I’d never seen her do anything between shifting back and forth from the lion daemon form. “What price do you pay?”
She moved around uncomfortably. “That is not something I wish to discuss. Suffice to say, a creature born where I was has far more to suffer than a craving of blood.”
So much of the Sphinx was a mystery, but if she wasn’t ready or willing to share, then so be it. What I really wanted to do was get my mind off the fact I just had to drink her blood, becoming even more a creature of the night. I wasn’t quite ready to deal with that yet. “Should we head back over to Pan’s camp to see how they fared?”
“You are going to do what you want, so why ask my opinion?”
Even with the rain stopped, we were both soaked. I put my hand on her drenched shoulder and looked down. “I know this ain’t the best of situations, but I thought we were becoming friends at least.”
The line always blurred with these old ass women between creatures from your nightmare to just regular old women with feelings. I wasn’t good with feelings (Liz could attest to that). “I make no illusion that after our joint venture is accomplished that we will have any business left together. That being said,” she forced a bit of a grin on her face, “I would like to be friends.”
“See, now was that so hard?”
“I nursed you back from the brink, a place not many go to and come back. I have protected you from many of the island’s horrors while you recovered. At first you were a tool to be used, but over time, you became something more.”
Oh shit. I think I knew where this was going. “You’re a cool cat Sphinxy, that’s for sure, but I don’t know that I’m ready for anything like that.”
“I see.” Her body language finished the story for me.
My hand was still on her shoulder. “Hell, I don’t know what the future holds and I got a lot of conflicting internal stuff happening.” All of that statement was true. “Let’s focus on the tasks at hand – getting rid of Pan and finding Oberon.”
That warmed her back up. It was at that moment I was starting to put a lot of things on the back burner to ‘deal with later.’ That probably wasn’t the best plan I had going, but my dad always told me to ignore it until it went away. Poor Callum, that advice never worked. “Let us go back and check on your wolves. Once we know they survived the Orc attack, we go back to the cave so I can learn more about your first transformation.”
I gave her a short nod and we left. With the rain and the lizard guys gone, tracking the camp wasn’t too hard. We went slowly though, just in case Pan or the wolves had left their camp in an attempt to either flee or confront the Orcs. As we got closer though, a very pungent odor broke though. Choking on my own bile rising, “Damnit that stinks!”
The Sphinx stopped me with a hand to the chest. “Someone is cutting open an Orc.”
To go from weird smell that I could never place to a pile of rotting eggs, that was drastic. “I bit into those things and they didn’t produce a stink like that.” I started swatting at my tongue, making sure no bits or Orc were still in my mouth. Just the thought made my gag reflex spurt back up again.
“What you smell are the internal organs Victor.” She let go of my chest and took the lead. “Let us see what Pan is really up to.”
We reached the perimeter of their camp. The smell at this point was on the verge on nauseating. A few times I had to cover my mouth to stop the dry heaves from coming on. I slumped down behind a tree; confident the Sphinx could look on by herself and tell me what was happening.
I looked over and she was peering in. The smell of the Orc would cover our scent, but we still had to be very quiet. “What do you see?” My voice was barely audible.
She just kept looking on, as if taking it all in. I noticed just how oddly quiet our surroundings were, not a voice or movement, just the animals and insects in the forest. “Pan is there, not moving. I think he is staring at someone or something. I cannot tell with the shadows and the stench of the Orc guts.”
After a few more tense moments, a voice did break through. It wasn’t Pan, it was the Orc Chief. “I know what I saw boy vampire. You can choose to believe me or not, it matters little to me.” I thought they were enemies?
“If you really saw a daemon and a werewolf on this island…”
The Orc interrupted, loudly. “Not a werewolf you insolent fool! The creature shifted into the Warg. He decimated my best warriors.”
Pan still didn’t seem that worried or impressed. “I’m going to need a bit more than that if I’m going to accept your terms.”
“It means very little to me, but the Sphinx daemon called her companion Victor.”
“No…” That’s when the dynamic changed. I heard fear in Pan’s voice. “Are you sure that’s the name she used?”
He snorted, as if screw you buddy. “I know what I heard. Does this mean anything to you?”
“You have no idea…” His voice trailed off and he started pacing. When he stopped, “The two Silvers, can you ensure their loyalty by doing this? They don’t like me one bit.”
“By eating the hearts of the Orcs, they will become loyal soldiers as long as I draw breathe.”
More footsteps, then the scent of the two Silvers came into play. I heard something fall, like a sack of potatoes. A ripping noise followed by a cry of anger. “Pan, you treacherous bastard! I will kill you!”
Something connected hard, like bone on bone. “I should’ve killed you and your bitch Skylar when I gutted your children in the hanger. I thought you would’ve learned some obedience dog.” Another thud followed.
Sniffled cries from the female, Caroline, were the only sounds for a few moments. Then the Chief barked some directions. “Hold their mouths open.”
Sniffled cries turned into screams that went silent. Pan’s laughter reached our ears, delighted in what he’d done. “Go on Chief, give ‘em an order!”
“Find the Sphinx and her comrade. Do not come back until the task is complete.”
In unison, both wolves agreed. “Of course master.”
Chapter 15
**Liz**
We had whoever this was surrounded. It was decided that I would be the one to approach, as it turned out, I was the most friendly of the faces we had. With a hand gesture telling me to speed it up from Bernard, I approached the tree cautiously.
I heard heavy breathing, but it sounded feminine. “Hello, is someone there?”
Quicker than I was prepared for, the shape moved from a hidden spot behind the tree to right in front of me, “Ye be on me family’s property!”
Not in the mood for this, I snatched the girl by her arm and thrust her hard on to the ground. “Listen close and I will only say this once.” I learned from Vic to use a low, almost snarl in my voice when interrogating a suspect. “We were just attacked by a Banshee set by your family to kill us. I want answers and I want them now!”
I had not paid much attention to the physical aspects of the girl, but she bore a striking resemblance to Rosette. Her shoulder length blonde hair shimmered in the moonlight and her green eyes were filled with a mixture of fear and resentment,
Knowing this girl was an O’Byrne, “I know much about your clan; so again, I ask you what is going on here?”
“Why would I tell ye vampire?”
My three friends slowly strolled up behind me. “Because you are currently outnumbered one witch to two vampires and two werewolves. I think that is enough reason to share what you know with me.”
She too saw it was not a battle she could win. “I’d be lookin’ for my ma’. I hadn’t seen her since she left with that other vampire a few days ago.”
Kristie practically jumped with triumph. “I told you Connor was the one behind this.”
“Who’d be Connor?”
I turned back to the witch. “That is the name of the vampire we think came to see your mother.”
Or not? She looked back at me with very skeptical eyes. “Nah, he’d not be named Connor. I’d of
remembered a good strong Irish name. Nah, this fancy bloke had an English name and he dressed real fancy like.”
“Jonathan?”
She snapped her fingers. “That’d be it. Yeah, Jonathan. Claimed ta be someone important from London.”
My hope would be to find the witches and they would lead me to Jonathan. Never did I imagine that I would be so close so soon. “What did he want with your mother?”
“He claimed he knew where our lost sister be. Ma’ believed his honey covered words and went with him. We haven’t seen her, or any of the regular coven members since.”
I looked back at Bernard; his face was set in stone. “I also happen to know where Rosette is and can even put you in contact with her.”
Her mouth dropped. “How’d ye know the name of my sister?”
“She works for me.”
Then she did something I was not counting on. She attacked me. “Yer the monster that kidnapped her, ain’t ye? I’ll kill ye creature!”
Kristie went to intervene, but I had it more than under control. This witch was fast, but it was very apparent she did not practice magic much, or maybe even at all. I calmly blocked her strikes and quickly disabled her again. “I will let you have this tirade because I know who kidnapped her. That man’s name was Vincente Divas.”
She struggled against my grip, but it was no use. Still angry, “Ye said his name in the past tense, why?”
“Because he is dead. I was there to witness it firsthand.”
Her struggling began to let up. “How do I know yer not lyin’ ta me?”
“If you stop fighting, I will put you in contact with her.” Her arms stopped working against mine, so I let go. I pulled out my cellphone and dialed the office number back in Phoenix. I placed it on speakerphone and held it out.
The other end picked up. “Boss lady! How the hell is everything over there?”
“Reno, I do not have time to chat, but I need a favor.”
I almost could hear him saluting me. “Of course, what’d ya need?”
I looked over at the blonde witch who was still rather skeptical. “Go get Rosette and be quick about it.”
A voice that was almost identical to the girl sitting on the grass in front of me picked up. Her accent was a little more refined, more Americanized. “I’m right here doing the accounting since Reno’s too important to do it. Liz, ye doing okay?”
“Rosette, that’d really be ye?”
A gasp came from the other end. “Mellie? Oh my God, Mellie, yer alive!”
Both girls started sobbing at the same time. Even though thousands of miles separated them physically, I could tell they were incredibly close. “Rosette, what happened to ye? One minute ye were just goin’ ta town and the next yer gone?”
Rosette told her a quick version of the story. Apparently Jonathan had been looking for an O’Byrne for months, but it was Divas who found one first. He kidnapped Rosette and took her to America where he forced her to work for him. All the while, he was negotiating with Jonathan a price to take the witch off his hands. I had heard parts of the story before, but not the entire saga. When she finished, I found a new level of respect for my Inspector.
“Mellie, Liz is one of the good ones, I promise ye.”
“Don’t tell me that! I set a Banshee upon her and her friends!”
Rosette started laughing. “Oh ye didn’t! What I would’ve paid to see that.”
“Rosette…” I think she forgot I could hear her. “If you want to stay employed, you will not laugh at your boss.”
But it mattered little. In the background, I heard Reno laughing away too. “Boss, did you get your ass handed to you by a Banshee? Oh man, that must royally suck!” And he kept laughing. Threatening his job would do no good.
“Can we get back on track people?” I looked down at Mellie. “You see, your sister is fine and she is happy.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m totally happy. I could really use a raise…”
If looks could kill, the witch would be dead. “I will deal with your paychecks when I get back.” I felt my face turning red. “Jonathan is out there with your mother and we need to find him!”
The fun and games were over. “Jonathan’s with our ma’ Mellie?”
“Yeah, he came ta the farm and told her where ye were. He said he’d be able ta get the one responsible for yer kidnappin’ if she helped him.”
“Mellie, this be very important.” Rosette was doing her best to stay in control. “Did he say what he needed help with?”
“I don’t know sister. I didn’t stick around long enough ta find out and when I came back, everyone was gone.”
I took the phone off of speaker. “Rosette, where would your mother go in a time like this? And is there anything else we need to be concerned with?”
“Well Liz, ye took care of the Banshee, so that’s a start. Head north from Dublin until you hit Clogherhead. A few kilometers outside of town, you’ll see the Cliffs of O’Byrne. Don’t even bother the locals for help, as no one even acknowledges it’s there. The place be home to some very foul, dark magic.”
She sounded like she was giving someone directions to a funeral. “Why do you have such a sad tone in your voice?”
“When ye get there, be prepared. Chances are she’ll have already summoned that ghastly beast, the Dullahan.”
Reg, using his enhanced werewolf hearing to eavesdrop, summed it up best. “Ahh shit.”
Chapter 16
The Sphinx wanted to confront the wolves, but I didn’t. They weren’t themselves and damn it all, I wasn’t about to kill ‘em over something the Orc Chief and Pan did to them. After much tugging and pulling, she finally followed me of her own free will. Once back at the cave, we slid a rock in front, covering seventy-five percent of the opening. It would keep them out for the time being if they tracked us.
It’d been a long day and I was beat. I fell asleep as soon as my butt hit the cave floor. I can’t say it was a good night’s rest, but I felt a bit better come morning. I don’t think my compadre slept at all, as she was still wide awake when I opened my eyes and yawned. “You still look like shit.”
“If anyone else told me that, I might take them seriously.” There was more than a hint of sarcasm in that sultry accent. “Considering what you look like these days, I would not worry about me.”
True, the time spent on Neverland hadn’t been kind to yours truly. I’d been able to keep my hair just above shoulder length and my scruff at bay thanks to the various knives we had, but I knew I was losing weight. Even eating the vast array of animals she caught wasn’t like eating back home. Out here, it was eating to survive, not eating to thrive.
I got up and walked over to the mostly blocked cave mouth. “The scent’s far away, so hopefully they’re off somewhere else chasing ghosts.”
“When do you want to talk about what transpired during the fight with the Orcs?”
My back was still to her. “There isn’t much to say is there? I got what I always wanted, but as usual it came with a hefty price.”
She could move like a ninja when she wanted to, making it hard to keep track of where she was. Her voice was right behind me. “Can you tell me how it felt to transform? To be able to embrace your animalistic side?”
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it.” I turned around and she was really close. “For a moment I felt like an actual werewolf.”
She poked the scar on my chest. “You are far more than a werewolf; you are the host of the Warg. The dark curse inside is his essence.”
“Well can it unfriend me? I don’t wanna be tied to that monstrosity, not with the price it requires.”
She put her hand on my back, which just added to the rather weird vibe forming. “I am afraid there is no way to undo what has been done. You accepted the curse’s power and gave it payment. I am truly sorry Victor.”
I wanted to be mad, like really pissed. I just couldn’t do it though. I’d wanted this as much as she’d wanted me to fin
d it. “So each time I transform…”
“You will have to pay the tribute. My guess is the curse tied itself to the vampire blood flowing in you and that is why you craved blood afterwards.”
Her hand was still touching the scar and for a brief moment, something came over me. I looked down at her, this fairly dangerous daemon who’d saved my life, and I saw something else. However, that moment was shattered when a noise akin to Godzilla roaring from the ocean depths broke out.
The Sphinx shifted from her seductive self back into the warrior I’d come to know. “The wyrm is here.”
The wyrm, or crocodile as Pan called it, was the wingless dragon that roamed the island. I’d seen its claw marks when we roamed from our original camp to Pan’s. Nothing about this thing seemed like it was warm and friendly. I’d just hoped we’d get through this adventure without running into it.
In the gap that we’d left open in the front of the cave, a very large black eye appeared. It’d found us. Its eye disappeared, only to be followed up by a sea of scales flooding into view. The Sphinx tackled me down as whatever it was smacked hard into the boulder blocking its entry.
“Vic, transform and run as soon as you get an opening!”
“What the hell are you going to do?”
A tear fell from her eye. “Promise me that you’ll finish the job, promise me that!”
No, I wasn’t going to let her sacrifice herself here and now. “No way, you and me, we’ll see this thing through!”
She grabbed me with both hands by the shirt collar. “There is little time for arguing.” Another thwack hit the boulder. “Once the Orc Chief is dead, his control over the werewolves will end. Kill him and finish off Pan.”
“You’re coming with me, so don’t act like this –”
She put her hand over my mouth. “When Pan is gone, find Oberon and finish the task I have set you with.”
The boulder started breaking under the weight of the wyrm. “You never planned to leave this island alive did you?”
Her head dropped. “No, it is my destiny to end here; I just thought it would be with Oberon, not this creature.”
The Curse of Oberon (The Inglewood Chronicles Book 3) Page 8