Embraced By Darkness (Riley Jenson Guardian 5)

"Is not himself. He's possessed."

"Possessed?"

"Long story, lady, and we ain't got the time." Her husband was running at us again. "When I give the word, run."

The husband leapt the bench. Whatever - or whoever - the evil soul had been, one thing was clear. He was no fighter. I sidestepped, grabbed his body, and flung him at the wall.

"Run!" I said to the woman. "Now!"

She did, her heels clattering on the tiles before the sound disappeared into the thick padding of the carpet. The husband made a mewling sound and crawled off the bench on which he'd landed. He didn't even look at me, just started running after his wife. I leapt at him, grabbing his legs and bringing him down onto the cold hard tiles with a smack hard enough to send blood flying. His and mine.

I wrenched my hand from underneath him, sending a thick shard of bloody glass skittering across the tiles, and tried to grab his arm.

You wouldn't have thought it would be so damn hard to grab the arm of a human, but the man was suddenly an octopus - arms and legs everywhere, slippery as a snake. I finally caught his right hand, grabbing it firmly and yanking it behind his back. It didn't seem to make one bit of difference. He was fighting and twisting and mewling, the noise inhuman - a match for his suddenly inhuman strength. I wasn't exactly a lightweight, but I wasn't The Hulk, either. And keeping this man pinned was becoming harder and harder.

He bucked like a bronco. I gripped him tighter, holding on for dear life as I twisted his arm higher up his back. It had to be hurting, but he didn't seem to care.

He bucked again, and somehow twisted in midair, so that I was on the bottom, hitting the tiles back-first. Air exploded from my lungs, leaving me gasping.

He began hitting me, the blows raining down on face and arms and breasts. The wolf within rose snarling to the surface. I caught a blow, my hand wrapping around his and squeezing. Bones splintered, broke, and pain flicked through his ever-reddening eyes.

A reminder that a human rested behind whatever controlled his body. I backed off, merely gripping rather than crushing, then bucked, flipping him off me.

I scrambled to my feet as he slid across the tiles, then ran over and hit him, hard. The blow landed on his chin and he was out before he really knew what had happened.

Even so, I didn't relax.

The blow might have taken out the body, but the soul that rested within would be unaffected. And who knew how it was going to react?

"Riley?"

The voice was Jack's, and harsh with concern. Damn, we had to be short-staffed if Jack was coming out on rescue missions.

"Down here," I said, my gaze not leaving the husband's prone form. He began to twitch, the muscles in his legs and arms moving, even though he was still out. The dark soul inside was trying to get up.

The soft thud of boot heels approached. A second later Jack's suddenly dangerous presence filled the room.

"You called for help with a human?" he said, disbelief evident in his tones as he stopped beside me.

"Not just any human, but one possessed by the spirit who's tearing the women apart." I paused, and looked at him. "How the hell did you get past the threshold?"

"Got Mary to invite me." He studied the man for a minute. "You've beaten him up a bit, haven't you?"

"Had to. The spirit gives inhuman strength, and he almost got the better - " I stopped as the man lurched into a kneeling position.

"It's going to keep that man moving until it kills him." I looked at Jack. "Can you force it out of his mind?"

"I do that and the soul will escape. We have no way of containing it."

"We have no way of containing it in the body, either. At least this way well save one life."

"At the cost of others, perhaps." He held up a hand to forestall my protest. "I'll try. At the very least, it may give me some hint of what we're actually dealing with."

Power touched the air, a tingly, spidery flare of electricity that flowed like wildfire through the air. Its touch had the tiny hairs along my arms and the back of my neck standing upright, but its effect was more dramatic on our target.

He screamed, a high, furious sound, and began to fight, throwing himself left and right, as if trying to rid himself of a physical touch.

Black smoke began to pull free of the husband, curling back in on itself, becoming more solid but still resembling nothing human. I shivered.