The leader screamed a high ululation, and darted forward, his blade slashing toward them. The black ninja warriors attacked en masse.
A .44 Magnum revolver appeared in Vanse’s hand, and, one after another, he shot the nearest in the head as they approached. Tatya flung controlled bolts of power, and Forked Lightning let out a wild whoop as he swung his tomahawk. The three of them danced a synchronized ballet delivering death as if they’d trained for this since they were young, but for every attacker they put out of action, another took their place. Many avoided Forked Lightning’s whistling ax blade by scurrying out of range.
"I don’t know how long I can this up," Tatya murmured to Vanse, sending another bolt of energy and downing another foolhardy aggressor. "Are there more than when we started or am I imagining it? Otakay! Meoquanee! We need you!" she shouted, throwing white hot energy at one attacker after another.
"Perhaps they can’t reach here, or think we can manage without them." Forked Lightning gasped as an assailant darted forward and the tip of the blade sliced into his shoulder. "Our shields aren’t working too well." He ignored the blood flowing down his chest and stepped forward, swung his ax and decapitated his attacker.
“You’re bleeding,” Tatya sent a blast of white hot light, and more opponents fell.
Forked Lightning grunted in response. "It’s a nick, that’s all, but I wish my spirit guides were with me right now. Hey, who’s that?" He pointed at a shimmering light in the distance.
"I don’t know, but our attackers have taken off real quick." Tatya dropped her arms, sighing with relief as their assailants scattered, melting into the landscape.
"Don’t lower your guards yet." Vanse eyed the approaching phenomena with distrust. "Nothing here is what it appears to be."
But as the light approached, and resolved itself into a tall, silver-haired, and silver eyed figure, doubt as to the nature of the new visitor dissipated. He had to be an angel, thought Tatya. Only the wings were missing.
The being smiled. "Not quite an angel," he said, "but a Guardian, who can read your thoughts, even those with demon blood." He glanced at Vanse. "But none of you should be here. It is not your time. You must leave at once. Souls wandering here by accident or design before their allocated time can only be here for a short while before their body dies, and you are near your limit. " He stopped talking as Forked Lightning keeled over at their feet.
Tatya dropped and rolled him over onto his back. "One of their swords nicked his shoulder." She gasped at the black stain spreading out from the wound’s sharp lips. "That isn’t a nick. I have to heal him. This is serious."
"Wait," the Guardian commanded. “In this place my healing skills are more effective. Save your strength for what lies ahead." He placed his hands over the injury and closed his eyes. A minute later, all that remained on Forked Lightning’s damaged shoulder was a faint scar. "I have prevented any further spread of the poison, but I fear some is left in his body. Your time is running out. Come,” he commanded, “I shall take you to another exit."
Forked Lightning was half conscious as Vanse and Tatya hauled him to his feet, and with one arm around the vampire’s shoulder, and Tatya’s arm around his waist, they hurried as fast as possible behind their rescuer. In a short space of time, they arrived at a different river crossing where a solitary ferryman waited.
"When you reach the other bank, you will see a stairway," the Guardian told them. "But you must hurry. When the light from the walls fade, you have run out of time, and nothing will be able to save you. Move fast."
As they crossed back, Tatya glanced into the water, but this time, there were no sirens. As the Guardian had predicted, the minute they stepped onto the bank, they spotted the steps.
"This is another exit." Vanse said, "I wonder where this brings us out?"
Tatya glanced behind her and saw nothing but a sinister creeping blackness. No Guardian, no river, no lines of suffering souls. She shuddered. Whatever this place was, she was glad to be leaving.
These stairs were narrower and steeper than those they descended, and going up with Forked Lightning between them as he lost consciousness proved awkward.
Vanse heaved the shaman over his shoulder and led the way.
"I swear the light on the walls is fading," Tatya panted as they climbed without sighting the top of the stairs. "We need to move faster."
Vanse increased his pace.
Abruptly the stairway ended and they half ran, half staggered up a steeply sloping passageway, as the light from the walls dimmed even further. One last bend in the tunnel and they stumbled up the last few steps to the entrance, emerging breathless into the early pale crimson dawn.
"Look!" Tatya pointed, "the portal!”
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Difficult Decisions
The rainbow colors shimmered, and fizzled as they passed through the portal. The instant they emerged onto the sandy, flat, featureless landscape of the astral plane, Tatya sensed the difference; her powers were stronger, and she had more energy.
As Vanse laid Forked Lightning on the ground, she gasped at the green and yellow lines spreading underneath the skin as his wound festered. The Guardian had slowed the poisonous effects from the sword but, as he'd warned, the venom wasn’t completely removed.
"Can you guard the portal while I attempt a healing?" Tatya asked, her voice wobbling. She couldn't lose Forked Lightning. Not when he’d risked everything to save her. Kneeling by the shaman's side, she created a band of healing light between her palms. Moving her hands over the wound, she lowered them till she covered the toxic area, and sent healing energy into his body. She worked, her forehead creased in concentration, as bit by bit the contamination shrank, till the flesh was healthy again.
Forked Lightning sucked in a deep breath, his lungs clutching for air as if he’d been rescued from drowning, opened his eyes, and smiled up at Tatya. "Whew, thanks, sis, that's much better. I could see and hear everything, but that stuff paralyzed me.”
"Let's move farther from the gate," Vanse urged, helping Forked Lightning to his feet.
They walked a little distance from the portal. At least, they’d have a moment’s advantage if Angelus or any of his minions decided to make a surprise visit.
"Are you recovered?" Vanse asked.
Forked Lightning touched his shoulder gingerly. "I’m not quite a hundred percent, but if you're asking am I strong enough to fight demons, the answer is yes." The shaman wasted no time, and as the vampire watched, he removed every trace of the demon world from himself. His long black hair was glossy, his skin glowed, and his beadwork and feathers were luminous.
Copying his example, with a flick of her fingers, Tatya replaced what was left of the tattered rags Nepta had given her with jeans, shirt, sneakers, cleaned her skin and hair, fixing it in a ponytail off her face. She looked at Vanse; his shirt was torn and stained with Forked Lightning's blood, his pants were covered in dried mud slime, but his eyes were bright as he held her gaze, and pushed his filthy hair off his face. “I’ll teach you how to operate on this plane, if we ever have the chance to travel here under better circumstances,” she told him. “For now, be grateful Fabio can’t see you,” she added, suppressing a smirk.
"My thoughts are it’s better to return home," Vanse stated. "Our brother here isn’t restored to full health, nor will he be I fear until he returns to his body. You, Tatya, have been out of yours for way too long—"
"Vanse, how many times has Angelus tried to kill you and messed with our lives?" Vanse opened his mouth to object but Tatya kept talking over him. "I may not remember every detail of my past lives anymore, but I remember the reason you killed me so many times. To save me from him. Think about it. Returning to our physical bodies only delays the inevitable and doesn’t solve anything. Eventually, this life or next, he’ll find me, you’ll kill me, and the whole shebang starts all over again. Right now, we’re here, and he’s on the other side of that gateway. This is our chance, the three of us together. And, in case
you've forgotten, I'm not leaving without Nepta. So, if you guys are ready, let's make a plan."
"This may be a one-time only opportunity," Forked Lightning chimed in.
Tatya shot him a grateful look.
"Apart from your problems with him, don't forget I have my own reasons for wanting him dead." Forked Lightning's expression was fierce. "I've not even buried my wife yet, but when I do, I want her to rest in peace."
Vanse looked at Tatya with the old mournful smile, "You are right. Sooner or later we will return to this point. In spite of this I find it impossible not to put your immediate safety first, but I will do whatever you decide."
“Good. Think of it as short term pain, and long-term gain.” Her eyes were bright with emotion.
They were silent for a few minutes, each thinking of the decision they had committed to—a decision they might yet live to regret.
Tatya blew out a breath. "We're stronger here, but he's stronger on the other side. If we can somehow trick him into stepping through the portal, we can set up an ambush—"
"You may be stronger here, I'm not," interrupted Vanse.
"Are you weaker or the same?" Tatya asked.
"My blood runs cooler here," he replied. "More like my normal self."
"Does that mean you have access to your family and vamp abilities?"
He nodded. “It is possible.”
"We know his weakness," Tatya said.
"We do?" Forked Lightning queried.
"Yes, we do. It's me," Tatya said. "His lust for the power he gains if I surrender to him blinds him, and I’ve used that before to fool him. Okay, here’s my suggestion. I call him here, pretend I'm broken hearted because you pair deserted me, and tell him he's my savior. He might believe me because it’s what he wants to hear, but I'll say the portal won't let me pass. Do you think that will be enough to entice him?"
"I can cloak Vanse and me until he appears." Forked Lightning said.
"It's too dangerous," Vanse stated, "but I know how we can make it work with a lot less risk. I once mastered a siddhi technique of creating illusions. Not a magician's trickery, but an authentic illusion, a genuine doppelgänger that passes for the real thing."
"Can you teach me?" Tatya’s eyes lit up.
"I can do better than that. Using our link, we create a fake Tatya, who can move and act on her own. But we won't be able to maintain the illusion for long—we don't have enough power to do that and fight Angelus. This isn't without danger, Tatya. He is adept in many types of magic, may see through the deception, and stay in his own realm where he has the upper hand. You must persuade him the only way to get to you is for him to come through to this side."
Tatya took a deep breath. Vanse was right. This wasn’t without risk, but life wasn't without risk. You could step into the road and be killed by a careless driver, and people fell into sinkholes and had heart attacks all the time. But deliberately putting your life on the line took a different kind of courage. "Okay. Let’s start."
"You and I have to nourish these bodies,” Forked Lightning told her, “so can we eat first before we do the siddhi magic thing?”
“We must remain vigilant,” Vanse warned, “Angelus may send a demon through to scout for him.”
“No problem. Will you do the honors?" she asked Forked Lightning.
The shaman grinned and clicked his fingers. "At your service," and a white lace edged tablecloth appeared at their feet. He bowed, "What do you fancy? Burger and fries?"
"Fries, but make it a veggie burger," Tatya laughed, as she sat. "Can you manage a little something for our friend here," she asked as her meal manifested, and she sat cross-legged to eat.
"I’ll try, but I can't imagine the taste. He’ll have to take his chances."
Two bags of blood materialized, along with Tatya’s request, and a regular burger, fries, and a can of cola for himself.
"Let's hope this isn't our last supper," she joked through a mouthful of food. "Sit down, Vanse and drink up."
"Surprisingly good," Vanse commented, quickly draining both bags. "A little too much cherry flavor for my liking, but considering the circumstances…"
For a brief while, they pretended they were friends having a picnic on a day out, laughing and joking, and enjoying each other's company. But the mood was forced, and weighed down by the choice they’d made. Too soon the meal was finished.
Forked Lightning clicked his fingers, and the tablecloth, napkins, paper plates, and cola cans disappeared.
"Thank you, brother. Your skills are ever improving. Vanse, it’s time to put our plan into motion.” She stood, and held out a hand to each of them.
The process of awakening the bond between the werewolf and the vampire was becoming easier, although the initial discomfort hadn’t ceased to unsettle the two males.
"Shields up."
Vanse shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he squeezed their hands.
"Relax, this is necessary, though I know it's not easy for you," Tatya reassured him. It wasn’t only connecting with a werewolf that set him on edge, surrendering control was difficult for him.
"Another couple of layers," she told Forked Lightning. "Okay, Vanse, how do we create a false me?"
"To start with, you need to look, well, less tidy. More like when we first saw you through the gateway."
Forked Lightning sniggered.
"What?" Tatya snapped.
"He didn't recognize you—you were covered in mud and muck, and your hair was, how shall I put it, disgusting. He asked me if that was really you."
"Okay, that's enough. I get the picture." Tatya closed her eyes and the jeans and clean crisp shirt were gone, and she was again wearing the slime encrusted shabby clothes she'd worn when escaping Angelus’s dungeon.
“She’s really good at this, isn’t she?” Forked Lightning remarked as both men sniffed.
Vanse refrained from commenting, but concentrated, and slowly built an exact copy of Tatya in the center of the circle.
At first, the body was transparent, but as Tatya and Forked Lightning recognized what he was doing, they used their links to add their own subtle energy to the chimera. Within minutes the figure was solid and connected to all three.
"Forked Lightning and I will cut our links to the illusion. Angelus must sense only you. You will withdraw from the doppelgänger, leaving the barest link to animate the creature, and Forked Lightning and I will cloak all connections. Ready?"
Between one heartbeat, and the next, they cut their links, leaving only Tatya’s visible.
Strand by strand she reduced her connection till the illusory figure was bound to her by a negligible trace. That too winked out of existence as Forked Lightning veiled the final strand. She could feel the bond to the illusion as a faint tingling, but nothing was visible.
They observed their creation.
Tatya walked around the fabricated image. The replica, although indistinguishable from the original, stared ahead, her gaze blank. "Amazing."
"Touch it," Vanse said.
Tatya reached out to tap the shoulder nearest her, but her fingers passed clean through. “Wow.”
"Okay, now animate it," he instructed her. "See if you can make it answer me." He spoke to the doppelgänger. "Tatya?"
The counterfeit faced Vanse, a confused expression on its face.
"Think what you want to say, and picture her speaking the words," he instructed.
"How may I please you, Master?" the illusion addressed Vanse. Its voice was a replica of Tatya's, but its arched eyebrow and provocative pose had Forked Lightning in giggles.
Vanse grinned. "You've made your point, and I'll answer that question when we are alone in my lair."
"Mmm," continued the sham Tatya, batting her eyelashes with enthusiasm, "is that a promise?" Tatya relaxed her control, and the chimera 's expression became blank again.
"Position her near, but not too near, the gateway, and have her crying her eyes out," Forked Lightning said.
&nb
sp; "Yeah, I can muster a good woe is me when I have to. Right, let me get this clone in position."
The creature floated over the earth’s surface till she was near the portal. The shimmering rainbow-colored mist flickered as she settled into a huddled crouch facing the gateway.
"Get over here, Tat, and let's get started." Forked Lightning's nervousness traveled along the link.
"No matter what happens, keep the links cloaked, and don't activate them,” Vanse instructed, "till he's on this side of the gate."
Tatya gazed around, not wanting to contemplate failure or the awful alternative of endless future lifetimes of looking over her shoulder. This was their opportunity to end Angelus and the eternal cycle of hunter and hunted that had continued for too long. Settling her mind, she breathed out her doubts as she focused on her breath. Standing between Vanse and Forked Lightning, she resisted the urge to grab hold of them and squeeze tight, taking instead strength from the love and affection that bound them together. She closed her eyes.
The constructed Tatya wept. "Angelus. Help me," she called piteously.
Nothing happened, and the tension racketed up as the bogus Tatya continued to cry. A shudder ran through the rainbow curtain, and the doppelgänger looked up.
"He's coming," Tatya whispered, as her double gazed transfixed at the iridescent colors.
The ground shook with the pounding of approaching hooves, and after a minute, a dark silhouette could be seen behind the glittering mist.
"Angelus! You came!" The fake Tatya stood and reached out toward the portal. "They abandoned me. You were right. You're the only one who cares for me. I’m yours. I've been foolish." She lowered her face and sobbed.
"Come my love. It’s just a small step."
"I've tried, but it's closed from this side." She sobbed again. "And I've hurt my ankle, I can't walk. Please rescue me."
The three figures tensed.
"Of course, my love."
The misty curtain darkened as Angelus’s hand, his fingers sparkling with jeweled rings, extended through the portal toward her.
The false Tatya raised her arm as if to take the offered hand, but moved no closer to the demon.
The Kala Trilogy: An Urban Fantasy Box Set Page 64