Breaking Normal (Dream Weaver #3)

by Su Williams

  “Did you decide to come out and play, Miss Sweet?” Thomas warbled as I materialized.

  “Let him go!” I demanded with power I didn’t feel.

  Thomas chortled. “Let him go? I was just beginning to have fun.” He pouted like a spoiled toddler, but his face turned hard as the granite around us, and his eyes blacker than the night sky. “I have every intention of releasing him,” he said with feigned sincerity. “When I’m done.”

  “You’re done.”

  “No. I think not.”

  I skirted around his position to get a better look at Nick. His face was drawn, his eyes sunken and closed, but they darted from one depraved nightmare to another. There was no way to tell how much of Nick’s mind Thomas had already destroyed. I could only hope he was still in there, fighting. Thomas drew a blade from his belt. The edge glowed in the muted light. He stooped and hovered over Nick’s body, and traced Nick’s jaw line with the point of the blade.

  All the months of anger, fear, grief, worry and dismay crashed in on me as I stared down at the Wraith. Without hesitation, I took a step forward. I was so done playing this game.

  “Uh uh uh,” Thomas tutted at me and waggled a disapproving finger. The blade tip popped through the skin just below Nick’s left ear. I froze. Blood seeped from the wound, down his neck and over his shoulder where it pattered to the ground in a growing pool. “Just a tiny flick of my wrist and the poor boy will exsanguinate right here before you. Would like that, my dear?”

  I could only scowl at him. I couldn’t trust the words that might come spilling from my mouth. I’d never hated anyone in my life, but for him? I was more than willing to make an exception. Ari pricked my skin under my shirt and blood throbbed at eight tiny puncture wounds. Images of Nick phasing out of Thomas’ control flooded my mind. Then the spider herself phased out of sight, and her ruby glow sparked to life on Nick’s chest. Panicked breaths lurched in my own chest as the Wraith slid the shining blade a tiny fraction of an inch deeper into Nick’s flesh. But, Nick’s body began to effervesce, and the rancorous roar of Thomas’ indignation wouldn’t bring back his prey.

  I’d also never chortled in my life, but couldn’t help the evil laugh that bubbled from the murkiest part of my soul. Thomas whirled around to face me fully, and crouched in a brutish stance, ready to leap on me. With not a moment to waste, and having Thomas alone and clear of innocent bystanders, I plucked the lye grenade from my belt. Reaching out with my gifts, I caged him, pulled the pin on the grenade, and counted. One…two…three. And lobbed the explosive squarely at his chest, where it detonated and saturated him with the caustic solution. He roared and thrashed as the acid burned his skin and eyes. And still, I held him to the spot. Raging and screaming, he struggled to get to me. Despite my confidence in my ability to hold him, I backed away and drew the sai at my hips.

  “Let me go!” Thomas roared.

  “Let you go?” I echoed his words. “But I was just beginning to have fun.” But in truth, it wasn’t any fun. Inflicting that kind of pain on anyone was grotesque. When I couldn’t stand his screams any longer, I finally phased away, releasing him from my clutches.

  Chapter 32 Uprising

  When I coalesced at the back of the car, Ari again splayed against my chest. I stroked her ruby abdomen, and she shivered and shrank to her smaller size. And again, her tiny legs pricked my skin and images of Nick in a place of safety inundated my mind. I didn’t recognize the place, but I trusted Ari that it was safe. She’d lain on his breast, her ruby abdomen glowing like star dust. She knew my intention for Nick—safe and well. And she’d ministered both to his battered mind and body. Now, this magical spider was siphoning off a sample of my blood to rejuvenate herself. Thank you, Ari. Only a few short months ago, I would never have believed that her kind of magic existed. Or in the reality of any magic. Now, we were both more magical than I’d ever dreamed.

  I wanted to catch my breath, wash the slime of Thomas out of my head, but we needed to regroup. Tossing the sai in the back compartment, I jumped in the car and headed to Sabre’s. Eddyson laid across the emergency brake with his head on my lap, his brows teeter-tottered in askance of silent questions.

  “I know, little man. Just stay close to me,” I said as I stroked his velveteen ears.

  All was quiet when I pulled up to Sabre’s house—until I opened my door. The grunts and growls of combat tumbled out the open garage door. Eddy and I spilled out of the car and sprinted to the garage. Sabre and Thomas crashed around the shop, leaving a furrow of destruction behind them. They whorled and phased from one form to the other so quickly I could barely keep up. Finally, the two crashed to the dusty, cement floor. Thomas pinioned Sabre beneath him but both struggled for control of a taser gun. Neither seemed to realize my presence.

  My hands flew to my hips in search of my favored weapons, but the sai were still in the back of the car. And I couldn’t waste the time to go get them. I fingered the remaining weapons on my belt. The .45 with specialized lye rounds would be the most effective—but using lethal force could jeopardize Sabre, as well. I slid Pinky from my belt, hunkered down and skulked along the perimeter of the garage to get better, more accurate access. The two scrabbled around in the dirt, with Thomas always coming out on top and Sabre always able to free himself. Geez, if he’s this lethal after the damage of the lye grenade, I don’t want to know what ‘full on’ Thomas is like. Eddy whimpered and snugged up against my thigh. It’ll be okay, puppa, I assured him with confidence I was lacking. I crept forward in a low crouch. Then, taking my aim, I fired the taser electrodes at Thomas’ back. At that exact moment, Sabre got the upper hand, pitched the Wraith off of himself and rolled on top of him. The two probes, trailing its wires behind it, embedded in Sabre’s back. Before I could grab the wires and jerk the probes from his skin, the taser delivered a Caphar-scrambling jolt. Sabre’s back arched and he roared in pain and anger. Oh god! Sabre I’m sorry! With the wires knotted in my hand, I yanked the probes free, but the damage was already done. Sabre collapsed on the floor, guttering between corporeal and ethereal. What was I supposed to do now? Nick was out of commission because of Thomas, and Sabre fell to friendly fire.

  Eddyson took cover behind me and peered around my legs to growl at Thomas, who was stalking our direction.

  “Why thank you, Miss Sweet,” he glowered. “I couldn’t have done better myself.”

  I sneered at him but didn’t validate him with a response. Thomas skulked forward and Eddy darted past me and chomped down on one of the Wraith’s legs. Thomas stumbled but kept his feet. With a bestial growl, he scooped the pup from the ground and jettisoned him across the garage. Eddy hit the cluttered wall with a resounding thud, yelped and crumpled to the floor. Panting, pain-filled breaths were the only indication of life from the heap of fur on the floor. Before the pup’s name could leave my mouth, Thomas was upon me. But apparently, he’d forgotten the taser in my hand—or didn’t know Sabre had modified it to a two phase weapon. Thomas crushed my jaw between his thumb and fingers and leered down into my face.

  “Emari Sweet,” he crooned. “Such a lovely name. I wonder how sweet you truly are.” With that, his vile tongue parted his lips and he trailed the hot, slavery thing up my cheek. Like lava, bile erupted in my throat and it was all I could do to keep it down. Then again, puking on the guy just might be the distraction I needed. I swallowed hard. “A little salty for my taste. But the cold sweat of terror does that to a girl.”

  I could think of a few smart come-backs to lob back at him, but with my jaw detained in his grip, I kept the comments to myself. The sneer on his face proved he’d heard them anyway in my memories. While he was distracted with my insolence, I pressed the taser to his side and pulled the trigger. His hand dropped from my jaw, and he jittered and jerked on his way to the ground. Even after he hit the dirt, the Rephaim laid twitching and shifting forms. I delivered a hard, fast kick to his head and he flopped, unmoving to his back—except for the involuntary muscle spasms that stil
l jolted his body.

  Sabre staggered to his feet, only mildly affected by the taser’s current. I ran to his side and helped him sit on a bench.

  “Sabre. Oh my god. Are you okay?”

  But Sabre waved me off. “Check the dog,” he demanded with the shadow of worry on his brow. Had Sabre grown fond of the pup? Or was he angry with me for tasing him, and wanted me to stay the hell away from him? With Sabre, it was hard to tell.

  I dashed to Eddy’s side. The beagle struggled to stand but pain kept him off his feet. Grazing a hand along his body, his instinctive canine mind showed me where he hurt. His left hip throbbed with pain as well as three ribs along that side. The metallic scent of blood from gashes to his thigh and head, soured my stomach. I had to do something. But I had to kill this Wraith and help Sabre too. And I had no clue where Nick was—just somewhere ‘safe.’

  Emma! Honey, where are you? This was way better than texting.

  Here, Em. In my room.

  I need to bring you Eddy, again.

  I can come to you.

  NO! No, don’t. Thomas is here. I want to keep you away from him. He’s jonesing for a treat like you. Stay there. Put a blanket on your floor. I’ll bring him to you. I didn’t have time to clear this with Adrian. I’d just have to deal with the backlash later.

  Okay.

  Crossing back to Thomas, I pressed the taser nodes to his chest and, just for good measure, pulled the trigger to keep him incapacitated while I was gone. I scooped the pup in my arms. “I’ll be right back,” I told Sabre, who simply grunted and waved me away. Then, I phased from the gloomy garage into the soft, glowing lights of Emma’s bedroom.

  “Put him here,” she whispered and indicated the bed.

  “The floor would’ve been fine, Em,” I told her.

  “Not for Eddy,” she declared with an indignant snort, and I realized the impact of one small creature on so many lives.

  “Emma?” Adrian rapped twice on the door and pushed it open.

  “Dad! I could’ve been changing!”

  Adrian slipped into the room. “But you weren’t. What’s going on in here?” he demanded.

  “I didn’t have another choice. Thomas tortured Nick and now I don’t know where he is. And then he attacked Sabre and tossed Eddy across the garage like trash. He’s hurt bad. His hip and three ribs, I think.”

  Adrian scowled until he caught sight of Eddyson on Emma’s bed. His mouth twisted with reproof but seeing the pup, battered and bruised, thawed his sternness. He crossed the room in two quick strides, kneeled by the bed and palpated the pup’s body.

  “I have to go back. Sabre’s alone with that freak,” I told them.

  “Tell me you didn’t lead that nightmare to my home,” Adrian said.

  “He was out cold. But I don’t know for how long. I have to get back.”

  Adrian stood and grasped my arms. “This isn’t your fight, Emari. It’s theirs. You don’t owe either of them anything.”

  I scowled at his hands on my arms and he released me. Staying there in that cool, safe house appealed to my desire for normalcy. But this wasn’t about just Nick and Sabre anymore. And it wasn’t simply about revenge—though the thought was alluring in so many lovely ways. “Not my fight? Did you know Thomas killed my mom and dad?”

  “What’s going on in here?” Celeste, so perky and pretty, slid into the room and closed the door behind her. The only one missing now was Peter.

  Adrian’s face flushed. “That was a tragic accident. Nothing more.”

  “A tragic accident?! Are you kidding me? It was no accident at all. Thomas tormented my dad and then he weaved a nightmare while Daddy was driving home from Cali. He caused the crash.”

  An ominous specter haunted Adrian’s eyes. A look I’d seen only one place before. Thomas. Celeste must have noticed it too. She inched away from him. I whipped my butterfly knife from pocket and flipped it open with three flicks of my wrist.

  “Emari, honey. I don’t think that’s necessary,” Celeste pleaded.

  I shook the fog of disbelief from my brain, and ignored my auntie. “You can’t be one them. You’re not Caphar,” I said, pointing the blade at his face. Real terror flooded his face.

  “I’m not, Emari. I swear.” Apparently, Uncle Adrian was a bit scared of me.

  Images of witches and their black cats and ravens flooded my mind. “You’re a familiar. He uses you for his purposes. Why, Uncle Adrian? Why would you do that?”

  “I had to,” he bleated. “He threatened my family.”

  “What is going on?” demanded Celeste.

  “Daddy?” Emma whimpered.

  “I’m so sorry, Emari.” Adrian shriveled from the stature of the man he’d always been in my eyes, to a sniveling, groveling stooge. But I didn’t have time to deal with family dynamics. I needed to get back to Sabre before Thomas came to and finished him off.

  “Emma? Can you fix Eddy?” I asked without moving my glare from Adrian’s eyes.

  “Yes,” she squeaked. “But I don’t understand.”

  “We’ll hash this out later. Can I leave my dog—Uncle?”

  Adrian peered around at the women of his family, completely abashed. “Yes. It’s fine. We’ll keep him safe,” he forestalled my next question.

  I flipped the blade closed. “Don’t come looking for me. You, especially,” I sneered at Adrian. “I’ll let you know when the coast is clear. Maybe we’ll all get free of this demon by the end of the night.” And, with quick glance at my limp little dog, I phased from Emma’s bedroom.

  Chapter 33 Justice in Murder

  When I coalesced back into the shop, Thomas held Sabre at bay with a machete to his throat. A single, minute flick of his wrist would sever the carotid artery and he’d bleed out in moments.

  “She’d have been mine, if it weren’t for you!” Thomas snarled in Sabre’s face.

  I didn’t need to ask. This age-old grudge was about the girl, Sarah Rose. The girl who chose Sabre over Thomas.

  “She was never yours to claim,” Sabre countered. “Her love was mine.”

  Thomas heaved Sabre away from the garage and slammed him back against it with a growl. “She could have grown to love me.” The Caphar simply shook his head, as though the message would never get through.

  The Wraith pressed the blade tip, just enough to puncture the skin. Sabre’s hands rose slowly from his sides in placation—or surrender. His eyes darted to me and their message scared me more than anything the man had ever done. Was he begging for forgiveness? Forgiveness for what? What addled thoughts were going through that unstable Weaver mind of his? I reached out to touch his mind, but even now, he was blocking me. His pleading gaze diverted my eyes from the blood-soaked katana in Thomas’ other hand. Thomas arced his arm up toward Sabre’s gut. The vacuous suck of steel as it mangled his flesh and the throb of pain in his eyes, brought me to reality.

  “NO!” I screamed as bubbles of crimson frothed from Sabre’s mouth and spilled down his chin and chest. Nick phased in, and crouched beside me. He grabbed my arms, searching for damage. He followed the path of my horror-stricken gaze, just as Thomas jerked the blade from Sabre’s body, and cackled.

  No! No no no! This cannot be happening! Not to the infamous Sabre James.

  Nick’s body froze. Time stood still. Sabre crumbled to the ground in slow motion with an anguished groan. “No…” he echoed me, but the word was quiet like the final, dying report of an echo. His hands, that only a moment ago were clutching me, now pushed me away as he launched himself at the Wraith.

  “Nick! Stop!” But all he could see was vengeance. My plea went unheard as he drove forward to extinguish this eternal pestilence from our lives. Sabre was right about keeping my vision from Nick. His need for vengeance blinded to all else.

  Nick whipped out a sai from each hip as he advanced on Thomas. Like the devil wielding his pitchfork, he brandished the weapons better than any mutant Ninja turtle ever. The metal sliced through the air, fast and furious. Tho
mas backed away, for the first time ever, in fear. There was no tirade, no vicious monologuing, just Nick’s determination to rid the Earth of this blight, once and for all.

  I raced to Sabre’s side and fell to my knees. Blood pooled in the wound and bubbled from his lips. “Oh God. This is bad. This is so bad.” Sabre just gazed up at me. Like the moon overhead, his eyes only half-lit with life. I needed to stop the bleeding. I needed something absorbent to press to the wound, but I had nothing but the clothes on my back. I stripped off my t-shirt, wadded it up and pressed it to the wound. He winced and groaned. “I’m sorry. I have to stop the bleeding.” His mouth softened with sorrow, as though I was the one deserving of benevolence.

  Nick and Thomas scuffled close by, ripping and tearing at one another with the ferocity of the wildest, most brutal beasts. Locked in battle, they crashed in a heap only feet away. I arched over Sabre to protect him from the fray. Desperation spiked Thomas’ Rephaim powers, and he slashed and hacked with primal savagery. With a swirl of the katana, he disarmed Nick, slammed him to the ground and pressed the tip of the blade to his throat until the skin puckered. My hand flew to Ari, even as her talons ripped my skin. Ari! Get him out of there! The spider fizzled under my fingertips, and a moment later, Nick phased from the Wraith’s grasp. Thomas bellowed his wrath at the loss of his foe. With nostrils flaring like a raging bull, he stomped toward Sabre and me huddled on the ground. He hoisted Sabre’s katana over his head with the vengeful desire of beheading me. A fitting retribution in his eyes. Payback’s a bitch! he snarled at me. I coiled around Sabre and prepared to phase us both to safety. My muscles tensed. I squeezed my eyes closed, and imagined helium filling our bodies. But the clash of metal to metal snapped me back to the yard.

  Nick hovered over us as a shield, his face a rigid resolution set in stone. Nearly a century of rage blazed in his dark eyes like the pits of hell. A heavy iron lance, with two small glass ampoules at the base of the spearhead, whirled in his hands. A coffee-colored liquid sloshed inside the ampoules with Nick’s every move. Lye. The cyclone of battle resumed as Nick answered Thomas’ challenge, rage for rage, and strike for strike. The katana rang off the lance over and over, as Nick spun the weapon, ducked, slashed and thrust, landing strikes to every inch of the Wraith he could access. Determination welled in Nick’s chest. Determination to make this the last stand, to end this chaos for all time. From the go, Nick got the upper hand, and backed Thomas away from us.