The Shikari Box Set

by Dora Blume

  Sloane was curious though why would he bring her into this if he was working with the demons all along. That part didn’t make sense. He said he needed her for her power. Why would he want someone who could see the future if he was already aware of what the demons were doing? None of it made sense to her. Getting her involved wasn’t smart and Bryant was smart. Right now, she had more questions than answers. At least she knew there would be a lot of confusion after they eliminated the leaders. The south entrance was their way in without being noticed. She also thought it couldn’t hurt that she knew Bryant would be there. They could grab him so he could be interrogated. Right now, she didn’t care what happened to Bryant. His betrayal burned deep and the order could deal with him. She wanted nothing to do with him.

  She made it back to the kitchen to find it empty. She glanced up to the clock. She hadn’t been gone all that long. Where could he have gone? Shaundra and Jessie were in the living room working on the students.

  “What are you guys doing?” Sloane asked when she watched Jessie unfreeze a student and Shaundra looked to the student and said, “Here drink this,” as she handed him a small vial.

  “We are unfreezing the students and unlocking their memory with Shaundra’s potion. She really is a miracle worker.” Jess beamed at her.

  “Oh stop, the potion gives them back their memories but not of what they may have done as demons. They shouldn’t have to remember the horrible things they may have done.” Shaundra said lowering her head.

  “Yeah, the first one, freaked out. He remembered everything he did and started bawling. He dropped to the floor with his head in his hands. Apparently, he killed people and couldn’t handle it.” Jessie said as she looked to Shaundra.

  “I didn’t know that would happen.” She said softly looking into the eyes of the student still frozen in front of her.

  “It’s okay, you fixed it now they don’t have to remember that stuff.” Jessie looked over to Shaundra and placed her hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for helping them.” She gazed into her eyes, her gratitude and admiration evident. Shaundra answered with a warm smile and nod.

  Sloane broke in, “Wow, that’s crazy. So, they at least remember where they live so they can go home?” She walked around one man, appreciating. “Maybe I should’ve gone to college.”

  Jessie hit Sloane lightly on the arm. “Sloane! But I know right, and yes, they remember their lives, so they can go home. We’ve been calling cabs once they know where they need to go. We’ve sent maybe five off so far. We started with the ones upstairs, so Erik could take care of the body. We didn’t want them waking up to a dead body on the floor.” Jessie looked pointedly at Sloane.

  Sloane shrugged, ignoring Jessie’s jab. “That’s good, we have other issues to deal with. It’ll be good when they’re all gone.” Sloane looked around the room. “Any idea where Erik went?” She wanted to talk to him after her vision. She felt uncomfortable confirming what Erik believed. He seemed like he didn’t want to believe it was Bryant. She understood, Erik had been close to their father. She didn’t want to be the one to confirm his betrayal. Yet, she couldn’t explain what she saw. Bryant was at the meeting and he wasn’t there to help them. She needed to find Erik.

  “He headed off to his room, he said he was going to sketch the people from that woman’s memory, so he could contact the order himself. He also wanted to alert people in other states, so they knew what to look for. Apparently, this shit’s going on everywhere.” Jess shrugged then looked to Shaundra, “On to the next?”

  “Yes, let’s be done with this,” Shaundra looked beaten. Sloane could tell that the one student who remembered everything had really gotten to her. She was such a wonderful upbeat person and right now she looked drawn and dejected.

  Sloane headed to Erik’s room and walked right through the door. Erik leaned forward at his desk. Both arms resting, elbows bent. His right arm worked furiously, shading the image in front of him. Sloane ambled over to the desk and leaned over to see the sketch he worked on. The woman was beautifully rendered, in her skirt suit and short dark hair. He was shading around her neck, accentuating her pronounced jawline. Her hair fell in a bob to her chin. Erik had nailed her confidence in the hard features of her face. Sloane couldn’t help but respond, "Wow,” over his shoulder.

  Erik dropped the pencil in his hand and turned. “Hey,” he focused on Sloane. “A knock would be nice.” Sloane backed away but kept her eyes focused on the drawing.

  “I don’t have time for niceties. Is that one of the people from the woman’s thoughts?” She pointed to the sketch.

  “Yes. So, I assume there’s a reason you interrupted. What’s up?”

  “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?” Sloane moved back and sat on his bed.

  Erik stretched his arms over his head, cracking his knuckles. “Good, always good.” Erik looked at Sloane, pondering what she’d learned.

  “We can enter through the south door, there will be very few demons there and everyone in the hall is so confused about the absence of their leaders they won’t be expecting an attack. The girl who’s supposed to give the speech is afraid of public speaking so, while she is trying to get it together we can slip in undetected. Jess can freeze the room, so we can dispatch the demons quickly.” Sloane took a breath, she’d said that all so fast.

  “That sounds like a good plan. So, what’s the bad news?” Erik liked that she had a heads up on what was going to happen, but he also knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Things were rarely ever easy.

  “Bryant was there, in the back corner, opposite where we’ll enter. He’s definitely working with them and that also means Mike won’t get to him before the banquet. He’ll be there with all the others and that makes him a wild card because he won’t freeze like the demons. I don’t like that he’s there, but it will be a problem if he tries to stop us.” Sloane didn’t like having a possible unknown in this situation.

  Erik sat back in his chair and thought for a minute. “I’m going to call Mike, we’re going to need him to help with our strategy.” Erik pulled the phone out of his pocket and dialed. Sloane paced the room trying to think who would be able to take Bryant down if they needed to. His power was over one’s emotions, so he could make them feel like they didn’t want to attack him and that could be problematic for them. She thought maybe only she or Erik could take care of him. They would be able to fight his power, they were angry enough with him that nothing he did would change that. At least, she was angry enough to capture her father. She glanced to Erik. She wasn’t sure Erik was though. She filed that away for later and watched him as he talked on the phone.

  When Erik hung up, he looked to Sloane who was watching him with the blank stare indicating she was thinking hard about something. “So, Mike will be back here shortly. He lost Bryant, so he was eliciting some help from others around town and coordinating where some recent arrivals could stay. He says that everyone is ready to go whenever we figure out a plan.”

  “Good, we have the beginning of a plan let’s go fill Jess in on the situation and figure out the timing of everything as soon as Mike arrives.” She headed out of the room.

  Erik took another look at the drawing he just finished. He couldn’t believe that someone so trusted could be in league with demons, but he saw it in the woman’s thoughts and people can’t have deceptive thoughts. It’s the one place Erik could find honesty in people. He rushed out of the room, he had other things to worry about right now. The larger issue at hand would have to wait until his own city was dispossessed of their demon problem. He couldn’t believe how big this whole thing was, and how this all must have been planned under their noses the entire time. He had to talk with the order at some point to figure out how all this got passed them, and whether their top security structure was infiltrated. Bryant was a traitor, but he wondered how many others have been leaking information for them to be able to make this big of a mark on the current society. They’ve managed to not only come together
, but to possess some key people. Erik shook his head to clear it. He had to focus on the immediate task and worry about the other stuff later. Rest assured, he thought, this is only the beginning.

  Sloane was waiting at the table with Jess when Erik finally made it down. Sloane was pointing to the south exit and Jess was nodding.

  “What the hell were you doing up there? I thought you were right behind me.” She hadn’t moved, her focus was still intent on the blueprints. Her voice rang, a seriousness he hadn’t heard from her in a while. This Sloane was all business.

  “Ah, yeah.” Erik stuttered, “Lots on my mind I guess. Did you fill Jess in?” He walked over and stood between the two, his hand lightly brushing Jessie’s as he took his place beside her. He glanced over to her, meeting her eyes momentarily. His desire for her was sparked being this close to her. It’d been a long time since they’d been together but his desire for her hadn’t wavered. He wanted her as much now as when he’d left her a year ago.

  He hadn’t wanted to leave her but they both agreed their duty to the Shikari took precedence. He wasn’t sure why they thought that but at the time it was a reason. Their relationship had gotten too intense too fast and neither of them were ready for the backlash. Their desires distracted them from their job and he couldn’t bear to think of the consequence if they faltered at the wrong moment. He couldn’t imagine a world without Jessie in it. They agreed, they needed to step away from each other, focus on the job. At the time, it seemed like a logical idea. Now, standing this close to her and feeling heat radiate from her body, he wondered what the hell he was thinking to ever let her go. He let his gaze wander down her breasts, her rounded hips. Oh, how he wanted to taste every inch of her. He took a deep breath; his heart was racing.

  Jessie recognized the look of desire on his face and her cheeks flushed. She looked down to the floor then tried to focus on the blueprints.

  “Duh, Of course I filled her in. What do you think we were doing down here while you were up there lollygagging? What’s wrong with you anyway? We have a battle to fight tomorrow.” The side of her mouth lifted as she stared at her brother knowing that her words would bother him.

  Jess smiled up at Erik, “Why don’t you take a seat and we can talk about the plan for tomorrow.” She looked to Sloane, “Any idea what time the meeting is going to take place and what time the girl will actually go on?” Erik sat in the chair next to where Jessie stood. She placed her hand on his shoulder and kneaded it in circles. He forgot how she could calm him instantly with her touch.

  Sloane slouched, lost in thought then said, “I don’t know when she’ll speak just that she’ll be delayed. She’s too nervous to speak in front of all those people, so she’ll stall as long as possible and that will be our best shot at stopping this whole thing. We have to go in when everyone is confused about what’s going on. They’ll be easier to pick off then if we need to. Everyone is unsure how they’ll use the information they’ve obtained to take out the Shikari. We have to end this before they’re able to plan. If she makes it on stage, we won’t be able to stop them from sharing that information. We would be weakened. We can’t let that happen.” Sloane was fiercely determined when she spoke at the end. They had to save the order, even though they had problems, they were necessary. The Shikari had been saving humans from demon possession for centuries. They needed to continue to succeed for the fate of the entire human race.

  “So, we’ll enter through the south entrance, then I’ll freeze them. Shaundra gave me a boost, so I should be able to freeze the whole room. If not, I’ll run as fast as I can to the other side, so I can freeze everyone. Who’s going to cover me?” She glanced down to Erik. She stopped rubbing his shoulders.

  When he opened his mouth to answer, Mike interrupted. “I can cover you.” He walked up behind Sloane and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her against him.

  She leaned back into him. “Where’d you come from?” Everyone usually entered through the kitchen door. Mike had come through the living room.

  “I parked up front. I saw Shaundra on the way and she said you were in here planning our next move. I heard some on my way, I can cover you Jess, no one will get to you as long as I’m there.” He winked, and a laugh escaped her lips. Sloane craned her head back to look at him. She reached her hand up to stroke the stubble that covered his chin. She loved the feel of his whiskers. “Ever the hero,” she cooed.

  Erik chimed in, “Okay, good. Is Ashley in town yet? We could use her as another person to watch Jess’ back, if anyone gets near her she can throw them.”

  Mike nodded, “She’s staying at Jon’s right now. She’s ready to go as soon as I give her a call.”

  “Sloane do you know what time we’ll all need to be there?” Erik asked.

  Sloane looked up a moment remembering, “I believe it was around five tomorrow night. We should meet at the pub at three so that we’re all squared away before we go.” Mike squeezed her closer to him and she placed her arm over his and stroked his arm with her fingers.

  “Okay, Mike, can you let everyone know we’re meeting at the pub at three?” He looked over at Mike.

  “Yeah, I think I can manage that.” Mike dropped one hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He hit the button to illuminate the screen. “I’ll go call Ashley and a few others now unless there’s something else I should know.” He looked down to Erik.

  Sloane spoke, quickly. “We’ll be going in through the South entrance and Bryant will be there. He’s on the opposite side of the room from where we enter and he won’t freeze, so someone needs to deal with him while we deal with the demons.” Sloane squeezed his arm. She knew the only two people that could deal with Bryant were her and Erik. She wasn’t ready to admit that just yet. He turned Sloane around and kissed her quickly.

  Erik slouched over the table looking exhausted, “I’ll deal with Bryant.” He put both hands on the table then dropped his head in them before sweeping them through his hair and looking up. He was drawn and weary.

  Sloane looked sympathetic. She sat down next to him and turned to face him. “I think we’ll both have to deal with Bryant.” She glanced up toward Mike before he left. “Make sure there are enough people, so you guys can take care of the demons. We’ll take care of Bryant.” His name was filled with venom when she said it and Erik’s head jerked to meet her eyes. The malice was hard to miss. She would be able to handle her father’s betrayal, as far as she was concerned, she’d lost her father the same day she lost her mother. She blamed him for everything. He was the reason her mother had been killed. Any feelings she may have felt for her father, died with her mother.

  “Sure love, I think we can handle some demons for you.” His smile was slightly crooked when she looked at him. She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him toward her, capturing his mouth with her own.

  She tilted her head back. “I knew you could take care of all the heavy lifting for me.” She reached up and took his head in her hands and kissed him again. She was feeling playful now that he was around. She wanted to tease him just because it was fun.

  Jess looked at her, “I believe that will be me. What would y'all do without me?” She placed her hand back on Erik’s shoulder and he moved back so she could sit on his leg.

  “We’d all die, of course,” Sloane chided. She leaned down and wrapped one arm around Jess in a half hug.

  “I know you would,” she smiled. “So, are we all set cause I could use some sleep? Dealing with all those kids earlier took its toll.” She got up from Erik’s lap and yawned. Erik stood up behind her. He shared a secret glance with her.

  “Yeah, I think we’re set. There are several rooms upstairs you can sleep in, many of them are well furnished. My father allowed only the finest of furnishings, so you can sleep like the queen you are tonight.” Sloane smiled, wanting to relish in the moment.

  Erik shook his head, “He did furnish this place well. I’ll give him that. Would you like me to show you up to your room?
” He winked. He knew that Jessie knew the place well. She’d spent numerous nights in his room.

  Jess caught on quickly, “Why yes, I think I shall sleep like a queen tonight, please lead the way.”

  “I can show you.” She got up and beat Erik to the door. Jessie looked to Erik, and he whispered, “You know where to find me.” He kissed her on the cheek and she followed where Sloane just left. It had been a while since Sloane stayed here but Bryant hadn’t changed much in her absence. She planned on staying in her old room again tonight since nothing in it had changed since she left. It was like no one had even gone in there the entire time she was gone. Once Jess was settled, she went back down to the kitchen. She was starving and wanted to see if the boys wanted to order some food before they all crashed in preparation for the coming day.

  She walked in the kitchen and the conversation stopped abruptly when she entered. She looked from Mike to Erik and back to Mike again. “What’s going on guys?” She looked from one guilty face to the other, knowing they’d just been talking about her.

  “Nothing, just planning for tomorrow.” Erik said, looking to Mike quickly and then back to Sloane.

  “Whatever, I know that’s not true, but anyway, I was thinking about ordering pizza are you guys hungry?” She walked to the counter and hoisted herself up.

  “Yeah, I could eat,” Mike walked over, positioning himself between her legs. He kissed her deeply, exploring her mouth with his, then nipping her lip before retreating.

  “I think I’m going to vomit,” Erik said. He looked away from them studying the end of the counter hard.

  “Whatever Erik, I’m ordering pizza and you can go back to having the conversation you didn’t want me to hear.” She jumped down from the counter, turned on her heel and headed back into the living room to make her call. Since they were leaving her out of something she decided to order pineapple on her pizza. When finished, she rested back on the sofa and turned on the TV. Longing to do something normal for a little while before the chaos tomorrow, she sat back and surrendered to thinking about nothing.