…" the man stuttered, scared sober by what he had just witnessed.

"You're welcome," Katie told him and turned to leave.

So, donuts? Pandora asked as Katie strode back toward the Strip.

***

I wish you wouldn't do that, Katie grumbled as she climbed into the SUV and deposited the donut box on the passenger seat. It's impossible to look someone in the eye when you are in the back of my head, talking shit about the many ways you'd like to do them.

It's harder to look a guy in the eyes when you are gargling his balls, Pandora replied sweetly. If you weren't such a prude, you could be living a little instead of doing a passable imitation of a tomato.

Katie opened the box and selected a jelly-filled donut. Pandora. That man was gay. Even if you did get your way—which is not going to happen because…just, no—your one-demon crusade to turn every gay man you see straight is ridiculous. And homophobic.

I'm not homophobic, Pandora argued. I just don't see why I should be deprived because of the genitalia of the skinsuit I happen to be wearing at this point in time.

Katie paused with the donut halfway to her mouth. At this point in time? At which point have you not been in a female body?

You know, you meatbags are too picky about who you are attracted to. Or what. Although, I've seen some movies that prove differently.

Katie grimaced. Hold up. I don't want to hear whatever you're about to say next.

Just saying. Bodies come in all shapes and sizes in hell. They're not all pencil dicks like Barro. I know male demons who would put every human man we saw in the internet search to shame.

Katie couldn't believe it. Against her better judgment, she asked, What, even the guy whose dick looked like it should have belonged to a horse?

To. Shame, Pandora repeated. A few rounds with a demon of that girth and a horse wouldn't seem so bad. I thought you didn't want to know about that movie?

Katie dropped the donut back into the box with a sigh. And now I'm not hungry anymore. Thanks a fucking bunch, Pandora.

I thought you liked being skinny? Pandora teased. Consider me putting you off your food a service.

Katie grunted in frustration. The donuts were your fucking idea!

I'm not the one refusing to eat them, Pandora pointed out. I was all for enjoying breakfast. Since you're such a fucking killjoy, it's the only creamy filling I'm likely to get in the foreseeable future.

Katie wound down the window and dropped the box into a trashcan. That's it. The only donuts you're getting from this moment on are plain glazed rings, and if you find some way to make an innuendo out of that, then I swear on my life I will never touch a donut again.

See? Pandora grumbled. Killjoy.

As opposed to being a lying, immoral, sex-obsessed glutton? Katie rolled up the window and started the SUV.

Who is on your side.

When it suits you, Katie retorted.

Which it does. It is not my fault that those in heaven decided to categorize pretty much anything pleasurable as a sin. The restrictions humans put on themselves are not my problem. I am not bound by those rules.

Katie pulled out of the parking lot and turned in the direction of the base. But you are bound by mine. And while I appreciate what you did in the cemetery the other night, I'm not going to reward you by doing anything I'm not comfortable with.

Then you should be prepared for a serious stint of couch-potato time. I want my soaps.

Katie smiled. That I can agree to. Maybe we will have time for another superhero movie before we get another call.

Only if we're going to switch from DC to Marvel, Pandora insisted. Aquahunk was all well and good, but now I've seen photos of Chris Hemsworth without his shirt on, and I want some of that yumminess.

Katie regretted letting Pandora scroll through Instagram, but it was too late now that she had seen what people posted on social media. Not Chris Evans?

What? No! Pandora scoffed. Keep the preppy one for yourself. He's got the body, but he looks like he'd stand you up to go bake cookies with his grandma.

Katie laughed. I'm good, thanks. Neither of them is my type.

Do you even have a type? Pandora asked. I just assumed you were immune to the charms of all men. Not from my lack of trying to get you interested.

Charms? Katie snickered. That's a bit tame, coming from you.

By charms, I mean a washboard stomach and a face so pretty it's almost a shame to use it as a seat, Pandora clarified.

Katie rolled her eyes. Of course you were being shallow. Why would I expect anything else from you?

We are discussing you, not me. Come on, spill. What is your type? I was starting to think you had sworn secret nun vows or some shit. You know the phrase "use it or lose it" applies to all your muscle groups, right?

Katie groaned. Pandora, you are too much. Can we talk about something else? Anything else?

Katie, you need to accept that nature is nature, and eventually, you're going to have to give in.

I don't have to accept anything, Katie told her. Giving in to your suggestions is like drinking poison because I'm thirsty. You might be sharing my life, but it's still my life. I have enough restrictions since I am officially dead. There's no way I'm letting you take control of my private life as well.

You would have to have a private life for me to take control of it, Pandora grumbled. All you do is work and train.

Not true. I read, and we go out to eat, and we shop. Besides, if I didn't work, who would buy you all the expensive shit you like?

I suppose that's true, Pandora conceded. You should work harder so you can afford more of the expensive shit I like.

Katie sighed as she switched on the radio. She drove the rest of the way to the base in silence with her jaw clenched.

When she arrived, there were trucks being unloaded outside Joshua's foundry. Katie left the SUV in the motor pool and went to find Korbin. The sooner she had her own car, the better.

"You know, it's traditional to ask the boss before making new hires," Katie told him after he explained what was going on.

Korbin folded his arms across his chest. "Well, I'm a partner in this company, and it seemed like the right thing to do. Otherwise, you're going to just keep hemorrhaging money. Joshua is a good kid and talented, but finance is not his strong suit. This way, Mamacita will take care of the money, and Joshua can focus on what he does best."

"Making weapons that kill demons." Katie nodded. "Okay, we will see how she gets on. It's not like she's not used to running a business. However unorthodox this solution is, I can see how it will help us in the long run."

Korbin nodded. "What did you bring back from the food run?"

Katie winced. "Oh, yeah, that's why I went out. Um…"

Korbin raised an eyebrow. "Do you and I need to have a conversation about your nighttime activities?"

Katie shook her head. "I swear that everything I'm doing is, if not aboveboard, not detrimental to our larger mission." She paused, then decided coming clean was the better option. "I've been reducing the population of lower-level demons in the city in preparation for whatever is coming next. I haven't killed anyone. We're not going to have the cops at the door."

Korbin dropped his hands to his hips. "Good. We've got them on our side at the moment, and you are the girl of the hour. However, if you leave a trail of bodies that leads to our door, all that is going to change in a heartbeat. Local authorities are not so much being understanding as keeping out of our way because they don't get what we're doing here. All this is not just above their pay grade or over their heads."

Katie didn't disagree. "What went down in the cemetery was eye-opening to them. Didn't stop them looking at me like I'd sprouted a second head. That shit sucks. I don't mind admitting that."

Korbin chuckled. "You go sprouting a second head, and never mind the cops; you and me are gonna have a little tête-à-tête."

Katie rolled her eyes. "I can't see that being a concern. My demon is powerful but not powerful enough to stick me with extra body parts."

Extra parts, no, Pandora cut in. Enhancing what you already have, that's a whole 'nother subject.

There will be no more enhancing, Katie hissed, feeling the pinch of her bra. She smiled at Korbin. "Good decision to hire Mamacita. Hopefully, giving her and her girls the opportunity to move out of horizontal work and into something where they have to use their brains will be just what they need to break free of the hand they were dealt in life."

Korbin's face flushed red. "About that. Part of Mamacita's master plan for keeping our business under wraps was to move her original business to the foundry building and use it as a cover."

Ha-ha! Pandora crowed. Now you have got a whorehouse on your doorstep. Looks like you might have the opportunity to get in some horizontal time yourself if the need arises. And by arises, I mean my need, and let me tell you that if I don't get what I want and soon, life is going to get very difficult for you.

Katie left Korbin's office with a frown creasing her forehead.

Are you listening to me?

Honestly? I'm trying not to. Katie headed for the kitchen, her appetite having returned—just not for donuts. She rummaged through the fridge and pulled out the ingredients to make an omelet.

Seriously? Health food? Get some bacon!

Katie ignored her. She separated and beat her eggs, then sprayed olive oil on the pan as it was heating.

You're punishing me. Why are you punishing me?

Katie sighed. Why do you see every good thing I do as a punishment? Come on, Pandora. Life is not all donuts and an excess of ravioli.

Ooh, ravioli. You are killing me. We could be eating ravioli right now, yet here you are about to choke down your nasty little egg-white omelet. What's next? More rabbit food?

Katie grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, placed it on the tray with her plate, and took it to the lounge. If you're done whining, I'd like to watch the soaps in peace.

Finally! Something I don't fucking hate.

Call it a miracle. Katie scrolled the DVR for last night's episode of Days of Long Since Past, which she'd missed watching with the guys because her sleep schedule had been fucked six ways from Sunday by her after-hours excursions into the city.

So, do you think Jacinda is going to worm her way into Travis' affections? More importantly, what is Travis' wife going to do when she inevitably walks in on the two of them canoodling?

I don't know, Katie answered. I'm more interested in the other storyline that's going on. Jade's plots to disrupt the wedding plans are about to hatch, and I honestly need to know how Cade is going to react when he finds out his mother has canceled the catering company and gate-crashed Crystal's wedding dress fitting.

Jade has the heart of a demon. Pandora chuckled. She's sore that trying to pay off the bride-to-be failed, and now she's grasping at straws to dismantle this wedding any way she can.

Katie shrugged. I don't think they're going to care if their wedding day is ruined. True love always finds a way.

The episode ended with Cade and Crystal exchanging their vows on the beach at sunset while Cade's scheming mother was carted away in a cop car for attacking Crystal at the altar in the church with hired mercenaries.

I love how weird these plots get, Katie confided. I knew things would work out in the end for Cade and Crystal.

Pandora made a gagging noise. True love is a lie humans tell each other and themselves to make sense of their conflicting desires. Those two will be divorced by the end of the next season. I'd put money on it.

Not true, Katie argued. My mom and dad loved each other. I've known lots of people who made it to old age with the first person they married.

That's called settling, sweetie, Pandora countered. For every couple that isn't brave enough to explore new options, there are four who marry and divorce as easily as changing out their wardrobe each season.

Won't be me, Katie told her.

No, it won't, Pandora agreed in a wistful voice. For that to happen, you would have to open your legs in the first place.

Pandora! It's not all about sex. As much as you would like it to be as simple as scratching a biological itch, humans get together to experience emotional intimacy. They stay together for the purpose of sharing their lives. Sex is just the cherry on the cake. You are bitter and cynical.

What I am is deprived, Pandora grumbled.

Here we go again. Katie groaned. Please give it a rest. You are a stuck record playing a genre I'm not interested in.She yawned. I think it's time to head up to bed.

As Katie mounted the stairs, the alarm went off to signal an incursion. She sighed and turned around to head for the armory.

No rest for the wicked.

Or the Damned, apparently, Katie agreed tiredly. I just hope there's time for coffee while we are being briefed.

Thankfully, Korbin or one of the others had put on a pot of coffee, and she gratefully filled a mug and slurped it down while Korbin laid out the issue they were being sent to deal with.

"I only need Katie and Damian for this one. But after the last time I let you two deal with a possession, I'm gonna err on the side of caution and send Calvin with you as well."

Damian looked relieved. Katie didn't blame him after their last encounter with a bunch of possessed people. Who knew if another demon had been sent to possess a whole fucking house?

"Can't say I'm not grateful to have the backup if what I'm walking into is another scene from a Stephen King book," Katie told him.

They gathered their gear and left the base twenty minutes later, heading for the neighborhood the call had come in from.

When they arrived, Brad, Joyce, and Emma were sitting outside the property in their van.

"Nice to see you waited outside this time," Damian commented wryly.

Joyce sucked in a breath. "You've got to be kidding! After last time, there's no way we're risking having our bodies taken over and our equipment wiped."

Calvin chuckled. "You know you're getting your equipment wiped anyway, right? SOP, sorry."

"Damn it," Brad bitched. "We have to make a living! No footage equals no show."

"You might have to make a living, but we have secrets to keep," Katie reminded them. "If people knew for sure that summoning ghosts was a legitimate option, we would have chaos on our hands when every fucking two-bit wannabe spiritualist in the city welcomed in the spirits of the dead. Is that what you want? A city overrun with poltergeists and possessed idiots?"

The ghost-hunting crew looked away with embarrassment.

"Thought not." A crash from inside the building made Katie turn her head. She turned back to fix the three in the van with what she hoped was a stern look. "You three stay put in the mystery machine while we take care of whatever the fuck is happening inside."

Damian led the way, his cross in his hand as the three of them entered the house.

The door slammed shut behind them. "Duck!" Damian yelled as a mini tornado kicked up in the hall, throwing a hail of knickknacks and tchotchkes at their heads.

"Oh, hell! Fuck, no," Katie growled. "Not this shit again. Damian, do what you do best and tame those PITA poltergeists."

Are you sensing any demon activity in the house? she asked Pandora.

Not this time. Just standard, run-of-the-mill asshole ghosts who managed to slip through and want to cause trouble for the living.

Something tells me they didn't just slip through. Katie caught Calvin's eye, then nodded at the pentagram chalked in the center of the living room floor. A black candle stood at each of the five points. The air in the room was tinged with the scent of freshly blown-out wicks.

"Whatever they did, it wasn't too long ago."

Calvin nodded. "Clear the house. Then we'll see what we're dealing with. Damian, you good?"

Damian nodded, his lips moving in silent prayer.

Calvin gestured with the barrel of his gun for Katie to take the kitchen while he searched the bedrooms.

"In here," Calvin called in a low voice.

Katie vacated the empty kitchen and joined Calvin in the doorway to the second bedroom.

"At the risk of repeating myself, oh, fuck, no." Katie lowered her guns despite the sight of the two teenage girls suspended horizontally in midair in the center of the bedroom. They looked out of place among the boy-band posters and the makeup and piles of clothing scattered across the beds.

"Looks like they were having a sleepover," Katie deduced.

"The sleepover from hell," Calvin muttered. "What the fuck happened here?"

Damian slipped past Katie and Calvin and stepped into the room with his cross raised.

Katie decided learning some Latin would not be a bad thing as he said his prayer aloud.

The two girls began to shake and moan as if they were in pain. Damian's voice deepened as he repeated the words of his prayer. The house shook in reaction to the possessing spirits' refusal to vacate their earthly vessels.

The girls' hair floated out from their heads and they rotated upright, their arms spreading in a parody of the cross in Damian's hands.

Damian was yelling by this point, sweat beading his forehead. As he stepped toward the girls, he produced another cross from his pocket. He laid one cross on each of them without missing a beat of his chanting.

Katie and Calvin stood by, feeling superfluous. She had holstered her guns and was ready to bring out her demon claws. Calvin had retained his light grip on his weapons and kept his aim on the girls in case one of them attacked the priest.

Katie wondered where the girls' parents were. They were no older than sixteen. She couldn't help but wonder how they'd managed to summon two such stubborn spirits by themselves.

All that teenage yearning and the energy of the awakening to womanhood is a potent sort of power, Pandora told her. There's a reason young girls like them have been chosen throughout history for rituals such as this.

Chosen? Katie pressed her lips together in distaste. You think this was done to them?

It wouldn't surprise me, based on the mess we saw in the living room, Pandora answered. The only question is, who did this? Guaranteed they didn't find these rituals by themselves. My money is on the parents.

Katie wasn't so sure. They could have gotten them from the internet.

Ah, yes, the Internet. Pandora scoffed. Who thought it was a good idea to put all the knowledge mankind has come across over the years in one easily accessible place where any dumbass can find it?

You weren't saying that when we were scrolling through Instagram the other day, Katie pointed out.

There's a big difference between self-absorbed humans posting half-naked selfies of themselves and people having access to arcane rituals that invite what should not be here onto this plane. Dead is dead. Living is living. The two should not meet and seldom do unless those who make it happen have nefarious intentions.

You'd know all about nefarious intentions, Katie responded with a chuckle.

Hey! I just wanted to get laid!

Katie shook her head without taking her eyes off Damian and the girls. Sorry that didn't work out for you.

Pandora snorted. If you were sorry, we wouldn't be in this house right now.

The girls' reactions increased in intensity. A low moaning filled the house, sounding like voices on the wind. Their eyes snapped open, showing just the whites, which were glowing with ghostly energy.

Damian was delivering his prayer in hoarse shouts by this point. Katie didn't dare interrupt the flow. Pandora, why aren't these ghosts moving on?

I don't know, Pandora admitted. Could be these girls' souls are no longer inside their bodies. If they were gifted or sensitive, they might have been taken over.

Well, can you look inside them and see if they are still in there?

I can, but you will have to put your hands on them.

Katie stepped over to the girls. Damian gave her a sidelong glance but did not stop praying as she laid her hands on the girls' shoulders.

They are still in there, Pandora confirmed, but they are being suppressed by the spirits. Malevolent little fuckers. They are holding on tight and don't want to let go and return to where they came from.

Malevolent or not, these girls' bodies do not belong to them. Katie told Damian what she'd learned from Pandora.

A flash of anger showed in the priest's eyes, and he switched to a different prayer. The ghosts' reaction was instantaneous. The walls of the bedroom burst into flames without burning the floral wallpaper.

Calvin shuffled from one foot to the other, feeling helpless in the face of a supernatural threat he couldn't punch or shoot.

Katie retained her grip on the girls' shoulders. Pandora, what can we do to help Damian?

Tell the priest to take care of the girls' souls. I will take care of those ghostly little fuckers.

Katie told Damian what she was about to do, and they fortified the souls of the teenage girls while Pandora chipped away at the hold the evil spirits had on their bodies.

Calvin ducked when the girls simultaneously projectile-vomited. The mess missed him by an inch.

The girls dropped to the floor in a pile of tangled limbs. Pandora cackled as she gripped the two spirits before they could escape.

Oh no, you don't. Who did this? Who sent you?

The spirits wailed as Pandora's grip on their incorporeal forms tightened.

"Are you seeing this?" Calvin whispered to Damian.

The priest nodded. "Just let it happen. Katie knows what she's doing. At least, I hope she does."

The spirits winked out of existence as Pandora sucked up their energy.

What do you know? Looks like I got my breakfast after all.

Katie suppressed the shudder that ran over her chilled skin, deciding that having donuts for breakfast wasn't such a bad idea after all. What can you tell me?

I was right about the parents, Pandora growled. The blonde had nothing to do with this. The mother and father of the other girl call themselves spiritualists. They summoned the ghosts, thinking they were going to get some power out of it. And they say we are evil in hell.

Katie ground her teeth as anger flooded through her body.

Oh, yes, Pandora purred. Use that. Let's go find their parents and teach them a lesson about how not to be so fucking despicable that even demons look good next to them.

"Are you okay, Katie?" Damian asked.

Katie shook her head. "No, I'm fucking not. These girls were offered up to those spirits by the brunette's mother and father. The blonde was collateral damage. We need to call Child Services to take care of these two, and then we have a job to do. Locating those despicable pieces of shit is next on my list, and making sure they don't see the end of the day is what's coming after that."

"I'm going to have to call this in," Calvin told her.

Katie nodded tersely. "Do what you need to do, but you can tell Korbin that nothing is going to stop me from getting the justice these girls deserve for what they've been through."

***

Korbin listened to Calvin's report, his jaw tightening.

"Do you want me to talk her down?" Calvin asked.

"No," Korbin replied. "Let her loose, and when she's done, make sure the rest of the parents' coven sees the evidence without revealing who we are or Katie's identity. You don't fucking mess with kids. Those who pull despicable shit like this deserve everything they have coming to them."

Besides, Korbin thought as he hung up the phone, it will be interesting to see if Katie's demon reveals something. I know she is holding back…

***

"I need to make a quick stop," Katie told Damian. "Pull in here, please."

He followed her finger to the homeless shelter she was pointing at. "Why… Oh. Is this wise?"

"Who gives a fuck about wise?" Katie snapped. "Korbin's orders were to let me take care of this, and this is how I'm going to do it."

She got out of the SUV as it rolled to a stop and strode into the shelter, leaving the guys to exchange concerned looks.

"You know she's been clearing the lower-level demons out of the city?" Calvin asked.

Damian shook his head. "I didn't, but now I know why I haven't had much work these last couple of days. I thought it was quiet because of the big motherfucker you guys took down in the cemetery."

Calvin shrugged. "That could be a factor, too. Just sayin', Katie has had a hard-on for whatever demons she can get her hands on since that fight. You think it's her demon?"

"Honestly, no," Damian answered. "There's more going on with her than she's telling us, but her taking control is not an issue."

Katie returned and got into the SUV. "Drive. We need to get to the coven's meeting house as fast as we can."

Damian narrowed his eyes. "Why do you have the same look you did when I walked in on you after your little Italian feast?"

Katie gripped the dash. "You'll see. Just go." They'd figured out the location by cross-referencing the guilty parents' known associates with police reports of strange activity and come up with an address on the outskirts of Laughlin. Katie held both hands to her stomach as their route took them across the Colorado River. What she was planning had the potential to go badly wrong, and she was nervous despite her determination to teach the coven a lesson they wouldn't forget for several lifetimes.

Hey, look! Pandora chirped. That rock looks like a dick!

For once, Katie didn't admonish her. How are you holding up in there?

Me? I'm just fine. These little bitches are a touch whiny, but that is to be expected.

It was late in the season for crops. Nevertheless, a few of the fields they passed had a blanket of green. Mostly, though, they were surrounded on both sides of the road by the brown earth, red rock, and yellow ochre of the desert. Katie leaned her forehead against the window and watched it all go by.

"Turn here," Calvin instructed as they approached a billboard advertising the dispensary they'd passed twenty minutes previously.

Damian sighed as he read the board below that one, which belonged to a church he was unfamiliar with. "Only out here."

Katie snapped out of her contemplative state at the sounds of their voices. "What's next? A liquor store next to a daycare center?"

"Just a farmhouse," Calvin told her. "The one we came out here to find."

The lights were on, and the dirt yard out front was almost full of cars that glinted in the dying daylight. "Looks like we picked the right time to pay these assholes a visit," Katie commented as she grabbed her gun belt. "Pull up here. We don't want to spoil the surprise."

Damian cut the engine outside the farmhouse's gates, and the three of them made their way to the front door.

"We knocking or kicking?" Calvin asked.

"Kicking, of course," Katie replied. She lifted her boot and slammed it into the solid wood.

The door shattered on impact, the shards flying into the hall as Katie and Calvin strode in.

The buzz of heated conversation in the room to their left died, and three men ran into the hall.

What do you know? Pandora purred. We've got ourselves a bunch of demons hiding inside these good-for-nothing lowlifes. Does that mean we get to play?

"Damned," Katie told Calvin and Damian. "This just got less complicated."

"What are you doing here?" one of the men demanded with a snarl that sounded more than human.

Katie leveled her guns at his chest. "I didn't come here to waste words. Quit the pretense. We know what you did to those children, and we're here to make sure it doesn't fucking happen again."

The sound of multiple girls crying filtered from the other room. "Take care of them," Katie told Damian as the demons inside the three men tore free of their bodies and rushed her and Calvin.

Katie grabbed the guy by the remains of his tattered shirt and slammed him headfirst into the wall. He crumpled to the floor, stunned. She used the chest of the second as a springboard by leaping into the air, planting her left foot in his ribcage, and taking out the third with a solid punch on her downward arc.

Calvin fired point-blank at the three demons, letting six shots rip in quick succession. The demons lay still with gaping holes between their eyes.

As much fun as this is, it kind of fucks up your little plan for vengeance, Pandora commented as Katie barreled into the other room, where the rest of the spiritualist coven was in various states of transformation between human and demon.

Katie spotted four people who were unchanged. One of the women looked like an older version of the brunette teenager, who was recovering in the hospital under the care of a friendly social worker.

You sure about that? Katie shoved her talons through the chest of a demon blocking her path to one of the possessed couples and tore its heart out. She threw the organ in the dying demon's face to distract it while Calvin moved in behind her.

These assholes cannot be connected to my brother, Pandora stated with certainty. They are too pathetic. They are barely a step above those weaklings you have been pulling out of the homeless and the addicts.

I don't give a shit where they come from. Katie grabbed the woman before she was able to make her escape. She slashed the hamstrings of the man who had been standing by her side until she and Calvin made their appearance.

He fell to the floor, screaming as blood gushed from his legs.

Katie pulled the woman close and snarled in her face. The woman's eyes widened with hate and fear. She tried to pull free, but Katie's grip was powered by fury on the girls' behalf and the extra juice Pandora was providing.

"You're killing everyone!" the woman squeaked.

"You are the ones I'm here for," Katie stated coldly. Calvin's guns provided sweet background music. "Everyone else here gets the mercy of an easy death, but I have something special planned for you child-abusing scumbags."

Yay! Pandora exclaimed. Not going to lie—

For a change, Katie snarked. Just do what we planned so we can get out of this shithole.

Pandora cackled as she force-fed three of the minor demons she had been holding prisoner inside Katie's body into the girl's mother. Katie dropped the woman and hauled the girl's bleeding father to his feet so Pandora could repeat her actions.

Katie stepped back and folded her arms as Calvin finished clearing out the other demons in the coven. The only survivors were the girls' parents. However, that was only the case for the next thirty seconds.

The woman screamed at the pain of the demons warring for space inside her. Her body began to swell as the three demons who were no longer contained by their fear of Pandora decided that expanding outward was preferable to remaining in the cramped space they had been forced into.

Pandora snickered. It's like that scene from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where the greedy girl ate the gum. Look, her face is all purple!

Katie expected this scene to end more explosively than the children's movie. She stepped back and grabbed Calvin's arm as the girl's father began to swell, the demons inside him having had the same idea.

"What did you do?" Calvin asked, his face set in lines of disgust and horror.

"They want power. That's what they're going to get." Katie ducked through the door as smoke began pouring from the couple's ears, mouths, and noses. "They are not going to live to regret using their daughter and her friend as a means to an end."

Maybe not, but they will have eternity to think about it, Pandora crowed.

Katie pulled the door closed behind her and Calvin as the husband's and wife's states reached critical. They exploded outward in a rain of gore: bloody chunks of flesh, bone, and brain matter.

"Remind me never to piss you off," Calvin quipped.

Katie rolled her eyes. "This was a special case. I don't plan on doing it very often."

Calvin grimaced. "Thank fuck for that because seriously, Katie, that shit was gross. I feel sorry for the clean-up crew that's going to have to come in after us."

They turned as a shuffle at the end of the hall announced the arrival of Damian and seven teenage girls dressed in white gowns.

"The clean-up crew won't be necessary," the priest told them. "Run!"

Katie and Calvin took him at his word and darted to the front door. They made it out with the girls seconds before an explosion shook the farmhouse, engulfing it in a fireball.

They hightailed it back to the SUV with the frightened girls in tow and packed everyone in. "What happened in there?" Katie asked Damian while the girls shuffled close to fit in the rear seats.

Damian shrugged. "There are only so many times we can fudge the report when you pull shit like this. I saw the candles and the propane tank and figured this was the easier route."

Calvin nodded. "Yeah. We tell Korbin what you did in there, and all his goodwill toward you and your demon is going to evaporate. We know you are good because we see it every time we're on an op, but the bossman's view is likely to be obscured by the red tape he has to deal with." He sighed. "We won't get a full payout for this op."

Katie paused with her hand on the car door and turned to look at the conflagration. "Thank you."

"What's a few thousand dollars when we saved these girls from certain death or worse?" Calvin asked.

Katie snorted. "Yeah. Hey, maybe it's not the money that counts but the opportunity to bond over falsified after-action reports and the willful destruction of private property."

No, it's definitely the money, Pandora chipped in.

Katie rolled her eyes as she climbed into the SUV. "I appreciate you guys. Let's roll."