Elusive Beings--A Shade of Mind--Book 3

by D. N. Leo

Damn it, Madeline cursed silently.

  "Would you come to Eudaiz and help me?"

  "You want me to be right next to you, ready to take the Sciphil role if anything should happen to you, right? Is it really that bad?"

  Richard drew in a long breath, then nodded. "I made a mistake. It was too late to recover. I might never recover. So yes, it’s bad, and I need you to be ready. I have to take you through now. I might not have another chance at this."

  “My soul is not virtuous. I have killed an innocent man. The Daimon Gate will kill me.”

  “What happened?”

  “There is a creature. It haunted me through all of my childhood. It said it would continue to kill people until I killed one of the innocent men it possessed. Don’t ask me why. I don’t know. The creature was here just before you came. I thought it had left me after I killed that man in Australia. But for some reason, it’s come back.”

  “What creature? What are you talking about?”

  “I told you I don’t know. And I don’t know how to solve this situation. But I can’t come with you to Eudaiz.”

  “There had to be a way,” Richard said.

  “Maybe there is. But I don’t want to waste your resources, chances, or energy. If you have a choice better than me—”

  "I don't have anyone else, Madeline. You’re the only family I have left. I would never leave this role to an outsider."

  "You might have to if I die during the process."

  "I won't let anything happen to you, Madeline. I lost you once. Never again. If I don't have a successor, I'll let my eudqi collapse."

  "You'd let Eudaiz be destroyed?"

  "I would rather it be destroyed in my hands than in someone else's. I don't know who to trust anymore. The Black Rock is evil. They have many forms. If they took over Eudaiz, it would be a fate far worse than death for the citizens."

  Madeline nodded. “So what’s the solution?”

  “There are different routes to take, and there is one I know of that could work. I won’t risk you going through it, though, before testing it. So I’m going to get you inside the gate for the test. Are you afraid?”

  “No, of course not.”

  Richard nodded. "We’ll go from here.”

  "What? You mean you can open the Daimon Gate right here? I thought it was huge."

  "Opening the gate is very significant. But this is just a test. I’ll see if I can push it.”

  He concentrated for a moment. His image glowed as if he were transforming from a hologram into a real presence. Madeline could feel the energy radiating from him. The circle of light around him—which used to be the holocast—expanded and brightened.

  The circle illuminated in blue and white and grew even more. Madeline felt the energy growing as if Richard were moving closer to her. She shifted, suddenly not sure she was ready. But it was a call to duty, she might as well just do it.

  Richard reached his hand out. "Give me your right hand."

  Madeline obeyed. Richard held it. She felt his presence and the waves of energy coming out of him like little electrical currents.

  The hotel room was small, but when the circle of light reached a corner, Madeline saw an unusual bend in the light. She could see the shape of the beast hiding in the corner.

  "Stop, stop!" Madeline yelled at Richard.

  Richard stopped the circle.

  "Can anyone go through the gate when you open it?"

  "Yes, Madeline. But I cannot hold it for long. What is it?"

  "The creature is here, in the room. Can it get through the gate?"

  "Yes. But a gate-crasher will be killed on exit. Let it come in. I'll kill it now to save time."

  Richard expanded the circle further.

  For the first time, Madeline could see the creature in full view. It was truly a beast. The light from the circle shined on it. It stood. It had a shape like that of an ape, and its head nearly reached the ceiling.

  Richard could see it now.

  "Stop!" Madeline yelled again. She grabbed the chair and attacked the beast as she’d done earlier. It seemed totally unaffected by her blows.

  Richard stopped the circle of light. He looked at the beast as it approached him. His eyes registered some recognition.

  "Kyle Wolf, you traitor!" Richard grunted out the words, his face glowing with a strange combination of astonishment and fury.

  "Richard!" The beast croaked out his name in a disembodied voice that came straight from hell. "I have come to see you fail and to claim what you promised." It paused for a moment and then roared and reached its hands out to grab Richard.

  Richard staggered back to avoid the creature’s grasp. He was not a hologram now. He was on the verge of opening the gate, and he had revealed his presence.

  Madeline hit the control panel for the ceiling fan. It whirled at the beast's head. The hit was not hard enough to do damage, but it served as a distraction.

  "Go!" Madeline screamed at Richard.

  Richard withdrew the light and vanished.

  Chapter 29

  The beast turned around. Its body was still glowing. It was a gigantic ape. It slapped at Madeline with the back of its fist, throwing her against the wall.

  Madeline was nearly knocked unconscious. She scrambled up and realized that the beast had gotten smaller and looked more like a werewolf now. Madeline deduced that whenever it attacked her directly, it grew smaller and weaker. That was why it had never touched her before.

  Madeline charged at the wolf now for a one-on-one. She attacked with all that she had—fists, legs, fingernails. She tried to cause as much damage to it as possible before it became invisible to her again.

  The wolf roared in pain and fled to the hallway. Once there, it became invisible.

  Madeline ran out of the room. She saw a pregnant woman walking toward her with two toddlers in tow. Suddenly, the woman's eyes rolled up in her head. She let go of the toddlers and charged at Madeline.

  "Oh, great!" Madeline muttered. “You’ve hit an all-time low . . . A pregnant woman? You scumbag!” Madeline stepped backward, trying to talk to the woman.

  "Don’t come near me! Go back to your sons. They’re crying." She knew this wouldn’t work. The only way to get the beast out of the woman was to knock her unconscious. Madeline had done that before. She knew what she was doing.

  Madeline dodged to the side. The woman lost her momentum, and at that moment, Madeline snatched a vase and hit her. The woman fell to the floor, but she got up quickly.

  Madeline plucked up the two wailing toddlers, carrying them in through the exit door. The woman stood, looking at Madeline. She didn’t attack. Instead, she grabbed the handle of a door next to her and pulled. She broke the door with her bare hand and entered what looked to be a control room of some kind.

  "Oh, no . . .” It was too late for Madeline to do anything. She didn’t have the strength to go against the woman. She carried the toddlers quickly down the emergency exit stairs.

  Madeline fled out into the foyer of the hotel. She shoved the toddlers toward the concierge. In the corner of the foyer was a sign saying "Conference Main Hall" with an arrow pointing to a wing.

  Madeline ran up a flight of stairs to the main hall of the conference wing. She entered the conference and galloped up to the stage. The presenter was talking about global warming or something like that. The gigantic PowerPoint screen was flashing images of forests, animals, and oceans accompanied by a host of diagrams and figures.

  Now I look like a lunatic, she said to herself.

  She snatched the microphone from the presenter and glanced down the hall toward the few hundred people in the audience.

  Someone to the side of the stage was alerting security. They entered the hall, approaching the stage.

  "My name is Madeline Roux. I'm a journalist from New York. I am asking you, for your safety, to exit this hall right now. Exit this building right now. Don't panic. Don't scramble. But leave, please."

  Silence.

  S
ecurity approached the stage. The crowd was not moving.

  "Oh, for God's sake. There’s a bomb in the building,” she lied. “Run now if you want to live." And the chaos began.

  Madeline threw the microphone at the approaching security guards and rushed toward the backstage. On her way out, she saw a fire alarm box. She smashed the glass with her elbow and pulled the alarm.

  Madeline ran to the main entrance. A good number of people had already gotten out of the building. Alarm bells rang everywhere.

  But nothing was happening.

  Shit, Madeline thought.

  Across the hallway, a group of security officers gathered. One of them pointed at her. Madeline ran from the building.

  As soon as she had gotten past the door, she could hear and feel it—the rumbling sound of a fireball hurtling down from the sixteenth floor.

  The ground was shaking. The building went down.

  She ran further and further away, and then she was drowning in dust and darkness.

  Chapter 30

  Madeline didn’t know how long she had been lying still in the dark. She could hear herself breathing, but she found it hard to breathe in the dusty air. She drew another breath. It was difficult. She tried to say something but couldn’t.

  Someone handled her. She was lifted, pulled, poked. Someone else gave her some air. That made the breathing easier. She was still in the dark, though. She thought she heard a familiar voice. Ciaran's voice. Maybe. Maybe not. She drifted off again, into the darkness.

  Madeline came about a little later. She opened her eyes to see a white ceiling. She was in a real hospital room judging by the equipment around her. She took a mental inventory.

  She didn’t feel much pain. A drip was attached to her arm. She moved a little on the bed. Everything felt fine. She could wiggle her toes. Perfect. Intact. She could feel all ten and could see her four limbs still attached to the right places on her body.

  Madeline pulled herself up. That felt okay, too. She hitched herself up again. Good. She looked around. By the looks of it, it was a private hospital room. There was a small TV in the corner of the room. Madeline grabbed the remote control on the side table and turned it on.

  She was not surprised to see scenes of the hotel disaster flashing on the breaking news. But her jaw dropped when she saw Ciaran giving a press conference.

  Her Ciaran, calm and collected. His gorgeous face looked straight at the screen. He looked as if he was talking directly to her. Madeline didn’t know what time it was or how long it had been. But by that morning, Ciaran was supposed to have gotten ninety percent of his strength back. Now he looked as if he had only fifty.

  A reporter asked, "Mr. LeBlanc, could you confirm that the LeBlancs will donate all medical equipment and pay for the expenses of the treatments for the victims at the hotel today? You said so at the scene."

  "Yes. It won’t be the first time we have made donations to medical causes."

  "But this is the first time the LeBlancs have made a public announcement. What’s different about this incident?” another reporter asked.

  "Madeline Roux is a good friend of mine. As you flashed her name all over the media, I felt the need to address some of the questions myself."

  "The witness said she knew about the explosion."

  "She saved a lot of lives because she warned people. If she had any involvement in it, she would have given herself a safer distance from the explosion, wouldn't she? If you want to waste your time speculating, feel free to do so, but do not waste my time."

  "You were seen at the police station with her a few weeks ago. Is there a connection between that incident and what happened this morning?"

  "No." Ciaran stared hard at the reporter. The reporter withdrew his next question.

  “How do you explain the LeBlancs’ involvement at the Fountains Abbey fight, where many people were killed?”

  Ciaran glanced at the reporter who had asked the question. “Which of us did you see there?

  "The report stated that . . .”

  "I don't care what your report said. If you want to make such an accusation against our family, you'd better have proven facts. Once you have these facts, make an appointment and talk to my lawyers. Twenty people died today. I will only take questions about how to help these victims and their families and how to help the business get back on its feet. If you think you can use this opportunity to dig up some dirt on my family, you are sadly mistaken.”

  Madeline turned the TV off. She knew how it went. This used to be a part of her life. Now it was being used against her. She could handle the media and the scandal. But she could not bear seeing Ciaran's face. She didn’t know seeing him would hurt so much. She didn’t even know why it hurt.

  She felt tired now. She put the remote away and tried to reach for the water. A nurse saw her from the outside and hurried in.

  Ciaran was right behind.

  The nurse gave Madeline the water and some meds. She checked on vitals.

  Ciaran usually did all of that. Doctor Thomas was the only medical professional that Ciaran would allow when it came to her. But now, Ciaran stood in the corner of the room, watching the nurse working on her. He stood there with his hands jammed in his pockets. Like an acquaintance of hers.

  The nurse finished and left the room.

  Ciaran approached. He sat beside the bed. It felt as if he was sitting a mile away.

  "Lindsay saw you on the news. He called me."

  "I guess I'm famous now. Or infamous."

  Ciaran smiled. "I don't care about reputation. You should know that by now. Or you might not . . . Your documentation was destroyed at the hotel. I regret that you won't make your flight tomorrow. But I can make arrangements for you at your earliest convenience . . . if you like."

  His words felt like a knife in her heart.

  Ciaran squeezed her hand slightly. "The doctor said you were noncritical four hours ago. You can go whenever you want. I figured you wouldn’t want to go back to Mon Ciel. So I arranged this private room. I hope you don't mind."

  Madeline said nothing. It was so damn polite of him. She would rather he kicked and screamed. She could handle flash rage. She had so much to tell him. But that wasn’t the issue. The issue was that she wanted to tell him so much. She missed talking to him. At this pace, she would probably die of old age before she could tell him anything.

  "I could get Jo to come stay with you. Whatever you like. Tell me what you want."

  Madeline looked at the circles under Ciaran's eyes. She wagered he had about forty percent of his energy left. Going backward from ninety this morning.

  Madeline cursed herself for doing such a good job. Maybe she should get him back to zero percent, the way he was at the villa, and then he'd miss the Daimon Gate in Australia. Then the billions of people, people who would be enslaved or killed in Eudaiz, would worship her statue in a monument!

  "Madeline, what would you like me to do?" Ciaran asked.

  Madeline opened her eyes. A tear trickled down her face. Then another.

  "I need a moment by myself,” she said.

  Ciaran nodded. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize I had caused you so much pain. I am terribly sorry." He walked to the window and stood looking outside.

  "Ciaran."

  "Yes? I’m leaving now.” He turned around and walked toward the door as if he were leaving. His deep gray eyes were intense, and his face was unfathomable—his usual Ciaran look.

  "You have your secret gun with you?"

  Ciaran glanced at the door. "Yes."

  "Can I borrow it?”

  “What?”

  “I don’t even think guns worked on it.”

  Madeline slid down under the blanket, pulling it over her head and sinking her head into the pillow. Ciaran darted toward the bed. He touched her shoulder. "Madeline, are you in pain? Should I call the doctors?"

  Madeline turned, lying on her back. Ciaran pulled the blanket down to see her face. Big tears rolled down from her eyes. He w
iped them away. It was rare for Madeline to see Ciaran looking this stressed.

  "Where does it hurt? I'll call the doctors."

  More tears rolled down her face.

  "I’m sorry, darling. Please don't cry. I won't do it again."

  "You won't do what again?"

  "I . . . I . . . You tell me what I did wrong, Madeline."

  Oh, great, her British lover was apologizing even though he didn’t know what he did wrong.

  Madeline pulled at Ciaran's hand. "Would you lie down with me for a minute?"

  Ciaran complied.

  Madeline rubbed her thumb over the circles underneath his eyes. Down to thirty percent of energy now, her king, her hero. She ought to fix it. She reached over and kissed him.

  Ciaran resisted the kiss. "I've never wanted to hurt you. If you tell me what I did wrong, I'll fix it," Ciaran told her.

  “I love you, Ciaran.”

  “So why did you leave me?”

  “I can’t go with you through the Daimon Gate…” She curled into his arms. There, she told him everything.

  “There has to be a way out of this,” Ciaran said.

  She shook her head. Suddenly, she sensed the beast again. She shot up in the bed, glancing around.

  “Is it here?” Ciaran asked.

  “Yes. Get away from me, Ciaran. It possesses people. Please go away, Ciaran.”

  She tried not to stutter, but fear had occupied every corner of her mind now.

  She was scared.

  She had never been scared of the beast before. She sensed that it was going to do something she hadn’t dealt with before. Something with more severe consequences. She feared that the beast was not just a beast. It was something a lot more than that.

  Her grandfather had called it Kyle Wolf. Her grandfather knew it and had promised it something it had come to claim.

  The air in the room grew cold quickly.

  Ciaran jumped off the bed and pulled out his gun.

  “Jo shot at it before. It didn’t work.”

  “Jo shot at a projection of an image, Madeline. If it’s a thing of flesh and blood, I’ll kill it. If it wants to play mind games with me, I’ll handle it. It might be able to control other people’s mind, but it can’t control mine.” Ciaran’s eyes darkened as he scanned his gun around the room.