by S. E. Akers
Enough of this freakshow! Just as I bent down to grab my purse, the little winged-terror was on me, clearly out for more blood. And the little bastard got it too. Starting at my ankles, the creature swiftly spiraled his way up, down, and all around my frame, leaving a relentless trail of sliced fabric and flesh in its path. Desperate, I whirled like a tornado around the room, my arms pulling and smacking, trying to get the savage creature off. Its skin turned out to be quite slick, like grasping at something dipped in gooey baby oil, so it was hard to get a firm enough grip. Despite my repeated blows and no matter how many things I crashed into, I couldn’t for the life of me get the daggone thing to let go. It didn’t even budge when I banged it against the wall — none of the ten plus times.
Fueled by frustration, I let out a thunderous grunt and threw my head back into the armoire. The panels caved in and to my good fortune, pinned the aggressive little beast in place. I managed to get a lock on one of its slippery legs. Down my diamond-laced fingernails went, sinking deep into its flesh. The creature screeched out a heinous howl, but its ironclad hold remained secure. My strike had simply made it madder and sent the creature coiling around my head in a vengeful fit, ripping its claws into my face at every agonizing twist and turn. A close call with my right eye sent me scrambling for a new strategy. Anxiously, I concentrated on the energy from both my lapis lazuli and golden topaz. Either one would have conjured a good enough gust, but I wasn’t taking any chances. This little S.O.B. was coming off!
Without a second to lose, I aimed my palms and forced out a roaring gale. The creature lost its grasp on my head but was holding steady as he clasped onto my hair, whipping like a billowy flag in a violent storm. I dug in my heels and focused on my diamond’s power for a much-needed boost. Thankfully that did the trick. My tresses fell against my back weightlessly once its hold had broken. I spun around to watch the creature smash into a tall chest of drawers. It crashed to the ground with the rest of the wood debris in a daze. I raced to my purse with no time to waste. To my sheer delight, my fingers sensed the comforting cross-like shape on their first sweep. The diamond blade shot out of the hilt like a shining savior as soon as it emerged from my bag.
With the creature down for the count, I arched the wand high over its body. My muscles paused long enough for me to release an unexpected gasp. Then with a speedy shove, fury forced my brow to dive into a sharp V. Seeing a nice chunk of my dark-blonde strands clamped in one of its talons was all it took for my blade to come down strong with a blow straight through its chest. A putrid glob of goopy, dark blood shot into the air and splattered all around. Gross. Spit shot from my mouth faster than green grass through a goose as I rose to my feet. I raked the back of my hand across my lips before another gag could force out a second sickening round. Yuck… It tasted just as bad as it looked.
Winded, I stared at the vile creature while I seethed about the other one who had graciously carted the damn thing to my room. After a furious spin, I marched towards the door. The bronze knob may have yielded to every one of my feisty turns, but the damn thing wouldn’t open—no matter how many times or how hard I twisted, not one liberating “pop”—and I could tell it didn’t have a single ounce of brass. UGH! The way I felt right now about my makeshift dungeon cell, I could punch a daggone hole big enough through the locked metal slab to bust my way out and kick the crafty-handed house steward’s conniving ass.
I’d no sooner cocked back my arm when a growling grunt stopped me dead in my tracks. I cast a wary look over my shoulder to find the creature rising from the floor amidst the clutter of wood scraps. My mouth fell open, aghast by the scene playing out before my eyes. This creature was still alive, even with my diamond blade piercing its chest.
“No way . . .” I mumbled out loud. There was only one of two things it could be: I’d either missed its heart (or whatever vital organ that was giving it life) or this was one of those “immortal” monsters Bea had disclosed that couldn’t die — the kind my destiny decreed I was to ferry to some other supernatural, prison-like realm. Wherever the heck that was! Considering this thing was able to successfully sever my flesh without its talons bearing the first diamond speck, I was banking on fateful Number-Two. The only thing worse than that dismaying revelation was seeing my weapon out of its chest and now gripped firmly in its vengeful, knotty-knuckled claws.
This is bad, I groaned quietly. Then the ballsy beast flipped my blade in the air and caught it with a fangy grin locked dead on me.
Correction… Worse than bad.
I dove under the bed in a flash. I’d barely gotten under there too when the diamond blade came spearing through the mattress. Every one of my evasive rolls was met by another close call with MY WEAPON. Rage forced my muscles into action. I pushed against the mattress and with the help of a stout gust I sent the entire bed sailing across the room. Then I sprang to my feet and raced over to locate the creature. After sifting through the scraps of mahogany littering the floor, I flipped over the mattress and began hunting through the mound of bed linens. Even after turning the entire mess inside-out twice, the vile creature was still nowhere to be found — and neither was my wand. I edged around the room, my steps slow and vigilant. The little bastard was hiding somewhere. But where?
I spied a switch plate on the wall behind me and quickly doused the lights, hoping to catch if anything, the diamond’s glow. My plan worked, too well in fact. I ducked out of the way just as I saw the blade come streaking towards my head. It had been hiding up high, camouflaging the diamond’s gleam with the bright lights beaming from the crystal chandelier. Unkillable and clever too. Just as I was about to yank the wand out the wall, the little winged-monster soared down and dug its talons into my hand, thwarting my attempt. The more I tried to shake the creature off, the deeper it bore into my flesh. Junkyard Pit Bulls had more give in their ferocious grip.
Hoping to find a weakness, I hurried to the bathroom and dove into the tub. Water rocked around us like a stormy sea as I wrestled the creature to the bottom. I wasn’t sure if it was the sea-salt or the water, but something began to loosen its death-lock. The next thing I knew, my hand was free and my relentless little attacker went flopping over the edge of the tub. Not only had the supernatural creature shrunk back to its original size, but it also seemed to be unable to fly as it lay there with barely enough energy to stretch its wings and gasping for air. The domed silver lid was lying on the floor just outside the bathroom. After a speedy scan, I located its bottom plate and then rose from the water to collect what I now knew was its “cage”. With one swift and guided scoop, my little winged assailant was trapped to the tune of a triumphant “clang”. I didn’t sense any noise or movements coming from inside the serving dome. In fact, the only sounds I heard were my own winded gasps starting to mellow out now that my hellish lunch-date was over. I placed the fancy container down on the floor, confident that the silver was keeping the monster securely at bay.
With a solemn gaze, I looked all around the formerly posh and pristine quarters. There wasn’t a piece of furniture still standing, nor a single wall that wasn’t minus some sheetrock somewhere. One, in particular, looked as holey as a slice of Swiss cheese. My blood splattered various spots throughout the room. That was bad, but my reflection that I’d caught in a half-shattered, full-length cheval mirror proved way worse. Supernatural road-kill — warmed over. I pushed back my sopping wet hair to get a better look. Through a set of smeared raccoon-eyes I spied several claw marks etched on my face that were still trickling blood. I thought my lip had been cut, but that just turned out to be my lipstick smudged down to my chin. There was a plus. And of course, I stood there yet again eyeing another shredded outfit destine for the trash. I turned slowly to scope out the damage. Lacerations galore, I grumbled with my pivot complete. At least my clothes had provided me some protection, though not much. No need for that “needle and thread” NOW. The longer I stared into the oval mirror dwelling on that one remark, the faster my pulse raced. All I could se
e was red, along with two white-knuckled fists glaring back at me.
The sound of a lock “clicking” snapped me out of my heated trance, and the “knocks” on the bronze door that followed beat in my head like a drum. I eyed the sheen of the silver dome as I collected it off the floor.
Perfect timing, I affirmed, my grin equally as wry as my brow.
With my vilest of scowls loaded and cocked, I threw open the now unlocked bronze door. My face froze on the spot. Tanner. Oh, his seductive eyes sure “sparked” all right, just as he took a staggering step back because of my unhinged and horrid appearance. There wasn’t even an ounce of excitement that I’d imagined him mirroring, just a confounded pair of hazel irises struggling to process the bloody and bedraggled blonde train-wreck before him. Ugh… This was soooo not the way I wanted our eyes to meet.
The handsome Amethyst Talisman snapped out of his stupor and glanced past me to peer into the wrecked room, forcing that enticing mouth of his to droop even further. It really bottomed out when he noticed my diamond blade sticking out of the wall.
Tanner began sluggishly, “WH—WHAT HAPPENED?”
I was about to answer when Silas stepped into the doorway. The sight of him puckered my lips with as much force as the crimp seizing my eyes. Tanner followed my fiery stare to the house steward.
“Did you find your lunch disagreeable, Ms. Wallace?” Silas posed.
“It was a little too rare for my taste,” I grumbled. Tanner tilted his head to the silver dome in my hands. His eyes seemed to almost flicker with a building suspicion the longer he focused on the deep gashes carved into my cheeks.
Tanner turned to Silas and pointed to the dome. “Tell me that’s not —”
“Yes. It is,” Silas confirmed, unabashed. “Did you not ask that I procure it before you left?”
Tanner looked particularly mindful while he stood there with his mouth cracked open, motionless and mute.
The house steward straightened his stance. “She wanted to start training as soon as possible. I assumed by the timing of your request that this lesson was first on your agenda.” Silas gave his shoulders an innocent shrug. “She seemed eager.”
My eyes shot over to Tanner. Anger began churning inside me like thick fiery-orange globs. “You had that thing procured for me?” I questioned, trying my damnedest not to erupt.
“Yes,” Tanner replied, “But—”
“FOR MY FIRST LESSON?” I blasted in a grumble, almost biting my tongue in half. Tanner’s silence spoke volumes while I stood there ranting to myself, TODAY? OF ALL DAYS? THE DAGGONE SECOND I GET HERE? His mouth began to move, but the slope of my brow forced the unswervingly outspoken Talisman into a prudent lock on his lips, warily cutting his own self off. I knew I should have taken it as a BAD SIGN when he wasn’t here to greet me. It seemed I’d read far too much into “spending the summer with him” and the cutesy remark he’d made just last week about, “that’s when the fun begins”. UGH! Yet again, I had committed the Holy Grail of pitfalls for women everywhere and the mother of all reasons why XX chromosomes aren’t running the world. IDIOT!
I tapped my foot firmly on the floor. “Are they poisonous?” I demanded.
“No,” they both assured in unison.
“A wound from an imp is just harder to heal — but they won’t scar,” Tanner added with a wince and extended his fingers towards my cheek.
I jerked back and averted my gaze pointedly. I couldn’t look at him right now. Not with the deluge of dreamy thoughts I’d had about this moment spinning my head like a top. The weight of his hand hovering there forced all the disappointment I felt from my less-than-perfect arrival to rush over me, where it mercifully ended with one heck of an eye-opening revelation. To him, I was still a little girl in need of much more schooling — that was clear. That was my mentor’s apparent first focus. Who knows? Maybe it was his only one?
“Good to know,” I replied with a deadpan stare and then whisked off the dome lid, sending the little winged devil into the hall. Casually, I removed my amethyst pendant from around my neck and left it hanging on the outside knob of the bronze door. The metal slab came to a slow close amidst the sight of the vicious imp tirelessly smacking Tanner in the face while it dug a nice notch in Silas’ arm. I propped myself against the door with a smile, gloating about the shiny silver trophy I held in my possession, which was far from the reach of their cunning little hands.
Bon appétit, boys… Bet they didn’t see that one comin’!
CHAPTER 2
A rocking wave spilled over the edge of the tub and landed on the floor with a “splat”. “AGHRR!” I growled, after concluding my umpteenth visual inspection. Hours had passed without the sea-salt making a decent dent, AND I was wearing my daggone healing moonstone! Half of my thoughts raced about how that creature could have made the slightest scratch while the other stewed with disgust. Silas being here… My mentor’s apparent game plan… Yeah, he failed to put THAT in his brochure. But in all fairness, I wasn’t without fault. I’d never been biased when it came to the direction of where my guilty finger pointed and fully accepted my share of the blame — forty-nine percent, of course. I knew I’d built this day up in my mind. If wishful thoughts were stones, my fairy tale tower soared higher than Rapunzel’s. Expectations always seemed to be my undoing. Message from the cosmos: RECEIVED! I just wished I’d gotten a warm reception. And not so red-freakin’-hot, I grumbled and then splashed back down in the tub.
A sigh forced a bubbly stream from my mouth, fueled by a heaviness weighing in my chest. My eyes tracked the graceful trail of effervescence to the surface, which sadly seemed to trigger even more grief.
I REALLY miss Bea.
My two clever conspirators were out there for a right good while wrestling with that thing. And it served them right, too! I assumed they finally managed to cage the little beast when all the cussin’ and crashin’ had ceased, because I sure didn’t hear a peep out of Tanner. He didn’t even pound out one little knock on my door. Then again, I’d intentionally left the other end of our two-way line hanging on the outside knob. He had to have seen it, like I’d wanted.
I breathed out a bitter sigh. At the time…
Even though the therapeutic effects of my sulk-’n-soak were nowhere near complete, I dragged myself out of the tub after spying the time. A quarter till ten. My stomach couldn’t resist taking a peek, seeing how I’d skipped dinner in a purposeful pout and my late lunch had wanted more of a bite out of me. The stubborn gal who’d stewed the day away started clearing a spot to crash, but the starving chick who was dying to bust loose ultimately shoved my headstrong rear towards the door. Thankfully it was unlocked—this time—and not a soul in sight. Another plus. A warm glow streaming from a trail of torches guided me back up to the house. Oh, I brought my hilt. I wasn’t about to traipse a-n-y-w-h-e-r-e without that security blanket in hand. I tallied another blessing when I passed through the wards covering the doorway without sounding any noisy alarms (or any other kind, I didn’t think), though I still opted for a covert jaunt to the kitchen. “Invisible” for Silas and “speedy” for Tanner. Even with my veil, the Amethyst Talisman could still sense me.
A stillness fanned throughout the shadowy house. I assumed from the lonely vibe and doused lights that they’d both turned in for the evening. The flush from the golden topaz’s cloak served as an ample guide to the kitchen and helped steer me through the foreign room without too much racket. I wasn’t in the mood for a full-on meal, but the thought of some cereal sure hit my sweet spot — the perfect late-night treat. I finally scored a box of Cheerios (it just took opening roughly twenty-plus cabinet doors). My equally tiring search for a simple bowl ended when my hands ran across the first dish-like container with some size. That’ll do, I grinned and then dumped over half the box into the enormous mixing bowl. I tolerated the refrigerator’s limited selection of goat’s milk, strictly out of desperation. It wasn’t like I’d never drunk it before. It was white and tasted like milk, but
it left a ring of foam that rivaled a frothy mug of beer. However tomorrow, SOMEBODY was going to the store. The only thing left was to snag a little sugar. My hand flinched to a halt before landing on the second largest canister. After a revealing wave of my hilt, I used the diamond blade to lift up the lid and peeked into the pot.
Nothing but sweet little grains, I noted, feeling more than relieved. Call me crazy, but I wasn’t taking ANY CHANCES!
Ten minutes was all it took to inhale my snack and rid the kitchen of any evidence. My stealthy stroll back to the basement was markedly slower. The glow from the golden topaz illuminated an endless stream of curious-looking artifacts scattered here and there. I kind of felt like it was after-hours at a museum. I honestly didn’t pay too much attention to them when Silas had shown me around earlier, through no one’s fault but my own. How can you focus on anything when you’re lookin’ through a pair of daggone dreamy eyes? Most of the Amethyst Talisman’s memorabilia seemed combative in nature and practically spanned every culture across the globe. Very impressive. You could tell by the way they were arranged so meticulously that he held them in the highest regard. A complete suit of armor stood on display in one of the niches. A tiny spotlight highlighted the metal’s numerous dents and dings. The knight who’d worn this hulking getup had received a proper christening, rest assured. Then there was an extensive collection of tribal spears mounted on one of the walls. Their timeworn shafts and nicked blades left no doubt that they’d seen their fair share of kills. One particular article called to me like an enticing whisper. My fingers traced the seams of the weathered leather harness strapped to the chest of a marble bust with a curious sweep, paying particular attention to the spots where its shell had been pierced. An uneasy feeling cropped up and grew more and more intense the longer I rubbed the frayed edges of the ancient gladiator garb. Tanner had held a ringside seat for the destruction of Pompeii. Seeing this slap-in-the-face reminder made me truly acknowledge just how worldly and mature my mentor was. Talk about feeling insecure. No wonder he constantly called me, “little girl”. Compared to him, I was. He had experienced so much. My puny eighteen and a half years paled in comparison to his two-thousand plus. I didn’t even want to take a stab at how many untold numbers of girls, or rather women he had “shared company with” over the years. What they were like? How pretty they were? How many times he had been in love? And what had I racked up on my dance card? A one-sided crush since kindergarten, several healing and mind-zapping pecks, and one questionable kiss from him to supposedly sober me up? The salt bowl beside the tub in my bathroom had more seasoning than my romantic résumé. Ugh… For the first time in my life, I even viewed my virginity as a crutch. Deep down I knew it wasn’t (really deep down), but it was simply one more thing that reminded me of just how inexperienced I was with everything — supernatural skills included. That’s why I was here this summer, wasn’t it? My sole purpose?