It was a five-hour flight to Sedona. I spent most of the flight trying to push thoughts of what Atmoro must be doing to Kasiah out of my head. The chance that Atmoro had kept Kasiah alive was slim. I fought off sleep for as long as I could, knowing it would surely bring nightmares. Eventually, the weight of my eyelids was too much to hold back; my mind and body were both drained of energy, and just like Ashes and Rain, I needed a recharge.
It seemed as if it were only a few seconds from when I let myself drift into dreamland to when my eyes shot open from Aerona shaking me awake.
“We’ll be on the ground in thirty minutes,” Aerona said.
I was momentarily disoriented, my head pounding. If I had dreamt, I couldn’t remember a single second of it. I rubbed the back of my stiff neck and glanced out the window. The sun was just appearing over the horizon, stretching its deep, dark orange rays over unique crimson and rust-colored mountains. I wondered if it was the Grand Canyon. Wherever we were, it was one of the most beautiful landscapes I had ever seen.
“And you drool,” Aerona snapped, buckling herself into the seat next to me.
I ran the back of my hand along the sides of my mouth, and sure enough, I had been drooling. “Any new information?” I asked her; she was now wearing a black t-shirt with “Ninja” stenciled on the chest.
“Jess said she wanted to talk to you as soon as you woke. She’s up front,” Aerona said, staring out the window. “Isn’t that beautiful? The colors are breathtaking. I’ve never seen a red like that.”
I took one last look out the window before catching up to what Jess and Evan had discovered in cyberspace.
“Here, Aeron,” Evan said, standing up as he saw me. “You can have my seat.”
“Thank you, Evan, but if I sit down, I’m falling right back asleep.”
“Just one minute,” Jess said, typing incredibly fast.
Streams of digital code scrolled down the screen alongside a typical webpage. Jess was accessing the source code that composed the webpage, essentially looking behind the scenes. She entered two more quick commands, then pressed the enter key, closing the secondary code screen. The main webpage appeared to be part of a cell phone provider’s site. Jess clicked on the “My Account” link, opening a new window that displayed a list of phone numbers, dates, and times.
“What are we looking at?” I asked.
“This is Atmoro’s phone account,” Jess explained, highlighting a specific phone number before applying a filter to isolate that number in each row through the long list. “Well, one of his accounts. Do you recognize this number?”
“No,” I said, running the number through my head. “Should I?”
“I’m not sure, but over the past few days, this is how Atmoro has been receiving updates of your location.”
Jess expanded each highlighted row with the associated text message listing our specific time and location, matching our exact movements over the past few days.
“And the phone number?” I asked.
“It’s a ghost phone,” she replied. “The number has been cloned and sent through too many towers to track the origin.”
“Any good news?” I asked, hoping for something, anything.
“Yes,” Evan added from behind me. “The messages have stopped. There hasn’t been a communication in over six hours.”
“How is that good news?” I asked.
Evan started grinning, “It means Atmoro is unaware we are about to touch down in Sedona, only an hour after he arrived.”
I thought about that for a few seconds. This was the first time we had been able to make a move without Atmoro being one step ahead of us.
I looked past Jess to the front of the jet, motioning to Andrea.
Andrea jumped up and hurried over to our seats. “Yes, Aeron, how can I help you?”
“Please inform Candice that we’ll be landing in Flagstaff instead of Sedona.”
“Yes, sir,” she nodded, hurrying to the cockpit.
“Flagstaff?” Jess questioned. “Won’t that put us another hour behind Atmoro?”
“Yes,” I said, considering, “but it’s necessary. Atmoro’s been able to track every move we made, even in the air. I don’t want to take the chance. He may have a team on the ground waiting for us to land. The Sedona airport is small—located on the top of a mountain—and we’ll be trapped in the jet without options. Plus, flagstaff is closer to us. We’ll be on the ground in just a few minutes.”
“He’s right,” Evan agreed. “We would be sitting ducks.”
The plane banked slightly to the right, then leveled out on our new flight path to Flagstaff.
“Wheel’s down in ten minutes,” Candice announced over the intercom. “Please take your seats at this time.”
The plane touched down on the runway with nothing more than a slight bounce. Candice steered towards the north end of the runway. The Flagstaff airport didn’t look much larger than Sedona, but chances were that it wouldn’t be swarming with vampires waiting for us to arrive.
With our last-minute change of destination, we didn’t have time to reserve a hanger or transportation. We had to improvise.
As we neared the end of the airport, Candice spun the nose of the jet 180 degrees, jolting to a stop only fifteen feet away from the last doorway at the end of the terminal.
“We’ll need to move quickly,” Ember said, unlocking and opening the cabin door. “Atmoro touched down little over an hour ago, and we have an hour’s drive to Sedona.”
Jess stopped me at the door and handed me a tablet. “Here, take this. Evan downloaded all the satellite images and GPS coordinates he had provided Atmoro.”
I swiped my finger across the tablet’s screen, waking it up. The screen came to life, displaying a wide-view satellite image of dark red mountains. I touched a bright yellow push pin icon, and the image zoomed in. The resolution was so clear it was as if I was flying just above the rocks.
“That’s the location where the nodule was found by the geologist,” Evan said. “It’s very secluded. You won’t be able to drive that deep into the mountains, not even with a modified four-wheel drive. You’ll have to tackle the last two miles on foot.”
Evan swiped his finger across the screen. The image we had been reviewing flipped behind another image. “The road ends at a trailhead. Atmoro chose this route since it would get him closer to ground zero than any other.”
“Tick tock,” Ashes reminded us from outside the jet.
I turned to Jess. “Thanks,” I said, hugging her. “I owe you for this.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she responded, squeezing me back. “You say it like I had anything else to do besides being tortured by a vampire. Just get the girls back.”
“We will,” I assured her, hoping I could.
As soon as Andrea shut the Jet’s door, Candice throttled up the powerful engines, leaving Ashes, Rain, Ember, Aerona, and me behind. They would refuel the jet and get back in the air to circle Sedona, just in case we needed to be extracted in a hurry.
There was no time to fill out the huge stack of paperwork involved with renting a car from the airport, so we made our way to the passenger drop off area instead. The sun was racing into the sky, heating up a nice summer day in Arizona. I slid my sunglasses on and scanned the large parking lot.
Aerona, in her “Ninja” shirt, stopped beside me. “Why don’t we just snag one of the cars in long-term parking?” she suggested. “We’ll be long gone by the time they do the nightly count and license plate verification.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” I said, still scanning the parking lot. “As long as we can get past the security gate.”
Before we could decide one way or the other, a large, older white car pulled right up to the curb in front of us. The car’s front right tire hit the curb hard, jarring the driver back and forth. Rain had to step back to avoid being hit as it bounced back off the curb, stopping abruptly.
“We’re taking this one,” Rain said, peering at me ov
er the top of his sunglasses.
I didn’t have time to argue. He stepped off the curb and walked around the front of the car. The driver’s door swung open, blocking Rain’s path, and a woman, maybe seventy years old, stepped out. She had on a crisp, clean, cream-colored skirt and matching suit jacket. An oversized brimmed hat, complete with brightly decorated flowers, was balanced on top of her neatly done hair. A gaudy diamond necklace matched her large dangling earrings.
“The bags are in the trunk,” the old woman said, tossing the car keys to Rain. “And if you bring them to the gate for me, there’s a crisp five-dollar bill in it for you. Oh, and when you park the car, use the garage. I don’t want it left out in the sun. I’ll be gone a month.”
The woman waddled around the rear of the car and into the airport. The look on Rain’s face was priceless; he just stood there holding the keys, shocked.
I opened the passenger side door, then slapped the roof with my hand to snap Rain out of his trance. “Let’s go, cabby!”
“This car smells,” Aerona remarked, pinching her nose. “I think she has a cat. Maybe two.”
“Ashes,” I said, ignoring my sister as usual, “we’ll make a stop outside the city for you and Rain to recharge your batteries.”
“Recharge their batteries?” Aerona asked, confused. “What the hell does that mean?” Then it struck her. “Wait… oh my God… that doesn’t mean?”
Ashes flashed a smile and ran her tongue along her razor sharp fangs. “We can settle for a snack in the car.”
“Not funny,” Aerona muttered. “Not funny.”
Within a few minutes, we were on driving south toward Sedona, leaving Flagstaff and Route 66 behind us. Thick evergreen forests lined both sides of the winding road. The landscape wasn’t what I had envisioned the desert state of Arizona to be like. As we continued south down the Colorado Plateau into the Coconino National Forest, the forest blended together with scattered, bright green desert vegetation.
Halfway down a zig-zag set of switchbacks, Rain drove off the road unexpectedly, right in the middle of a sharp curve, sliding to a stop in a cloud of dust behind a compact red sports car parked at a hiker’s pull off.
Rain looked back at Ashes, and she nodded her head.
“Oh my God,” Aerona exclaimed, disgusted.
“We’ll be back shortly,” Ashes said.
Ashes and rain vanished into the forest in search of the hikers.
“Am I the only one who doesn’t approve of this?” Aerona complained.
“It’s a necessary evil,” Ember replied. “Rain has incredible control over his thirst. They won’t kill the hikers. We knew the intense Arizona sunlight would drain them both. If we’re to take on Atmoro, we need them at their best.”
FORTY-ONE
Within ten minutes, we were back on the road. Rain and Ashes now had enough human blood in their system to beat the intense Arizona sun climbing high into the sky, determined to show us a hundred degrees before noon.
I scanned the satellite image on the tablet’s screen. “Rain, in two miles, there should be a turn to your right that will take us a few miles off the main road into the mountains.” I zoomed in on the image. “It looks like that trail will dead end at a canyon. We’ll have to go on foot from there.”
“What happens if we’re too late?” Aerona asked, always the cynic. “And Atmoro’s already crossed over to the Shadow World?”
“We’re going after him,” I said, without looking at her. “We can’t let him reach the Forgotten Shadow City with Jade.”
She turned to Ashes. “And you?”
“I am a warrior of the Shadow World,” Ashes replied. “I have taken an oath to protect my world and its people. If successful, Atmoro will risk the safety of everyone in my world. Therefore, your goal is now mine. We must stop Atmoro from reaching the city and sacrificing the girl.”
Aerona stared out the window. “And when we do?”
Ashes did not hesitate or attempt to sugarcoat her answer. “I am to deliver you and your brother to Malance for the crime of jumping to the Light World. You will be sentenced accordingly.”
Aerona did not respond.
At the base of the Colorado Plateau, just north of Sedona, the thick, evergreen forests gave way to deep, dark, red mountains with veins of lighter oranges and gray limestone surrounded by desert vegetation. The iconic prickly pear cacti and agaves were scattered throughout the massive red rock formations, carved meticulously by the elements over centuries.
“The turn off is coming up,” I directed Rain.
Rain slowed the car, then turned off the main road. After two miles or so, the road changed from pavement to a simple, red-dirt access road barely wide enough for one vehicle. A mile later, we passed by a large yellow caution sign with bold, black letters: “ROAD NOT MAINTAINED. 4-WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLES ONLY. CAUTION: WATCH FOR FALLING ROCKS.”
The dusty dirt road wound deep into the mountains, slowly transitioning to more of a rugged trail than a road. Rain struggled with the steering wheel, spinning it left and right to avoid large rocks and deep washed-out sections. The tires spun gravel, pushing us up a slight incline and closer and closer toward a steep mountain face. Dried branches of small desert trees and plants brushed down sides of the car, scratching off the white paint. The car’s undercarriage scraped loudly as we passed over a large, exposed flat rock that spanned the width of the trail. Then, just after a nearly 180 degree turn in the trail, Rain brought the car to a sudden halt.
“No way!” Aerona exclaimed, judging the obstacle ahead. “There’s no way we’re making it around that.”
The trail ahead was nothing more than a narrow ledge wrapping its way around the mountain. A massive, red rock wall bordered the left side, and a sheer drop, at least a thousand feet deep, lined our right.
Rain looked at me for approval.
“We don’t have a choice,” I said, reluctantly. “We’re still ten miles out.”
Rain inched the car forward. “Keep an eye on that ledge, Aeron.”
I had a death grip on the armrest as Rain crept along the trail. Aerona gripped the back of my seat tightly. The driver’s side mirror struck the rock wall, which cracked the glass. I heard several small rocks tumbling over the ledge outside my window. At one point, the car’s front right tire fell into a large rut, rocking the car to the right down the edge. Rain floored the accelerator, spinning the tires on the loose rocks, lurching the car forward out of the rut and closer to the rock wall. The sound of metal grinding against rock sent a shiver down my spine. The wall gained patches of white automobile paint.
After a hundred yards of tense stunt driving, the trail widened again, weaving its way through thicker vegetation and smaller trees, ultimately ending at the base of a tall mountain.
“Which way, Magellan?” Rain asked jokingly.
“According to the satellite image,” I said, zooming in, “Atmoro is to crossover on the other side of this mountain.” I turned to Ember. “Do you feel comfortable flying?”
Ember’s eyes scanned the mountain, calculating the risks. “You believe Atmoro has a warlock working with him?” she asked.
“Yes. That’s the only way he could have possibly erased Aerona’s memory.”
“If I’m not back in two minutes,” Ember cautioned, removing a tiny, leather pouch from under her shirt, “assume that I’ve been compromised.”
I nodded. “Be safe.”
Rain gave Ember a quick hug. “Fly high. Fly Fast.”
Ember disappeared around two large boulders, and then, in a flash of white light, she was off into the sky, moving faster than my eyes could follow.
The rest of us hiked through the mountains, blazing our own trail. We moved quickly with Ashes leading the way. She navigated through the rough terrain with ease, even leaping onto a twelve-foot tall boulder that blocked our way. It surprised me that she still had on her full-length leather jacket in the Arizona heat. Although, I guessed heat wouldn’t bother a Shadow Vampire a
s much as direct sunlight, and the jacket probably blocked most of the sun.
Casting a levitation spell, Aerona and I lifted ourselves off the ground, floating to meet Ashes on top of the boulder.
“The mind is a powerful weapon,” Ashes remarked, studying us closely as we lowered ourselves.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Aerona countered, stepping past Ashes.
Rain stopped. “Ember has returned,” he said.
Ember walked out from behind a tree to our right, discreetly tucking her pouch back under her shirt. She was out of breath.
“Any sign of Atmoro or the girls?” I asked, handing her a bottle of water.
Ember downed a long gulp. “Not exactly,” she said, “but there are two Jeep Wranglers parked half a mile from here. It looks like they drove in on a newer, but still extreme, trail from the east.” She handed the bottle back to me. “There’s more. About halfway up the mountain, there’s a cave guarded by two trolls and some creature I’ve never seen before.”
“What does this other creature look like?” Ashes asked.
“This is going to sound weird,” Ember said, doubting her own thoughts, “but it looks like a saber-toothed tiger.”
“A grawl,” Ashes declared, not surprised.
“A grawl?” Ember asked. “I’ve never heard of a grawl.”
“Saber-toothed tigers are extinct in your world,” Ashes explained, removing her jacket, “not ours. Grawls are a species of saber that has been bred for centuries with one purpose, to be guardians of the gates to the Shadow World. Their speed will match Rain’s, and they can span fifty feet in a single leap. Their dagger-like fangs can puncture through the steel of a car door, then release a potent venom that will burn your veins from the inside.”
“Can we survive the poison?” Rain asked.
Ashes unbuckled the silver clasp and handed her belt to Rain. “Not without losing your mind from the excruciating pain.”
“Oh, great,” Rain said. “So avoid the sharp end of a grawl?”
“Avoid every end of a grawl,” she emphasized. “You’ve never seen a creature like this one. They are not to be played with or taken lightly. This is no joke. Do not mess around with them.”
The Blood of a Stone Page 32