“The 1st Demon: Imago Diaboli” is now available through all book outlets online. If you go to this link you can find links to each site that offers the book.

As I stated in a prior post, this book has taken longer to write than most. I went back and read all the prior books in “The Chronicle of Jonathan Steel” as well as the prequel “Death By Darwin”. I even reviewed my Jack Merchant books as characters from those two books feature in this final story. Below, I will reveal the second chapter of the book for those who have read and those who have not read my books. In this chapter, Jonathan Steel and his main love interest, Ruth Martinez (from Death By Darwin) are driving from Shreveport, Louisiana to Austin, Texas. During the six hour drive, Jonathan tells his story to Ruth. The chapter not only recounts many of the developments from the prior books, but it also illustrates their growing relationship. Just a WARNING, this chapter contains many spoilers so reader beware.

Thanks again for all who have supported these books in the past. The final book contains many “tropes” that have become fairly common place in the last 20 years but I stuck with the story I outlined way back in 2000. If story beats seem all too familiar, I wrote them first!

Excerpt from “The 1st Demon”.

Jonathan Steel

I am called Jonathan Steel. For most of my life, I answered to the name JJ Stone before I lost who I was. For me, everything began on a beach in Florida when I awoke, tortured, bloody, and naked with no memory of my past. Afterwards, I assumed the name Jonathan Steel. I have fought off assassins and monsters, and twelve demons. The last demon calling itself the “first” demon is all that is left. For a time, I regarded myself as a reluctant draftee in the war of good versus evil. One by one, the demonic encounters have moved me closer to my Lord and away from those doubts and fears. Now, I am ready to end it!

I have just survived a kidnapping by the brother I never knew, a man in league with the second demon. I am tired. I am breathless. I am weary beyond words. I walked the streets of ancient Jerusalem and saw what my Savior endured. What I have been through is nothing compared to my Lord: mental stress enough to cause Him to sweat blood and then blunt force trauma from the beatings followed by flogging reducing Him to the “walking dead” only to bleed more from the crown of thorns before the ultimate punishment of crucifixion. I recall the face of Jesus, and all my travails melt away like ice in the desert, and my doubts are replaced with resolve.

My personal worst betrayal was finding out my grandfather, a man who was supposed to have died when I was a child, is the host for the first demon and the mind behind all that has transpired since I revealed to the world I was alive. My face appeared on a Swiss news feed and my anonymity was over. At one time, I was convinced all my tortured memories were at the hand of my father, the Captain. Now, I am not so sure. Father and grandfather seem to blur together in their evil intents mixed in with my recently restored memories. However, I have not integrated all of my recovered memories. I haven’t had time, especially with memories revealed to me by Jeremiah, my brother. Those memories of his, as well as memories from my father, have muddied the waters of my mind.

“I hope you don’t mind me going with you.” Ruth Martinez said from the passenger seat. I glanced at her. Short, dark hair framed her face, and she smiled, her brow crinkled with concern. “Josh will be fine with Ishido meeting them in Dallas.” She patted my hand, and her touch was calming. I sighed.

“Sorry, I was trying to wrap my head around all that has happened.” I turned my gaze back to the road ahead. My grip on the steering wheel relaxed at her touch. I turned my right hand up and cupped hers. “I’m glad you’re here. Just concerned about your safety.”

“You’re not a verbose man. My dear sweetie, I’m safer with you than anywhere on the planet.”

Sweetie? I smiled despite myself.

“Besides, Cassie needs our support. Just what happened?” She said.

I gripped the steering wheel tightly again. “Jason called and said she had developed a fever and then lapsed into a coma. Brain infection.”

“I heard! Is it the same as Josh’s illness?”

I glanced at her and then back to the road ahead.

“I thought of that. Coincidence? I don’t think so. I hope Hampton is not involved. He’s a Vitreomancer and they have their own agenda. I don’t relish the idea of fighting demons on two fronts.”

“Jonathan, the Lord is on our side.” She nodded. “He’ll take care of Cassie like He did in Jerusalem. I got that part right?”

“Yes. He healed her in ancient Jerusalem. But we are here in the present. Jason said Faye had come down from the North Dallas Clinic. When Josh was sick, she took care of him. Maybe she has some idea how to help Cassie. Until then, we have a six-hour drive.” I paused and drew a deep breath. “And I’m glad I’m not alone.”

“Okay, let’s make good use of the time. Why don’t you tell me your story. Fill in some details. We have hardly had time to catch our breath these past few weeks.” Ruth said.

I grimaced. I didn’t like the idea of reliving the past. But, if I could talk through it, maybe it would give me clarity on how to proceed. I had slept about six hours the night before and then got the call from Jason about Cassie. I nodded.

“Good idea. You know the part about me waking up on a beach with no memory.”

“And spending weeks in the hospital recovering.” Ruth said gently. “And April.”

At the mention of her name, I gritted my teeth and tried to focus on the winding back-country roads of eastern Texas. “Yes, and her killer Rocky Braxton.”

“Used by the thirteenth demon. Which is what led you and Dr. Lawrence to follow up on that mask belonging to my boss’s husband.”

Grace Pennington, Ruth’s boss, had made the plan that brought Ruth and I together. I helped with an investigation into the murder of Dr. Darwyn in Dallas in return for a chance to examine a mask with a spiral tattoo around its eye, supposedly once belonging to the thirteenth demon. In the process of helping Ruth with the defense of the accused murderer, I had grown fond of her. Too fond. “You know I was still hurting from losing April back then. I couldn’t let myself fall for you.”

Ruth laughed. “You actually thought I was ‘falling’ for you?”

My face burned with anger, and I glanced at Ruth. Her smile lit up the somber atmosphere. “You’re trying to be funny, aren’t you?”

She patted my hand gripped tightly on the steering wheel. “Just trying to lighten the mood in this truck. Yes, I was falling for you. Who wouldn’t? An impossibly handsome man with a glowering, testosterone exuding aura bent on doing the right thing and defeating evil. Let’s face it, what woman wouldn’t be attracted to you. Not to mention those eyes! Until,” she fell silent.

“Until I exploded, right?” I mumbled. “I’m doing better, Ruth. I’m learning to control my temper. Sort of. Maybe.”

She laughed again and squeezed my arm. I glanced at her. “Testosterone aura? Really?”

She shrugged. “Sounded good at the moment. Now, back to your story.”

“My first encounter with the thirteenth demon after rescuing you in Dallas,” I said.

She punched me. “I took care of myself.”

“I seem to recall a certain robotic creature stalking you. Who pulled you out of danger?”

“Granted, I was blessed you were there. Notice I said blessed, and not lucky. I don’t believe in luck. You’ve never told me all the details of tracking down the thirteenth demon in Lakeside.”

“My search led me to Lakeside, Louisiana and Reverend Thomas Parker. His church had been possessed by a demon. The details of that encounter are too painful to relive, Ruth. Let me just say, I made friends with Dr. Elizabeth Washington. And ‘fondness’ for Dr. Claire Knight.” I paused as my voice coarsened and I blinked away moisture. Raindrops appeared on my windshield as we headed into a storm. Ruth put a hand on my arm. Silently we drove through the worsening storm, wind lashing my truck and thunder rattling the windows.

“I lost her like I lost April.” I finally whispered.

“She died to save Josh. Right?”

“Yes. Doesn’t make it any easier. That’s when I realized that anyone caring for Jonathan Steel was in danger. I couldn’t allow myself to get close to anyone.” Ruth’s hand slowly slipped away from my arm.

We rode in silence until the rain lessened and the dark clouds lifted. I cleared my throat. “We lost her to Robert Ketrick, the host of the demon. Into my life came Joshua Knight, and at the request of Claire, I became his guardian until his great uncle, Dr. Cephas Lawrence could take over.”

“A scorpion, right?” Ruth said. “The thirteenth demon changed into a giant scorpion?”

“I know it’s hard to believe. You haven’t seen what we’ve seen, Ruth.”

“I believe it, Jonathan.” She swallowed hard. “Now, at least. After realizing these demons are real. I’m still haunted by the case of Reginald Drake. I sensed he was evil. I knew it the day I was tasked with defending him. It’s only now I’m willing to admit he was demon possessed. That man when on to kill more people and I’m the reason he walked free.” She bowed her head and cried gently. Drake was a serial killer, and I had met him one dreadful evening. “You never told me all the details of meeting him.”

“It’s not a pretty story.” I said.

* * *

Roy Festivan’s office address led me to a rundown strip mall in Mesquite, Texas. The strip mall sat just a block or two away from a huge shopping mall and housed a pawnshop, a sandwich shop, and two deserted stores separating the small office of “Roy Festivan, P.I.” The sun was setting as I parked my car in front of the office, where the glass windows were covered with posters for local elections. Only the door was transparent, with a “Closed for Business” sign dangling from a rusty chain.

I peered inside the office and made out an old wooden desk with a landline and a doorway leading to the rear of the office. I nudged the door with my foot, and it swung inward, unlocked. The odor hit me full force, and I choked. I went back to my car and grabbed one of those antibacterial wipes and pressed it over my nose and entered the office. I used the flashlight setting on my phone and followed the foul odor down the hallway to the rear office.

The office was shrouded in shadows, and I heard the buzz of flies. Not good. A large glass and chrome desk sat beneath a rear window. Pale light cast shadows across the figure slumped over the desk.

“He just couldn’t take it another moment.” Someone said behind me.

I whirled, and the man stepped out of the shadows. There are times in my life when I have felt the unmistakable brush of evil. It is like a powerful force that emanates from the darkest side of our human existence. But the wave of pure evil that washed over me made me step back and reach for a gun I never had.

“What?”

The man stepped into the wan light from the window. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you. Reginald Drake.” He held up his hands encased in bright blue latex gloves. “I’d shake your hand, but we don’t want to leave any evidence that we were here. I’m afraid Mr. Festivan ended his life a day or so ago.” He pointed over my shoulder. “There’s a note. He was in great despair after being fired by someone at the Institute.”

“You are evil.” I whispered hoarsely.

“Of course I am.” Drake chuckled, and his two disparate eyes glittered with malice. “I did not kill Mr. Festivan. But we harvested his soul.”

“Who are you in league with?”

“Oh, just a minor bottom dweller demon. Something that can give me access to past memories and limited powers. It doesn’t realize I’m using it, not the other way around. Now,” he reached into his blazer pocket and retrieved a small object. “This is the flash drive Festivan tried to give to Dr. Morrant just moments before she fired him. Seems she was displeased with his progress and never looked at the images on here. I think Ruth will find them very helpful.”

He held out the flash drive, and I let him drop it into my hand. It was hot. “Why are you doing this?”

Drake shrugged. “Ruth was able to get my acquittal. I’m still facing minor charges, but I’ve got a connection I think that can get them dropped.” He stepped toward me. “You see, I owe her. But I don’t own her. Yet.” He smiled, and his perfect white teeth shone in the weak light.

I had dropped the tissue from my mouth, and the foul air choked me again. “I should call the police and report you.”

“Oh, but you won’t. You don’t have time to go down to the department and fill out paperwork and make a statement, do you? Ruth needs that flash drive now. So, run along and touch nothing.”

He stepped to the side and gestured toward the hallway. What to do? I glanced once again at Festivan. The man was dead. His fate had been sealed when he made a pact with the Devil. I turned back and Drake was mere inches away. He was studying my face, tilting his head from side to side like some reptile.

“You have the most striking turquoise eyes. Rocky Braxton was right.”

I flinched and stepped away. My hips banged against the edge of the desk and stirred up a cloud of flies. Drake gestured to the flies, and they spun and danced in a sphere above his head until the sphere formed into a perfect spiral.

“Braxton is dead.” I hissed. “But the thirteenth demon is out there somewhere.”

“I know.” Drake swiped his hand through the air, and the files fell to the floor, dead. “You won’t stop pursuing him, I know. But far be it from me to give you any hints as to his whereabouts.” He stepped around me and pressed the speakerphone button on the landline. He dialed 911.

“911, state the nature of your emergency.” A man’s voice echoed from the speaker.

“It stinks really, really bad!” Drake grinned. His voice sounded like that of a teenage girl. “Like, I think something is dead in that office. Maybe a possum or a raccoon.” Before the voice could answer, he killed the call.

“They’ll be here in about three minutes, so you best be hurrying on. Give my best to Ruth.” he saluted and disappeared from sight. He just vanished, leaving behind empty air and a snap that made my ears pop. I glanced around the office. Drake was gone. Like that. I had forgotten about my phone light, and I played it over the desk. Festivan’s head was a sea of gore, and blood and brain splattered a handwritten note on the desk. In the far distance, I heard a siren. I picked up the tissue, and touching nothing, I hurried out and drove off from the office of death.

* * *

Later, Drake would surface as the host for the third demon. Ruth had defended him in a second murder trial, once again against her wishes, and it wasn’t long after that Drake was dead.

“The only reason he was free was because of me.” Ruth sighed.

“You’ve got to stop blaming yourself. I have tried and tried to defeat this evil that lives among us and sometimes, it wins the battle. But, Ruth, we cannot let evil win the war.”

She sniffled and wiped tears from her cheeks. “I know. Go on. Tell me more.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded, retrieving tissues from the glove compartment.

“I took Josh back to his home in Dallas only to lose him to a vampire clan. I am to blame. He wanted to be like me, someone who would do anything to rescue the helpless. In that case, he went after his girlfriend, Ila, and ended up served up on a metal platform with his blood to be drained to feed an army of demonic vampires. Rudolph Wulf, the host of the twelfth demon died in the caverns of Transylvania along with the assassin Raven. Or so I thought. The only good thing coming out of that horror show was my partner, Theophilus Nosmo King.”

“I never knew Theo.” Ruth said.

“He was my friend and my partner.” I paused, reliving the vision from Numinocity. I had seen Theo and Cephas claiming they were on some far-off world. How could that be? I decided not to tell Ruth.

“Where this gets strange is when Cephas purchased a new home for storing his collection of evil artifacts. I was shocked to discover it was Robert Ketrick’s house. After moving into that evil place, the eleventh demon reared its ugly head as a serial killer. A unknown group of demons, the Vitreomancers appeared and almost killed Josh and the vixen, Vivian Darbonne. The eleventh demon was defeated by its own host, a woman from Cephas’ past. We stopped an assassination attempt against a prominent political figure headed for the White House.”

“And that woman was Max’s lost daughter? The one she thought was dead, right?”

“Yes. Cephas said she was pulled into the vortex of a microscopic black hole used by the thirteenth demon. Seems eleven and thirteen were rivals. Wherever Mary is right now, she called out to me for help while I was under Jeremiah’s control.”

“Max thinks Sister Mary Margaret can save Mary.” Sister Mary Margaret and her team of scientists were currently at the site of Ketrick’s old cabin investigating the residue from the vortex.

“Let’s hope.” I paused. There was always hope. Ruth personified it, and as I stopped at a flashing stoplight in some tiny East Texas town, I studied her profile. She truly was an amazingly strong and beautiful woman. I was lucky, no, blessed she cared for me. A car horn sounded behind me.

“You can go once you stop.” Ruth looked at me and smiled. The horn tooted again.

“I know.” I pulled through the light and continued down the country road.

“I had a boyfriend once. In high school. I don’t even remember his name. Every time we came to a stop sign, he kissed me. Claimed STOP stood for Smooch Till Others Pass.” Ruth laughed.

My face warmed, and I thought of the box with the ring in the center console beside me. When would I, could I? I pushed the thought from my head. I had to think of Cassie.

“Did you have girlfriends?” Ruth asked, her gaze fixed on the road ahead.

I cleared my throat. “A few. None of them ever really mattered.”

“Mattered?” She looked at me.

“I mean, you know, serious. There was one weird girl named Mercedes who practically, uh, kidnapped me one night. I was fifteen and I don’t know what she slipped in my soda but I don’t remember a lot.” I paused as sorrow gripped my heart. “It wasn’t long after that my mother, uh, died.”

Ruth rubbed my arm, and I almost pulled away. I leaned into it. “Sorry, babe. I can’t imagine what that must have been like. You don’t have to talk any more. We can just ride a while in silence.”

“No, I need to think things through.” I swallowed hard and concentrated on my narrative, “With no relief in sight after thirteen, twelve, and eleven, Anthony Cobalt and his tenth demon sought the children of the Bloodstone. A genetically enhanced collection of thirteen children all bearing the mark of the Nephilim were protected by, of all people, Josh’s supposedly dead father, Arthur Knight.”

“These children were sired by demon possessed fathers, right?” Ruth asked.

“Yes. Hard to believe.”

“But Biblical. I know the scripture. I looked it up. The more I venture into your world, the more I realize the supernatural battle that is taking place all around us. Most people never see what we’ve seen.” She glanced out the window at a passing car. “They have no clue, do they? How do they live?”

“They are oblivious. And that is where the enemy wants them to stay. Apathy is his most powerful tool.”

“And technology. Distraction. Entertainment. Social media. Keeping us busy looking the other way.” Ruth retorted.

“Well one good thing came out of the whole thing with Cobalt. I met Dr. Cassie Sebastian, the ‘Artifact Hunter’ in pursuit of the Fallen Throne. Cobalt secured the pieces of the Fallen Throne and opened a portal to another world.” I paused and blinked away sudden emotion. “Cephas died during that opening of the portal and I almost lost my life. Josh’s father sacrificed himself to destroy Cobalt’s satellite so it would not unleash its collected solar energy on the earth. Josh was devastated at learning his father was alive only to lose him again.”

“And you lost Cephas.” Ruth said quietly. “Do you think he might be alive in whatever lay on the other side of that portal thing?”

I remained silent for a few moments, composing my thoughts. “I don’t know, Ruth. I would like to think that he is alive along with Arthur Knight. And Theo. Maybe God put them there to protect those children.”

“We can hope so.” Ruth said. “Didn’t Josh say something about a vision he had while in that altered reality?”

I nodded. “Said his father spoke to him.”

“What about you? Any vision while there?”

Once again, I pushed away thoughts of Cephas and Theo. “I’m not sure what happened in Numinocity. Ruth, I met my other self. I thought it was my buried, forgotten self. Now I know that evil side of me was really Jeremiah.”

“You’ve recovered your memories. You weren’t a monster, Jonathan.” Ruth paused. “Were you?”

“I wasn’t a Drake, Ruth. But I did things for the Captain that were questionable.”

“Because he controlled your mind. You weren’t responsible.” She put her hand on the back of my head and gently massaged my neck. “Did it hurt when that angel pulled the implant from your brain?”

I nodded, relishing her touch. “Yes. But the freedom from his control was worth any pain I could have endured.” Despite the touch of her fingers, anger flooded my soul. My own father had put an implant in my brain!

Sunlight cut through the dissipating clouds, and I grabbed my mirrored sunglasses from a console and slid them over my eyes. “I still did the deed. Ruth, I had a flashback to an earlier time with the children. I was looking for my father, and he had a task force looking for the children. He was going to dissect them! What kind of man does that?”

“Wait. Didn’t you tell me your grandfather might have masqueraded as your father? Maybe it was him, not your father.”

I growled and shoved on the accelerator to pass a slow car now that the two-lane road had expanded temporarily into three lanes. Ruth grabbed the dashboard with both hands as we swerved around an old man in a pickup truck. 

“Sorry! Just thinking about it makes me angry.”

“Just be careful.” She whispered. “Jonathan, why don’t you talk to your father? Find out if he did those things.” She put her hand on my arm again. “I know it’s hard to accept but maybe your father isn’t the monster you think he is.”

“He’s monster enough. He operated on my brain!” I shouted. Calm down, I told myself. Don’t let anger rule you!

Ruth sat back and crossed her arms, and we drove for a while in silence. “I need gas.” I pulled off the highway into a truck stop somewhere around Henderson. Without a word, Ruth hurried into the truck stop while I filled the gas tank. The air was cool from the recent passage of the cold front that had brought the rain. The fresh air played over my face and through my hair, and I breathed deeply, trying to find some peace in this battle.

“Ruth is not to blame.” I said. “Don’t take it out on her!”

I went to the restroom after filling the gas tank, and Ruth was waiting at the checkout stand with two bottles of water and some snacks. “I think your blood sugar might be low.” She said tersely. “You know, hangry.”

I closed my eyes. “I’m sorry. I get so intense thinking about all that has happened.”

“Then we won’t talk about it.” She paid and headed out to the truck. I followed, a dull pain in my chest. I sat behind the steering wheel.

“I’m sorry for being so intense. It is who I am.” I started the truck and pulled back out onto the highway into heavy traffic passing through the town. Ruth pressed an open granola bar into my free hand. I bit into it and chewed. “I’ll keep telling you. It’s good for me to review it all. Catharsis. Unless you won’t me to shut up.”

“Okay, go ahead.” Ruth said, sipping her water. I looked straight ahead and kept telling my story.

“Losing Cephas was hard for me and for Josh. I was all he had left. We went ahead with Cephas’ last wishes and I adopted Josh.” I sighed. “It was hard, Ruth. The only model I had for being a father was the Captain. How was I going to take care of this teenager? And, I’m sure Josh had his doubts too. But all those feelings were eclipsed when we discovered Theo had been kidnapped. I pursued the leads to an abandoned warehouse in the Arizona where a policeman, Jason Birdsong, agreed to help me locate Theo.”

“Jason became your brother.” Ruth said.

I nodded. “It was weird. Jason’ grandmother, his ‘Hu’ul’ told us God had revealed to her we would be brothers. Ruth, he was a total stranger. Out of nowhere I ‘m supposed to be a father to teenager I never knew and now a brother to a total stranger.”

“God works in mysterious ways.” Ruth chewed on her granola bar. I sipped water.

“Tell me about it.”

“God knew you were about to lose Theo.”

I sighed and tried to focus on the thinning traffic. The GPS told me to take an exit, and I concentrated on not getting lost in the winding roads of the next town.

“And he became like your brother, didn’t he?”

“Yes.” I finished the granola bar. I felt better. “In fact, I’d say I’m closer to Jason than I was to Theo.”

“Like a brother.” Ruth said and nodded.

“Yes. Anyway, the leads took us to an island off the Baja peninsula where the ninth demon along with a billionaire, David Boone, took us back in time to ancient Jerusalem to the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.”

“Wait a minute!” Ruth put a hand on my arm. She paused and looked at her hand but kept it there. “I know you’ve talked about that casually. But did you really go back in time? Do you know how bizarre that sounds?”

“I didn’t have time to think about it during our pursuit of Theo. My mind was on finding him. Boone meant it as a deception. He had a movie set built with parts of Jerusalem to film an expose of the death of Christ.”

“To prove Christ didn’t rise from the dead.” Ruth shook her head. “I mean, really, Jonathan? Who would have believed it if he had succeeded?”

“You’ve seen ‘the Chosen’?”

“Yes, parts of it.”

“I’ve seen some episodes. It is VERY believable. But, I met them, Ruth. I was there. It was real. And Boone could have made his version convincing enough to fool people. He never intended the Time Door to work. But because of divine intervention, it did.”

I drank more water. “When I went through the Time Door, I met Dr. Montana Holmes, a Christian professor of history and archeology and Cassie Sebastian. They had been invited by Boone to validate his movie. Cassie had an encounter with Christ that cured her of a deadly disease.” Gooseflesh covered my arms at the memory. 

“We were there, Ruth. I saw things that changed my life forever. I know what is at stake in this spiritual warfare. I was more convinced of my role, my ‘purpose’ as Cephas told me. That encounter changed Cassie’s life and mine as well. Unfortunately most of those who were chosen to be a part of the supposedly faked journey back in time lost their memory of the events thanks to ‘nannomemes’ injected into their blood prior to the journey. Jason and I remembered everything because we never received those things. The others don’t recall everything. But Monty told me he got his memory back in Numinocity thanks to an angelic encounter.”

I paused and swallowed hard. “Theo’s nannomemes were set to kill him if he came back through the Time Door. No matter what happened, real or imagined, he would die. So, he stayed behind. I can only hope he encountered the risen Christ,”

“And then there was the box from Cephas’ crate. Josh told me about it.”

“Yes, in that box was a coin used by Boone to signal the time to return. And Monty read the scripture where Luke, who we met by the way, dedicated his Gospel account and the book of Acts to Theophilus.”

“Think it was Theo?”

“I hope and pray it was. Wouldn’t that be cool?”

Ruth smiled. “You said cool. I like it.”

I did too. “It gives me some comfort to think that Theo was there as part of the early church. He was a preacher at one time. Losing Theo was bad. But finding out Vivian Darbonne gained control over thirteen was devastating. It keeps popping up just when we think we’ve defeated it. And now, according to Josh, it’s back in the person of Armando.”

“Part of that vampire clan, right?”

“Yes.”

“And after the ninth demon you met Max for the first time?”

“She had called me right after Raven supposedly died in the twelfth demon ordeal. She disguised her voice as a man and made me promise to take Raven’s medallion to Switzerland. Later, she reached out and asked me to fly to Switzerland. Someone on that flight sabotaged the airplane and I barely escaped along with a woman, a total stranger. She erased my memory after I took us to safety on the slopes of a mountain. She was Dr. Monarch, the woman who had placed my brain implant! Meanwhile, Josh met Olivia Monarch at school and inadvertently took her backpack with a virtual reality interface. Activating the interface brought an assassin squad after them. Olivia and Josh escaped and ended up on a flight to London.”

I shook my head. “I still can’t believe Josh did that. After the crash, I was accused of terrorism and taken from the police by Max. Like Cephas, she had her own private collection of evil artifacts. And, she had built an impressive secretive ‘army’ to battle the evil forces she thought had killed her daughter.”

“Was it hard when you realized Max was Cephas’ girlfriend? What was her name?”

“Molly. Yeah, I had to tell Max that her daughter had not died when she was a child but had been taken by the eleventh demon. And I had to tell her that Mary was in league with that demon and had apparently died in that whole affair.”

“And you had to tell her Cephas was dead.”

I nodded and drove for a while in silence, trying to contain my emotions. “I’m sorry.” I said eventually. “Lots of terrible memories and emotions.”

“We can stop.”

“No. This is good. If for the only reason it is strategically necessary to review everything that has happened. We are facing the last demon on the Council of Darkness.”

“So back to Max.”

“Yeah, I soon learned Max was the same woman Cephas had met during the events of the eleventh demon. I ended up journeying into the virtual world of Numinocity to stop the eighth demon from releasing her new ‘third eye interface’ to Europe and using it to enslave millions with her demons. In Numinocity, we stopped the eighth demon just in time. The surprise event was watching Vivian change her allegiance from Satan to Christ. But she disappeared in the process. We thought we had sent thirteen to hell. But it was a virtual reality and the demon deceived us.”

“And here is where things got really bad.” Ruth said as I pulled onto the toll road out of Roundrock.

I nodded silently and drank the last of my water. “During the flight back to the United States, Josh lapsed into a coma. Dr. Nigel Hampton, an operative of the Vitreomancers, had deliberated infected Josh with his Pandora Stone virus. In exchange for the cure, I had to do whatever I was asked by the Unholy Triad of the seventh, sixth, and fifth demons inhabiting three women triplets. During the subsequent events, I outsmarted them. Jason Birdsong along with a nurse, Faye Morgan, saved Josh. Unfortunately, Hampton escaped and my father, I guess, took the Ark of the Demon Rose.”

“This Ark, why was it important?”

“It supposedly contains a talisman for each of the demons. We used two of them in the trial of the third demon.”

“After Josh got well, things really went south.” Ruth said. “I remember. I was there for part of it.”

“Yeah, by Thanksgiving, all went well. I had everyone at the lake house until the FBI showed up to arrest me for murdering someone in London.” I paused and glanced at her.

“Thank you for agreeing to defend me.”

She smiled, and the world was brighter. “Truth is, I was skeptical. I hadn’t heard from you since the Darwyn trial.” She paused. “Well, not entirely true. I checked on your website. And searched the  news. And saw the news about the airplane crash. I almost reached out. But,” she paused again and looked out the side window. “I wasn’t sure you were even interested in reconnecting to me.”

This time, I reached over and put my hand on hers. “I really missed you, Ruth. The minute they arrested me, I knew I could trust only one person. You.” I swallowed. “And, there was that connection, albeit brief, we had. I was hoping the spark was still there. Maybe that cloud of testosterone still lingered.”

Ruth laughed. “You made a joke? Wait a minute. You appreciated me only because of my legal acumen?”

I shrugged. “You got the partnership after the Darwyn trial. You defended a man caught red handed with the weapon. Let’s just say, I saw your potential.”

She pulled away from my hand and slapped me on the shoulder. I laughed, and she did too.

“It’s good to hear you laugh.” She said. “It must have been hard in prison.”

“It was. I fought for my life and was teleported by an angel to the mountains of Switzerland where two people, Yvonne Brown and Sam O’Malley awaited my arrival. These two people had been my secret guardians for years after I left my father. They told me the story of my past. When I was fifteen my mother died and I was accused of her murder. I learned of the existence of a brother I had never met. The third demon controlled the serial killer you had defended years before, Reginald Drake and the fourth demon controlled a judge who presided over my trial once I returned to the states.”

“I was there. Thanks to your father, we defeated both demons during your trial.” She drew a deep breath. “I still can’t believe what I saw in that courtroom. A real demon! I hope you understood. I had to go home, Jonathan. I had to be with normal people. Not that you’re not normal.”

“I am very abnormal.” I said.

“That’s why I wasn’t there at Christmas for Cassie and Monty’s wedding.”

“I totally understood, Ruth.”

“And your father was there offering a cure for Olivia’s epilepsy?”

“Trying to make up for his past.” I growled. “I can never forgive that man for what he did.”

“Babe, I should have been with you.”

“You are now. That’s what matters.” I said. “Now we get to the latest.”

“Tell me again what happened. I was there but I haven’t heard everything from your point of view.”

“During Olivia’s surgery, my brother Jeremiah showed up, possessed by the second demon and kidnapped me right after I talked to you on the phone. Awakening in some strange ‘dungeon’ Jeremiah threatened to harm someone if I did not share my recovered memories. I had to relive my newly recalled past and learn about his past. The Crimson Snake, that assassin from the airplane crash, was held prisoner as the interface to the Grimvox, the demonic repository of all evil history. Jeremiah sought a specific memory and then,” I paused as we neared the outskirts of Austin.

“Then my grandfather showed up possessed by the first demon. He was supposed to have died while I was young. He no longer needed my lost memory as he would use Josh to complete his plans. Jeremiah and I barely escaped with our lives, and I discovered we had been in the basement of Ketrick’s cabin from the eleventh demon events.”

“And Snake?”

“Died saving us.” I released the steering wheel and looked at my left palm.

“What’s wrong?”

“My palm glows sometimes. Maybe a sliver of the shard of the Grimvox Vivian had in Jerusalem. If it is a piece of that vile thing, then I might have access to some of its information. It comes and goes, Ruth. Sometimes it glows: a tiny spot of light in my palm.” I held it out toward her. “Not now, it would seem.”

“Glowing palms? Crystal storage of demonic memories? If I did not know you, I would have a real hard time believing all of this.”

“I wish it were all some kind of plot from a thriller novel. But it’s real, Ruth. It’s real.” My phone rang. Josh.

“Hey.”

“Dad, I have some bad news.” Josh said breathlessly.

“More bad news?” Would this never end?

“The thirteenth demon is in the wind.”

“What?”

Silence, except for his breathing. In the background, I heard Father James Caskey muttering something. “Uh, let me tell you what happened.”