The Artifact Reaper Saga Box Set

by Jen L. Grey

  Holy crap. This isn't good. It begins thrumming inside me, circling, and increasing in speed. This feels similar to the day I was with Becca, but I was able to maintain it. I try to take deep, steady breathes and ignore it.

  When I get to my bed, it flairs even harder, and I fall to my knees onto the carpet.

  "Hey." Dax hurries into the apartment and shuts my door. "Are you okay?" He rushes beside me and reaches out to touch me.

  "No, don't." I don't want him to touch me, I'm not sure what that will do to him. This is almost like the day they absorbed into me and Charlie got shocked. The white and brown powers merge together, and it feels as if my body is shuddering on the inside. They swirl and twirl inside me and then begin attacking my black reaper magic. It's almost as if it's trying to dominate me all the way through.

  "What can I do to help?" Dax tenses beside me and glances around. "I don't know what to do."

  Not sure if I can answer I shake my head. "Nothing." I stay on my knees with my head on my bed while the powers surge and fight with one another. Neither one wants to give up. I don't know how long it goes, but after a while my reaper power blends in with the other two. It's almost as if they smashed it into smoke. Once that happens, the power recedes and I'm able to take a deep breath, and raise my head.

  "Are you okay?" He's there with a glass of water and hands it to me. "Just tell me something. Did that witch do something to you?"

  "No, she didn't." I take a large gulp and smile. I stand and stretch out my back. Shit, how long have I been like that. There is no telling. "She just told me some things I needed to know and that confirmed it."

  His forehead creases. "What did she tell you?"

  "I'll tell you on the way there." I grab my phone and jacket. I need to take Luke his car back, but it won't be happening today. I feel like shit. "We don't want to make them wait any longer than we already have."

  "That sounds fair." He walks over and holds the door open for me and then shuts it.

  I turn around and lock it and then we head down the stairs.

  At least I know she wasn't lying about my powers being out of balance. Granted, I've been feeling off for a while, but that was way more intense. It almost felt as if someone was trying to override my powers with how they combined and were tearing down my reaper one. But what do I know? All I know is it's getting worse and I need to get the flame before I implode.

  He walks over to a black Jeep Cherokee and opens the door for me. "Here you go."

  Why is he opening the door for me? I guess it's because I just had an episode, or his parents raised him to be a gentleman. Who knows?

  When he climbs in and pulls out of the apartment, he turns to me. "Spill it."

  Great, I don't know how much I can trust him, but he needs to know, especially if he's going to be going to Hell with me. There is no telling how often I could do that or when. "Well, she dropped by to tell me a few things and one of which is that I need to find the third element fast because my powers are becoming unbalanced."

  "What do you mean, unbalanced?" He shifts gears and turns onto the main road, leading to the mansion.

  "It means that my powers are fighting one another, and if I don't get the third element soon, I'll implode." I want to laugh or cry. I'm not sure, but this keeps happening. Shit keeps getting thrown my way and I don't find out the repercussions until later.

  The rest of the ride is made in silence. I'm not sure what to make of that. Maybe he already knew and was upset I found out. Who the hell knows?

  When we get to the house, he pulls off to the side next to the garage.

  He gets out of the car and stands in my way so I can't head to the front door. His dark eyes narrow at me and his hands clench into fists. "How could you be so willing to do something like this?"

  Okay, this is sincere. Maybe he didn't know. "First off, I didn't know this would happen with the artifacts. I wouldn't have willingly taken this on if I had." Does he think I'm that crazy? Yes, I want to help our people and even the world, but I do have some self-preservation in there.

  "Ugh, you're right. I'm sorry." He moves out of the way and we make our way to the front door. He turns at me and winks. "Just know I've got your back like you had mine."

  At this point that's all I can ask. That's more than a lot of people have offered, but he's in the hand of the council so I can't trust him which sucks.

  We walk down the hall and enter Luke's office. As soon as we are in the door, Luke's up out of his seat and heading my direction.

  "Is it true that you had a witch in your apartment?" His breathing is ragged, and his face is a tad white.

  "She showed up at my door." What the hell can I do people? She's a witch. She doesn't have to be invited in. "What was I supposed to do?"

  He jabs his finger in my direction and grunts. "You cannot be so reckless with your life. This is unacceptable."

  "I didn't seek her out." At this point, I'm a broken record. Maybe I should press record, so I don't have to keep going over and over this point. My magic begins stirring deep inside me once again.

  "But you turned our driver away and didn't even hide that you weren’t alone." His nostrils flair and his finger is shaking. "Your life is too precious, and you are to take the seat as the next council member. We cannot lose you and our access to the artifacts and have an unbalanced council."

  Like back at the apartment, my black reaper magic separates but so does the artifacts. All three different strands of magic are now fighting against one another and it's increasing in strength.

  But in his rage, Luke must not see because he continues. "If we lose you, the horrid version of the future we saw exists."

  Not able to stand it any longer, I stumble and fall. I stumble and fall to my hands and knees. I’m at the mercy of my powers. A vision fills my head. It's of a black silhouette in hell reaching for the flame. Something pops out and attacks them, but they are so close to the artifact. No, this can't be happening.

  When the vision clears, my power has stopped fighting against one another for a minute. I have to get down there now and get it before someone else does. I lean back on my legs and wipe my brow that's now covered in sweat.

  "Hey, here. Let me help you up." Dax grabs my arm and helps me stand.

  "What just happened?" Luke takes a step toward me and scans me over. "Your magic is all over the place."

  "The flame." I clear my throat. It's still hard to speak. "My magic went crazy. I think someone is either heading to Hell or there already there trying to get the artifact. We need to go there now and get it before someone else does. I had a vision."

  "All right. Then we will go." He glances around and looks at Dax. "What do we need to take this time?"

  "Well, swords and knives would be good." Dax scratches the back of his head. "And water and snacks. Guns weren't helpful because we were in a cave a lot of the time."

  "Okay, let me go change and I'll tell the butlers to get us some snacks." He walks over to the wall and opens a side compartment. It flips open with a keypad. He enters numbers and soon a wall flips over. It's filled with swords, knives, and other various weapons. "While I'm gone, have your pick."

  "Wait." Does he think he's going with us? "Don't you think you should stay here, and you know... do council things."

  "After what happened last time, I will be accompanying you on this journey." He stands there and looks down at me. "You both will need all the help you can get, so here I am."

  This is a huge red flag. Granted there is still one artifact left after this, but why is he insistent on going this time, when he wasn't at all last? Also, he's not very upfront about his intentions. I still can't get a read on him. "Why should I trust you? It was your wife after all who tried to take the Earth Element." There, how are you going to address that one?

  "You're right." He sighs and slumps his shoulders. "My wife did mess up, but I'm not her. She let her power and influence go to her head and wanted more. I don't. I still respect the position I
was given. I want what's best to protect our world and our people."

  At least he has the audacity to act humble, but, at the end of the day, I don't get to make this call and we both know it. He does. "Fine, we'll pick out the weapons but don't take long. We need to go. It feels like we need to get down there fast."

  "Understood." He hurries out of the room leaving Dax and I alone.

  "So, one of the elder's lost their way?" Dax raises an eyebrow and watches me.

  That's the first time I've heard it put like that, but yes, she did. That's how the council explains the people who are cast out of the community. They inform us that they lost their way. "Yes, she did and died because of it." I don't know if this is a test or what, but I'm not sugar coating anything.

  It's silent for a moment and then he snorts. "Huh. Isn't that ironic." He heads over to the weapons and chooses his favorites. "Come on let's make sure we get some good ones before Luke gets back."

  I head over and pick up a large sword similar to what I trained with and a few knives to put around my waist.

  "Hey, Christina." Dax walks over and gives me a few super small blades. "Put these somewhere you can get to easy and don't tell Luke. This is just between us, but you'll have them just in case."

  Wait... Is he suspicious of Luke as well? Maybe he isn't on his side after all or this is just a play to make me think that.

  The door opens and Luke walks back in with jeans on and a black shirt. This is the least formal I've ever seen him, but I'm glad. He can't dress up in a suit or blazer for Hell. He has a backpack on his back, and he grins. "Are you guys ready? We're stocked."

  Dax hands him a knife and Luke puts it away.

  I come up next to them and picture Hell again and project it out. After just a second, Dax reaches out touching both of us. Soon, we're swirling and making our way down to Hell.

  As we touch down, the world around us comes into vision.

  "Shit." Dax grumbles and pulls out his sword.

  We've landed right in the middle of an area of demons. I turn around and note there are fifteen demons to our three people.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  My heart races as I take in the demons surrounding us. We struggled with just a handful last time. How the hell are we supposed to get through them and find the flame? This almost seems impossible, but at least we have weapons this time.

  The six demons closest to us turn their red eyes on us and let out an ear-piercing shriek, causing the other nine to turn our way.

  "Christina, get behind us now." Dax grabs my arm and attempts to tug me behind him.

  Oh, hell no. Last time that didn't turn out so well. "Nope, I'm all in this time."

  "Now listen here, Dax is here to protect us." Luke takes a step back to where Dax was trying to place me a second ago.

  Wow, did he just come down here to supervise the trip? That's not cool or needed. "Both of you shut up." I turn and the demon closest to us is smiling as if he's enjoying us imploding right before his eyes. "If you think Dax is supposed to fight fifteen demons and protect us down here alone, you're wrong and frankly stupid. We are down here as a team and we will all fight together, or we won't make it out with the flame." I take a step toward Luke and raise my chin. "And it will fall in someone else's hands."

  Luke's breathing becomes ragged and he looks away from me back to the demons who are now forming a tight circle around us. "Fine, you're right, but you and I have to be more careful."

  "Stop the shit." I can't stand this right now. This is why he shouldn't have come. "Down here we are all equals whether you like it or not. So, suck it up and fight." I turn away and grab my sword, pulling it out of its sheath.

  "Thank you, but he is right." Dax steps up on the other side, his tone low.

  "No, he's not." I glance at him. "You're just as important as anyone else on that council. Don't let them make you think otherwise."

  The demon must realize that we are done arguing and it shakes its jerky head. "That was disappointing. I thought you might kill each other." He jerks his head and opens his razor sharp mouth. "That would have been funny to watch, but we will enjoy this maybe even more." He rushes right at me.

  Not missing a beat, I lift my sword. Please let us come out on top. I need this flame if I'm going to survive.

  His eyes zoom in on my neck and his teeth somehow elongate.

  So that's how those damn vampire’s teeth do that. They are half demon and human. I guess he's going for my blood maybe hoping to suck out my magic into him.

  Anticipating his move, I swing my sword down hard slicing through his neck instead. His black body falls to the ground and dissolves, his existence erased as of this moment.

  Now shrieks echo all around us.

  "Shit, be ready Luke." Dax glances around us and gets in a fighting stance. "They thought she would be easy to take down. Now they’re all going to attack."

  Letting out a sigh, Luke nods. He pulls his sword out and gets prepared.

  Then they stop the noise and all fourteen descend on us at one time. Four seem to attack both Dax and Luke, while six of them focus on me.

  Okay, I've got this. I sure hope so. I can take six demons. I step out and get in position. I've never done this before, but I figure it doesn't hurt to try. I use my seeker power, but use it to find myself instead. I can see a high-level view of me and what's going on all around me.

  A demon in front attempts to hit me in the jaw while one behind me tries to kick my feet out from underneath me. I use their surprise attack and turn it around on them. As I duck, I grab my sword and swing it behind me, jabbing the demon in the eye causing him to evaporate.

  "How did you know?" The demon in front of me shrieks.

  Does he really think I'm going to tell him? Using his surprise to my advantage, I spin and stab him in the chest where his heart should have been.

  Gurgling, he falls and then evaporates.

  And then there are four. I spin back around and now the other demons seem to hesitate in their attacks. I have no clue why, but I'll take it.

  Not wanting to give them the upper hand, I rush toward one with my sword high.

  The black inkiness of his legs, kicks out, hits me square in the stomach.

  Pain surges through me. Shit, I'm getting to cocky. That's not good. I swing my sword, but it jumps up and all I hit is air.

  Son of a monkey. I've got to pull my shit together.

  Taking advantage of my stumble, one behind me attacks thinking I'm down.

  Turning, I use my sword, plunging straight into its mouth. It evaporates right then from my sword. Black gook coats the sword from this one.

  Gross. I spin around and swing at the one that hurt me.

  It dodges my blade and attacks me on the side. I grab one of the knives on my side and jab to the right hitting it right between the eyes.

  "Agh." It falls back against the cave wall and disintegrates. My knife hits the ground.

  Not wanting to lose it, I rush and grab it and turn looking for the last two demons. They are floating away fast and already turning down a different tunnel.

  What the hell? I glance over to Dax and Luke seeing if they need help.

  Dax is fighting off his last demon. He is on top of the demon and holding his knife over it, about to come down.

  What's most surprising is Luke has one demon left also. He is swinging the sword as if he's had some training and doesn't look like a complete newb.

  The demon rears back and hits him square in the chest causing him to land on the wall. It's unaware I'm behind it, watching the whole thing.

  Rushing over, I raise my sword and stab the demon in the back. He vanishes quick and I walk over and check on Luke. "Are you okay?"

  "Yeah, I'm fine." He rubs at his chest where he was just hit and frowns. "I didn't realize how out of shape I've gotten."

  "It doesn't take much." I've learned even if you do it every day, you can still struggle. It's all about the opponent.

  Dax finis
hes off his adversary and walks over to us. His shakes his head and grins. "Damn girl. Six of them all by yourself and you finished before both of us."

  I want to gloat I even finished one of Luke's, but I don't. Not sure why. "Well, two of mine ran off. I don't know where or how, but I couldn't catch up to them and didn't want to leave you all behind."

  Luke groans. " Probably alerting everyone, but you did the right thing."

  "Don't worry about it." Dax squeezes my arm. "It's fine. We just need to figure out where the flame is and get out of here."

  Shit, I need to figure out how to get my tracker working. Wait... It is working. "Hey, I think it's working. Hold on." I was able to use it to help me fight the demons and had no issue. I should be able to find the flame. I close my eyes and focus on the flame and its location comes up clear in my mind. "Holy crap. It is working." I open my eyes and smile. Gosh, I'm so flipping happy I can see it and we won't be running around here like dummies. "I know where it is."

  "We need to move." Luke glances around and grimaces. "The longer we take the more time the demons have to alert and get everyone prepared."

  Is it bad I hate the fact he's right? "Yeah, let's go." I turn and rush down the tunnel heading in the same direction as the demon. This is probably not the best sign.

  The further in we go, the darker the tunnels get. Then they change from black to a deep menacing red so you can see better, but it's more unsettling. Also, the gravel changes to something flatter and it's as if the heat just overcomes your whole body.

  When we get to the end of one of the caves, it opens into a wide room. As I stand at the edge of the opening I can't see the flame any longer. What the crap? I try again and it's like I'm busting against a door. Holy shit, this is warded. "Guys, I've got a problem, and it's going to take me a minute to get past it."

  "What wrong?" Luke's voice is shrill.

  I didn't know a living man's voice could take on that tone. "It's warded now so I can't see it. I've got to break through it."

  "Ahh, Margaret told me she taught you how, so we're good." He leans back against the tunnel wall and waits.