by J. E. Taylor
Reading his recounting made me smile, and then sadness crashed in again like the wave of a tsunami. That same feeling of having my stomach punched out gripped me, and I turned off my phone. I needed to push that away even though every single cell wanted to go save him now. I had a job to do, whether I wanted to or not.
Chapter 17
Josh pushed the door open. “Ladies, we are approaching the southern Andes. If you want to get a look at your destination, I suggest you come up here to get the full view.”
Kylee didn’t give me a choice. She dragged me into the cockpit, nearly pushing me into the copilot chair. I looked at the jagged mountains and the snow that covered most everything in sight.
Josh pointed to the tallest peak sticking out of the cloud cover in the distance. “That’s Mount Cook. When we land in Hokitika, I can see if they have either a helicopter or smaller plane that can take us up to the plateau hut.” He eyed the weather over the mountains.
“Us?” Kylee asked.
This was quite the deviation of attitude in him from when he closed the door.
“Yes. Us. I doubt anyone will fly you up there in that.” He pointed at the cloud cover and then tapped the radar. “That’s white out conditions, which is rare for New Zealand in the fall.” He bit his lip and glanced at us. “We might not be given permission either.”
I shivered at the thought of going up that high. Snow didn’t bother me at all. We used to get several feet of snow every winter, and my mother always had warm snow clothing for us. Sometimes we would have to sleep in the ski pants when our firewood stock went low. But the heights and challenging terrain gave me pause.
Josh looked at me, concern flooding his features and pulling the corners of his lips down. “What kind of… things do you expect here?” he asked, trying to be all cool about it, but his heart was clanging so loud I could almost hear it. His nervousness came out in the tapping of his foot and made little green and red flares in his aura.
Kylee turned and took a seat in the jump seat behind his instead of answering.
I turned the copilot seat to face her because I had no clue either.
“I don’t know. There aren’t very many…” She struggled to come up with a proper word. “Stories in the area,” she finally finished. “The most likely scenario is kahui-tipua.”
The name meant nothing to me, just like Kapua had meant nothing. “What exactly is a kahui-tipua?”
“Simply put, ogres.”
“Like Shrek?” Josh said, his voice lilting with hope.
“No. They look like a cross between man and beast. They are white as the snow and are built like rock. They have sharp teeth and retractable claws, but prefer to kill their victims by blunt trauma. They eat what they kill, and there is very little that can kill them.” She glanced back at Levi. “They might even give Levi a run for his money.”
“How do you know about these things?” Josh asked.
Kylee looked at me. “I had to take one down before.”
I was learning her expressions. The downturn of her lips was enough to tell me she wasn’t going to enjoy this expedition. She was actually nervous. She fidgeted in her seat and glanced into the main cabin where Levi lay quietly listening to us.
“How do you kill them?” I assumed it would be like the Kapua and there wouldn’t just be one of them.
Her haunted gaze turned to mine. “Fire.”
I glanced at the mountains again as we headed out over the flat lands near the shore. All that snow. I closed my eyes and hung my head. Fire could cause massive avalanches.
“We have to make sure there is no one below us.” I glanced at Josh. “And that includes you. You can’t stay on the mountain.”
“But…”
“I’ll have a radio, and I’ll let you know where you can pick us up,” Kylee said. “You’ll do a quick in and out. Even if we have to jump from the aircraft.” She gave him a hard stare then went into the back bedroom and came back a few seconds later with her bags. She rummaged through the contents, exchanging things from her backpack with things in the duffel bags. “When we land, I’ll go get what we need for the mountain climb. And you can go figure out a ride to the plateau hut, Josh.”
“And we need to get there today,” I added. I didn’t want to have to hang out for another day or two. Not when Alex was gone, and I still had one more stop before I could get home and stop whatever Lucifer was planning.
“That’s a very tall order,” he said and glanced at me. “It’s late enough in the day for most pilots to laugh at you.” He unengaged the autopilot and took the controls.
Watching the landing from here was much more thrilling than watching it from the little side windows. My heartbeat drummed in my chest, and I gripped the seat arms. When we landed, I let out a laugh.
Josh grinned like a little kid. “Quite the rush,” he said as we slowed down and turned towards the private hangars at the end of the thoroughfare.
The airport itself was small with just a couple commercial puddle jumpers from Jetstar and Air Chathams parked at the gates. There were several private planes from the small scenic ones to a couple like what we were in down in front of the hangars.
“Can I sit up here when we take off to go to Ireland?” I asked as he pulled to a stop in the farthest hangar and powered down the plane.
“Sure,” Josh said, and then stepped away to help Kylee get off the plane to go get our hiking gear. He sat back down without voicing the ‘assuming you are conscious’ that fled through his mind. “I’m sorry for judging you earlier.” He rubbed his hands together.
“You talked to Mr. Ryan?”
He let out a laugh and glanced at me, nodding. “I’m amazed I didn’t crash the plane into one of the other jets on the runway.”
“He showed up.” That explained the sudden shock I had felt, but then nothing else had come through. I should have known CJ would do something like that.
“He told me everything you said was true. And he said you should have kept your damn mouth closed.” He smiled. “He also said you had a good heart. An honorable heart. Those were his words.” He looked out the window. “He said to get you back as quickly as possible after you take care of this thing here and the one in Ireland.”
“So, all it took was CJ Ryan telling you I had a good heart for you to believe I’m not like my father?”
Josh rubbed his face. “No. He showed me what evil looked like and asked me what my intuition was saying about you. It was my conclusion, not his.” He put his hand on the arm rest.
I covered his hand with mine and squeezed. “Thank you.”
He shrugged and pulled his hand away. “The only time I ever second-guessed someone was Tom Ryan. I was the one who flew him home with his dead daughter in his arms.” He shook his head. “I questioned that for years, but my boss kept telling me that the Ryans were complicated, and our business is to be discrete.” He chewed on his lip. “I never said anything because I knew there was more to the story than what I saw that night, and I now know what happened.” He glanced at me. “It’s nice to know that my intuition has never been wrong.”
I had no idea where he was going with this conversation.
“You aren’t evil. You’re just a kid that’s caught in the crosshairs of a much bigger war.” He sighed. “So, I’m in. I’m here to help with whatever I can, like Kylee.”
I opened my mouth to tell him Kylee was different, too, but I stopped myself, closing my mouth before I screwed up his view of her as well. Thankfully, Josh was looking out the window and not at me.
“I get why you have Levi, but I don’t get why you’d bring Kylee into this?” he asked.
“She has a very extensive collection of ancient weapons that can take these things down. Plus, she’s a paranormal investigator, and she’s an expert at hand-to-hand combat. She knows how to use the weapons.”
“That little thing?” He hooked his thumb over his shoulder.
“Yeah. That little thing is deadly.” I g
rinned. “I’m glad she’s on our side.”
“I would have never guessed, but then again, I never looked in the duffel bags either.” He glanced at them spread out on the couch with Levi lying at the foot of them like a lonely sentry. “What’s his story?” He pointed at Levi.
“He’s really Death’s sentry. Death did tell him he had to watch over me.” When I looked back at Josh, the deep crevices in his forehead was all I needed to see. “Death is real. His name is actually Nick, and he’s… I don’t know. I guess he’s married to Fate. Her name is Julia, and she is actually really sweet.”
He kept blinking, like all his synapses were not firing properly.
I chuckled. “Mind blown. Right?”
He met my gaze. “Totally.” He got up and looked around. “Man the plane while I go figure out our transportation.” He trotted down the stairs and out of sight.
My smile faded as I glanced out the window. I just prayed nothing would happen to any of my little band of warriors. If this trip turned bad, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to follow through in Ireland.
April’s morbid vision threatened to overshadow everything. Even if I succeeded in closing these portals, the likelihood of her vision coming to fruition seemed inevitable.
Chapter 18
Kylee came back with some serious winter wear. The cleats on the boots were enough to make Levi’s claws look tame.
“Where’s Josh?” she asked as she set everything down on the bench.
“He went out a while ago to try to get us a ride to the mountain.”
Kylee sucked her bottom lip in. “You don’t think he took off on us, do you?”
I hadn’t even considered that, but given the same set of circumstances, I might have bugged out too.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Levi scoffed at us.
As if on cue, Josh entered the plane. “Get your gear on. We have a very small window,” he said and went to the cabinet. He grabbed a handful of protein bars and a couple water bottles and dumped them in the backpack that Kylee had left on the couch.
We just stared at him.
“Get your gear on.” He pointed at the pile. “I got us a chopper with a not-so-sane pilot, but he was the only one willing to take us up the mountain. No one has been able to go up there since the storm blew in.”
I didn’t need to be told a third time. I slid on the snow pants and tied the boots tight before I put on the coat and pocketed the hat and gloves.
Josh grabbed his jacket for the ride and handed Kylee the backpack. We all followed him off the plane, and he pressed the remote that closed the bird up nice and tight.
He jogged down the line of hangars until he reached the last, most rickety-looking one. Inside sat an old helicopter that reminded me of the ones I saw in old movies about Vietnam. When the pilot stepped out and gave us a toothless grin, I had a moment. It looked like Kylee did as well because we both drew up short.
Out of self-preservation, I scanned the pilot’s mind. He was a lunatic but not homicidal and he was the best pilot in the entire country. At least that was his opinion of himself.
Josh climbed in the copilot seat and nodded toward the back. Our toothless guide took the pilot seat and waited for us. Kylee put on the backpack and clasped it, glancing at me.
“Go on,” she said.
I climbed in, and Levi followed, leaving the seat next to the door for Kylee. As soon as she was in and the door latched, the pilot engaged the engines.
“You might want to belt up,” he said. “We are guaranteed to be in for a bumpy ride.” He glanced back at us and cackled.
Josh looked back at me and shrugged. At least he had controls in front of him as well.
“Stetson requesting takeoff,” the pilot said into his radio. “Just a sight-seeing jaunt over the mountains.” Another pause. “Will do.” He flipped the monitor off. “Mission control says to stay clear of the storm.” He laughed like a crazy man.
He flipped on a radio, and Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to Love” came piping out. I felt like I had just transported back in time. My mother and I used to dance to this song whenever she played it on her old record player.
“Let’s rock this ride!” Stetson shouted over the engine.
We rolled out into the open air and then lifted off, leaving my stomach on the ground. This was very different from a plane. I gripped the edge of my seat as we rocketed toward the black cloud.
The closer we got, the more erratic the helicopter behaved, and the more animated Stetson got. He whooped and hollered at the wind and the snow swirling around us.
Josh had his hands around his controls too. I wasn’t sure who was flying the helicopter, but Josh’s tight jaw and sweat on his brow told me it was more him than Stetson at the moment.
“God help us,” he muttered under his breath, and his raw fear radiated in his aura and in my bones.
I closed my eyes and dug my fingers into the seat, imagining a bubble around the helicopter that buffered us from the weather. It also cut a path though the storm, giving the pilots visibility to get us where we needed to go.
“What the hell?” Stetson said.
I opened my eyes, still concentrating. Josh glanced back at me and gave me a nod. His silent thank you was worth it, but I didn’t want to tell him I couldn’t guarantee that I could hold it long enough to get them out of there.
The rest of the ride was smooth until we got close to the Plateau Hut. The view of the snow under our lights looked like it was painted red.
“What the actual fuck?” Stetson said.
“Do not land!” Kylee yelled from the back. “Just hover and we can jump.”
“How many were stuck up here when the storm rolled in?” Josh asked as he circled to find a flat surface for us.
“There were at least two large parties up here, but we all figured they hunkered down in the bunker.”
Levi started growling in the back seat, and Kylee swung the door open even though we were too far up to jump without major injury.
Something white was coming at us from the side. Levi launched. The minute he was clear of the helicopter, he transformed. His jaws caught the white flurry, cracking it in two.
I caught sight of the breach, and my heart lurched. It was bigger than the other three combined.
“Take us down below the hut,” Kylee said. “Levi will provide the distraction we need.”
Josh didn’t hesitate, but it also meant jumping into the blood-streaked snow. He found a spot and hovered ten feet off the ground. Poor Stetson was staring at the battle of the monsters like he was on some sort of acid trip.
Kylee jumped out and landed in the perfect crouch.
I laid my hand on Josh’s shoulder. “I’ll hold the bubble as long as I can. You’ll know when we’ve closed it,” I said, and then flung myself out.
I landed hard next to Kylee, and went down to almost my waist in the snow.
The helicopter veered up high in the sky and headed back the way we’d come. I prayed they got out of this vortex before my powers failed.
I crawled out of the hole I had made and climbed to my feet. My face was already numb and so were my hands, but I needed them free of fabric. I peeled the warded gloves off, and shoved them in an inside pocket, and let the fire form on my fingertips. I glanced over my shoulder, and I could no longer make out the helicopter even though the sound of it still carried through the howling wind.
Kylee and I exchanged a nod, and then we sprinted towards the melee on the upper plateau. The one we had to run the length of to get to the portal. At least a dozen ogres were now in battle with Levi, and for the first time, I feared for our beast.
Toss them this way!
Levi tossed the first ogre in our direction. Before he landed, I blasted it with a shot of mixed fire. The thing let out a piercing scream that made me want to cover my ears, but I refrained. Unfortunately, my incineration of the ogre caught the attention of the rest. They split their attacks.
Kylee and I sp
rinted towards the breach and skidded to a halt when another half dozen appeared between us and the portal to hell.
“Shit,” Kylee said.
I opened my palms, holding one towards the breach and the other towards the ogres sprinting towards us.
“Get down!” I yelled. The command was for both Kylee and Levi. I didn’t wait to see if they obeyed. I tilted my head back and screamed, letting both angel fire and my natural-born fire torch the entire area.
I spun in an arc, obliterating what was close, and then positioned myself with one hand aimed at the portal and the other where Levi had been. My heart lurched at the empty field with only burning embers left. I closed my fist and turned back to the portal, then blasted it with everything I had.
Kylee knelt by my feet. She was okay, but I couldn’t see or feel Levi. I swallowed hard.
The crunch of snow yanked my attention. I didn’t have time to raise my hand before the full weight of a charging ogre hit me. It felt like I had been plowed by a wrecking ball.
I sailed through the air and landed with the thing on top of me. I couldn’t draw air. His fangs snapped at me. My palm was wedged against its chest, and I let my powers go in a fit of panic.
It was as if I shot him from a cannon. A cannon filled with fire. He went sailing right into the face of the mountain. The impact shook the ground. I got up and caught Kylee’s eyes. We were both the same distance from the portal.
An avalanche rumbled, pushing snow and rock with it. I sprinted towards the only logical exit where we had a chance to survive. Kylee understood and she followed my lead. I dove through the breach, wondering just what in the hell I was thinking. Kylee followed, and as I spun to close the breach from the inside, a shepherd leapt through the opening.
I lifted my hands. “Send a text to Josh to meet us in Ireland, Kylee” I said and then blasted the breach closed from the inside. I prayed he got the message as the last of the opening closed with a pop.
Kylee sat on the ground, breathing as hard as I was. The text she had typed blinked on her phone, and then she met my gaze.
I glanced at Levi and threw my arms around him. “I am so damn glad you are okay.”