“I don’t—I don’t think you should do this,” she admitted reluctantly.
Jonah smiled. “Well now, if you go on saying things like that, I may think you actually like me.”
“Well, I don’t hate you.”
He disappeared behind the shower curtain again and washed his hair. “That’s it then. Now I have to go.”
“What?”
“Maybe along the way I can move up on your list from not hating me to actually liking me.”
Her mouth twitched in a smile. “Ha, ha.” She moved to leave.
“I won’t let you down, Tracy.”
She put her head on the door and closed her eyes. “I know, but part of me believes it would be better if you did and stayed here where it’s safe.”
Jonah heard the door close, and turning off the shower, stepped out. Looking in the mirror, he saw the bruises and cuts on his body and wished she could stay behind too. Cade and Jarrett were not the only ones afraid.
Chapter 26
Rederrick arranged for the use of a Gulfstream 550 at a private airstrip near Colorado Springs where everyone would rendezvous. The two-hour drive had been uneventful with Cade driving. Jarrett rode as the front passenger, and Tracy, James, and Jonah sat in the back. While Tracy leaned into Jonah to catch some sleep, James scribbled down notes in a notebook and mumbled to himself.
“What are you mumbling about, kid?” Jarrett asked before Jonah had the chance.
He looked up at the rearview mirror. “Uncle Cade, tell me a little more about those things you called phase demons.”
Cade’s expression changed. “It’s not your fault, they somehow take control of people. Be glad you got rid of it before it convinced you to hurt someone.”
James shook his head. “That’s not what I mean. And I did almost hurt someone.” Tracy opened her eyes at his confession and stared at her brother. Neither one of them said anything, but the moment between the siblings helped him let go of the guilt. When the connection wavered, he turned his attention back to Cade. “I don’t have magic or supernatural abilities. All I have is my brain, and I need to know everything you remember.”
“Why?” Jarrett asked.
“Because maybe I can do something to help.”
Cade was already shaking his head.
Jarrett scoffed. “You’re not coming with us after we get to Texas. The last thing we need is more people to worry about.”
“I don’t wanna piss either of you off right now, but if you think we’re sitting out again, you’ve been hit in the head one too many times.”
Letting go of any hope for sleep, Tracy sat up to support her brother. “We’re not going to be the second string anymore. We’re the next generation of Dad’s Brotherhood, and we’re going to defend what’s ours. We’re not kids anymore. For that matter, I’m older than Mom was when she first started taking on demons.”
“That’s different,” Cade argued.
“How?” Tracy asked.
“She didn’t have much of a choice.”
Looking at his brother, Jarrett raised an eyebrow. “That was fun, you should try politics.”
Knowing he was defeated, Cade admitted. “She’s always been good at setting traps, but they still have to get past Rederrick, and he’s meaner.” Cade knew Tracy and James were right even if it worried him. They would convince their parents too, of that he had no doubt. He’d been around enough generations of this family to know they only got more stubborn.
“I don’t remember my dad talking about them, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard a story about one,” James said, bringing the focus back to the phase demons. “I called Dad, and he drew a blank. Suddenly, we’re attacked by two of these mysterious creatures. I feel like we should understand what we are up against. When Detective Hall shocked me, I could feel how the electricity affected it. I’m writing down my impressions.”
“I felt that too,” Jonah agreed. “I could almost hear it screaming, but I thought it may have been me. There was a definite pain that followed.”
“Few people know about them because most are smart enough to be afraid of summoning them. They’re extremely rare,” Cade explained. “Even the sources I talked to after my only encounter with one knew very little, and everyone told me you can’t defend against them since they have no corporeal form.”
“So they're ghosts?”
“No, they’re shadow demons. Niall was even afraid of them,” Jarrett added, scowling. “It makes me wonder if he is back and called out the hit squad. Why would he summon them up now? He doesn’t trust those things.”
“Does he trust anyone?” Cade asked.
“Good point,” replied Jarrett.
“What’s more interesting to me than the phase demon is the extremes The Faction is employing to be rid of us,” said Cade.
“Well, I don’t really care who called them. I just want to know what to do with them,” James explained. “Like, why didn’t they try to take over your body or Uncle Cade’s? They only threw things at Tracy.”
Tracy bit her lip and said, “Maybe the light bothered them. Cade, you told me to cast some light. Is that why?”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t know what bothers them. If what you’re saying is true, and the taser bothered them, you know more than I do. I told you to bring in light so you could see them coming better. Not that it will help much. They’re shadows, and you can only see their shadow with the right light.”
“I couldn’t hit it with my knives,” James explained. “I tried, and the blades are magically enhanced by Mom, but they passed right through them when they attacked me. It was cold, too—”
“More than cold, it was frigid," Jonah added. “I felt the chill when it jumped from you to me. I never knew how cold your bones could get and still not break.”
“I’ve never been possessed by one, but I know when they’re present. You can feel the chill in the air around you,” Cade explained.
“Jarrett?” asked James.
“My first, but I was educated about them.”
“What were you told?”
Jarrett shrugged. “To stay away from them.”
“That’s it?” Tracy asked.
“It’s not like Niall was trying to win teacher of the year. You’re not totally wrong about the ghost idea. Most legends are based in fact, and in this case I’d bet most poltergeist stories started with one of these.”
“What did they do during your first experience, Uncle Cade?”
“They jumped from person to person until they were all killing each other. I even watched one of the men cut his own throat to be rid of it.”
The response hit too close to home for the three in the back seat, and Tracy gripped her brother’s arm again. “That’s what James was trying to do before Jonah shocked him with the Taser.”
“What!” Cade exclaimed. He’d been too busy fending off demons to see everything that happened, and he had missed that part.
“It wasn’t me though. I was fighting to stop it, which is why I think Tracy was able to hold me back. I even think keeping her busy to help me was part of their plan. It was the demon trying to cut me, and I was self-aware the whole time. Talk about an internal struggle.” James shook his head, pushing the terror of that moment aside.
“It’s a good strategy,” Jonah observed. “You’re held up by the demon, and Tracy is held up by you trying to kill yourself. Voila, you’re both out of the fight.”
“How do we possibly beat something like that?” Tracy wondered out loud.
“We learn more about it,” James insisted. “I have a theory, based on science of course. Unfortunately, I have no way to know if it’s true or even to experiment, but hear me out.”
“We’re listening, kid,” Jarrett assured him.
James gave him a pained look. “You know that I’m almost twenty-three, right?”
“Yeah, you know I’m almost 300 years old, right?” Jarrett retorted.
“Point taken,” James conce
ded before continuing, “Anyway, Jarrett, you and Cade transformed when they first arrived. I heard Cade call out to you and tell you to let go. I need to know what you were thinking.”
Cade looked to the rearview mirror to see James. “The last time I encountered one, I was with eight other men and engaged in combat. I had already invoked the change, and the phase demon would brush past me but never enter. It wanted to, but I could feel some sort of resistance. All the other men I was with were affected by it.”
James wrote down a few notes, and without looking up asked, “So the demon entered all eight of the others?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I would say no,” Cade admitted. “Before I could even figure out what was going on, two men were already down, killed by their friend. I was also shot twice by then, but nowhere vital and with lead bullets. In the end, I was the only man left standing. Afterward, I sought out some help to try and put it together. A demonologist thought it was the instinctual mind of the wolf that kept the demon from holding onto me.”
James nodded. “How many with you were of a magical nature like a sorcerer, witch, lycan, demon?”
“Three.”
“How many used their magical ability during the fight?”
Cade scowled. “Three, James. None of us would have stood by and done nothing.”
James looked up. “I didn’t mean it like that. How many of those three do you think were directly possessed versus how many were taken out by someone possessed?”
As Cade thought about the long ago event, Jonah asked, “You think the phase demons can’t possess a magic user?”
“Not exactly, but maybe. There’s more to it. Cade, do you know?” James urged, not ready to disclose his idea yet.
“I don’t think any of them were possessed. One of them was the second man taken out. He was shot between the eyes when he tried to cast a spell after his brother was shot in the back. The other was stabbed by another possessed man when he tried to hold him down, and the third was me.”
“It’s a safe bet then,” James muttered and began working up an equation without elaborating.
“Uh, you want to clue the rest of us in now?” Jarrett questioned.
“What, huh?”
“James, what’s a safe bet?” Tracy urged, knowing how distracted her brother got when he worked something out.
“Oh. Energy. Or more specifically, kinetic energy.” When no one added to his answer, he explained, “Every creature is a form of energy. While they have no corporeal form, these demons must still exist in the boundaries of energy. For example, the human body uses energy to stay alive. We recharge that energy by eating and sleeping. Our heart and brain work with electrical impulses. Now, kinetic energy is defined as the work we need to accelerate a body from a given state of rest to its stated velocity. In gaining this energy during acceleration, our body maintains this level of kinetic energy unless its speed changes.”
“And?” Jonah prompted.
“Well, I think the demons are deterred by certain levels of energy. When you shocked it, I felt the pain. When I was attacking Tracy, I could feel the demon’s urgent need to kill her by using me. Almost as if it knew it couldn’t inhabit her body. Think about it. When Cade and Jarrett change, they must adjust the electrical currents of kinetic energy running through their body. The same goes for Tracy. When she casts a spell or invokes elemental power, it requires a great deal of kinetic energy. I don’t think they can get past that kind of current to possess them. Whereas the detective and I were ripe for the picking, having no way to increase our energy levels.”
“So what do we do?” Cade asked.
“Well, we can’t go around shocking each other with Tasers,” Jonah answered.
“No, but maybe we could find a way to adjust the surrounding energy to help repel them,” James told them.
“You mean like a shield?” Jonah said skeptically.
James cringed at the oversimplified cliché of what he was thinking. “I guess you can call it that.”
“It would be better if we could find a way to take them out completely,” Tracy told him. “The throwing of big or sharp objects is just as dangerous as them possessing the person next to you.”
James smiled. “I think we can. Factoring the amount of electrical energy in a Taser and the reaction the demon had to it, I think it’s possible, given enough volts, to do some serious damage. Also, it must take kinetic energy for them to throw those objects. If I can find a way to interfere with their buildup of energy—maybe we can hinder them at the very least. Once we get to Texas, I’ll need to go to the nearest base and see what I can work up. They’ll have everything I need there.”
“You are super smart,” Jonah observed.
Embarrassed, James ducked his head down and concentrated on his paper again. “Nah, just determined to avoid feeling that helpless ever again.”
Jonah nodded. “Amen to that.”
“If anybody can figure out a deterrent, it will be James,” Cade assured them.
“Let’s hope he can, because if Niall’s back, then things are going to get much worse. We’re going to need any advantage we can get,” Jarrett said grimly.
“Speaking of needing an advantage,” Cade said grimly as his eyes darted between the rearview and side mirrors. “We’re being followed.”
Chapter 27
“How many?” Jarrett asked with a growl.
“Four bikes gaining on us,” said Cade. “We’re still at least fifteen miles out from the airport.”
Tracy and James shifted to glance back at the approaching bikes on the old highway while Jonah watched Jarrett take off his boots. Shaking his head in disbelief, he smirked. “Unbelievable.”
“Believe it boy, this train has barely begun to spin its wheels,” Jarrett said unsympathetically as he pulled his shirt over his head. “Welcome to the ride.”
He looked over to Tracy, and their eyes met. Jonah could see worry in those emerald depths, but he saw the fierce determination first. The cool breeze filled the truck as Jarrett opened the passenger window, and Jonah figured if he was going to join the party, he might as well jump into the pool. “Okay then,” he said, releasing his seatbelt. Leaning forward, he cautioned, “Watch your back.”
“I always do,” Jarrett replied. The detective watched with amazement when Jarrett disappeared through the opening like a diver would off the side of a boat. Jarrett landed handily on the first approaching bike, taking the driver on the right to the ground. As the truck sped past, Jonah saw the beginning of the wolfish transformation in the side mirror, but there was no time to watch the scene unfold. Climbing over the center console, Jonah settled in Jarrett’s vacated seat.
“What are you doing?” asked Tracy.
“I am relieving your uncle so he can help his brother,” he said as he flipped the partition up to reveal the middle seat. “Unless you would rather do the driving?”
Cade raised a brow at Jonah as he scooted closer, but he said nothing.
Tracy scowled. “What? Why you?”
“Well, darlin’, we all have our strengths. I figure since I have some experience in defensive driving, why not? It’s not as if I can jump out of a truck naked.”
Having dispatched the first rider, Jarrett caught up to them. The truck bounced slightly as he agilely jumped in the bed, and Jonah could see the shadow of the black lycanthrope in the rearview mirror. He had to refocus as Cade was already relinquishing the gas pedal to him.
Cade opened the driver's window as well as the sunroof. When he looked at Jonah again, his eyes were red. “Ready?” he questioned, his voice already deepening.
Jonah wondered if a man ever got used to living around these two. The back of his neck tingled with natural enmity, and a chill ran down his spine. The detective nodded and, steeling himself against the sensations, gripped the steering wheel.
Cade let go, climbed out the window, and easily levered himself to the bed of the truck using his strength and the open sunroof as a
handhold. The speeding truck swerved as Cade swung to the back, and Jonah slid over to regain full control. Tracy had started to climb up front by then and fell into the door with the motion. “Goodnight, Hall! I thought you knew what you were doing.”
He smiled. “You should’ve waited.” Cade’s boots came through the sunroof and nearly hit her head. “See.” Cade’s shirt followed, and this time did land on her head. Jonah laughed despite the tense situation.
“Funny.”
“Could you two focus please?” James said from the back seat. One of the Hayabusa bikes neared the back end of the truck, and they bounced slightly as Cade leapt off, tackling the approaching rider. The sound of the crashing bike and colliding werewolf at sixty miles an hour was one for the record books.
Tracy gave Jonah a scathing look but turned and began reaching for the sunroof.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Jonah asked as he pulled her back down.
“We all have our strengths,” she said meaningfully as she pulled from his grip to stand.
“Right.”
The third rider zipped around the wreckage on a single back wheel, and set it down to increase his speed. Tracy worked on casting a spell, but Jarrett beat her to it and tackled the stuntman to the ground with a snarl.
James scrambled over the front seat to occupy Jarrett’s place and pulled a small crossbow out of the glove compartment.
“Are you kidding me?” Jonah said as he glanced at Tracy’s brother.
James shook his head and loaded it. “Hit the heart, my friend, and you’ll have one less demon on your tail.”
“I’m not sure you’ll need it. They already killed three, and there is only one more left…”
James glanced at him. “It’s never that easy, Detective. Do you think they would only send four fiends after those two? Think about it. Think about the horde that came to the shop. Even if it was just the three of us humans, fiends are not that hard to defeat if you know what you’re doing. These are just scouts and informants. More will be coming.”
The Truth of Victory: A Powers of Influence Novel Page 24