the tightly woven steel suit that protected her skin. She winced at the pressure
and gagged at the foul stink.
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Suddenly, she couldn"t breathe. Her lungs were compressed. The weight had
gotten heavier. She swung fiercely at the invisible creature in an attempt to get it
off her while taking desperate sips of air.
Her limbs were seized and forced to the ground. It wasn"t able to hold her
immobile, but it made it impossible for her to escape its grasp, almost. It would
take more than a bout of dark magic to hold her down.
Battling the pressure, she struggled to reach for the dagger tucked in her
boot.
“Blaze, I can"t get a visual! Light that wanka up so I can blast his arse!” Copper
shouted.
Blaze gathered her spiritual energy, bent her leg past the binding force, and
grabbed the handle of her weapon. Igniting the blade with blue flames, she slashed
at the creature on top of her.
“Get the hell off!”
Two deep squeals rung out as the pressure was immediately lifted. She
flipped onto her feet and sucked the stagnant air into her starved lungs. To her
surprise, two large demons stood before her, drooling with lust.
“Now, now boys. One at a time,” she taunted, waving her finger.
She eyed her automatic crossbow not far from her. She sprung the short
distance to her fallen weapon, slid her foot beneath it and kicked it up into her
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hands. Not allowing the ghastly entities to make another strike, she launched two
flaming arrows into their guts.
From her post, Copper released a series of shots. She severed their arms,
filled them with gaping holes, and spilled their black blood onto the withered
grass. But in a matter of seconds their arms grew back and their wounds healed.
Only when Copper"s bullets pierced their throats was there some damage done.
Infuriated, the creatures charged Blaze with their heads dipped and their
arms covering them.
Their heads!
“I think I"ve just figured something out.”
Back peddling, Blaze eyed their swift movements, making sure to keep her
feet beneath her. As she went for her knife, they disappeared. Already aware of
their position, she swirled on her toes, her blue flamed blade extended and sliced
through the demons" throats. She watched their bodies disintegrate into nothing
before her.
“I thought so. We have to take their heads.”
“Bloody good call, my fire wielding friend,” Copper extolled.
She readied her crossbow and ran back toward the temple. “Thanks, just doing
my—”
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Something slammed her in the back. She dropped her to her knees. Her
crossbow left her grasp. Before she could recover, her assailant grabbed her hair,
yanked her head back and clamped down hard on her shoulder. Huge teeth tore
into her muscles and cracked her clavicle, ripping a piercing scream from her
throat. She tightened her grip on the ignited dagger and slashed backwards, nearly
dislocating her arm in the process.
The creature leaped off of her.
Once it shed its cloaked form, its head was blown off. Blaze flipped
backwards, ignored the excruciating pain in her shoulder and stooped down to
prepare herself for the unseen.
Geez, something had to give. She couldn"t keep waiting to be attacked to
make the demons uncloak themselves.
A huge explosion in the courtyard drew her attention.
“Spade,” she whispered. She felt a moment of relief that he was all right. It
was known throughout the family if there were explosions coming from his area
then Spade was rocking and rolling.
“Blaze, we have to make them show themselves,” Copper said, stating the obvious.
“I have an idea.” Blaze placed both hands on the ground. “Spade get off the ground
now!”
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Without waiting for a response, she sent a sheet of blue flames along the
perimeter of the temple, setting ablaze the soil and dead grass. A blanket of rain
showered from the dark cloud above, doused the dancing flames, and engulfed the
area with a thick mist of blue vapor. An echo of loud wails drifted through the
horizon as every demon was forced to reveal themselves.
“Oh my God!” Blaze gasped in horror.
“Holy shite! They"re fuckin" everywhere!”
Droplets of rain mingled with sweat beads formed on Copper"s brow as she
unremittingly unloaded rounds at the sea of angry shadows surrounding her sister.
“Blaze get out of there, now! Head for the temple! I"ll clear the way!”
“I"m on it, Copper!” Spade shouted.
A smile arched on her lips. Through the blue haze, her war brother took on
the demons like they were nothing.
Swinging his demon-slicing machete with skill and agility in the right hand,
he claimed heads of the howling creatures. With the left hand, he wielded the
automatic grenade launcher and pumped them full of explosive rounds.
A sudden thrust to her side, then a hard strike to her back threw her off
balance. Winded, she tumbled down the slippery tile roof. She tried to get a grip,
but the sheets of rain plowing down on her made it impossible.
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The ground was coming fast.
Finally, she was able to grab hold onto the eave of the roof as her body
tumbled over the side.
“You…dirty…bastard,” she murmured breathlessly, dangling off the side of
the roof. To gather air back into her heaving lungs seemed difficult, that was until
she heard the snarl from the demon waiting up top for her. Fury consumed her.
“Don"t worry, I"m coming for you, bitch.”
She tightened her grip on the sturdy eave, took several deep breaths then
began to swing her legs. She rolled the swaying motion up into her body, flexing
the muscles in her arms to hold on. The long overhang gave her plenty of room to
swing her body back and forth until she was able to pivot herself high enough to
gracefully flip back onto the roof.
Once on top, she crouched down like a tiger and glared at the burly blood-
red creature, who had the nerve to growl at her. She reached down and drew her
fighting knife from her boot.
Challenge accepted!
The beast rushed her. Tracking its rapid demonic approach, she squeezed
the handle of her knife, and allowed it to draw closer. Once within arm"s reach, she
shifted to the side, keeping her balance on the slope, and with lightning speed,
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slashed through the demon"s neck. Black blood showered her then was quickly
washed away by the rain.
A piercing squeal attacked her ears. It turned and glared at her, its head
hanging halfway off its shoulders. Only leathery slivers of flesh, muscles and
arteries kept it connected. Before it had a chance to regenerate, she attacked and
sliced through the remaining part of its neck. The head hit the roof with a thud.
She turned away from the disintegrating body and bolted toward her rifle. A
massive hand sought her neck, lifted her in the air then hurled her down onto the
roof.
Shite!
Wincing, she quickly gathered herself, rolled onto her stomach an
d scurried
to her feet. Seven demons glared at her with green glowing eyes and human blood
dripping from their mouths. They blocked her path to her rifle.
“I got seven on me!”
Copper zipped to the far end of the roof, beheaded a demon with ease and
then went after another. Halted in her attack, she was grabbed by her ponytail and
forced, face down, over the ridge. The abrupt pressure on her stomach caused the
food she consumed earlier to violently erupt from her gut.
Lightheadedness blurred her vision.
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Her arms were pinned down and legs forced apart. The sound of their snarls
combined with the rank smell of sulfur and blood, induced her to heave again. The
demons clawed at her backside, attempting to shred the shark suit which
protected her skin. Becoming increasingly irritated at their failed efforts, they
pressed their weight down on her, and smashed her harder onto the ledge,
drawing out tears and gargled screams.
Near to passing out, Copper closed her eyes and prepared for the darkness
to take her.
There was a rapid sequence of whooshes above her. She opened her eyes,
tightened her muscles and gathered her soul"s force. With the high-pitched
squeals echoing through the night, the weight lifted off of her.
“Its boom time, kitty!” Spade shouted.
“Copper, get off the roof!”
She strained to push her bruised body off the ridge and glanced over her
shoulder at the demons. Blue flamed arrows with dynamite attached were lodged
in their throats.
Boom time indeed.
With as much speed as she could muster from her battered frame, she
stumbled groggily to her feet, disconnected the pain in her stomach from her mind,
grabbed her rifle then somersaulted off the roof.
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Chapter Ten
Fusing Spirits
Rayne opened her eyes and jerked upright in the bed. Her heart knocked
heavily against her chest at the disturbing dream she"d just suffered.
The room was pitch-black. She blinked a few times to adjust to the
darkness, but every time she closed her eyes, the faces of the six people who"d
invaded her mind during sleep flashed behind her lids.
Feeling misplaced, she reached across the bed for her dark lover for comfort
and realized it was empty, but she could feel his spiked energy all around her.
“Demetri?” she called out.
Across the room two red orbs appeared. Eerily the darkness separated then
there he stood. Wearing nothing but his pants, he glared into the mirror with a
long shimmering sword grasped in his hand. An identical ghostly reflection stared
back at him.
“Wow, you have a reflection,” she muttered in disbelief. She eased from
beneath comforter and wrapped the sheet around her naked frame to block out the
breeze that mysteriously whirled throughout the closed suite. “You"re just
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shattering that old vampire myth, huh? Why are your eyes red? That can"t be
good.” When he said nothing, she stepped closer. “You okay?”
“No, she is not fully aware,” Demetri"s addressed the mirror. “We haven"t the
time to inform her. She must feel the truth and take action.”
“Uhh…who you talking to, babe?”
He cast her a side glance. She shuddered and took a step back. There was
death in his scarlet eyes and it made every muscle in her body seize.
“Are, are you here,” she faltered, fear lacing her every word. “Or did you just
switch out on me?”
Chuckling, he blended into the shadows and melted from her sight. “I am
here. The sun is approaching.” The impressive steel along with his eyes flashed
through the darkness.
“Which means you gotta leave?”
For a moment he said nothing. The silence along with his unseen presence
heightened her unwavering anxiety.
“Goddammit Demetri, say something,” she snapped. “And stop going all
shadowy on me.”
“There is something you must do before I am forced to leave you,” he uttered
in a haunting tone.
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“No, uh-uh. This is bullshit. You can"t do this to me!” she said, jabbing her
finger in the air. “Not after we just—c"mon, D! Don"t do this, this creepy weird
crap. I"m not in the mind set right now. Don"t you think I"ve seen enough?”
“You think I do this to upset you? No, sweet angel,” he finished on a
whisper. “This cannot be helped. The darkness follows me when I am riled, when
my blade is drawn. I smell Chingi demons, Sharayna. The same demons you
witnessed attack those Andausians in your mind.”
She bristled and stared until the shadows shading him were no more. The
dark haze hovered over his body then spiraled around him like a tornado.
“You know what I say to be true. You feel them, yes? What did you feel
when you saw them fighting those shadows, fighting for their lives? What lies
deep in your heart for those six souls your spirit is reaching out to?”
His aura began to beam like a black light. She was at a loss for words, too
damn freaked out to answer him. Panic clouded her mind for the strangers she
shared some sort of connection with. She smelled the scent he referred to, the
scent that made her want to puke her damn guts out.
Gagging, she covered her nose. “What is that?”
“Sulfur and demonic miasma, the scent that surrounds the soldiers, who are
about to be drawn into the darkness,” he murmured with a frown. “I"m sorry, lover
but if you don"t find it within yourself to take action, they will all die.”
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She stumbled back at the sudden pain that slammed into her heart. Why
did it feel like he"d just told her, her family was about to die?
“I don"t understand,” she breathed out with her hand plastered over her
chest.
“There is no time for you to understand.” He held his hand out to her. “If you
have the resolve to save these Andausians, then come to me.”
Without hesitation, Rayne eased over to his outstretched hand and placed
hers in it. “What can I do? I don"t feel like I can help them. They"re in Japan,
Demetri.”
“It doesn"t matter the distance. Your connection to them is the key.”
He positioned her in front of him to face the mirror where the scent was
stronger. He placed his palm at the base of her belly, and pointed the tip of his
sword at mirror, which now rippled like water.
“I want you to close your eyes and think of this team. Concentrate on the
connection. Katsumi and I will do the rest.”
“Who"s Katsumi?” she asked, staring at her distorted reflection.
“The long shiny blade I hold before you. Now, close your eyes and
concentrate,” he behest.
Not sure she could concentrate on anything with the horrible smell
assaulting her senses, she held her breath and met his request. Immediately, the
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image of the lighted figures came forth. Wrinkling her brow, she concentrated on
them and drew out faces in her mind. Just as they came into focus, she opened her
eyes.
Dressed in fatigues, they fought repulsive looking creatures that were only
shadows in her mind, until now. It played out in the mirror like a horror movie.
Green eyes, long yellow teeth, putrid leathery skin—the ghouls were nightmares
to look at.
“OhmyGod!” she gasped.
The scent of blood and sulfur mingled together brought bile up in her
throat. Fighting to keep it down, she tried to push back and get away from the
source, but Demetri"s hard body kept her planted.
“Uh-uh, no, Demetri! I don"t wanna see this anymore! Make it stop!” she
squealed in between gags.
“I"m sorry, Angel, you must see this. Endure it, because this will not be your
last encounter with the Chingi. Don"t sever the connection. Hold onto it.”
“Hell no, I don"t think I can do this! Make it stop, please!”
“You will do this,” he stated sternly. “Now, take my sword.”
“Now?”
“Yes, now.”
“Dammit, D. Fine!”
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Allowing the sheet to fall from her body, she reached behind her and took
hold of his sword. In a split second, it stirred to its full, thick girth within her grasp.
Chuckling beneath a lusty groan, he rested his forehead on the crown of her
head. “Not that one, you impish little girl.”
“Oh.” She snatched her hand back.
“It"s astonishing how in a state of hysteria you are still able find it in yourself
to grab my cock.”
“My bad, okay. I"m freaking out,” she huffed. “It"s a reflex move. You need to
be more specific next time.”
He guffawed. “Sharayna, take the handle of the sword I"m holding in front of
you, please.”
“Fine.”
She slipped her hand over the ivory hilt and a stream of energy shot up her
arm and through her body, weakening her knees. Demetri held her up steady
against him then let the handle go, allowing her to consume the weight of the
glowing instrument. She began to pant at the relentless waves of vigorous force
pouring into her. Her limbs trembled.
Suddenly a soft feminine voice caressed the walls of her mind. “Steady your
nerves, young Queen. Lord Demetri and I will channel your sinew to the sensor of the group.”
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Black Rayne Silent Screams Page 15