She sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the bookcase where she had easy access to the papers and books she’d stored down there. Flipping through the notebook in her hand, she scanned through the pages, her finger gliding down as she turned each one. She slammed that one shut and grabbed another as I dropped down next to her. She opened that one and repeated the process until her finger halted in the middle of a page. She stopped to read, then set that notebook to one side, still open to the page, before reaching for another.
Curious, I tried to see what the book said, but I couldn’t read the writing, particularly upside down. Nygard wandered into the room, coming to me, edging up against my thigh. Without thinking, I scratched his ears and rubbed his head as he settled against me. I felt the energy flow from him, not even needing to confirm it. I was getting used to the soothing, but invigorating, tendrils of power that connected us together. The same power he could use to magnify my energy blast. As much as I didn’t want to risk him, I needed that boost. I’d be taking Nygard with us when we went for Janna.
“Ah, there it is!” Orielle set another notebook down and pulled out a book with maps on it. “I knew I’d read that name somewhere. It was in an old manuscript translated by a priest from Inca runes.
“I thought it would be an older name. Is it on the map?”
“You are right. It is older. The runes said it was an old legend and the name was an entry to the palace of a god. No one dared to go there. It is not on the map, but it should be near the ruins of Caral if the manuscript is correct.” Her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as she laughed. “I believe that yiaiwa gave us the name because he believes we wouldn’t know what or where it is.”
“Actually, I think it came from Belphegor. I heard his voice in my mind. Do you think he wants us to go there?”
Her smile faded. “Maybe. It could be a ruse to get you there. Or he is the one who thinks we will not be able to find it.”
She opened the map book and flipped to a close-up page of the area surrounding Caral Her finger traced a weaving line to the northeast and stopped. “Here. It should be right in this area and likely hidden in a cave or grotto of some sort.”
I studied the area she indicated, a map section about the size of a silver dollar. “It could take months to find it,” I mumbled.
“That is why I am going to ask for a search team to begin scouting for it. They can do scans to look for any indications of an uncharted village in the area or anything that may show an anomaly. If a portal exists, then it should give a reading of some kind that will show up on our equipment. Azafera was a mythical entry to the underworld in the ancient language.”
I noticed that she pronounced the name differently than I’d heard in my head, more like ‘asa-fe-rah” than “azy-fera” like the demon had said. Possibly the difference came from actually hearing the word and reading it thousands of years after someone had translated it from some glyphs on a rock. A miracle they even came close to the name. I opened my mouth to correct her pronunciation when my phone rang. I glanced at it, saw it was Moss, and decided I should take it.
I retreated to my room to talk while Orielle went about the business of arranging her search team. While I wondered how the organization worked and financed everything, funding didn’t appear to be an issue. I could never have battled the yiaiwa without the help, I grudgingly admitted. Whether I care much for the anthropologist or not, our fortunes appeared to be tied together for now.
“What’s up, Moss?” I asked as I shut the door behind me and dropped onto my bed, pulling my legs up to cross them.
“Just giving you an update on a couple of things. First, we have a lead on the Mitchell case. The man you described is the fiancée’s cousin. Apparently, he was pretty angry about the way Mitchell treated her. We pulled him in this morning, but I can’t say much else.”
“At least, you found him. Maybe Roger will be vindicated.” If the cousin orchestrated his death, I hoped he would be convicted. I knew it would take more than the evidence they had to do it though.
“Second thing is I want to say I’m sorry we didn’t move on Jensen sooner. We’d hoped the tail on him might lead to Sarkis, but we flat out missed that the perp was in Reno.”
“Yeah, that was unexpected,” I answered as my eyes drifted to a blood stain that had refused to wash out of my bedspread. Sarkis’ blood, not mine. A reminder of how close he’d come. “But I’m glad it’s over. About that—”
“No,” he interrupted. “I don’t want to know anything more than what’s in the police report. Keep it to yourself.”
Well, that wasn’t subtle, but it was his way of saying he knew something hinky went on, and it was best left unsaid. So be it.
As I end the call, I felt a chill breeze in the room and the sense of motion behind me. I turned my head and caught my breath. Zoe’s spirit had zipped in and floated a little off the floor right next to my headboard.
“You surprised me,” I said. “I’ve been trying to reach you.”
“I know. I hung out by the gate a while, but Nick never came that way. Do you suppose he just went straight to hell with no option for the light?” She sounded entirely too cheerful as she asked.
“Could be. I don’t know how it works.”
She bobbed her head and drifted forward to move in front of me. “I saw the gate’s been locked. Something to do with the creeps you’re fighting I guess.”
“Probably. Are you stuck on this side?”
“No, I don’t need to go through the gate or the tunnel to get back. I was just lingering to make sure he never made it through.”
I smiled a little at her tenacity. I couldn’t blame her, I guess. “Sure. I can see that. Listen, I think you still owe me something.”
She lifted an eyebrow, a question in her eyes. “What?”
“You promised to tell me why the sealing chant didn’t work when I did it. I need to know, Zoe.” I leaned toward her, my body rolling forward on my bed.
She smirked. “Oh, that. Of course. Why were you chosen for this, angel girl?”
“I have no idea,” I said with a touch of exasperation. Was Zoe stalling because she actually didn’t know?
Her shoulders dropped a bit in disappointment. “Your voice, dummy. Your singing voice.”
“Huh? My voice?”
“You’re a contralto, aren’t you? Did you hear the actual notes of the chant? You have to sing it exactly, not just chant it. You have a voice—”
“—that can sing those exact notes,” I finished for her, the message dawning on me. Of course. I’d been concentrating on the words and the chant, and I hadn’t paid any attention to the notes, the frequency of the tones that would activate the spell.
“You got it.” With a wink at me, she vanished.
Gone for good this time, I guessed. Her business was settled. Now, it was up to my team and me to make sure the soul eaters never made it to the next plane.
I’d like to say I was elated, but terrified was the more appropriate word.
Chapter 29
I ARRIVED AT THE INTERIM cemetery a little ahead of the scheduled time so I could take a look around before the others joined me. Although it had only been five days, it felt like more time had passed as my window to help Janna diminished. A few moments after my arrival, Nygard, in his super-kitty size, appeared a few yards from me. He stretched and looked around, getting the lay of the land.
Back home, I knew Ferris sat in his living room with the physical Nygard, keeping an eye on him as well as touching him so he could see what my cat saw. He wasn’t happy with this plan, and he’d let me know it. More than anything, I think he just resented that he couldn’t astrally project to come with me. That Gavin’s spirit had managed to do it didn’t help matters.
I noticed Nygard’s interest shifted to me as his eyes grew wide and intense. Then I realized he wasn’t looking at me, but at something behind me. Hairs rising on the back of my neck, I spun around to face whatever it was as I gathered my
energy in case I needed to blast a yiaiwa.
I got one look and nearly collapsed in shock.
Digby walked toward me, his spirit-self strolling along the path from the direction of the gate.
“Oh, please no. Digby! Don’t tell me they’ve killed you,” I cried out, standing stock still. Anger and grief rising in me at the same time, I swore Belphegor would pay for this. I would blast him clear back to Hell and collapse a mountain on the portal if that was what it took to keep him there.
Almost to me, he laughed, “No, I’m all right. I just learned how to spirit walk from my Uncle Jack. Turns out he wasn’t as crazy as we all thought he was.”
“You came here on purpose?” I could barely believe it. He had managed to connect to here.
“Yeah. I want to help you, and this is the only way I can do it.” He made it sound so easy.
“No, no. You need to go back. This is far too dangerous, and you’re not a fighter.”
He frowned at me, giving me a wry smile at the same time. “Look who’s talking. You’re not a brawler exactly, last performance not counting, and yet you’re ready to leap in to save us all. Let me in on the party, Gilly.”
“Crap. How did you find out?”
“Ferris told me. He and I chatted yesterday. He unloaded on me about his worries and fears. No, don’t blame him,” Dig added quickly as he saw my expression turn to anger. “He doesn’t know I can do this. Only Uncle Jack knows, and now you.”
“It’s not a party,” I grumbled. Although I was happy to see Digby and know he wasn’t dead, I now had another soul to worry about. “It’s dangerous, Dig. I don’t even know that Janna hasn’t been destroyed already.”
“All the more reason you need to let me help.”
“I can’t convince—” I started to argue and stopped mid-stream as Gavin appeared almost on top of me.
“It’s time,” I muttered, my few minutes for reconnaissance gone before I’d even had a chance to look at the barrier. Exasperated, I shot a glare at Gavin, then reached for the first token to begin bringing the others across.
“What’d I do?” he asked as I walked past him.
“Don’t mind her, mate,” Dig said. “I just upset her apple cart a little. I’m Digby if you remember me.”
I shut their conversation out and focused on reaching the team members. For some, the path was easy, and they came across at almost the first touch. Elly, Bob, Cowboy, and Lucca arrived within moments of my even picturing them. Then Yoshi and Parnika responded practically simultaneously, followed by Hamish, and at last, after such a delay that I thought she wasn’t coming, Cara appeared. Astrid and Orielle arrived together as the psychic had come to Gavin’s house before we started. Sandy took a little longer as Jade had to reach us first then she pulled Sandy across.
Briefly, I went over the plan one more time, and we grouped in teams to move out. Gavin came up and pulled me aside.
“I have a spell that might help you,” he said in a low voice.
“What kind of spell?” I asked. I’d seen some pretty decent power come from him.
“A defensive one. It’s a—”
“No offense, but I’d rather have a whopping attack spell.”
He nodded, “Yeah, I get it. But this spell is like frigging armor surrounding your body. It’ll protect you from those grabbing vines and maybe even those iceberg attacks. That’ll free you up to use your power.”
A magical suit of armor? Hell, yeah, that sounded great. Maybe it would give me an edge. “Can you cast it on everyone?”
His mouth turned downward, and his eyes answered before he said, “No. I don’t have enough energy for everyone. I figure you’re the one Belphegor wants, so you need to be protected.”
While I didn’t like that I would be the only one with it, I didn’t turn it down either. If Gavin had that right, then I would be the primary target. “Do it.”
Within less than a minute, he’d spoken some words, waved his hands a couple of times, and said it was done. I didn’t feel any different and hadn’t even felt an aura of magic from the spell, so I wondered if it actually worked.
We rejoined the others and fell into positions, my vanguard in front leading the way with the others behind us to protect and secure our passage. I sent Digby back with the support team so he wouldn’t be in the first forays.
“Don’t go crazy with your powers,” I warned them as we approached the barrier. “Use only what you need to use, so you don’t exhaust your energy.”
Ahead, the dark vegetation looked unchanged, but not further out than it had been earlier. Maybe we, at least, stunned it last time.
We headed toward the vine-covered gate, and Bob fired the first volley, a round of three fireballs that set the plants sizzling and burning. As the foul order of burning and diseased flora filled the air, I choked on it, covering my nose and mouth with my hands. Behind me, the rest of the team reacted similarly and slowed down a bit to wait until the way was cleared.
The only one who seemed unfazed by the obnoxious odor was Jade. Like Janna, she moved on a whim and floated above the ground rather than walking. Until then, I hadn’t thought much about the differences between an untethered soul and one that was still attached to the physical body. Since the odor bothered the rest of us, I guessed that not all of our bodily senses transferred to a freed spirit, or they were desensitized in some way. If we couldn’t float and they could, were we relegated to what our physical bodies could do? Astrid had spoken of astral travel and seeming to fly swiftly to her destination, but once there, she responded more as her body would. Were they limits we imposed on ourselves?
No time to think more about that now though as the way opened through the barrier, and we began to move. I motioned Nygard to my side, pleased when big kitty responded, and led the way through with Bob and Lucca flanking me on each side. Close behind me, Gavin followed, on alert for anything that might make a grab. Small vines scurried toward us, then retreated almost as quickly as Bob shot a spurt of flames their way.
“Nice,” I said. “You’ve gained great control of that fire.”
“I’ve been practicing, Miss Gillian,” he drawled as he cast another brief flash from his fingertips, a shit-eating grin splitting his face.
I chuckled and moved on in the direction I’d last seen Janna. I scanned over every slight break into the twisted trees and abundant ground bushes and vines, all in that deep green, almost black color that suggested pure evil. A little less than three feet away from them, I watched as the long tendrils of sky-growing roots waved and reached out, trying to get a grasp on one of us.
I urged Nygard to my left side to keep him between Bob and me. Pulling a little closer, Lucca also gave them a wider berth. Behind me, Gavin muttered something unintelligible, and a flash of blue-white shot into the parent tree. A sharp whistling sound cut the air as the tendrils shot skyward then wrapped around the trunk as if protecting it.
Just ahead, I spotted what might be a path through the woods and motioned to the others. “What do you think? Shall we try it?”
Lucca nodded. “It’s the only trail I see so far.”
Narrow, uneven, and winding, the almost-clear-of-vegetation dirt path looked foreboding as it wound through the woods. On alert, I led the way with Nygard at my side, Bob and Lucca right behind me and all of us ready to blast, scratch, burn, and repel as needed. A clump of vines rattled their leaves as several shoots sprang toward me, reaching tendrils out to grab. I slashed my hand down, and a thin blade of white energy lopped the whole clump in two.
Instead of retracting, it doubled its efforts, both halves of the vines sending out more runners to attack the group. Before I got off another shot, Bob sent a blast of fire into them. It caught easily and burst into more balls of flame as it found dead leaves and branches it could use. Behind us in the support group, I felt a sharp breeze as Hamish sent it flying into the woods to spread the fledgling fire further in. Screeches rose up from the woods as the trees reacted to the thr
eat, their branches undulating in frantic motions.
I plunged ahead, keeping on the dirt path as the fire raced into the woods to the right of us. For a moment, I worried that we might have cut off our only exit. The woods grew darker as canopies of taller trees blocked any sunlight that might enter. Through the few breaks in the branches, I could see dark clouds filling the skies so not much light could have shone through anyway.
“How’s your night vision?” I asked the guys.
“About as good as yours. Maybe the cat should lead,” Gavin quipped from behind me.
“It is not a problem,” Lucca said as he lifted his hand and a luminous ball rose from it to glide in front of us. Giving off enough light to show the path all the way to the edges and a foot or so beyond, the light hovered in position until we—or more specifically, Lucca—started walking forward again.
“You’re holding out on me,” I accused. “What else can you do besides light balls and repelling attackers?”
Smirking, he shrugged his shoulders and replied, “I don’t know. When I needed a light, it was there. The same with the repelling.”
“Handy. If you needed a bomb, would you get one out of nowhere?” Gavin asked with more than a touch of sarcasm.
“I do not think so,” Lucca answered. “Most of my gifts are protection and appear when I have a use for them.”
“This guy has a high connection to the supreme deity,” Gavin mumbled into my ear so that no one else heard. “Where did you find him?”
“The Vatican,” I replied tersely. That shut Gavin up.
I gazed around the illuminated area uneasily. Where were the yiaiwa? We’d blasted our way into their territory; I’d expected some retaliation.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Bob’s drawl asked in a loud whisper.
“That we might be sitting ducks?” I answered.
“Well, that or this might be some kinda set-up.”
Bob stepped closer to the edge where one of the pesky vines tried to make a grab for him.
“At least the vegetation is still reacting even if it isn’t attacking.” I looked up at the break in the tree limbs over us where only a dull gray light barely peaked though. No tendrils extended from the twisted appendages to attempt to grab one of us and not even the whisper of a breeze sounded in the woods. It felt as if everything was waiting for a signal.
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