Dadgummit

by Maggie Toussaint

  Oliver suddenly yipped, tucked his tail, and raced back to my side. A whisper of uncertainty flickered through me. At the same time, the air electrified. A nasty metallic taste formed in my mouth.

  “Back up!” I shouted, scurrying backward out of self-preservation. “Step away from the child.”

  None of the deputies gave the slightest indication they’d heard me. I got a sick feeling in my stomach. My instincts told me to flee the building, but I was here as a paranormal expert. I was supposed to be protecting the deputies.

  Cherry poked her head out of her hiding place and touched Loggins. My brain nearly exploded as pure, raw energy shredded my ineffective barrier. Loggins and Duncan crumpled to the ground with two heavy thuds.

  Mayes stepped back, reached for his weapon. “Stop right there.”

  “You won’t shoot a child,” Cherry said, coming to her feet. “It wouldn’t look good on your record. Make the wrong move here, and you’ll never be a sheriff.”

  “Get out of here, Mayes,” I said. “She’s like Jonas. Don’t look at her. Don’t listen to her.”

  “Like Jonas. Ha!” Cherry scoffed. “I’m nothing like that do-gooder. He did the world a favor by removing troubled souls. They should’ve paid him for his services.”

  Thoughts raced through my head as I clung to Oliver. Cherry had disabled Loggins and Duncan with a blast of mental power. It was only a matter of seconds until she had Mayes decommissioned. I inched toward the entryway and fired off an SOS to Rose. I also sent Oliver to safety.

  Rose, can you hear me? I need you. ASAP. There’s a badass energy vampire here. Instead of an answer from Rose, an icy shock wave seared my senses.

  “Badass? I love the compliment.” Cherry advanced toward me, pushing Mayes out of her way with a flick of her tiny fingers. “You think I didn’t know about you? About your little friend on the Other Side? I know exactly who and what you are, Dreamwalker.”

  It was hard to move. Gossamer threads seemed to be circling me, tightening. My head ached something fierce, and no matter what I tried, my extra senses misfired. Somehow, this child blocked my transmission to Rose.

  A glacial pond pooled in my gut. I felt lightheaded and absurdly heavy at the same time. I had to fight back, to save us, but how? This entity had more of everything. She could control people around her with barely any visible effort. She’d shut down my paranormal senses and stopped three police officers at the same time.

  The sense of being snared in a sticky spider web let up for a few seconds, and I scrambled toward the door. I had to get out of this building. Into the sunlight.

  In the next breath, I realized why her efforts to control me had temporarily waned. Mayes stood behind her, his gun pointed at me.

  “Mayes! Fight it. Don’t let her win,” I shouted. “Block her with your senses. You’re not a robot to be ordered around.”

  “He can’t hear you.” Cherry snickered. A new batch of invisible spider webs came my way. These highly charged strands burned and sizzled as they wound around my legs.

  I forced my arms to move, bumping into the wall. Something clattered loudly. The fire extinguishers. That burst of raucous sound might as well have been my death knell. I wasn’t going to make it.

  Think. There had to be something I could do, some source of power I could access. Power. I had crystals in my pocket. Could I reach them? Since I knew how to take and share energy, I could zap her if she touched me.

  Pulling a reverse psychic vampire move on her was a long shot, but I wouldn’t quit without a fight.

  “What are you, Cherry?” I asked, somehow finding a way to stuff my left hand into the pocketful of crystals. Simultaneously, the glacial feeling in my stomach spread to my legs. Numbness followed. I couldn’t move my toes.

  Energy. Cherry was burning a lot of it. How long could she keep this up?

  “My name isn’t Cherry. I plucked the fake name out of that dimwit’s head to make him trust me. I’m Lizella Tice. Not many of my kind left on the planet.”

  A heavy chilling groan passed through me as the webs cinched around my torso. I couldn’t breathe. I jerked and pushed against the bonds. The pressure eased enough for me to gasp in a shallow breath.

  “Got your attention,” Lizella crowed.

  The room spun as the effects of oxygen deprivation came and went. She could crush me in a heartbeat, but she hadn’t. What did she want from me?

  “You have my complete attention,” I managed in a raspy voice.

  “In all my centuries of doing this, no one has ever kept coming after me. Why’d you do it? How did you ignore the suggestions I planted in your head to leave me alone?”

  What suggestions? “I don’t know.”

  “When the change is upon me, I’m vulnerable, but Jonas made sure I had energy sources to rejuvenate. Then you stumbled upon my nest and moved me to the hospital and then to here. So nice of you to provide me with a surplus of resources.”

  “I didn’t provide you with anything. We moved you to increase your chances of survival.”

  “Semantics. Access to those fresh bodies accelerated the rebirth process. Ordinarily, it takes months to come in contact with so many donors. Thanks to you, I cut the time to nearly nothing. Now I need to tie up a few loose ends, spring my consort from jail, and we’ll go our merry way.”

  Though my fingers were wrapped around a handful of crystals, the arctic chill in my body had spread down my arms. If Lizella didn’t touch me soon, I was doomed. “Jonas isn’t going anywhere.”

  “Bars can’t hold our kind.”

  “So he’s like you?”

  “No one is like me, but I tolerate him.” She bared her tiny white teeth. “He’s a good provider.”

  “Not anymore.”

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  The invisible bonds tightened around my torso, caging me in a breathless void. This time I didn’t fight Lizella, didn’t waste a drop of my precious energy. I glanced at Mayes. He’d gone still, and his eyes were glazed over.

  No help in that direction.

  Loggins and Duncan hadn’t stirred.

  Rose was out of reach, and Oliver was no match for this powerful creature.

  I was our last hope. Now I needed a chance to act.

  “What?” Lizella shrieked. “What did you do to him?”

  “Nothing, but my friend from the Other Side exacted retribution. She stripped him of his powers. He’s lost his ability to steal energy.”

  Raw current slammed into my head, lightning-bolt strong, scattering my thoughts, filling me with excruciating pain. I closed my eyes and thought of my family. Larissa. I would hold on because of her. I would endure. I wouldn’t quit.

  As I drew into myself, I mentally reached into the reservoir of crystal energy. Survive. That’s what I had to do.

  The assault ended as abruptly as it started. “Why don’t you die?” Lizella shrieked.

  “I’m different from your normal prey.” I looked beyond her at Mayes. His eyes were blinking, and he gazed around in confusion. A spark of hope flared inside. Perhaps Lizella’s powers had limits after all.

  “I’m going to kill you with my bare hands.” Lizella jumped on me, all forty pounds of her. The shrill noise she made sounded like a stuck pig.

  At the last second, I decided not to blast her with energy. I grabbed her with my spare hand and siphoned energy from her as fast as I could. With each second of contact, I grew stronger, snapping those invisible bonds around my body.

  “No!” Lizella wailed. “Die! You must die!”

  Gunshots rang in the air. Three quick rounds. Lizella jerked around and snarled at Mayes. “You! You dare attack me?”

  Lizella dismounted and turned her attention to Mayes. His bullets in her heart hadn’t fazed her. If I didn’t act, Mayes would die.

  I grabbed the nearest fire extinguisher and pulled the pin. I coated her with the foamy repellent. In seconds, she resembled a gloppy, pint-sized statue. When the stream ran out, I grabbed another uni
t. Mayes joined me, and we drenched her over and over again.

  The foam adhered to her short hair, stretching out the ringlets into snowy strands. We circled, coating her from head to toe.

  “Is it working?” I asked.

  “She isn’t moving, and we are, so it’s working,” Mayes said. “Call for backup.”

  I fired off a quick message to Rose. This time it felt like the message went through. When the last canister of foam sputtered and quit, Mayes and I retreated, still holding our empty extinguishers.

  Loggins and Duncan stirred and sat up. “What happened?” Duncan asked.

  Lizella’s hand moved up to her face. Mayes shouted in another language and charged her, slamming the canister against her head. There was a loud crack, then Lizella sprawled on the floor.

  My heart pounded in my ears. I didn’t trust that she was down for the count. Seemed like she’d come back against everything we’d thrown her way. What else could we use as a weapon? The only other idea in my head was fire, which wouldn’t work because she was swimming in fire retardant.

  A jolt of nausea sent me to my knees and the room spun. I fought for equilibrium, fought like a champion, but I couldn’t hold out against this strong current. Lightning flashed. Thunder boomed. Rose appeared in her gleaming armor amidst a cloud of smoke.

  “You rang?”

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  I dropped the fire extinguisher and stood. My knees trembled, but at least this entity was more friend than foe. Sometimes. I was certain she’d be happy once she knew why I’d summoned her.

  “Clean up on aisle three,” I said with a rueful smile.

  Rose shot me her “I’m not amused” look. She also waved her hand so that every living, breathing person in our vicinity became frozen, out of phase with our reality. Mayes, Loggins, and Duncan were still present, but they weren’t privy to our discussion.

  “Energy-sucking creature under that goo,” I said. “Like Jonas, but with a lot more oomph. She just changed her appearance from that of an old woman to a young child.”

  Rose leaned forward eagerly once I said “changed her appearance.” “Name?”

  “Lizella Tice. She’s Jonas’ mother. We think. But she called Jonas her consort, so I’m not sure of their relationship.” I sighed. “We don’t know who or what she is, really, but she can drop grown men with a blast from her fingertips.”

  “Lizzie?” Rose said, nudging the goopy mess on the floor with her boot. “That you?”

  The creature on the floor groaned and sputtered.

  The bittersweet look on Rose’s face had me worried. “Wait. You know her?”

  “Long story.”

  “This woman—excuse me, this thing—nearly killed me, and she may have killed over a hundred people in this building alone. What is she?”

  “I’m not exactly sure. At one point she was a selkie.”

  I tugged on my ear. “Did you say ‘selfie’? She’s a picture of herself?”

  Rose heaved a longsuffering sigh. As we spoke, her appearance changed. Her armor melded into her skin so that she was a normal human height and in her leather biker togs. She knelt down and used her hand to wipe the fire retardant from Lizella’s tiny face.

  “A selkie. A creature that comes from the sea and can shed its seal skin temporarily to appear as human. They’re creatures of Irish mythology.”

  “Mythology. Stories that aren’t real.”

  “Selkies are very real, and in this day and age, they’re quite rare. Four hundred years ago, Lizella made an unfortunate choice of mate and earned the curse of a powerful witch. She’s been trapped in human form so long she’s become something else.”

  “Don’t tell me you feel sorry for her. This woman is a stone-cold killer. She steals the very spark of life from people. She can blast lightning bolts from her brain and fingertips.”

  “Like I said, she was a selkie. Now she’s something else. An aberration of nature.”

  “What will you do with her?” I asked. I would not feel sorry for Lizella Tice. She’d hurt so many people. She nearly killed all of us.

  “Rose?” Lizella managed in a shocked whisper. She writhed away from my guardian angel. To say she seemed surprised at this outcome was an understatement.

  Rose gripped Lizella’s foam-covered hand, preventing her retreat. “Not so fast. Last time our paths crossed, you promised to return to the sea. What happened to the grand plan of reuniting with kith and kin?”

  “I returned to the sea all right, but it was too late. My species was nearly extinct. The few selkies I found were hiding in remote areas, afraid to be exercise their creation rights. Some of them had even taken seal wives. It was unthinkable.” Lizella stopped and coughed repeatedly. “They were ashamed and scared of their own shadows. I couldn’t live like that.”

  “You promised to mend your ways.”

  “And I did. For a while. Then Jonas came to the sea and cried seven tears. It was a miracle. His tears released me from my prison.”

  “The sea is your home. Not a prison.” Rose’s voice had a hard edge that didn’t bode well for Lizella. What would Rose do with someone who’d squandered her second chance?

  “Turned out to be a prison sentence. I could see people who visited the shore, people I wanted to know, but due to the enchantment, I was locked in the water. Except for seven tears. They have always released us from our skins.”

  I made a vow to look up the legend of selkies after this holiday. If they were anything like Lizella, I hoped I never ran across another one. Morbid fascination had me following every word of this unusual conversation.

  “Jonas set you free, then what?” Rose prompted.

  “We traveled. I was starved for humanity and ended up far from the sea. I had to find ways to sustain the constant energy drain of living as a human. Turned out, my consort had a power I much admired. His ability to transfer energy turned out to be most useful. As you can see, I wore out my last body, and I’m starting fresh.”

  “Not with Jonas,” I said. “He disturbed the natural order and paid the price. A living death.”

  Lizella shrieked. “No! You can’t do that. He’s mine to command.”

  “Not any longer. He’s been stripped of his talents.”

  Lizella tried to slug Rose, but Rose stopped the punch in midair with a twitch of her nose. I held in a gasp. This creature had no chance of surviving this encounter if she antagonized Rose.

  Lizella wiped another glob of foam off her round chin. “I’ve been wronged. Under the treaty, I demand to be compensated.” She pointed at me. “That human will do nicely. I’ll take her.”

  “She’s not available.” Rose’s voice hardened. She straightened and stared down at the foamy, child-sized lump with a sneer. “According to the terms of our agreement, you forfeited your protected status when you left the sea.”

  “But my kind … they’ll go extinct without me,” Lizella whined. “I am the sole surviving female.”

  “Not my problem. You will be judged by a higher power.”

  “No, no, no. You can’t do this to me. I’ll pay you. Anything you want. Please. Don’t send me away. Don’t punish me for following my natural instincts.”

  “You lost touch with your natural instincts long ago, Lizzie. Your actions determined your fate. Few are given a second chance. You squandered yours. You’re done.”

  Lizzie screamed and flailed around on the floor. I was reminded of a fish out of water. Guess that wasn’t too far from the truth.

  “Get used to being helpless,” Rose intoned. “It will become your eternal state.”

  “You can’t do this to me. I’ll appeal.”

  “He’s aware of your transgressions. Appeal denied.” Thunder boomed. Rose said sounds I didn’t comprehend, and Lizella floated in the air, encased in a bubble. Before my eyes, the bubble shrank smaller and smaller until it winked out of sight.

  I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Remind me never to make you mad.”


  “I’ve been fair with you and will continue to deal with you in that way, as long as you do as you’re told.”

  “I’ve always been a free spirit.”

  Rose glanced around the rehab center with disdain. “Not anymore. Your spirit and mine are bound now, through all eternity.”

  Her stark words clanked around in my head. She expected my obedience—no, she demanded my obedience. Best not to dwell on that. “What happened to Lizella?”

  “She’s earned her place in eternity. Rest assured she will not trouble you or this planet again.”

  “Good.” A wave of relief washed through me, filling me with a sense of normality. Lizella’s reign of terror was over. She wouldn’t be set free from prison on a technicality. She wouldn’t have the opportunity to murder an entire building of people again.

  “Follow me,” Rose said.

  I traipsed after my guardian angel, entering every room in the rehab center. Turned out, only four people were dead. The rest were in stasis. Not trapped in the Little People’s memory land, but needing a jumpstart to awaken.

  If it were only one person, I could help, but so many? It would be impossible. “What can we do? How will I explain this … this outage, to the cops?”

  Rose stilled for a moment then nodded. “I’ve been advised to right this wrong. The general public doesn’t need to know there are twisted creatures like Lizella in the world.”

  “How will you do that?”

  “The breath of life.”

  She may as well have spoken ancient Greek. “And that is …?”

  “A universal CPR. You must treat me the same as Jonas treated his victims.”

  Understanding smacked me dead between the eyes. I quaked with terror. “You … you … you want me to kiss you?”

  Chapter Sixty

  “No kissing necessary,” Rose said. “I believe, if I’m reading your memory correctly, we interlace our fingers, and you blow your human breath in my mouth.”