by Liv Olteano
The doors rattled a few times. They creaked and groaned. Screeches and wails came from the other side. Spaga for sure. Nothing I wouldn’t be able to deal with, even on my own.
Then the doors burst open. They screeched and entered, about three of them vanishing into thin air as they did. Aashi chuckled with gusto. Humans she couldn’t hurt, and not even the spaga spirits directly—but she could protect her lair. And those protections obliterated maybe a dozen ghouls. They tried to come at me, throwing themselves into the shields they’d just watched brethren vanish into. No thought or care, they simply launched themselves into battle. Spider magic crackled and groaned as the defensive layers weakened. I stepped back, closer to Aashi and Nathan.
The ghouls kept throwing themselves into our defenses until they managed to create a breach in our shields. My body moved before I could fully form the thought in my mind. The song of spaga destruction sang through my blood as my muscles flexed and my Hawk cut into the head of one ghoul. Then I swung it into another’s throat. My tomahawk was a weapon of close proximity combat. I liked it that way. The dance of it brought a tingly feeling into my muscles. Ghoul after ghoul vanished as I cut through them. But as I kept fighting, the tingles slowly turned into tiredness.
“How freaking many are there?” I gritted out as I started to feel the strain.
They were coming at us, wave after wave. And the more I fought, the weaker the defenses got. Soon they’d swarm us.
Aashi kept casting protective layers, more of them around Nathan and the couch. I was glad of it. There was no doubt in my mind that however sweet killing a dreamcatcher would be for Vivian right now, getting to her brother would seem all the sweeter. The thoughts gave me a new thirst for battle.
The screeches of the ghouls filled my ears. Their claws got closer and closer to me. When the first one drew blood, it almost seemed to purr with delight. It gave its brethren renewed enthusiasm. They were just ghouls, but they were many. Too many. I kept killing the ones that got through the defenses. They kept coming at me.
And somewhere outside the ruined double doors, something else moved. Something that wasn’t a spirit servant. I recognized his face from Denny Park. These were Vivian’s cronies.
“Shit,” I muttered as a damned ghoul got close enough to cut into my right arm. I changed hands to hold the Hawk. The left wasn’t my weak arm—I trained hard to be ambidextrous exactly for moments like this. The ghoul that had gotten closest to me howled in frustration as I buried my Hawk in its throat.
My breath was labored already. I focused on controlling my instincts. They were screaming at me to make a go at the rest of the ghouls that were hanging outside of the doors. They were trying to lure me out, I was sure. I wasn’t going to fall for it. With Vivian’s lackeys here, Nathan would be in danger if I left his side.
Aashi cast a wave of protective magic webs on me. A rush of coolness replenished my strength. But I kept panting as if exhausted. That had been their plan, and I was going to make them think they were getting whatever they were after.
That’s when a sweet and entirely chilling chuckle filtered over. The tall and muscle-packed dudes stepped aside and a female version of Nathan stepped forward. Her lovely blonde hair and the angelic features of her face made a stark contrast to the death magic that wafted from her.
“So this is where my sorry excuse for a brother has been.” She cocked her head to the side. “Am I boring you, Nate? Did you doze off?”
Nathan didn’t react. He was in a trance. But I wasn’t going to tell her.
She shook her head. “Pathetic. If you think you’ll appeal to my sisterly nature by playing dead, you’re in for a rude awakening, you disgusting rat.” She squinted at me. “No kidnapper defends his victim. You’ve put yourself between me and my brother, so he’s here of his own volition. And you hope to keep him safe from me now—ridiculous.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “What do you think you’ll gain here today, Vivian?”
She shrugged, almost innocent-like. “Whatever I want to. Just like I do every day. And without your frat boys here, I’m sad to say you won’t even be much of a challenge.”
She flicked her wrist and flicked a ball of ley line magic that glowed with the aura of death. I crossed my arms in front of my body, the Hawk in my fist. It pared the blow, but not entirely. The skin on my shoulders, face, and back zinged with pain.
“This is going to sting a bit,” she purred, and a rain of magic spheres started to fly my way.
Chapter Fourteen
I SENT the ancestors a prayer of help. It wasn’t me getting hurt that I worried about. It was Nathan. He was entirely vulnerable now. Aashi’s defensive spells would have kept him safe enough from the spirit servants. But the caster herself and her goons were another story.
The acid-like aura of the spheres got close enough to warm the air. I cast a shield, but some of those nasty things went through. The ley line magic wasn’t what our shields were made to protect us from. I managed to dodge some of the blow, but not all of it. The energy burned my flesh. The stench was sickening, even if the injuries themselves didn’t look that bad. At least not yet. I’d seen the effects of ley line orbs. It wasn’t pretty, and the pain had quite the staying power. I gritted my teeth against the first waves of it.
Vivian grinned and took a tentative step forward. The spider magic defenses shuddered and tried to push back. Her hands glowed of ley line magic. She pushed them forward as if they were battering rams.
“Such a small weapon for such an impressive guy?” she asked.
“Size isn’t everything.” I smiled.
She rolled her eyes. “That’s something only a man would say. Honey, size is everything.”
A lightning bolt of her odd mix of ley line and dead magic shot through the air. The air crackled with the power of it, and the walls shuddered and groaned all around us. The layers of protective spider magic fluttered in the aftermath; some were torn. Their delicately woven structure disintegrated. How the hell could she be this strong? Aashi’s magic was the strongest thing I’d known. This woman was cutting through it like a knife through butter. I could see her life force clearly. Those spheres she was throwing and the lightning bolts, they were a mix of her life force and magic. She was literally giving it her all.
“Is this a suicide by fight sort of thing?” I asked, keeping my fighting stance.
Her goons walked in, one step behind her. I had to give it to the woman, she was no coward. It didn’t fit the regular personality of casters.
“Suicide?” she asked, and sent another lightning bolt of magic zinging through the air.
This time it reached much closer to us than I was comfortable with. Crap. I had very few options left, outside of direct attack—and I wasn’t allowed to kill her, either. It was part of the ancestors’ rules. Crap, crap.
“I don’t think I’m the one who’s going to die here today,” she said. The glow around her hands intensified. She closed her eyes, a small frown appearing between her brows. “What have you done to Nate?” she asked, slowly opening her eyes. “He’s no good to me now.”
“Because you can’t drain his life force, you mean?” I smiled. “Bummer.”
“I’m going to stomp on all of you, damn roaches.” She wrinkled her nose. “My life’s work, all wasted on a ponytail and some black eyes. I hope you’re a good lay, at least.”
The zap of magic came at me with blinding speed. It made it through the defensive layers of the room and mine. The hit rendered me blind for a moment. I focused all of my strength in keeping my stance. She couldn’t know just how good of a hit she’d given me. Aashi was behind me, in front of the couch and Nathan. I knew she was protecting him as best she could. That worked for me. If Vivian spent a lot of power on me, then she’d have less left to attack Nathan with. I still wasn’t sure what she meant to do with him, but it couldn’t be good. I reached slowly into my back pocket and unlocked the screen of my phone. Then I pressed where the panic button should b
e: the lower right corner. I just had to hope some of the guys could make it back here sooner rather than later. There was no way I was letting her get to Nathan. Not even if it would cost me my life.
“Calling for the rest of the roaches?” she asked. “Go ahead. Make my day.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know what you are and how you operate. What I didn’t know was where you roaches were nested. But now I do, so I can wipe you and your buddies out.”
“That speaks of fear.”
She snorted. “That thinking there speaks of stupidity. I’m going to get my vitamin-boy back and fix whatever it is you ruined before they return. And with his power under my command once more, there won’t be anything strong enough to stand in my way.”
Aashi cleared her throat. I could see Vivian flinch, so I had to guess Aashi hadn’t been visible until that point.
Vivian sighed. “Is this your last resort? Trying to impress me with a scarecrow?”
“Scarecrow?” I asked, dumbstruck.
“She can’t hurt me. You’re just conjuring an illusion.”
Aashi chuckled. It was the cold, evil-sounding kind of chuckle that could easily give you nightmares. Vivian’s gaze traveled up, and by her flinch I had to guess Aashi was using one of her beloved spider and woman forms. It was efficient as far as intimidation went, but it was also just for show—the caster was right about that. But Vivian thought her to be only some sort of apparition, which meant she didn’t have a clear idea of what she was dealing with. Someone had given her some information, but not all of it.
Just as Vivian prepared a new wave of her punishing magic orbs, Drew and Angelo materialized. They took one look around and claimed a spot on either side of me.
“Well, crap.” Drew shook his head. “I was really looking forward to having the rest of the night to myself. Lady, you’re really starting to piss me off.”
It took him about five seconds to leave his katana beside Angelo and jump on one of the goons. If I remembered correctly, he was one of those who’d chased us in Denny Park. Drew did have great visual memory. Angelo put his caduceus to good use, targeting the spheres of magic that Vivian had thrown and locking them in place—literally.
She squinted. “Well aren’t you the top circus act?”
“You should see some of his other tricks,” Drew muttered as a second goon went for him.
Angelo smiled as his caduceus gathered more life force to use. It glowed at the top of the staff-like-looking weapon, where the two serpents coiled to face each other.
“Interesting toy you’ve got there.” Vivian eyed the caduceus. “I think I’ll take it.”
Angelo cocked a brow. “You’re welcome to try.”
Drew was having a really great time fist-fighting those guys. They didn’t seem to enjoy the process quite that much, but they had enough strength to make Drew sweat, and they were still standing. That meant they were enhanced, like Nathan had said.
I closed my eyes and activated my spider-magic second sight. Life force was clearly visible with its help. The picture I saw wasn’t pleasant. Vivian was gathering life force from all around. I could see the strings of light flowing from all our directions and into hers. Even Angelo’s caduceus was giving her power. We were her batteries, and she was using our own life forces against us while tiring us out in the process. All she had to do was find the tipping point in this delicate balance, and if the fight took long enough, we’d all wear ourselves out.
Aashi sending us waves of energy to refuel our losses didn’t help except to prolong things. It didn’t look good.
I leaned toward Angelo. “Can you isolate her somehow? She’s draining life force from everyone here.”
“I can try, but it’s not something I’ve been able to do yet,” he replied.
He lifted his caduceus, and a sphere of life force formed around her. It only fueled her faster.
“That’s not working in our favor,” I muttered.
“I’m aware,” he gritted out.
We needed Taka and Ginger. With Taka’s ability to put up shields and Ginger’s ability to see and break life force connections, we might stand a chance. Just as the thought crossed my mind two familiar presences materialized.
“A welcome-home party,” Taka muttered. “You shouldn’t have—really.”
Ginger stationed himself beside me. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”
I nodded. “Let’s try the noodles.”
Taka got to work immediately. We’d trained for occasions like this one. The noodles was our code for the multiapproach. Taka was supposed to shield us, Drew had to attack and create as much of a distraction as he could—which he was already doing, flinging one of the two guys he was fighting with across the room. Ginger’s special thing, identifying and breaking connections, would come in very handy here. If he could by any chance pick up each connection to one of us that Vivian was using to drain life force and throttle them, we stood more of a chance to stop her. But I had to make sure we had the best chance. So I cleared my throat and started to chant.
It was an old tribe song that I liked to use. It spoke about a warrior fighting against an army of enemy forces. The warrior knew that he didn’t stand a chance, and that fueled him. Earth, air, water, and wind came to his aid. As I let the song take over my thoughts, the chant was imbued with power. Each of my team members’ life forces was boosted. The more I’d chant, the bigger the boost they’d get. It was life force directly from the ancestors and the reason I was this team’s leader. I could see with my second sight how rays of life force shone over each member of my team. The ancestors blessed them each with renewed life force, enhancing their individual strengths.
Ginger was already at work. The streams of life force that were flowing away from us and toward Vivian were growing fainter.
“What the hell are you freaks doing?” Vivian asked and squinted.
Her brow was shiny and she looked a bit paler than she did just minutes ago. Good—it was working. I focused on my chant even more, blocking out any potential distraction. The soles of my feet and my palms felt tingly. The more I focused on chanting, the tinglier they got. My ears were ringing faintly. It got stronger with every passing second. I knew I was in for some pain. The process of gaining direct life force from the ancestors wasn’t without cost. My muscles started to feel like rocks that stretched my body from the inside out, pushing painfully against my skin. My limbs grew heavy. I kept chanting.
A warm and comforting presence made itself known to me. His voice pierced through the fog in my mind. I turned in Nathan’s direction just as he opened his eyes.
Chapter Fifteen
EVERYONE seemed to stop moving. The room got pretty quiet as Nathan slowly sat up on the sofa. He rubbed his hands over his face and looked around. “Am I dreaming?”
Nobody answered.
“Are you even real?” he tried again, looking at me.
I looked above his head. Not that I wanted to avoid his gaze in any way. But the glowing sphere that floated above his head simply stole my attention.
He reached up and patted around it. “Ah. So it’s here.”
“What the hell is that?” Vivian asked, gesturing wildly toward her brother.
Drew took another second or so to stare at the sphere, shook his head, and resumed punching the guy within his reach. The other one tried to attack him, and the three men returned to their previous engagement of trying to poke one another’s eyes out with their bare hands.
Nathan got slowly up from the couch, pressing a hand to his forehead. “I feel strange.”
“You look fucking strange,” his sister hissed. “There’s a goddamn ball hanging over your head! What is that thing?”
The thing in question started to glow. It felt like lovely sunshine on my face; its caress was delicate, yet I sensed great power right beneath the velvety surface.
Nathan looked at his sister. “My God, Viv. What have you done?”
“Rescue me?”
Ah. So she was trying to pull the wool over his eyes. No doubt she could feel, just like I could, that the Nathan standing now before us was a different creature than the one we’d known. His life force had a signature I would more liken to Aashi’s than ours.
“Why would you rescue me?” he asked, looking at her as if trying to solve some mystery.
“These people have obviously kidnapped you,” she replied without missing a beat. “You would never turn your back on your family. Not willingly, at least. Did they harm you? I’ll make them pay.”
“Jesus Christ, Viv. What have you done to yourself?” he asked, still studying her in an odd way.
She was beginning to look annoyed. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“The balance of life force and death in you is… wrong.” His eyes seemed to glaze over. “You’re killing yourself.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she spat. “I’m growing stronger by the day.”
He nodded curtly. “And you’re also killing yourself in the process.”
“Is that a threat, dear brother?” she asked as her gaze turned cold.
“Viv, I’m begging you to stop this. Just stop. It’s not too late to save yourself.”
She screeched and tried to throw a magic sphere at him. Without even lifting his hand, simply gazing at it, Nathan made it vanish into thin air. The sphere shone almost blindly for a few seconds. There were vapors of stinky death magic, and then the sphere was gone.
Vivian seemed about as awestruck as I felt for a second there. Then she looked mad. “You pathetic fool! Do you actually dare challenge me?”
“I’m not,” he replied calmly. “Please, don’t do what you’re about to. Viv, please.”
She screamed as she extended her arms. New streams of life force appeared. The pull was stronger than before, wilder—also less controlled.