* * *
“It’s more reasonable if we do it this way,” Thornton argued, sitting on the ground and pouring metallic sand around himself. “I’m not powerful enough to plunge the whole planet into a deep freeze, and nothing like that is recorded here anyway. I imagine that the last time someone used power like that was 20,000 years ago, and it was probably a group of pureblooded gods. I plan to create a concentrated blizzard for an area roughly the size of a city, and intensify it as much as I possibly can. Will that work?”
“I hope so,” Pax said. “I just need a decent window to break Amara free. I’m not even sure how I’m going to manage that.”
“There won’t be much of a window, I’m afraid.” Thornton used both hands to smooth his blonde hair, a nervous habit. He immediately placed his hands down over the metal dust and began to release a stream of vivid blue prana into the metal. “I’ll create a bubble with several miles radius, but I’ll have to constantly feed my energy into the atmosphere to sustain the artificial temperature. It’s a heavy-duty task, Paxie. It will take all my concentration and power, and I’ll probably only manage to hold it for a minute. Then you will have to use your relocation technique to teleport us the hell out of there. No room for failures, okay?”
“Okay,” she answered. “What do we do about the Asura woman, Suja?”
“I don’t know,” Thornton said. “Let’s get Mara home first, and worry about her later. It seems like her main goal was to separate you from us and attract you to her side—so if she sees that you’ve still got backup, and you march in there with an army, maybe it will dissuade her from attacking us any further.”
Pax smiled. “Are you my army?”
“Always.”
Pax lowered her eyes to gaze at the blue prana circle. She chewed on her lip for a second. “I’m really upset with you, Thorn.”
“I know.”
“Sorry for beating the crap out of you a whole bunch of times.”
Thornton smiled. “Stop distracting me now. This is the part where I need to focus.”
“Okay. Thanks for being on my side again.”
“Pax, you’re my best friend. Nothing else matters.” Thornton reached up with one hand, removing his glasses from his face and handing them to her. She took the metal frame and quickly returned it to his desk as he began to chant in Sumerian. The turquoise colored energy continued to pour forth from his hands, creating a chill in the room.
Pax returned to kneel before him, spellbound as his eyes glowed blue to match the prana leaving his body. The tone in his voice as he chanted was raw and precise, and it sent a chill through her to witness him being so authoritative and focused.
He was never like this at the office. Thornton was always tense and high-strung when surrounded by piles of paperwork, and he always gave the impression of someone wanting to curl up into a ball and die. His classic office-posture was to sit with his head in his hands. It was part of the reason that she had tried to visit him as often as possible, and bring him food to cheer him up. He hated his job as much as she hated the hospital—they both had chosen their work to please their families, but it was far worse for Thornton. The reputation of his family’s company depended on him.
The cyan swirls of prana which rose from the circle tossed cool waves of air around them. Pax gazed in admiration as Thornton’s blonde hair wafted back from his forehead, blowing wildly in the breeze. His voice grew louder as the incantation became more challenging. His arms began to shake and a vein visibly pulsated in his forehead. As he gritted his teeth and struggled with the technique, the muscles in his arms and neck grew taut with his determination.
This was the man she had fallen in love with. Pax swallowed, swept away in the aura of masculinity that she felt in his energy as it closed in all around her. Without thinking, she reached across the circle and grasped his hands, feeding her own prana into the incantation with him. He did not pause in his chanting, but locked his eyes with hers and tightened his grip on her hands. Their fingers interlaced; his icy cold digits linking between her burning fingertips and finally descending to touch her palms.
Shivers ran through her, and not because of the temperature or the energy. Pax realized as she stared into his luminous eyes that she was not touching him to help out with the incantation. She was using the magick as an excuse to touch him. Watching him practice was a spiritual experience; the dominance in his voice as he chanted was hypnotic. He was completely in his element, and his element was power.
Whenever Thornton removed his glasses, her body began to hum with excitement. It usually meant that impressive events were about to go down, and this time was no exception.
Teleport us now! One minute, Pax. The shield is about to go up, and that’s all the time you’ll have.
I’m used to working with budgeted time, she responded as she released one of his hands and touched it to her own solar plexus.
Chapter 20: Inside this Body
When they arrived on Venus, Pax was pleasantly surprised by her own good aim. They arrived directly in the large room of the palace where Amara was being held prisoner. She immediately moved away from Thornton and flew to the fjuyen pyramid. There was still a neon green glow visible over Amara’s body.
I’m back, Mara. Are you hanging in there?
Ash? The telepathic voice was feeble.
Pax placed her hand on the transparent fjuyen material. No, it’s me. Your big brother’s here and we’re going to bust you out!
Where’s Ash? Amara asked wretchedly. I need him.
Ignoring this because she did not quite know how to respond, Pax focused her energy on breaking apart the pyramid prison. Just hang in there, Mara. I’ll get you out. Channeling her prana to what she believed was the weakest point of the structure, Pax tried to use her mind to force a crack in the fjuyen. Harder than diamond, my ass! She summoned every ounce of grit she possessed.
Pax suddenly felt sharp Obake claws rip across her thigh, and she levitated away from the pyramid in surprise. She turned back to observe Thornton as the blonde man struggled to hold up the shield.
“What’s wrong?” she asked him. “Isn’t it working?”
Thornton growled as a pair of claws slashed across his own chest. “It’s not activated yet. I can’t get it to work.”
“Do you need my help?” she asked, already flying back down to him.
“No!” he shouted. “If you waste all your energy on the shield then you’ll pass out and we won’t be able to free Mara and teleport back. It’ll be a waste.”
“Try harder,” she encouraged. “You can do it.”
“No, I can’t. I’m sorry, Pax. I can’t manage to control the shape of the shield and fill it with enough prana at the same time.”
She moved to dodge an Obake that she could sense was moving to attack her. “Let me help a little…”
“We have to go back to Earth and get a new strategy,” Thornton said.
“Thorn! Your sister is going nuts up there,” Pax said frantically. “She has energy sucking bugs digging into her skin and we can’t leave her trapped in that pyramid for even an hour more…”
“She’s safe, Pax. She’s not going to be killed…”
“But she’s scared!” Pax insisted. “She’s not tough like us. She keeps calling me Ash and I know there’s a family resemblance but do I look like a retarded, macho, nincompoop, freak of…”
“What did you say?”
Pax dodged another invisible beast, realizing that she was learning to see them better without actually seeing them. “That I’m not a retarded, macho, nincompoop…”
“Ash!” Thornton said abruptly. “Get Ash now!”
“Are you serious?” she asked. She felt that he was about to be attacked, and she dove forward, grabbing an invisible clawed Obake hand before it connected with Thornton’s face. She reached out and twisted the creature’s head sharply, killing it instantly.
“Thanks. I can’t put up the shield on my own,” Thornton gasped
. Every inch of his skin was moistened with sweat, and his blonde hair was sticking to his forehead and cheeks. “It’s harder than I anticipated. You have to get Ash.”
“Why?” she yelled, as she continued to fight the Obake around them.
“There’s a coalescence technique,” Thornton said, struggling to control the icy blue energy around him. “Ash and I can join our bodies together and it will increase our power by at least ten times. We should be able to manage this then.”
Pax paused in her fighting, turning to look at Thornton nervously. So he was aware of the coalescence technique. An Obake used her moment of distraction to slash her across the stomach, and she screamed. In rage, she lashed out and shoved her own hand completely through the creature’s stomach. She was almost sure that she broke a nail on its spine. “I can’t leave you unprotected!” Pax said. “There are too many of these things.”
The muscles in Thornton’s arms strained to hold up the portion of the shield he had already erected. “Just go! I’ll be fine. Hurry, Pax!”
She nodded quickly and moved her hand to her bleeding stomach. “Be safe,” she whispered as her body disappeared. Thornton returned his attention to the shield, concentrating to keep it from dissipating. At the same time, he could sense the Obake creatures closing in around him. His eyes drifted back and forth from invisible being to invisible being. When they lunged at him, he tried to divide a portion of his prana into fighting them, but there were too many. He was able to deflect some of the blows, while several claws sneaked past his defenses to slice at his body.
“Enough!” commanded a white-haired woman as she glided into the room. “A handsome visitor is so rare in these parts. Let us not shred him like mozzarella.”
Thornton groaned at this analogy. “You’ll find my texture is closer to tough beef.”
“Thorn, dear boy! How good to see you again,” Suja remarked.
“Again? We haven’t been introduced,” Thornton said. He knew that he needed to stall for time until Pax returned, and gods and goddess loved to waste time on big ceremonious introductions. He nervously glanced up at the pyramid holding his sister.
“How rude of me to forget to welcome you to the Palace of Ishtar,” Suja said. She curtsied slightly to Thornton, and as her head lowered, her hair began to change color once more. The white tendrils snaked and writhed until they became ginger-dyed waves. When she looked up again, her clothes began transforming from stately, flowing robes into a professional pinstriped business suit. She ran her tongue along her top lip almost hungrily as she toyed with her new red hair.
“Perhaps you remember me like this?” she purred. “The last time we met, I was inside this body. And so were you.”
* * *
When Pax completed her teleport to Earth, she found herself standing before the strongest life force on the planet. She considered asking him for help, but he sneered at her and seemed prepared to toss a handful of popcorn into her face.
“Girl, the humans are all abuzz about this phenomenon called ‘game night.’ I have placed bets on this spectacle and if you don’t quit blocking the television, I will destroy you.”
“Sorry, Vince.”
What a serious man, she thought to herself. I shouldn’t bother him. Covering her wounds with her hands, she began teleporting to Asher. Of course, she failed again.
Times Square. Elephant Graveyard. Sahara Desert. Each time she botched the technique, she grew more and more frustrated. Finally, Pax found herself standing on the edge of an extremely high skyscraper. She was about to try teleporting again when she heard a voice behind her.
“What’s up, cupcake?”
“Ash!” she said, pivoting in midair. Her eyes widened when she saw that her uncle was leaning against the railing and smoking. “Are you smoking? Forget it, explain later. Amara’s in trouble.”
“Sorry,” he said, dropping his cigarette and crushing it under his shoe sheepishly. “What’s going on? Pax! What the hell happened to your stomach?”
“Would you risk your life to save Mara?”
His eyes narrowed. “In a heartbeat.”
“Great. Let’s go.”
“Wha—”
When Pax grabbed her uncle and initiated the relocation technique, she clenched her eyes tightly and hoped it would work. She focused on the distant feeling of Thornton’s shield, and his weakening energy signal. When she was able to open her eyes again, she saw that Amara’s pyramid was inches away from her nose. She breathed in relief and released her uncle.
Asher fell a few feet before catching himself, shocked at being suddenly dematerialized. He reached out and touched the fjuyen pyramid tentatively. Mara? he asked in confusion.
Ash, she moaned. They’re eating my life away…
Meanwhile, Pax was staring down at the scene unfolding below them. She noticed that Suja had changed form, and the particular form was causing her blood to boil.
“Perhaps you remember me like this?” Suja was saying in a seductive voice. “The last time we met, I was inside this body. And so were you.”
“Karina?” Thornton asked furiously.
“Mmm,” she responded, walking up to him. Her patent leather heels clinked on the floor as she approached him and dragged a fingernail over his chest. “So you do remember.”
“You did this?” Pax asked. She didn’t wait for an answer before her body burst into flames hotter than Venus. “You did this!”
Suja smiled deviously as she glanced back over her shoulder. She continued to stroke Thornton’s chest possessively. “Did what? Had some fun with your lover? Sure. If either of you had looked deeper than the surface, you would have been able to tell I was hitching a ride in that pathetic human’s body.”
“So I didn’t actually kill someone?” Pax asked as she advanced on the woman. “You just made everyone think I was a murderer?”
“No, you totally killed her,” Suja said cheerfully. “I hightailed it out of her body before you attacked her. I prefer to make love, not war.”
Pax raised a hand to launch a fireball at Suja’s face, and the woman pursed her lips, blowing a gust of prana forth which turned the fireball into red feathers. “That wasn’t nice, Pax. In fact, I’m starting to think you’re not a nice girl. Poor Karina Allbright had a major crush on Thorn. She was jealous of you, and just wanted one night when she could feel…”
“Shut up!” Pax shouted, clenching her fists to her sides. The flames consuming her body swept out several feet around her.
Pax! Thornton yelled telepathically. She’s distracting you from Mara. Direct your anger at the pyramid. When Pax nodded, he changed the channel of his thoughts and focused on his dark-haired friend. Ash! Get down here and join your body with mine so that I can put up this shield.
Asher had been staring through the transparent pyramid in horror. “She hates bugs,” he whispered.
Ash! Thornton’s voice bellowed into his brain. Coalescence technique, now!
Coming. The slightly younger man flew down to his friend and touched his fingertips to Thornton’s. I’m not sure if I remember how to do this, buddy. It’s been a long while.
You have to remember. My sister needs us.
Asher nodded and closed his eyes as he began releasing his energy. Be in me. Be of me. Be with me. Only but fragments, let us be whole. He had almost allowed the magenta glow to cover Thornton’s arms when Suja began shouting orders to her Obake.
“Stop them!” Suja barked at her invisible guards. They immediately advanced on Asher, attacking him from behind with weapons instead of their claws.
Asher swiveled and caught an invisible sword in his hand. “I don’t think so,” he said, ripping the weapon away from the invisible guard and impaling the creature’s head with the blunt end. Asher lifted both hands and released an acidic dark orange wave which melted the Obake advancing on him.
You have to join with me now, Ash, Thornton was demanding. I’m about to lose the shield.
Nodding, Asher turned and cl
enched his friend’s hands and let out a yell as he surrendered the form of his body completely. Seamlessly we unite, soul to soul; my heart is half yours this half hour. His energy rushed out in the color of magenta, surrounding Thornton and finally transforming the two men in a blinding white, iridescent inferno.
Even Suja lifted her arm to shield her eyes from the overwhelming luminosity. The mighty woman cursed under her breath when she sensed the power increase the deva men had undergone.
Pax had never been on the outside of a bodily fusion. When the magenta glow gave away to a pure white glare, she felt the pain of sharp arrows stabbing through her eyeballs and she hadn’t even been looking directly at the men. She had been studying the fjuyen pyramid and trying to determine how to break Amara out, but the light reflected sharply off the surface of the foreign substance. Pax had to close her eyes, and she imagined the center of the white dwarf star from which the mineral had been extracted. Surely there was a way to cut the fjuyen if Suja had forced it into the shape of a pyramid?
“Wow,” Suja said when the light finally died down and one man was left standing where two had previously stood. “Wow. And I thought they were attractive before.”
With an introduction like this, Pax could not resist stealing a glance down over her shoulder to behold the merger of Thornton and Asher. Her eyes widened as she observed the shoulder-length indigo locks that framed the man’s chiseled face. His eyes were of deepest midnight-sapphire, almost identical to Para’s ethereal coloring. Pax was unable to resist allowing her eyes to travel down over the man’s body hungrily, and she found every aspect of him to be angular and pleasing.
“Wow,” breathed Pax, as she looked at the merger of Thornton and Asher. “Wow, guys. You just became, like, muscle-magazine buff.”
“How do you like this mozzarella, baby?” the colossal man asked with a hostile leer. “I am Ashton, a fucking raw filet mignon. Sink your teeth in me, woman. Chances are you’ll choke.” His voice was deep and filled with foreboding. Pax shivered, realizing that she did not know this man. There was no familiarity in the metallic tone of his voice, and she hoped he was still on her side.
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