by Gail Koger
Zarek turned his attention to my grandmother. “Did the Thunder God try to drain your energy?”
“He cannot draw from the dead,” Granny replied.
At Ethan’s confused expression, I added, “Basically Granny is ectoplasm and her type of spirit draws sustenance from dark matter. When she’s around you’ll get EM spikes on your scanners.”
“Gotcha.”
An edge of menace in his voice, Voss announced, “Any being capable of draining a Katanic cannot be allowed to live.”
“I agree. The Thunder God has killed thousands,” Granny said.
Ethan scowled. “I’m surprised he hasn’t gone into Phoenix for more victims.”
“If the Thunder God leaves the Cavern of the Damned, he dies,” Granny replied.
It was amazing how Granny could surf the esoteric plane for information like I would the internet. “So, we figure out a way to draw him out.”
“I concur.” Zarek tapped his bracelet and a detailed map of the Superstition Mountains appeared on the viewscreen. “Where does the Thunder God perform these ceremonies?”
“His sacrificial chamber is beneath the main cavern.” Granny floated up and pointed to a small cave. “The walls are lined with human skulls.”
Voss rubbed his scar. “Did you see this sphere?”
“No, but I could sense it.”
“Battle stations!” Zarek snapped suddenly. A second later alarms wailed. The warbird shuddered violently.
I grabbed the table to stay upright. “What’s going on?”
“Bjarke warriors have boarded the ship,” Voss snarled and vanished.
Ethan shoved a laser pistol into my hand. “Stay put.” He teleported.
“I exchanged startled looks with Granny. “They must have a death wish.”
“The Thunder God is desperate to recapture Adan. The battle with the wraiths severely weakened him. He must feed soon, or he will cease to exist.”
“Attacking the ship was boneheaded move. Adan isn’t here,” I said. In my mind’s eye I could see Ethan hacking his way through the Bjarke warriors. His skill with a sword made Zorro look like a wuss. My guy was a total bad ass.
Blood curdling battle cries sounded in the hallway.
Shit! Was the door locked? “Why don’t you go out there and say howdy Granny.”
“An excellent idea.” She walked through the wall.
The battle cries were replaced by startled shouts.
“Leave or join the dead,” Granny thundered.
The Bjarke warriors opened fire.
I hit the deck as energy beams punched through the wall. The idiots were going to breach the hull if they kept this up.
A whistling noise caught my attention. Crap.
The computer announced: “Hull breach deck three. Hull breach deck three.”
A Bjarke warrior managed to pry the door open. He stuck his pistol into the room and fired wildly.
I rolled under the table. Stun beam zinged overhead. I flipped my laser pistol to stun mode and shot him when he pulled himself through the half-open door.
The warrior crashed to the floor as violent muscle spasms contorted his body.
A glittering blue light suddenly engulfed me. “Fuck!”
Thirty seconds later I was back in that damned cavern. The first thing I noticed was the yellow skulls were clustered over an unconscious woman. She had long silver hair, pointy elf ears and an ownership band. Bet she belonged to one of Ethan’s cousins. I hurried over to her, took her pulse and checked for any obvious signs of injury. Whew! She was alive. The only damage I could find was a lump on the back of her head.
Granny Annabel appeared. “Your man is not taking proper care of you.”
“And here I thought Ethan was my destiny.”
“I do not find you amusing,” Granny huffed.
“At least this time I have my bracelet and a weapon. Any idea how the Bjarke got on the ship?”
“They bribed a Central Command soldier to disable the warbird’s shields.”
“Hope he has a will. Any idea why they grabbed me again?”
“The Bjarke mercenaries want to use you and the silver-haired alien to find Montezuma’s treasure.” Granny ran a hand over her. “She is a Farin and mated to Quinn Jones.”
“Does Ethan know where I am?”
“He does.”
Glittering blue lights formed in the distance. Wonder why they didn’t transport closer? “Could you go tell him to hurry his ass up. We have company.”
Granny disappeared.
The warriors were acting as if their prey was extremely dangerous. Kinda weird. I wasn’t dangerous and neither were most Farin females. I patted the woman’s face. “C’mon. You’ve got to wake up. The bad guys are coming.”
Her eyes popped open. The next thing I knew, I was face down in the dirt with her knee in my back. “Nice move. Think you could teach it to me?”
“Who are you? Where are we?” Her knee ground into my back.
“Whoa! Easy. My name’s Kizzy. I’m mated to Ethan Jones. I call this the Cavern of the Damned and if you hadn’t noticed there are Bjarke warriors heading our way.”
“Ethan?” She brushed the hair off my neck and touched my ownership band.
“Yep. Big, good looking guy who kisses like a dream.”
“Drekk. Sorry.” She climbed off me.
I sat up and winced. It felt like I been hit by a linebacker. “How did you end up here?”
“Don’t know. One minute, Quinn and I were having a romantic dinner at The Sanctuary. He got this funny look on his face and…” She sucked in a shuddering breath. “And he just keeled over. Before I could check on him, some Bjarke warriors grabbed me. No one hurts my man. Ever. I unleashed my Berserker’s powers and was kicking their asses until someone bashed me over the head.”
“A Berserker? I thought Farin women were fragile, timid creatures?”
“My Aunt Detja and I are throwbacks to a time when Farin females were warriors.” She held out her hand. “I’m Xenia.”
I grinned and took her hand. “Xenia, warrior princess?”
“My mother loves old Earth television shows.” She pulled me to my feet.
“I’ve got you beat. My mom named me after the formidable Greek Goddess Kassiopeia. Formidable, I’m not. Were you able to tell if Quinn’s ok?”
“I think so, but I can’t sense him.” There was a note of fear in Xenia’s voice.
“The cavern has an energy shield that blocks telepathic communication. There are eight heavily armed warriors heading our way. All we have is a laser pistol. Our guys are coming but it might be a good idea to hide.”
“No drekking way. They ruined my date night and hurt Quinn.” A fireball formed in Xenia’s hand. “Now they pay.” She hurled it, and another and another and another. Whoosh! Boom! Whoosh! Boom! Whoosh! Boom! Whoosh! Boom! Brilliant green flames danced over the Bjarke warrior’s weapons. With cries of startled pain, they dropped their rifles and ran for their lives.
I laughed in glee as the fireballs chased them around and around the cavern. My laughter died when Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent God, appeared in front of us.
A thunderous voice reverberated around my skull. “You will be sacrificed to appease the Gods.”
Before I could say a word or move, a smothering blackness engulfed me, and I was falling. I grunted in pain as I landed on something hard.
A groan sounded next to me and a ball of green flames formed in darkness. “Are you injured?”
Xenia’s worried features came into focus and I shook my head to clear it. “I don’t think so.”
“What the drekk was that?”
“An Aztec priest masquerading as the God Quetzalcoatl,” I answered.
“He’s not quite human.”
“No, he’s not. Way back in the fifteenth century he touched a sphere of great power and was transformed into something other. He now calls himself the Thunder God.”
“I knew it! The Nabate
an people did give Montezuma a Shebu sphere to guard,” Xenia said excitedly.
Guess a lot of the Jones’ kin were into archaeology. “Not a wise decision. The Thunder God’s big into human sacrifice and has drained the sphere of its power. He’s now looking for another source to feed from.”
“Adan,” Xenia gasped.
“Yep.” I grimaced as the presence of death grew overwhelming, making it difficult to breathe. Grief, rage, hatred and a fierce desire for vengeance slammed unto me. The dead wanted payback and I was just the girl to give it to them. “You will be avenged,” I promised them silently.
Torch after torch flared to life, casting a creepy orange glow over a bloodstained sacrificial platform. Thousands of skulls lined the walls. Mounds of bones littered the floor.
“Take my hand and don’t let go,” I said.
“Why?”
“Not only can the Thunder God drain our lifeforces, he gets his jollies by cutting out still beating hearts and eating them.”
“Drekk.” Xenia grabbed my hand. “What’s the plan?”
“My bracelet has an energy field and I’m praying like hell it’ll protect us until the guys show up.” With one tap on the icon, a glowing energy barrier sprang up around us.”
The bones on the floor shook violently.
Xenia swallowed hard as hundreds of skulls rose into the air, their jaws clacking angrily. “The Thunder God killed all of them?”
“Every single one.”
“How do we stop him?”
“My particular talent is talking to the dead, and believe me, there are a lot of dead folks here. I’m hoping I can get them to distract the Thunder God, but the spirits’ energy patterns have changed. I think they’ve found a way to draw on that damned sphere too.”
“Holy Goddess! Can they attack the living?”
A shudder shook me. “It’s a possibility.”
“How do we get rid of them?”
“I open a portal, but I’ve never crossed this many souls at once.”
The horrific cries of the damned filled the cavern.
Xenia’s grip tightened on my hand. “What happens if you fail?”
“I die.”
“That’s not going to happen. Females do the impossible all the time,” Xenia stated firmly.
The Thunder God manifested as a large entity wearing a skull mask, flowing black robe and a necklace of eyeballs. In one hand he held a ceremonial obsidian blade. “Remove your clothing and lay on the sacrificial stone.” His words echoed in my head.
I gave him the one-fingered salute. “Go fuck yourself.”
“You will obey me,” The Thunder God bellowed.
“Not a chance,” Xenia said. “Your puny mental powers have no effect on us.”
The shock in his eyes was almost comical. “I am a God. You cannot defy me.”
“Hell, yeah, we can. We are women! We are strong! We are invincible. Hear us roar!”
Xenia stared at me like I had lost my mind.
“Think of it as my battle cry.”
“We are women! We are invincible. Hear us roar! Adversity only makes us stronger. Deprive us of chocolate and feel our wrath,” Xenia yelled.
A giggle escaped me.
Whoosh! The Thunder God was in front of us. He touched the energy field. Zap! The scary entity vanished and in its place was an elderly man wearing a diaper.
I let out a breath of relief. He couldn’t breach my shield.
Xenia gagged. “I think the Thunder God needs his diaper changed.”
Granny appeared in the cavern. “That depraved priest used the last of his power to erect a barrier. Your men are trapped on the other side.”
“Who’s that?” Xenia whispered.
“That’s my grandmother, Annabel Dragos, and yes, she’s very dead.”
“An esteemed relative?”
“More like a pain-in-the-butt relative,” I replied.
Xenia gave a slight bow. “It is an honor to meet you Annabel Dragos.”
“At last a child with manners.”
Whoosh! Thousands of bones shot toward the priest. He chanted something and the bones froze mid-air.
“We need to strip him of his remaining powers. Repeat after me. Tempore. Cuidamn. Monstrata. Desopsuit de cruce!” Granny commanded.
I shouted, “Tempore. Cuidamn. Monstrata. Desopsuit de cruce!”
“Tempore. Cuidamn. Monstrata. Desopsuit de cruce!” Xenia yelled.
Incandescent red bolts arced and pulsed around the priest. His energy field failed, and the deadly projectiles impaled him. With an unearthly howl the Thunder God disintegrated into dust.
“Free us. Free us. Free us. Free us,” the trapped souls shrieked.
A cold prickling ran up my spine. “Granny?”
“If we can tap into what’s left of the sphere’s power, we might be able to channel it into opening a portal big enough to handle all of them.”
The bones swirled wildly around the cavern. “Free us. Free us.”
I could sense the spirits’ growing fury. If we didn’t do something soon, they’d tear us apart. “Do you know where the sphere is?”
“It is hidden beneath the sacrificial platform. Once we link with it, we either open the portal or cease to exist.”
Xenia’s grip on my hand became painful. “What can I do to help?”
“Lend us your strength,” Granny said.
“Done.”
Granny chanted, “Cuidamn. Monstrata. Dicitur moss.” Bits of blue energy danced around the sacrificial platform. “Ostium, fluminis, sont. Fluminis zap.”
I winced as the ancient power coursed over me. God, I hoped this worked.
Granny took my other hand and together we chanted, “Miraculin sepulcrum ibidem solus novum. Domum rotundam vivtorie construxit!”
A portal formed in the ceiling.
I poured everything I had into holding the gateway open.
“Gallice material transferm est quaeda,” Granny and I shouted.
Pure radiance poured from the portal, filling the cavern with an unearthly light. The thousands upon thousands of souls ran into it.
Agony knotted my muscles and my skin grew ice cold. I was tapped out. So were Granny and Xenia. We had failed. Funny black spots danced in my vision.
Granny Annabel’s ghostly form flickered in and out.
The portal shrank as our powers failed.
“No!” Ethan wrapped his mind around mine and tremendous energy poured into us. The portal blazed like a supernova and drew the remaining spirits like a magnet.
“Go! Now!” I rasped.
When the last one had passed over, the brilliance vanished.
“And I thought the Tai-Kok were tough to fight,” Xenia muttered.
Poof! Twenty Coletti warriors in full battle armor appeared in the cavern.
I snickered. “And the cavalry arrives in the nick of time.”
“I think I’m going to lay here for a moment,” Xenia said.
Huh? We were both face down on the floor. “Me too. I can’t feel my legs.”
Ethan scooped me up and cradled me against his chest like I was the most precious thing in his life. “I thought I had lost you.”
“For a minute there, I thought I was a goner too. Thanks for the power boost.”
Ethan rained kisses over my face. “Thank. The. Overlord.”
“Ok.” I caught a glimpse of Xenia with her arms wrapped around a Coletti warrior before they teleported. Zarek, Voss and the other warriors were busily scanning the sacrificial platform and bones. “Granny you still with us?”
“I am. Today we did the impossible.”
“We did, but none of the Elders will believe us.” I closed my eyes and snuggled into Ethan. God was I tired.
Chapter Twelve
Ugh. My mouth tasted like rotted blood and I had the headache from hell. A big, heavy body shifted beside me. My eyes shot open. Holy hell! There was a man in my bed, and I was naked! I scrambled backwards and fell on the
floor with a loud thump.
“Angel?”
Wait! I knew that voice. “Ethan?” I peeked over the edge of the mattress.
His concerned gaze roved over me. “What are you doing on the floor?”
“It was a bit of a shock waking up next to a strange man.”
“I’m not a strange man, I’m your mate.”
“Who I’ve only known for about a week. It’s going to take some getting used to.”
“I’m not Ivan or your clan. You’re stuck with me. Forever. Get used to it,” Ethan stated.
I narrowed my eyes. “You really know how to turn a girl’s head.”
“I’m a warrior, not a poet.”
Ivan had loved spouting poetry, but he couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag. “I don’t want a poet. I want a warrior with smoking hot dance moves.”
“Do you now.” Ethan scooped me up and leaned down to kiss me.
I threw up a hand. “Stop! I’ve got vampire breath.” I wiggled out of his grip and ran into the bathroom. “Where’s the friggin’ toothpaste?”
Ethan tapped the wall. A panel slid back to reveal a fully stocked medicine cabinet including toothbrushes, toothpaste and tampons. “Before you brush your teeth, I need you to drink more blood.”
My stomach rolled. “I’ll just puke it back up.”
“No. You won’t. You need to understand that I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. You came very close to dying yesterday. My blood makes you stronger and harder to kill.” Ethan slid into my mind and I was suddenly thirsty. Very thirsty. For his blood! To my utter horror, I latched onto his now bleeding wrist and sucked it down like it was my favorite chocolate sauce. “Get out of my head.”
“No.
Warmth seeped into my stomach and spread through my body. My headache vanished along with all my other minor aches and pains.
Ethan released his grip on my mind. “Admit it. You feel better.”
“Ok, I do, but I’m still pissed.” My stomach rumbled. “And I’m starving.”
“Breakfast burritos at Hilberto’s?”
Hilberto was my favorite Mexican food joint. “It sounds great, but I hate when you use mind control on me.” I squirted some toothpaste in my mouth. To my surprise, it foamed up. Crap! I looked like I had rabies.