Eldritch Exorcist

They managed to reach the station in under ten minutes. The only saving grace was that few people were out at night, but even so, they counted three bodies strewn around the entrance. Q’Shar sent a few of his fighters to hunt down any escaped creatures while he and Hori made their way down into the metro station to stop the creatures at the source. The first things they encountered were enemies wobbling out of the darkness of the underground tunnel.

Q’Shar’s tail traced runic patterns, ending the sequence with a snap of its tip as an arrow of fire materialized in front of him. The projectile then flew straight at the tumor-filled head of one of the creatures emerging from the metro tunnel. The monster took the hit head-on, not stopping its advance despite the burned flesh on its skull.

“Fuck’s sake,” Q’Shar groaned. “Where are the church people?” he shouted over his shoulder.

“Should be here soon,” Hori shouted back before landing on the head of one of the creatures, hooking his claws under its jaw, then tearing the head clean off in one smooth motion before the enemy could bring its hands up.

“I swear to God, if they are slower than the police, I won’t let them live it down,” Q’Shar grumbled before preparing another spell.

Only then did he notice, out of the corner of his eye, one of the snake-like enemies slipping past in the shadows beside the tracks. He saw its strange, flexible body coil for a strike, its hollow eyes, half-hidden among the mass of dark growths, fixed on him. The cat almost instinctively called out to Bakari, only to remember at the last second that the tiger had joined Sam.

Q’Shar almost activated one of the emergency rings on his tail, but before he could, thin strands of blood wrapped around the creature’s throat like silk caught in a sudden gust of wind. The creature didn’t seem to notice as it catapulted forward, ready to deliver a killing blow, only for the red thread to bite into the flesh and lop the head clean off. The body flew forward, rotating loosely in the air, and landed with a wet squelch in front of Q’Shar’s paws.

“Miss Harper,” the cat greeted.

The few cats present turned toward the metro entrance, where an older woman stood. She was wearing a modernized crimson-red Victorian dress, complete with elegant white riding gloves and a closed red fan crowned with a red gem still alive with the residual glow of the spell. The only things that stood out against her Victorian-style ensemble were a pair of earrings made of crossed twigs, each forming a rune with a small mana crystal in the middle, and a massive hairpin, tightly secured in the woman’s bushy grey hair. The pin was gold, with a small, shriveled head at the top.

She stood surrounded by three people dressed in elegant clothing that evoked butlers or bartenders, all wearing white gloves.

“Q’Shar,” the woman greeted with a wide smile showing the tips of her sharp fangs. “You look surprised?”

“I was expecting priests to come before you, to be honest.”

“We are priests,” the woman said, widening her grin.

“Wrong god,” the cat answered.

The woman tilted her head. “Strange words coming from you, considering your usual company includes a priest of literally the wrong god,” she said with mirth.

The cat chuckled, then glanced toward the tunnel as one of his men shouted a warning about another approaching enemy. One of the butlers then moved forward as a red thread appeared between his gloved fingers, ready to wrap around the creature. Q’Shar looked at the scene, a deep frown still fixed on his face.

“Want to press on?” the old vampire asked confidently as she approached the cat.

He kept his eyes on the tunnel’s darkness, his feline pupils widening as he tried to pierce it. “No,” he finally answered.

“No?” she parroted, surprised. “If you are worried about the strength—”

The cat shook his head. “I recognize that thread technique. I assume they are your crypt guards. What I’m worried about is that we are playing into someone’s hands.”

“And who would that be?” the woman asked.

The cat turned toward her and held her gaze until realization dawned on her. “Really? The miracle cult?”

“I… I have no idea. The disease and the secrecy both match, but… we haven’t seen any sign of them so far.”

“That’s a lot of assumptions, especially considering my granddaughter is somewhere in those tunnels, if I’m not mistaken?” An edge came into the vampire’s voice.

“Dealing with the cult is like boxing with smoke,” the cat commented, seeing that the woman was ready for a battle. “And in this scenario, our main force is trapped while we are here trying to put out the most obvious fire. Luna is with Sam and our best fighters. They survived the Vatican. They can survive some tunnels. It’s what’s going on outside that worries me,” the cat said, emphasizing “outside.”

Miss Harper held the cat’s gaze for a few seconds before finally sighing.

“Fine. So where should we be instead?” the woman asked.

The cat thought for a few seconds, seeing a few more creatures walk out of the corridor.

“If we stay here and keep fighting, we will miss the main issue, like the fire under the Vatican. We think the real target might be the FBI.”

“Why? No offense, but isn’t Sam, or even you yourself, a much better target?”

“Much more obvious, sure, but better?” The cat turned fully to her. “During the Vatican raid, we suspected the documents targeted for burning contained detailed accounts of mortals who had fought in the War of Tears. Those same people would later work in or establish the supernatural divisions in the mundane world. So we kept our eyes on the FBI’s SID director. And one of our observers went missing right around when this fucking thing happened.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“Elias? No. Our cat? Probably dead.”

The woman opened her mouth to say something, but then sudden movement from the stairs caught her attention.

Looking toward the entrance, the gathered people saw a group of priests slowly descend the stairs, some carrying weapons, others carrying staffs, all ready for battle. An older nun led them, dragging a large two-handed sword behind her, her steps slow and almost feeble, as if she might fall over.

“Sister Lily,” the cat greeted, then almost jumped in surprise at a happy shout from Hori behind him.

Thanks for reading! Just know this copy came from NovelPhoenix without permission, and the author would love to see you there.

“Sister Lilianna,” Miss Harper greeted, looking at the woman at the front of the procession. “Long time no see. I’d like to say you didn’t age a day, but…” She let her words hang in the air, the edge barely covered by a thin layer of fake sadness.

“Miss Harper. I’d like to say it’s a pleasure to see you, but…”

“Lovely meeting.” The cat broke the tense silence between the older women. “But we have a bit of an emergency, and I was hoping you would handle it.”

“Consider your failure handled,” Lily answered, stepping closer onto the metro platform.

“My failure?” the cat asked.

“The FBI operation was under your client’s supervision, so yes.”

“Don’t bullshit,” the cat scoffed. “This had nothing to do with us, and you did take your sweet time. It wouldn’t have been such an issue if you’d arrived sooner.”

“We were dealing with something,” the woman answered, a sour expression passing over her face.

“Another attack?”

“No…” The nun shook her head and opened her mouth, but then footsteps from the tunnel cut her off as more creatures appeared, this time in a group, dropping from their legs into a slithering position the moment they noticed the people on the platform.

“We had a PR issue. Already handled,” the nun said quickly as her team readied for a fight.

“Well, then we leave it to you,” Q’Shar said, gesturing for his team to start moving out.

This seemed to surprise the nun as she frowned, changing her grip on the sword to strike, yet still finding time to say mockingly, “Some snakes got you scared, cat? Thought your kind was supposed to be faster than reptiles.”

Q’Shar was about to answer with something snarky, but then stopped himself, hesitating. He didn’t have direct evidence of the miracle cult’s involvement, but the whole operation… it seemed meticulously planned and executed without his people noticing, and that smelled like the miracle cult. The church was a competitor in terms of power and resources. The fact that they were aware of the FBI movements meant they were using their own information networks and insiders, but… There were no sides when it came to the ancient enemy of mages.

“We suspect this is a bigger play. Watch out for yourselves,” Q’Shar called out before retreating.

Lily froze, looking back at the cat as one of the priests behind her sent a piercing spell into one of the slithering creatures.

“Got it,” the nun said.

The church personnel switched positions with Q’Shar’s cats around the tunnel opening before the felines moved out. The fact that the church group had arrived with their weapons openly drawn meant the area was secured, and as Q’Shar and the rest walked out, they were met with the sight of a closed-off street and police cars that had most likely brought the church personnel there, blocking the entrance from view.

“Where do you wanna go?” Miss Harper asked.

Q’Shar paused.

“Do you have any people available?”

“Sure, people, creatures…”

“Good. Send a team to the FBI headquarters to wait for us. We have to make a stop first. And if you have someone who can deal with gargoyles, call them up.”

The old vampire nodded, snapping her fingers at one of the butlers, who immediately passed her a phone.

The cats loaded into their van and sent the address to the club owner so she could meet them there. The apartment Q’Shar decided to visit before the headquarters belonged to Elias’s wife, where the man himself also lived. Although "lived" was the wrong word, as he seemed to live mainly at work and only visit his home. It was a Hail Mary attempt to find anything while they waited for Miss Harper’s people to arrive.

“Why not call on our forces?” Hori asked, sitting next to Q’Shar in the van’s back seat. “You trust the vampire that much?”

“I don’t trust anyone,” Q’Shar answered. “But I do trust they will act according to their interests, and if something happens to us or Sam, the Harper clan will lose a lot.”

“Still, we could get more backup.”

“We can’t recall our observers while shit like that is happening in the city.” The cat paused and then turned to one of the grey cats in the back. “Did you figure out what stopped the nun?”

“We’re not entirely sure, but New York’s police commissioner had called a press conference that was suddenly canceled just before the church arrived. It’s the only thing we can think of.”

Q’Shar groaned with irritation.

“What the fuck is going on?” he hissed, looking through the window at the empty streets of nighttime New York.

They arrived at an apartment complex situated around halfway to the FBI SID headquarters. The vampires joined them soon after, to the cat’s mild annoyance, because the felines used an inconspicuous white delivery van, while the Harper clan drove around in luxurious black Mercedeses.

“Let’s move,” Q’Shar said simply as he, Hori, and two more cats made their way to the apartment, followed by Miss Harper and one of the crypt guards.

Once they found the right door, the older woman formed a thin red thread around her finger and spun it into the space between the lock and the doorframe, cutting cleanly through the bolt. The cat acknowledged her silent, elegant maneuver with an appreciative nod.

“Impressed by just that?” the woman whispered with a smile. “My, my, you must really be spending all your time with your face in documents.”

“Impressed by the magic? No. I’m just appreciating the subtlety. Someone I know would probably use a muffling spell and then send the door flying off its hinges for the fun of it,” the cat explained, earning a silent chuckle from the woman.

The group entered the apartment, ready to deal with any enemies or surprised owners. But the place was quiet and empty.

“Shit,” Q’Shar swore, looking around the spacious living room. “Was hoping he was taken from here.”

“Should we go straight to the headquarters?” Hori asked.

“How long till your people get there?” Q’Shar asked Miss Harper.

“Fifteen minutes, give or take.”

“That long?”

“Observers are really fussy about transportation,” the woman explained.

Q’Shar quickly led them around the apartment, trying to spot something, any sign of struggle, any sign of magic. Yet each room they burst into revealed nothing but a simple, mundane living space. The apartment opened into a living room connected to an open kitchen. Two more rooms were visible through open doors to the left. One belonged to Elias and his wife, and another one to a young man, judging by the decorations. Wherever he was, he must have moved out some time ago, as many day-to-day items were missing, while only large ones stayed behind, the kind that wouldn't fit in a simple dorm.

“Should we go? We are ten minutes out,” Hori suggested as they exited the last room, seeing his friend struggle with the decision.

“What do we have on the family aside from Elias?” Q’Shar asked, turning to one of the grey cats.

“No connection to the magical world,” the cat answered.

“Right.”

Q’Shar turned around. He usually had Sam for this type of work, and he was annoyed by the man’s absence.

‘What would that madman do?’ he wondered. ‘Aside from breaking down the door, he would look for details, something that didn’t fit the surroundings.’

Q’Shar tried to spot something, but after another minute of tense silence with his helpers staring holes in his tail, he was about to leave and write the place off as a dead end. But then his eyes caught on something. It was a phone book, placed on the lower shelf of a wobbly-looking rack to stabilize it. But the thick tome gave the cat an idea.

“Did you find a Bible in the house?” he asked.

“Yes,” the vampire guard spoke up. “Didn’t seem unusual, though. I should be able to sense a grimoire in disguise.”

“I don’t think it’s a grimoire,” Q’Shar said. “Where is it?”

“The boy’s room.”

The cat went into the bedroom. On closer inspection, he could see signs of recent use, probably from the owner having returned briefly for a weekend or holiday. The cat ignored the belongings and approached the Bible, using his paw to open it at the bookmark and read a highlighted passage.

“Jesus wept. John 11:35.”

“Middle of Lazarus.” Hori groaned.

“There’s wear on those pages compared to the rest. Someone had been reading it repeatedly.” Q’Shar turned to the cats. “What else do we have on the kid? Give me anything. Any boring detail.”

The grey cat looked around, his eyebrows knitting tightly.

“Well… normal. He isn't really connected with Elias. He’s his stepson. Went off to university some time ago. His real dad passed away a few weeks ago, but it didn't look like foul play, and that’s really it.”