Chapter 9

"Well now we've seen it with our own eyes." Sam stated, "She's helping summon demons."

Kicking a rock down the pavement Dean walked moodily beside his brother. They were making their way down the road back to where they'd left the Impala.

"You saw it, right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," Dean admitted. "I saw it."

"Abrasax the Insatiable. Who the hell is that?"

"A minion demon but a powerful one."

"Look at you," Sam looked impressed. "All up on your demon-lore."

"I hung out with Dad a long time before he split, Sam." No longer able to conceal the bitterness in his voice, Dean stared darkly at the road ahead of them.

"Dean," Sam started.

"Don't Sammy." Dean interrupted. "I know what you're going to say but I think if Lyra is summoning demons, she has a good reason for it."

"What?" Sam laughed in disbelief. "You're not serious, Dean."

Stopping in his tracks, Dean turned to face his brother. "I'm very serious. I've spent time with her."

"You fucked her."

Clenching his fists Dean summoned all his willpower not to punch his younger brother in the face.

"You've met her father. Seen their home. These are not evil people." Dean pursued his point. "I don't know why they are doing these things. I don't know what's up with the other British coven. But Lyra and Jim are not amateurs. They're not dabbling with dark forces. They have a deliberate plan, I just don't know what it is yet."

"Does the plan include seducing you?"

"That's it, Sam." Bringing his arm up defensively Sam blocked his brother's punch. Dean made another swing as a truck's headlights came around the bend in the road just ahead of them.

Distracted by the approaching vehicle, Sam and Dean stopped fighting and moved to the shoulder of the road quickly. The SUV screeched to a halt in front of them, driver's side window opening.

"Lads!" Jim Macleod yelled to them. "I need yer help."

oo00oo

"She's burning up!" Dean lifted Lyra's unconscious body from the passenger seat.

Jim helped Dean carry her down the bankside. "We need to get her in the stream."

Freeing Lyra of her long cloak, Jim grasped her beneath both arms while Dean lifted her legs. Gently they lowered her into the creek. Only a foot deep, Jim let her body recline immersing all but her head in the cold water. Wetting his hand he clasped it to her brow. Her breathing was ragged, face and neck flushed.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Sam.

"Contact with a demon is not without a high price." Jim looked to both brothers. "You would know that of course."

"What do you know about us?" Sam demanded.

"I know enough, laddy." Jim's tone softened. The color in Lyra's face was returning to normal. "I know you've suffered a great loss at the hands of evil. You know that we have as well."

Sam couldn't help nodding in agreement. Even though he didn't trust their dabbling with dark magic, Sam knew Dean was right. The Macleods had a good reason for doing so.

"I believe we can help each other," Jim appealed looking at Dean who nodded in response.

"Now," Jim continued. "Let's get her back to the cabin."

oo00oo

"You mean to tell me, Dean, that you can impede evil spirits with a 12 gauge firing rock salt?" Jim asked settled next to the fire with a glass of scotch.

Dean and Sam sat facing him in armchairs taking in the fire's warmth and the comfort of his alcohol.

Lyra slept soundly on the sofa nearby. Riley, the wolfhound, stretched protectively on the floor in front of her.

"Yeah," Dean explained. "Simple but effective."

"Well," Jim conceded. "All the best magic is."

"Now," Jim continued. "You're not mages though, are ya?"

"No sir," said Dean shaking his head. "We're…." Trailing off, Dean looked to his brother. "What are we?"

"We help people fight dark forces." Sam eyed Jim confrontationally. "Evil forces."

"You're good lads." Jim nodded in comprehension. "I knew that."

"Why is Lyra summoning demons?" Sam asked bluntly.

"Sam!" Dean exclaimed. Why was he being such a dickhead again?

Jim didn't reply immediately. Taking a deep drink of scotch he began delicately. "Sam you've lost someone you love to a demon. I sense that."

Sam responded with stoney silence. "Perhaps," Jim continued. "You've heard that I had another daughter?"

"We had heard that," Dean replied.

"Katie, Lyra's sister. She was taken from us."

"Taken?" Dean asked.

"She'd been weakened… by an addiction. It took Lyra and I four months to find her. She was living on heroine and not much else in New York City. We convinced her to come to Salem to a good rehab clinic but…" Jim's voice faltered.

Dean rose taking the scotch bottle from the side table to refill Jim's glass while he composed himself.

"Thanks, lad." Taking a deep breath Jim continued, "Katie was at the clinic when something strange happened. The doctor called to say she'd disappeared. Escaped presumably. But when Lyra and I came to examine her room we sensed a great evil had been there. There were scorch marks up the walls and blood on the floor."

"The authorities were called and a missing persons report filed but of course, the police found nothing."

"Of course," Dean replied.

"With the help of some friends," Jim continued. "The folks you met at the bonfire the other night. We determined that Katie had been taken by a demon, a particularly nasty one, even by demon standards. He's using our Wiccan bloodline to further empower himself, holding her in limbo until his use for her is exhausted. We have to kill him to release her. So she may find everlasting peace."

Dean swallowed hard. "You're going to kill him?"

"Yes. Lyra's been using Mitch's coven to lure him to us. Pretending to belong to an amateur coven that's dangerously trifling with his minions. Lyra has summoned and dispatched, with my help, five lesser demons so far. We're getting close to him, I can tell. When we do finally summon him, the real coven, our ancient Celtic coven will gather to destroy him."

Dean and Sam sat in stunned silence.

"We could use any help we can get, lads. Do you have any experience in killing demons?"

"Uh," Dean started. "Our dad's trying…"

"Dean, don't." Sam warned.

"No," Dean concluded. "We've never killed a demon."

oo00oo

The dream was always the same. Dean was four and asleep in his bed. He was awakened by his father's shouting and smelled burning. Running to his brother's room, Dean was handed little Sammy by his father telling him to take his baby brother outside as fast as possible.

Dean had run, clutching Sam, as fast as he could. But first he'd looked up. Something had drawn his eyes upward. How did his mom get up there? Blonde hair splayed against the ceiling, bloody gash across her abdomen, flames emanating outward from her body.

Dean woke sweating. He couldn't breathe. Leaping from bed he ran down the hall and out the side door of the cabin. Wearing only his jeans, he felt the cool dew from the grass on his bare feet. The sun was just rising on the lake. His breathing began to calm as he looked out at the placid water lit pink and gold by the sunrise. He felt a gentle touch on the bare skin of his back. Turning suddenly he saw Lyra's beautiful face. Lyra, she was safe.

Clutching her to him tightly, entwining his hands in her soft hair. She whispered against his neck.

"Never let me go," she said.