The Order

Starbird Inn

Callan

"Let's go over this again..." I halted Harper from going up the steps to the small inn.

"You want me to stay close...don't separate." She answered.

"And don't try to get him to move on. It will be in vain. He knows where he's going if he does. There's only one way..." I reminded her, gesturing to the soul box in my jacket pocket.

"Is that even going to hold him?"

"Why wouldn't it?" I asked, watching Fin through the window on the door as he booked us a room.

"I mean, he's been to Hell...he can move freely unlike other souls. Chances are that he's a whole hell of a lot stronger because of it. Being in Hell most likely fueled his anger."

My chest tightened. I felt like a fucking idiot for not thinking of that. I heard "Soul" and didn't think of the fact the soul box may not hold him.

We've never had to deal with this kind of thing before.

"Yeah, that makes me feel better about you being here." I scrubbed my hand over my face.

Fin came out, holding a room key.

"What's going on?" He asked, seeing the tension all over my fucking face.

I gestured for Harper to tell him what she had told me.

"How do we know the soul box will hold Mahlon? He's probably angrier and stronger than spirits stuck in the veil. No one has ever tried it, right? Cerberus took care of the few that got out." She crossed her arms, her face filled with worry.

"Shit..." Fin rubbed the back of his neck and scanned the front of the inn. "We can try a vanquishing spell; it never works with those in the veil, but since he's not stuck in it...it's unorthodox, but worth a try." I suggested.

I had read about vanquishing spells in the one book I read on witches.

"If he finds out what Harper is, he can't go to Hell with that knowledge. He could use it as leverage to get out of whatever torture is waiting for him. Vanquishing him is out." I warned him.

I didn't know if souls could sense her. They've never said anything when she got them to cross over, but that didn't mean they didn't.

"Dimitri will know what the fuck to do." Fin pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, scrolled his contacts and held the phone to his ear.

"Is this really a conversation we should have out in the open like this?" Harper asked, her eyes following a couple passing us to enter the Inn.

"Go, room 101." Fin handed me the key and I gave him the car keys.

Harper bit her lip and stared at the inn. My anxiety didn't help hers any and vice versa.

"We'll figure this out." I ran my hands down her arms, finding calm in the contact.

Harper nodded.

I draped my arm over her shoulder and led her into the inn.

~<>~

The room we would hopefully be staying in for only a few hours had a single queen size bed, tv, small bathroom and was decorated in a farm-house style. Ceramic roosters sat on the small entertainment center and both nightstands. Two chairs sat at a small table by the window. There wasn't even a small couch.

I looked at the bed that was covered in a handmade mauve and gray quilt.

"If this takes longer than a few hours, we'll have to get another room. Unless Fin sleeps on the floor." I thought outloud.