Page 80 of Coven of Corpses

Adrenaline flooded his system as the pursuer rammed the back of the SUV and his parents jerked inside the vehicle. The SUV swerved violently side to side, and as the others gathered behind them cried out in alarm, he and Demmy leaped out of its path as it jumped the curb and drove across the grass.

The SUV came to a stop in the middle of Amelia and Otis’s lawn, and their pursuer screeched to a stop at the curb. Cody leapt to his feet, fists clenched, ready for action. Who the fuck was coming after his parents? Was it Baron or some road raging asshole who was about to regret every decision he’d made?

Dieter and Otis hurried to the passenger door and were helping Cody’s mother out. When he saw his parents moving around, Cody headed straight for the other car, Demmy right behind him.

Before they could reach the car, the driver’s door shoved open with a cry of protesting metal. The driver got out and Cody faltered. He stopped a few feet from the damaged front end of the car. Steam rose in a hissing cloud from beneath the crumpled hood, and a puddle of antifreeze spread across the road. It was like an automotive crime scene.

Mayor Henderson stood behind the car door, her eyes fully black and a trickle of blood running from the corner of her mouth as she smiled at them. Cody hadn’t really interacted much with her, but he knew her from events around town. She was a big-boned woman with a wide face and a helmet of hair that always looked like it weighed more than it should. And right now she looked like she was coming off a three week bender.

In the midst of all the other emotions he was feeling, Cody felt a twinge of sadness for the mayor, and, hot on the heels of that, embarrassment. She’d always been so put together when she’d been out in public. She would be horrified to know how she looked now.

“Hello, boys!” the mayor said, her voice unnaturally deep and throaty. “Good to see you again.”

“Fuck me,” Demmy said. He put a hand on Cody’s arm and pulled him a couple of steps back from the car.

The mayor slammed the car door shut with another squeal, this time accompanied by a crunch. No way any extended warranty was going to cover that. She wore a navy pantsuit, the jacket’s right sleeve torn at the shoulder, the white blouse underneath spotted with blood, dirt, and other stains.

“Ms. Mayor,” Cody said. “You’re looking a little rough tonight.”

The demon inside the mayor smiled, and it looked so completely unhinged and terrible, Cody shuddered.

“I know what you’re trying to do.” The mayor took a step toward them. Cody realized she was barefoot and both of her big toes were raw and bloody. It looked like the mayor had recently had a pedicure, if the color of the polish on her other toes was any indication, and somewhere in the back of his mind he thought she could have saved that money if she’d known she’d be possessed by a demon in the near future.

“You’re tracking down descendants to try and imprison me again.” The mayor looked to where Otis was helping Cody’s father out of the SUV.

“What? Why would we do that?” Demmy said, attracting the demon’s attention once again. “You’re obviously enjoying your freedom. You and Baron have some things to work out, sure, but you’re finally free. We’re all about freedom.”

The mayor sneered, lip curling and nose wrinkling in distaste. “I’m not free. When he released me, he bound me within the borders of this town. He just wants to use my power to feed his own. But don’t worry, I’ve got plans for him. We’ve been playing hide and seek throughout town, but I’ll find him. He dodged me out in the woods when I tried to jump into him. And you two were warded somehow, deflecting me. I had to take a fucking squirrel, and then a possum after that.” She shuddered and made a face. “Nasty things. But I made my way back into town and found your honorable mayor this morning, fresh from her pedicure.”

“What do you want?” Cody said. “Why’d you try to run my parents off the road?”

She shrugged and made a face. “I saw them drive past as I was out cruising around and decided to have a little fun. I also figured they’d eventually bring you back in my sights. And look…” The mayor spread her arms wide and flashed that awful smile. “I was right. Let’s play!”

Anything Cody might have been thinking fled as the mayor rushed them. She moved faster than he’d expected, short legs pumping, bare feet stomping through the spreading puddle of antifreeze, her dirty fingers curled into claws. Demmy yanked him aside just in time, both of them stumbling up against the SUV. He heard his parents and the others shout in surprise at the mayor’s attack, then turned to press his back against the SUV’s dented and scraped driver’s side.

The mayor had stumbled and fallen onto the driveway, tripped up by a garden gnome lurking in a flowerbed near the street. She got to her feet with a groan. Her slacks were torn at her knees, revealing scraped and bloody skin beneath. Blood dripped from cuts in her palms. She sneered, black eyes glittering in the light from the street lamp.

“Well, at least we know the demon is limited by the body it inhabits,” Demmy said.

“Yes,” the mayor said. “And it’s time for a new one.”

She moved fast, and Cody’s brain saw it like a yoga move. Leaning forward and dropping to one knee, the mayor extended her arms to either side, then brought her hands together hard in front of her. But just before her palms touched, a blur of movement in front of him made Cody flinch and turn away.

The force of the clap knocked him and Demmy back against the SUV and they fell to the grass. Cody’s ears popped from the pressure of the attack. He sat up and checked himself over. Still inside Demmy’s body, and no indications he’d been possessed.

He turned to Demmy, who lay slightly to one side. “You okay?”

Demmy pushed Cody’s big body upright and put a hand to his forehead. He shook his head slowly, then looked at him. His eyes were clear—Cody’s own brown, not demon-black—and Cody let out a breath.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Still in here, but okay.”

They both looked at the mayor lying face down in the driveway. Her arms were out to her sides and legs spread slightly. She appeared to be dead, and Cody sighed.

“Going to need to hold another special election for a new mayor,” he said. “Getting to be like the Dark Arts teachers in Harry Potter.”

Demmy stood and reached down to help Cody up. They rounded the SUV and were surprised to find his parents, Amelia, Otis, Eileen, and Dieter picking themselves up off the grass as well. They both hurried to help them all up. A quick check revealed none of them had been possessed.

“Goddamn, that hurts.”