I took a deep breath, imagining planting the point of my katana right between his eyes. But I wasn’t in the position to do anything rash. Not at the risk of Riley and Quinn’s lives. I was deep underground with one of the most powerful supes in the world, a winged demon creature, and at least two dozen bodyguards. Undoubtedly more lurked in the shadows. No, the odds were not in my favor. My revenge would have to wait. And revenge there would be — no one threatened to torture my friends without consequences.
I flashed Raoul another smile. “I suppose that won’t be necessary.”
Raoul nodded, a smug look on his face. I tensed, my fingers twitching along the hilt of my katana.
“What else can you tell us about these Nightmares?” Riley asked, shooting me a quick glance that told me to keep my cool.
“Yeah, what kills them?” Donovan chimed in.
“They are non-corporeal most of the time. Except for when they’re feeding.” Raoul paused, presumably to let the gross factor of that sink in. “It’s when they’ve taken solid form that you must kill them. Dismemberment is best, then they must be salted and burned. Oh,” he added. “And don’t look them in the eyes. They’ll torture you with your worst fears before they rend the flesh from your bones. Few can withstand the magic in their gaze.”
“They sound like real charmers,” I said, rolling back on the heels of my boots.
Raoul tossed his head back and laughed. “I like your spirit. Your reputation does not disappoint.”
“I never fail,” I said. “Which brings me to this second bounty hunter you’ve hired.”
“Can’t take a little competition, Ms. Star?” Raoul asked.
“I work best with my team and my team alone.”
“You’re not pushing me out of this one, darling,” Donovan drawled. “I can handle some horses.”
“Listen, I can’t be babysitting extra people while I’m on a job. If you get your ass killed, I am not responsible. I will feel zero guilt, do you hear me?” I stared him down hard, and he just grinned back at me.
“Don’t worry about me, gorgeous. I can handle myself.”
Raoul looked back and forth between the two of us with a bored expression, crunching more of his beetles. “Are you very much finished? The clock is ticking. Carnival starts tomorrow.” When we turned our attention back to him, he continued. “I’ll be sending Belphegor and a few of my men as insurance, to make sure you don’t flee the moment you leave the palace.”
“Again, you insult me, Mr. Cabrera. The Nightmares don’t worry me.” Though I was rather annoyed the winged psycho was coming with us. I looked to Quinn and Riley and they nodded in agreement. “We’ll get the job done.”
“If you survive, I’ll wire your payment when you return with the horses’ manes. Remember, burn the rest.” Raoul’s tone was dismissive; the conversation had ended. “Belphegor?” He made an impatient gesture with his hand.
This time we had at least a moment’s forewarning before everything went obsidian and we were squashed through space again. Sweet, clean air told me we had reached our destination. It improved my mood immeasurably to be above ground again. As my vision came back in spots, I saw we were standing on a mountain ridge, the sun beginning to set on the horizon. A sea of trees spread out below us. A few miles off, the sparkling swath of Rio stretched out along the coast, golden and alive. The stone Jesus stood peacefully over the city, surrounded by wisps of clouds painted pink as the sun fell.
A shrill shriek cut through the sky, making us all jump. Well, except for Belphegor. He simply smirked. “A jungle bird.”
I noted that five of Raoul’s goons had come with us. Five men couldn’t take on me, Riley and Quinn, plus I imagined Donovan to be fairly good in a fight. Belphegor was a tricky one, though. And if he was what I thought he might be… I’d have to be careful. A trait I rarely aspired to.
“So, how are we going to find these things?” Riley asked, voicing the thought that had just run through my head. We seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.
I turned to Belphegor. “Did you take us to this specific spot for a reason?”
“This is where they were last sighted, earlier this morning.” He glared at me, swishing his forked tail back and forth.
“But they could be miles from here by now,” Donovan groaned, eager to get the hunt underway, as was I.
“I can track them,” Quinn said. “With a spell.”
“I’m not sure using magic is the best idea in this case,” Belphegor said.
“Why not?” I asked. “There’s something you’re not telling us. Again.”
He pressed his lips into a thin line. “You’ll just have to take my word for it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fat chance of that, you little winged monkey.”
His eyes flashed and he surged towards me, but I had my blade up in an instant. It sang hungrily in my hands.
“Don’t even. Your boss isn’t going to be too happy if you hurt me. He needs us, for whatever reasons.” I turned my blade so it caught the sun and bounced it off at different angles.
Raoul’s minions had stepped forward, but at the mention of their employer’s displeasure, they backed up. “Let’s get to work, shall we? There’s no time for a pissing match. Mine’s bigger anyways.” I glanced down at my sword with a small smile.
“Later,” Belphegor hissed.
My smile widened. “I look forward to it. Greatly.”
A few feet away, Quinn said, “I’ve got a lock on them.”
“I told you no magic!” Belphegor growled.
Quinn tossed her head. “I’m not tromping around in the jungle all night. Unless you want to fess up to whatever you’re hiding, we’re doing this our way.”
Belphegor’s face twisted in surprise. People often underestimated Quinn with her sweet face and long blonde hair. Which she fully used to her advantage. No, I wasn’t the only blade-tongued female in this group.
“Nice job. Lead the way,” Riley said.
Quinn started along the ridge heading west, a glowing ball of blue light floating before her as a lantern. It was dim enough that we now needed it, as the sun sang its final song and melted into the ocean. Riley fell in behind her, and I let Belphegor and his mercs go next. I’d take up the rear — I wasn’t letting those guys behind me. As I started moving, though, I realized I’d forgotten about Donovan, who stepped in line next to me.
“She’s a sassy one,” he remarked, nodding towards Quinn.
“You’ve got no idea,” I said.
“Have you been working with them long?”
“A couple years.”
“Where did you meet?”
I looked over at Donovan. His eyes were intensely green, even in the low light. Maybe a bit of his inner animal was showing through. “Listen. I’m not telling you my life story, okay? You aren’t even supposed to be here. This whole gig has gone to hell.”
He seemed completely unperturbed. “Surely the great Zyan Star can roll with the punches? You must have had asshole employers before.”
“Yes, but I draw the line at abduction by flying demon things and threats to my friends. And I tend to steer clear from underworld crime bosses.”
He cocked his head to the side and studied me. “You don’t exactly have a reputation for being a law-abiding citizen yourself.”
“I bend and break when needed, but even I have morals. Raoul is a scumbag. Did you see that kid? Plus, he runs pixie prostitution rings, a hellhound fighting circuit, all sorts of stuff. He’s very….unsavory.”
Donovan shook his head from side to side. “You’re a bit of a surprise, Zyan. I’ve been hearing stories about you for years and you’re not exactly what I expected.”
“And what did you expect?” I shot him a questioning look.
“A heartless bitch. More or less.”
I shrugged. “Not far off. But wow. A real charmer you are. You must hit it big with the ladies.”
He shot me a smile that had probably melted a few dozen hea
rts. “Yes, most of the time.”
“Humble, too.” I laughed. “So that’s your secret? Extreme candidness and excessive bravado?”
“Pretty much. But I wasn’t insulting you. I admire a tough chick. I was just trying to say that I’m intrigued — there’s a lot more to you than meets the eye.” He glanced over at me. “And while we’re on the subject of extreme candidness, I think we should get together for some amazing sex after killing these Nightmares and putting Raoul in his place.”
Adrenaline spiked through my torso, but I managed to keep my breathing normal after only the barest of hitches.
He continued. “Because getting revenge on Raoul is definitely part of the plan, right?”
A guy who loved revenge as much as I did. Maybe this tag-along wasn’t so bad after all. “Yes,” I said. “It’s absolutely part of the plan.”
Donovan grinned and I found myself grinning back.
“We’re getting close!” Quinn called from up ahead. She paused, and her head whipped left to right. Beside her, Riley went rigid. “Actually, they’re coming towards us. Really fast!”
Full darkness had fallen. I scanned the inky night ahead. We were still up on the ridge, so our view was unobstructed. As far as I could see, nothing headed our way. But I could feel something, a sensation of otherness that ghosted over my skin and raised the hairs along my arms. Donovan let out a low growl, his eyes going molten jade.
The night erupted around us.
CHAPTER THREE
Unearthly shrieks split the air as a herd of horses materialized. Well, materialized being a relative term. Wisps and streaks of glowing silver; wraiths in the night. Their eyes glowed fuchsia, and their bodies left smears of light like shooting stars, both beautiful and disorienting. Only two things about them had any solidity: their teeth and their hooves. Sparks flew up off the mountain where their feet touched the ground.
A Nightmare lunged for my face, its teeth snapping together near my cheek. I jerked my head to the side, going into a spin. My katana flashed in the moonlight. The horse spirit disappeared in a swirl of light, my sword catching nothing but air. A moment later as I landed in a crouch, it reappeared. Quick and deadly, it darted in again. My blade kissed the sky once more. But even with my super speed, I only grazed the tail-end of the thing as it whipped around. It let out a cry, taunting me as it disappeared from view once again.
A horrible human screaming rent the air. One of Raoul’s men had sunken to his knees, clawing at his eyes. A Nightmare hovered above him, its gaze hypnotic. The man didn’t seem able to look away. One of the other men stepped towards him, but a barked order from Belphegor pulled him up short. A moment later three horses appeared on each side of the fallen man, and they descended like piranhas. His screams cut off abruptly, followed by the sound of tearing flesh and snapping bones. It was over in half a moment.
Donovan and I exchanged a grim look, though he had shifted into a panther, and we ran towards the others. “Form a circle!” I yelled.
We made a small ring, backs to the inside. Riley had already changed to wolf form, his brown coat sprayed with blood that looked black in the moonlight — he must have gotten a nip in on one of the nags. Quinn’s hands glowed with balls of light which crackled when they touched one another. Raoul’s remaining four men each had small machine guns of some sort. Only Belphegor seemed unarmed, though I was betting he had plenty of tricks up his sleeve.
They came at us all at once again, a bigger circle around our smaller one. Screams, teeth and eyes first, emerging from nothingness, followed by their silvery bodies.
“Close your eyes!” Quinn yelled.
It went against all my instincts, but I squeezed them shut, before the Nightmares could lock gazes with me. My other senses kicked in. The taste of adrenaline on my tongue, the smell of blood and terror in the air, an electric hum of magic, a burning along my arm as teeth connected with skin. I swung my katana before me. Minor vibrations ran up the blade as I struck one of the Nightmares, but they were so quick, materializing in and out, that I hadn’t gotten in a lethal hit yet. Behind me, I could hear the firecracker blasts of Quinn’s magic, but I couldn’t tell if they were hitting the enemy or just the rocks around us. The rhythmic popping of the machine guns punched the night, the sound buzzing along my jawbone. Donovan and Riley’s growls intermingled with the bloody orchestra, but I didn’t hear anything that sounded like they were having better luck than I was. How much longer could we keep this up?
My brain was working through alternate solutions when across the night came a high whistle, musical and sweet. All at once, the Nightmares vanished. Not only did the sounds of battle cease, but the magical tension in the air abruptly cleared. My eyes flew open. Everything looked eerily peaceful, from the rolling tops of the trees to the sparkling stretch of the bay.
“What was that?” Donovan part grunted, part growled as he morphed back into human form and went to collect the clothes he’d shed. He was completely nude. Not that I should care, I’d seen a million shifters naked before. Just kind of a shifter thing. Although he did have an amazing…
“Someone called them off,” Quinn said breathlessly.
I spun on Belphegor. “I knew you weren’t telling us something! You’re going to start talking right now, or I’m pausing our little mission to tear you limb from limb.”
His eyes narrowed. “Enough of your idle threats — ”
A flash, and his severed arm fell to the ground, his blood dripping from my katana. Golden colored and thick, similar to ambrosia.
Belphegor bellowed and lunged forward, but Riley grabbed him from behind. “I don’t think so, asshole,” he growled, his eyes all wolf.
I stared at the winged man, my gaze arctic. “My threats are never idle, Belphegor. It would do you well to remember that. Now start talking.”
He continued to scream, startling some jungle birds in the forest. He was being rather dramatic. With whatever magic he had he could heal himself pretty quickly.
“Okay, well if you’re not going to be reasonable — ” I raised my katana again, this time to the side, aiming for his left leg.
“Bitch,” he hissed, spitting on the ground in front of me.
Donovan stepped forward, shifter power roiling off his skin. I raised a hand. “I don’t need you defending my honor. I am a bitch.” I stared into Belphegor’s eyes. “Spit it out.”
“It’s his mistress,” he mumbled between moans, trying to stop the bleeding from the stump of his arm with the fingers of the other hand.
“Excuse me?”
“Well, former mistress. Raoul’s. He broke up with her. She didn’t take it well.”
I stared at him for a moment before laughter bubbled up from my chest. “No kidding! Sicking a bunch of flesh-eating spirit horses on him? I like her style.”
“She’s extremely dangerous,” he said with a look that disapproved of my joviality at the situation. “She’s an obeah priestess.”
“Obeah?” I echoed.
“A form of magic practiced in the Caribbean and other places around the world,” Quinn said. “She’s basically a witch. They’re very powerful, especially if they get involved in darker, ancient magic.”
“So if we stop this obeah priestess, we stop the Nightmares?” I asked.
“Yes,” Belphegor responded.
“Why didn’t Raoul just say so to begin with?”
“He didn’t want this linked back to him. It makes him look bad to have some angry woman tearing apart his defenses. Makes him look weak.”
“It makes him look weak to get his ass kicked by a woman?” I rolled my eyes. “Don’t make me cut off another limb.”
Belphegor had the decency to flinch.
“So, what next?” Riley asked. “Do we track down this witch?”
“Yes. Let’s find her and see what her side of the story is,” I said.
Belphegor narrowed his eyes. “If you cross Raoul…”
“Shut up and start walking.”
/> “Actually, I think I may have another way,” Quinn said. “I can send out a message to her, sort of a magical flare signal, and she’ll come right to us.”
“Do we really want to do that?” Riley asked. “It throws away the element of surprise.”
“Yes, but it’s efficient,” Donovan said. “We don’t have a lot of time until Carnival.”
“Agreed,” I said. I nodded to Quinn.
She raised her eyes to the stars and after a moment’s silence, a small tremor pulsed through the air around her. A tingle of magic brushed across my cheek. “Now we wait,” she said.
A couple minutes passed. Raoul’s men paced nervously, keeping as far away from me as possible. They were definitely contemplating ditching Belphegor and getting the heck out of dodge.
“Let me ask you something,” Donovan said.
I looked up at him, my silence all the permission he needed.
“You have heard of me, haven’t you?” He grinned devilishly, arms crossed over his chest.
“Oh, Jesus. You’ve really got no end to your ego.”
“You’re avoiding the question.”
“No, I hadn’t heard of you.”
“You’re a rather good liar, but not quite good enough.”
I sighed. “Listen — ”
“Would you two quit flirting? I’d kind of like to hear if these horses come sneaking up on us again,” Riley said.
“We’re not flirting. At least I’m not,” I said.
Riley made a harrumph sound.
“I’m definitely flirting,” Donovan said with a wink in my direction.
“Both of you zip it,” Quinn whispered. “Something is coming.”
The air began to shimmer, and the ridge trembled as if something giant was burrowing its way towards us. Raoul’s men cried out in alarm, and one went running into the forest. A moment later, something flashed in the night behind him and he screamed. The night tightened around us, squeezing, as if all the air were being sucked out of the sky. Someone had a flare for drama.
To my left, a Nightmare appeared in a swirl of silver and then disappeared again. On the other side of the group, another one did the same. They were taunting us. In and out, in and out, a flash of mane here, a glistening hoof there. Each time appearing closer and closer, tightening the noose. Raoul’s two remaining men were shaking and murmuring prayers into the night. One sent a spray of bullets out into the night; a swarm of noisy fireflies.
Black Magic and Mojitos Page 2