Legacy of the Shadow’s Blood

by E G Bateman

  Scott crouched beside him and checked his vitals. “He seems perfectly healthy but I don’t see any brain function.” He put his hand onto the man’s head and closed his eyes. “There doesn’t seem to be a reason for his condition but it’s like his mind is empty.”

  Lexi approached the second body. It was an old lady who was very much alive but bound and shivering. “Are you Maisie?”

  The woman nodded and she untied her. “Scott, blanket and water.”

  He retrieved both items from his bag and wrapped the blanket around the woman. She gulped the water thirstily.

  “Don’t leave me.”

  She put a finger to her lips and looked at Scott.

  The sorcerer put a hand on the side of her head. “Sleep.” The woman slipped into unconsciousness and he eased her down carefully and covered her.

  They returned to Bryan and Lexi looked at him. “Could he have retreated into his dimensional pocket?”

  Scott frowned in thought. “I suppose it’s possible.”

  She nodded. “I’m going to see if I can get in there.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You might not be able to get in, and what if you do and can’t get out again?”

  “I have to try.” Lexi put her hand onto Bryan’s face, closed her eyes, and imagined where she wanted to be.

  Once inside his closet, she stepped to the mirrored door and placed her hand on it. It swung open without a push and she walked to the edge of the platform over the big hall. The entire space was silent and nothing showed on the screens.

  “Bryan?” There was no response so she took a deep breath and descended.

  She went to the most recent booth and looked at the board with Caleb’s name on it. There were no new updates but she touched the screen in the booth and it came to life.

  The sorcerer stared out of the screen. “Calm down, Bryan. I won’t kill you. Not your body, anyway. When Azatoth possesses Alicia, he will have his powers and he’ll have access to her legacy abilities, which now include her sister’s. With you alive, he’ll also have your magic through the blood match. He will be the most powerful being in existence. I would have liked that to have been me, but it wasn’t to be.”

  Aghast, she watched the scene play out.

  Why isn’t Bryan fighting this?

  “I know,” Caleb continued, “you’re terrified that you’ll be frozen inside your own body forever. But it won’t be like that. I wouldn’t do that to you. I’m not a monster. You won’t be in there. You’ll merely be a power source, nothing more.”

  The man stretched his hand to Bryan and the screen went blank.

  Lexi looked around. She knew it was time to leave. He was gone. But still, she wondered why all this was still there if he had been erased.

  She walked through the aisles to the black door with Bad Stuff written on it, put her hand on it, took a breath, and opened it.

  This was a room with a few aisles. She saw pictures of herself from his perspective. One revealed the moment she was dragged away screaming before he was tranquilized and removed from the Braxton family at fifteen.

  In the next booth, she found where he and Alicia had argued. He had shifted and clawed her face. She closed her eyes. What a burden to have to live with.

  “Hello, Lexi-Loo.”

  Startled, she spun toward his voice. Bryan sat inside a cell. “Bryan! Did Caleb put you in here?”

  He stood and walked to the bars. “No, I did.”

  Lexi walked closer. This Bryan seemed younger than the body he inhabited. “I don’t understand.”

  “I’ve been in here since that happened.” He indicated the video she’d just watched of when he’d slashed Alicia’s face.

  Her jaw dropped. “But that must have been five years ago.”

  “I separated the wolf from the rest of me and left it in here. I’m the part of me that did that. I’m the wolf.”

  “But you’re not a wolf.”

  “I’m a were, not a shifter. We only change on a full moon, remember? Unless commanded by an alpha, which I don’t have.”

  She was horrified. “You’ve been trapped inside a cell within your mind for this long?”

  Bryan looked at her for a long moment, then lowered his gaze. “She’s worth it. I love her and I had to keep her safe.”

  In that moment, she realized what had seemed wrong with him. He didn’t have the warmth or the passion of the Bryan she’d known all those years ago. She had assumed he had grown out of those traits, but the truth was that he’d locked them away.

  He looked at her now, his face puzzled. “Why are you here?”

  “Caleb has taken Alicia and he’s done something to you. You’re not responsive. The rest of your awareness… I think it’s gone for good.”

  “There’s nothing I can do about that. I felt the other part had gone but being in here, I had no idea what had happened.” He shrugged.

  Lexi put her hands on the bars. “Your body is lying there. We have to get Alicia back so we need to get you out of here.”

  “Leave me here. I couldn’t bear to hurt you too.” He put a hand over hers. “You were my first love, do you know that?”

  “Of course I do.” She put a hand over his.

  Bryan’s face showed a whole range of emotions but mostly, he looked wretched. “You have to leave me here.”

  She yanked her hands away and looked for the door. There wasn’t one. “The hell I do. You have to man up and get out of here. This body currently has no one at the wheel. You need to step up.”

  “But what if I hurt someone?”

  “If you do nothing, you’ll hurt many more people. Caleb and his demon pal will use your blood match with Alicia to hurt others. As you’ve already pointed out, you’re a were. You change at the full moon and this is not a full moon. Alicia needs your help. You said you loved her. It’s time to prove it.”

  Frustrated, she swung her katana against the cage but nothing happened beyond a loud ringing.

  “That’s the other problem. I was worried I’d weaken and escape. No known weapon or magic can release me.” He shrugged.

  “No known magic?” She stared at her katana and watched as the blade transformed to a dark hematite that glittered with flashes of yellow light.

  She looked at him.

  He stepped back in shock. “Your eyes—”

  “Stand farther back. I’m not sure how this will work.” She swung the blade at the bars and the cage burst open. In the next moment, she was in the tower with Scott.

  Bryan lay motionless for a moment before he shook his head and groaned. He sat and looked at his hands, turning and flexing them in something close to wonder. “I forgot what a real body feels like.” He looked at Scott with a puzzled expression, then shook his head as though to slough off a deep sleep. “That’s so much to take in at once. Hi, Scott.”

  Lexi realized he must be receiving five years of updates from his dimensional pocket.

  He stood and held a hand out, and an energy ball appeared and disappeared. He looked at her and nodded.

  Dick appeared. “It’s not going well down there. She’s gored a dozen of the shifters.” He looked at a gash across his chest that was healing as he spoke. “And me. She gored me and I don’t even want to think about what this shirt cost.”

  Scott turned to him. “I’ll come with you. You two keep going.” He disappeared.

  She didn’t like being separated from him but he’d made the call and left. Rather than follow him, she nodded to Dick who disappeared at vamp speed.

  Lexi and Bryan moved up to the next level.

  Caleb stood with his back to them and Alicia lay on a wooden altar.

  From her position on the stairs, she could see that her sister was shiny, no doubt covered in the stinking grease they’d used on the demon. She realized it must be needed for the ritual. What they now tried to do with Alicia, they’d probably already tried and failed with the demon.

  The sorcerer was
drawing a large rectangle like a doorway on the wall with a lump of brimstone. A squeak drew her attention to a box at his feet. It was Limpet, caged again, and he looked fearfully at her.

  She glanced at Bryan, whose gaze was fixed on his wife. Calmly, she put a hand on his arm to get his attention. She signaled that he should get to Alicia and translocate them both away while she would deal with Caleb. He nodded. They stepped into the room and froze.

  The man turned. He looked at Bryan, obviously shocked. “Well, I’m not sure how you achieved that, but kudos.”

  Lexi tried to open her mouth but couldn’t manage it. A slight swivel of her eyes was all she could do.

  “I’m afraid you’ve stumbled into my little safe space.” He looked at Bryan. “You can’t access your magic.” His gaze shifted to her. “Or move. I certainly learned my lesson after our last encounter, although I understand you’re not quite as formidable as you once were.”

  She tried to access her magic but found nothing.

  Caleb finished drawing his portal and turned to her. “Are you surprised that I considered you a formidable opponent? I know you thought yourself defective, but you have a keen mind and excellent skills. Many of your contemporaries are lazy. They rely on the legacy enhancements or the magic from their mage. But you, Miss Braxton, are the product of your own will and determination. You’ve been mentioned in the council several times over the years.”

  There was a tiny part of her that couldn’t stop herself from feeling proud. Her pride annoyed her, though.

  “I wanted to experiment with the two of you,” their adversary continued, “but your mother would never allow it.”

  Had Lexi not already been frozen, his casual mention of her mother would have chilled her to the bone. She wanted to rip the truth from him, but all she could do was listen.

  “I wonder if it would have made any difference had you gained all the legacy abilities and become Azatoth’s host. Well, it’s too late to change plans at this late stage. Your sister is ready.”

  Caleb walked to the woman who lay unconscious on the altar. He picked a knife up and held it over her. “I’m afraid all you’ve been able to achieve is a ringside seat. Still, I’m sure it’ll be quite a show.” He cut Alicia’s arm and allowed her blood to run into a bowl.

  Lexi’s eyes couldn’t even widen.

  Carefully, he ran a finger over the cut and healed it. “I mustn’t damage the goods.” He placed her arm down and stood staring at her. After a long moment, he reached a finger to her face and brushed it softly across her lips. Looking at Lexi, he smiled and licked his lips.

  She wondered what would happen if she vomited in this paralyzed state.

  He walked to the wall, dipped his fingers into the bowl, and drew an intricate design on the wall in the blood. That done, he crouched beside the box at his feet, unlatched it, and took Limpet out. “Azatoth is ready now.” He looked at Lexi again. “This is all your fault, you know. If you hadn’t interfered with him coming through the true portal in his own body, we wouldn’t have to thin the veil and allow his essence to assume control of poor Alicia. It is such a shame. And if you’d stayed away from Alicia, you wouldn’t have made her a viable host for him. You did that. I suppose we should thank you. I’m sure Azatoth will find a way. He is so creative.”

  A guttural scream issued from a lower level of the tower and Caleb sighed. “Poor Nila. She was very loyal. Azatoth liked her. He’ll be vexed.”

  Scott and Dick appeared beside her and were instantly frozen.

  “Ah, if it isn’t my old friend William Levin. I do hope we have some time to chat later. I appear to be unable to find Betsy and Todd. I think you might be able to help with that.” The evil sorcerer turned and tightened his grasp on Limpet. The little demon howled but he held the creature against the wall, which began to undulate.

  Lexi stared helplessly as the barrier began to fade when the veil thinned.

  The shape of a huge creature became visible. It wasn’t as clear as the portal in Palm Springs but she could see Azatoth’s outline.

  Terror crept into her frozen bones. She was aware that Alicia stirred. This monster would kill them all, probably in the body of her sister, and she was powerless to prevent it.

  Limpet struggled in his captor’s hand. He freed an arm, plunged it into the wall, and almost made a tiny hole in the veil.

  Caleb tightened his grip. “You’re going nowhere.”

  The little demon relaxed in his hand as the veil thinned. Lexi noticed that Limpet pushed his arm slowly deeper into the wall.

  She knew the exact moment when the veil was breached, even though the hole was no thicker than Limpet’s skinny little arm. She felt the source of her power as it flooded the room and crept into her body, infused her bones, and released her from the paralysis. Her brimstone ring began to glow, and her unhealing scar tickled as energy surged through it. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, they were black.

  Caleb’s gaze remained fixed on the Azatoth’s silhouette, which became slightly more defined as the veil continued to thin.

  Lexi turned to Scott as she moved silently past him. She allowed herself a tiny smile at Dick.

  Her adversary must have sensed when she was directly behind him. He spun with a look of shock on his face. “How—”

  He began to bring his arm away from the wall but she twisted it back so violently, a bone in his arm snapped. He screamed and fell to his knees. She put her hand onto Limpet to ensure that the wall remained in a state of flux. When she kicked Caleb in the temple, he went out like a light. Azatoth moved closer to the veil. His great arms came up and pounded against it.

  She dropped her katana and it stuck into the floorboard and wobbled at her side. Her expression grim, she turned to the massive demon, made a fist, and punched her arm through the veil. It was like driving a blow through ballistics gel. She struck his rib cage and when her fist breached it, she grasped his heart and ripped it from his chest.

  The faded figure of the large demon crumpled. Lexi yanked her arm away. Her hand was covered in dark-red, almost black blood. She crushed the heart and dropped the sticky mess onto the floor. Limpet withdrew from the wall and she allowed him to run up her arm and scamper to the floor.

  When she turned, the others were still frozen.

  Caleb began to stir. He opened his eyes and squinted as she retrieved her katana.

  He cradled his broken arm and touched his head. “He’s gone. He’s finally gone.” He was sobbing. “You’ve freed me. Thank you.”

  Lexi stared at him, unmoved. “You’re welcome.”

  “He’s been controlling me.” The man looked down and flinched when Limpet jumped onto his knee and scuttled up his arm and onto his shoulder. He turned to her. “All these years, I thought there was no escape.” He clutched his arm and winced.

  She raised an eyebrow. “I know you’ve already healed it.”

  He paused and seemed to weigh his options. “Ah! I see. Then you should probably look at your friends. I can squeeze the life out of them from here so you might want to say goodbye.”

  While he spoke, Limpet sat on his shoulders. He dropped his head back to allow it to grow and his mouth to widen.

  “Who would you like me to kill first? Your sister? You don’t even know her. Or William—he’s had a hundred years already. I could get rid of Scott for you and you could be with Bryan like you were always meant to be.”

  Limpet brought his head forward at incredible speed, and the sorcerer’s entire skull was engulfed by his mouth. One loud crunch later, the headless body sagged and remained unmoving.

  When Caleb’s hold over the others broke, Bryan rushed to Alicia, Scott ran to Lexi’s side, and Dick simply stood and stared at Lexi while he pointed at Limpet. “I told you. I fucking told you.”

  Epilogue

  Lexi crept through the darkened hallway and tiptoed past ladders and dust sheets. The smell of fresh paint was evident but it wasn’t unpleasant. Silently, she o
pened the door and approached the bed. She extended her hand tentatively to touch the sleeper’s shoulder but the woman’s eyes jerked open and looked directly at her.

  “How are we doing?” she whispered

  Anne Lown pushed her covers aside to reveal that she was fully dressed. She gave her a thumbs-up. “On track.”

  She helped the old lady out of bed. The woman retrieved her purse and walked past her wheelchair. She hadn’t needed it since Scott had given her a full physio session.

  Quickly, she headed into the room opposite hers and Lexi went to Phyllis’ room. The door opened as she approached it and Phyllis walked out with Patrick behind her.

  “Phyllis!” She smirked. “I’m sure that’s against the rules.”

  “A little anarchy never hurt anyone.” The old woman winked, and Patrick blushed.

  “What’s going on?” A loud voice made her jump.

  Lexi turned as Stuart walked toward her on his goat legs. His eyes were so wide they looked like Limpet’s.

  He’s baked again.

  “This is a break-out,” she explained,

  His jaw dropped. “But you can’t. I’ll have to call Erika.”

  After the former physio had recently come into some money, she bought Emmersley for a steal at two million dollars and was putting additional funds into smartening it up.

  She smirked. “Yes, you should do that. I think she should know that you three are getting high in the greenhouse every night.”

  Stuart froze. His gaze darted around for a few seconds. “You’re bringing everyone back though, right?”

  “Sure. We’re only taking them for a night out.”

  He chewed his lip. “Where are you all going?”

  “Vegas.”

  His face brightened. “Oh, wow! Can I come?”

  An object hurtled seemingly out of nowhere and caught him between the eyes. It burst and he fell and immediately started snoring.

  Lexi turned to the ladies, who had all exited their rooms and were waiting, dressed and ready for their adventure. “Who was that?”