Risen (Haunted Series Book 22)

me?”
“That’s a crazy thought.”
“But this is how demons think.  You see, I had some time to think while I was floundering in the water.  I’m not sure we’re in the right here when it comes to Lamia.  This is her home.  According to demon law, she has every right to defend it from outsiders.”
“She kills and eats people,” Murphy pointed out.
“But to her, they are simply served to her.  The demon-with-no-name, on the other hand, he’s asking for it.  I think he’s the corrupting influence.”
“That’s why you taught those two sailors how to speak to the monster.”
Mia nodded.  “I wanted them to have a chance.  The Feds have made up their minds.  The two young Coast Guardsmen didn’t sign up for this.”
“Mia, you can’t save everyone.  You have your boys to think of.”
“I am thinking of them.  If we let this demon escape this island, then no one is safe, let alone the magical offspring.  I don’t know why Angelo was determined not to act on this?”
“He must have his reasons.  But why send you?”
“Doubly puzzling,” Mia admitted.  “Even if I could convince him, the storm is now a hurricane.  There is no way for a flock of birdmen to safely fly through the skies, no matter what dimension you are in.”
“Go and talk with the men.  I’m going to seek out my father and Fergus.  You never know when an Irishman is going to come up with something amazing.”
Mia smiled widely.  “For the first time today, I think we stand a good chance of coming out of this alive… oops, dead.”
Murphy tipped his hat to her and left the passageway.
Mia found Ted with the Callens working on what looked like to her to be small lethal missiles.  There were two for use in the water and two for use in the air.  Ted had made use of the materials he found on the boat, along with the C4 the Callens had stored in the hull of the boat.  Mia looked at the weapons and swallowed hard; they were lethal.
“Whatcha doing?” she asked, walking in, her boots clicking on the teak flooring.
“Inventing,” Ted said, looking up.  “How was your flight?”
“It was Whitney on the shore.  I encouraged the numbskulls to seek rocky ground.  One of the Feds was killed.  Evidently, you can be pulled under the sand and still survive to tell the tale.  The one that died was pulled through the water independent of the boat.  You see, the creature - her name is Lamia by the way - forms an airtight seal around the little boats before she drags them under the sandbar and into the old volcanic caves to the center of the island, where there is a large cavern.  She offers the people alive to the demon and then dines on their flesh only after they have been dead for a few weeks.”
“Yummy,” Mason said.
“What’s going on, Mia?” Ted asked.
“I’m looking for a reason to kill her.  The more I investigate, the more doubt I have.”
“She’s been killing innocents for hundreds of years.  What if she leaves the island?” Ted asked.
“It’s impossible.  She’s not a parasitical demon,” Mia answered.
“Explain that, please,” Ted requested.
“What she means is,” Burt said, joining them, “that she can’t possess a person.”
“The island is a prison,” Mia said.  “There is no way for her to leave the island.  A few feet beyond the reef, she would become ash.  The demon-with-no-name has her convinced that if he can leave aboard, let’s say, Sabine, she can leave too.”
“That’s not going to work,” Burt said.
“He’s right. The physics aren’t there,” Mia said.
“So where is this conversation going?” Ted asked, becoming uneasy.  He knew his wife.  She wasn’t telling him the full story.
“I don’t want you to use those weapons unless she comes for the boat.”
“That’s crazy,” Patrick blurted out.  “I say take her before she does come for the boat.  While she is weak, licking her wounds.”
“How are you going to resolve this?” Ted asked.  He didn’t say we because he knew Mia.  Mia would not put anyone in harm’s way if she could handle it on her own.
Mia pulled out a plastic bag.  In the bag was Brian’s green chalk.  “I’m going to send the demon-with-no-name to the Pit of Despair.  Let Hell sort it out.  It may only stay a short while, but during that time, Lamia may be sorted.  I won’t be returning here, so get wide of this place a soon as you can.  I’ll find you.”
“But…” Burt began.
Mia glared at Burt and sent a message into his mind that was so loud and so fierce that he wavered before fainting. Patrick was able to catch the large man before he hit the ground.  Mason turned to ask Mia to get a first aid kit, but she was gone.
“Ted, Mia’s gone,” Mason said.
“She’s probably going for some smelling salts.”
Burt lurched upwards, opening his eyes.  “Ted, stop her.”
“What?”
“She shut me down by screaming in my head, ‘SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!’”
“Why would she do that?” Ted asked.
“She knows that I was going to tell you that the chalk trick only works if you can give the name of the demon.  The demon has no name.  Mia intends on sending herself to Hell with the demon inside of her!”
Ted got up, ran down the passage, and climbed up to find the decks of the yacht deserted, and in the stormy sky over the island, he saw, for just a moment, black wings before they disappeared.

Chapter Eleven
Mia dropped down in the middle of the island.  She carefully sought out ground that was formed from the old lava flow to walk on.  She took a deep breath and said a prayer before she sent out a message,