Black looked to Markus. “What is this? Was this your plan all along, Garant? To pin BlackWing’s actions on me and help remove me from power?”
“Kaelin, I assure you that Lady Vanador’s accusations and conclusions have nothing to do with me,” Markus answered with a shrug. He folded his arms across his chest.
Kari shook her head. “I’m not making this up. When I confronted Turillia, I saw something I couldn’t believe: She split into two separate, real beings.” There were muttered swears and sounds of disbelief from her companions, but Kari continued, “That’s a power she stole from you—well, either you or the demon inside of you. I think this demon has been a part of you and your life since the day you thought you killed it in DarkWind. Emma tried to warn you about it, but you ignored the antics of a stupid gnoll. And for the last fifty-seven years, the demon has been using a duplicate of you—BlackWing—to accomplish its evil ends.”
“By the gods!” Lord Vlad exclaimed, coming forward. “Lord Black, you must allow us to exorcise the demon before it regains control or uses this power again!”
“Everett?” Lord Black blurted, turning to his marshal.
“My lord, allow the priests to do their work,” Marshal Saracht said. “And be thankful this demonhunter figured it out before BlackWing did something irreparable.”
“No one holds you to blame,” Kari assured the earl. “This thing had us all fooled.”
“Well, don’t wait for the damned demon to give you permission,” Black said, gesturing the priests forward.
Piotyr, Deirdre, Master Vlad, and Master Devin approached the earl’s desk to begin their work. Black rolled his head dramatically, but before Kari could say a word, the earl turned and grinned at her. He stumbled toward her suddenly, but she was on her guard and prepared for such a move. She caught the much larger male and spun him to the floor, and in the blink of an eye she had straddled him with a scimitar laid across his throat.
Black came to his senses a moment later. He looked confused, but Kari wasn’t about to fall for any such deception. At the very least, she would hold him in place while the priests drove the demon out.
“Kari…,” Eli muttered.
She looked up at the half-corlyps, then over her shoulder to see what he was staring at. Behind her, in the place where Black had stood only moments before, was a duplicate of the Earl of Southwick. BlackWing didn’t just look like Kaelin Black, he wore the same outfit, the same necklace, and the same small weapons upon his person. Kari glanced back down at the massive half-demon under her, and she hesitated for a moment, unsure if she had the real Kaelin Black in her clutches. She withdrew her scimitar and started to stand, but Black tossed her aside once her weapon was away from his throat.
Kaelin Black got to his feet quickly and rushed at BlackWing, and he punched the other hard across the face. The two exchanged blows for nearly half a minute, and once they’d switched places, grappled, and tumbled to the floor, Kari had no idea which was which.
“Block the exit!” Markus ordered his students.
Kaelin and BlackWing got back to their feet and continued to brawl. The demon was smart enough to keep the telltale poison from dripping from its claws and fangs. They continued to trade blows, and Kari got a good sense of just how strong Black truly was. Thanks to his size, he didn’t appear as muscular as Kari’s in-laws, but the crushing thuds of his punches—his and the duplicate’s, whichever was which—landing on meaty flesh said he was a heavy hitter.
Neither asked for help. Kari wasn’t sure if she should intervene, but Marshal Saracht made the decision for her. He stepped forward and tried to apprehend both. Kari joined in, and Eli moved to do so as well. Soon enough, Kari noted the priests were beginning a chant, likely to try to reveal the demon or drive it out.
“I can’t believe I’ve been looking for you for sixty years and you’ve been a part of me this whole time!” one of them growled.
“You don’t honestly think them stupid enough to fall for that, do you?” said the other.
“Kill him! He’s stolen everything from me!” the first shouted.
Marshal Saracht and Kari got a good hold of the other. Enraged, the one they’d grabbed shook them off and charged at the other, whom Eli had just grabbed.
Kari hardly registered what happened next. One drove his knee into the other’s groin, lifted him clear off the floor, spun, and threw him through the study’s massive window. Shredded by the breaking glass and so close to the tower, there was no way whichever had just been thrown out would be able to glide to safety.
Markus and the twins left the room, but Kari’s attention was fixed on the form before the window, looking down through the darkness. The air rushing in from outside would mask the chill of the demon if it was still present. There was a moment of silence as everyone in the room waited for the remaining “Black” to reveal which it was.
The massive half-demon regarded Eli for a moment, and then spun around to meet the shocked gazes of the demonhunter and the priests. Kari thought it might be the real Kaelin Black, but then that terrible grin crossed his face. “That was technically suicide, wasn’t it?” he asked before letting forth a chilling cackle.
“Lord Black!” Marshal Saracht screamed, and he ran from the room.
Eli drew his hammer and tried to slam it into the side of BlackWing’s knee, to drive the massive half-demon down to all fours. BlackWing caught the hammer and backhanded Eli hard, but he didn’t have his bladed cesti on, so the blow didn’t hurt Eli badly. Eli stumbled and tried to shake off the hit, and he drove back in at the same time Kari did. The two tried to flank the demon-possessed duplicate, hoping to buy the priests enough time to exorcise the evil spirit.
“We cast you out, demon! By the light of dawn, we cast you back into the darkness!” Piotyr shouted over the sound of the wind whistling past the shattered window. Deirdre joined him and they repeated their damning shout. Soon, Master Vlad and Master Devin did so as well, calling upon Ambergaust and Zalkar to aid in the cause.
“Fools, I am the darkness,” the demon said, projecting out its screeching, haunting voice through BlackWing. “I am the darkness in your world. I will blanket all that you know and hold dear in fear, death, and shadow before I am done. You are powerless against me.” BlackWing’s claws and fangs began to drip with venom, and he threw Eli to the side and rose to his feet.
Kari grabbed the massive half-demon by the throat and bent him over backwards. She partially impaled him on several shards of broken glass in the shattered pane. A voice came from her mouth, but it was not hers, nor were the thoughts behind it. “They may be powerless against you, demon, but I am not,” Sakkrass spoke through her in the common tongue. “Flee! Flee from my blessed light, for anywhere the sun touches upon Citaria, my eyes will find you. Scurry into the shadows and hide from me, for soon, I shall come for you myself, and you will know the searing pain of my blessed light.”
Despite being impaled, BlackWing concentrated and teleported away. Kari caught herself before she slipped onto the broken glass, and Eli helped get her to an upright position.
“Where’s he gone?” the half-corlyps asked. “And why did you just say that?”