by E. M. Moore
I knew him. I knew his alpha. "Liam, is that you?"
Liam's eyes came into focus as he stared at me. "Yes. What's going on?"
"You tried to take me out. What's wrong with you?"
He shook his head and squirmed underneath Jake's weight. "I would never do that. I was here just to ask you a question. Why is this big alpha dude on top of me?"
I tugged on Jake's collar, but he stayed put. "You attacked her."
Liam looked from Jake to me. I nodded.
Liam shook his head vehemently. "That can't be. I would never do anything like that."
I touched Jake's back. There was something seriously wrong around here. Like Eddie, Liam would never do anything like that. He spoke the truth. I was on the god damned committee that got to tell the paranormal creatures whether they could live within the city limits or not. These people were good people. If they weren't, they would've never been approved. Liam's pack had been here for at least five years without any problems. They were probably the coolest pack in the freaking city.
"Get off him, Jake."
The muscles in Jake's back tensed. I could tell that was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment, but he listened. He stood, but still kept one hand on Liam's shoulder and one on his forearm. I could tell Liam wasn't going to be let go of anytime soon.
"We'll call his pack leader and hand him off to him."
The muscles in Jake's arm bulged. "Not a chance in hell. We're going to subdue him and then try him for attacking a Ley Line Guardian."
Furious, I pulled at Jake's arms. "We're going to do no such thing."
He cursed under his breath. It must have been a doozy because even Liam shied away from him after that. "Let's take him into the house where we can talk and it doesn't look like I'm absconding some teenager."
The door opened in front of me without me even having to touch it. Another cool aspect of the family ring I wore on my right hand. Jake walked Liam toward the dining room table and sat him down in a chair. Before I could stop him, he pressed on a pressure point and Liam fell asleep, his head conking off the wood table next to him.
"What the hell did you do that for?"
"So I could talk some sense into you without prying ears. You're damn lucky he didn't hurt you."
I clenched my jaw tight. There was some good points in what he said. Dammit. "Thank you for saving me from him, but you've got to see now that there's just too many weird things going on here. We're using the amber stone to fix this tonight."
Jake gripped the side of the counter. "I see the opposite. We obviously don't know what we're dealing with and since we don't know, we definitely shouldn't bring the most powerful stone to fight something we don't know anything about."
I tugged at the ends of my hair. This was another reason why the only guy I liked to hang out with was my brother. They were all fucking stupid. "The stone will help. I've already made up my mind. You have no say in the matter as I told you before. Now wake the kid up."
His eyes were big, round, and scary. For a second, I thought they took on a golden hue, but that would be stupid. He took a few deep breaths with his back to me and then slowly turned around. "Since there are weird things going on around here, I don't think sending Liam back to his pack is a good idea. We should just keep him...incapacitated until we fix the problem. Does that sound reasonable?"
"Yes. Fine." I heaved Liam over my shoulder and carried him to the basement steps. Another cool feature of the Marston house was a magical jail cell just on the other side of the wall of the training facility. It kept paranormal creatures inside. No harm, just solitude. I laid him carefully down in the northwest corner where I knew the wards would keep him there.
I felt bad just leaving him. He was just a kid. What if he woke up and wondered where he was? What if he was scared?
I blew out a breath, took one last look, and then turned around to head back to the attic to grab the damn stone that would make this right again. Hopefully.
Chapter Ten
The amber stone felt warm in my pocket as I drove up to Gallows Hill Park where we would leave the SUV and walk the trails to the actual place where the witches were hung back in 1692. It was crazy how much magic was in Salem...how far back in history it went. If those witches hadn't tried to take over Salem Town way back then, there would've never been a SPAWN, there would've never been Ley Line Guardians. Well, at least how they originated would've been different.
Back in the seventeenth century, humans didn't understand things like ley lines. They only saw the witches, the paranormal, who of course were called to this area because it lit up like a light bulb. Regardless of what everyone thinks now, witches were the root of all evil in Salem, and for the entire world, too. They are the mother of all magical beings. They created shifters, werewolves, vampires, you name it, they did it.
Why do we trust witches now? Well, there are two types of witches. There are witches that are born with power and there are witches like Gigi and her coven who practice Wicca and manipulate nature to conjure "magic". We like the Wiccans. We don't like the witch bitches. It's as easy as that.
When Jake and I trekked up the hill, we saw the flickering lights first, then the clearing. I'd been up here many times before with Damen and Jake, but most recently just with Damen. It always gave me the creeps. When a bunch of supernatural people die in one place, it gives off an eerie feeling forever. It can never be cleansed no matter what.
Jake was even more acquainted with the hill than I. A little ways off into the trees to our right was the headquarters of SPAWN. I looked up at him and noticed his gaze was angled in that direction. It was probably hard for him to be here after so much time had passed. I wondered what he thought about it. When this was all over and he stopped being an ass about every little thing, maybe I'd ask him. Well, that was if he'd stick around for a little while and I actually had the chance to talk to him about it.
Gigi met us at the edge of the circle. Again, she had eyes only for Jake. Even though it was dark, I could tell she'd put on more makeup than she usually did. She was a natural beauty anyway, but the way she was now, she was a knockout. A weird feeling twinged in my chest.
That was odd. I rubbed the spot with my hand and then shook the feeling away. I had way more important things to deal with right now.
"So what's this plan?" Gigi asked.
I looked over her shoulder at Zion. She eyed me skeptically, probably wondering why they even bothered to show up. Little did they know I had the answer to their problems on me.
"I've got something that will boost your powers. If your powers are boosted, you'll be able to heal the ley line tonight, right?"
Zion cleared her throat and then walked up to our group. "It would have to be something immensely powerful, young guardian. I am not sure you have something like that in your possession."
"Oh, never you mind about that."
I reached into my pocket and brought out the stone. It glowed a beautiful amber as if it were lit from within. Zion's eyes practically bulged right out of her head. "The Amber Stone."
I nodded. "Yes, it's an amber stone. It should help you intensify your powers."
"Not an amber stone," Zion corrected. "The Amber Stone. It was said to have been lost in the City of Alexandria."
Jake shifted uncomfortably next to me. Was this why he hadn't wanted me to show the stone? Was it really that much of a legend? If it was, it should've been tagged with a freaking disclaimer.
Regardless, I needed this to work...and fast. "So, it'll work then?"
Zion looked at me like I was stupid.
I beamed at Gigi who stopped looking at Jake for two seconds and smiled back at me.
"How are you going to repair it?"
Gigi opened her mouth to speak, but Zion interrupted her. "I do not ask you how you guardian. It will work. That is all you need to know."
She turned and I ended up giving a dirty look to her back. It had a lot less of an affect when that happened. Gigi sh
ot me a warning glare. She could usually tolerate me pretty well, but when it came down to her coven or me, it would always be her coven. They were as tight knit as family.
"Place the Amber Stone in the middle of the pentagram, Guardian."
Jake and I both took a step forward and then looked at each other. He stepped aside and motioned for me to go ahead. I walked up to the circle, crossed the line, and placed the stone where I felt the middle was. I stood and looked around.
Zion pointed back toward Jake. "Now leave."
Man, she was really getting on my nerves. All of a sudden she was in the same vicinity as The Amber Stone from the Lost city of Alexandria and she was going to cock an attitude? I'd been living with the damn thing for my entire life. Who should be cocking the attitude?
Instead of saying all that, I hightailed it out of the pentagrams. They scared the crap out of me.
Like a couple days ago, the coven moved to the inside of the pentagram, some standing at the points. They called upon the gods and goddesses of the elements. Outside, it was even more freaky than inside the shop the other day. The wind picked up. Leaves and dirt flew through the air. My body locked up with tension. I couldn't tell if this was a good sign or a bad sign.
Too wrapped up in the erratic nature around me, I missed the commotion inside the circle until I'd have to be blind to miss it. The earth split at the witch's feet. An enormous crack spread through the hill, sending mounds of Earth flinging in the air. Jake grabbed for me as the ground beneath our feet rumbled. The crack split us and we both jumped opposite ways so that the Earth didn't swallow us up.
"Jake!"
He landed in a crouch on the other side of the split, his eyes glowing a gold-like color. Before I could think too much about that, a hard body slammed me from behind. It was a fox shifter. I tussled with the fox, finally picking it up and drop kicking it into the nearest, biggest tree I could find.
What in the world?
When I looked back at the circle, a creature bent over in the center. It unfurled itself, revealing a lengthy, husky frame. The thing had to have been over six foot with roots and twines that made up his shell. Tufts of dirt and grass melded like skin to the twigs and branches. It was like a living, breathing Earth man. I'd never seen anything like it before. Because of that, Jake got the drop on me. He ran toward the creature, unsheathing his sword as he ran. I tried to call out, but it was too late. He slammed into the invisible walls of the pentagram and flew backward as if he were electrocuted by a high-powered fence.
Gigi, Zion, and the other coven members huddled together on the other side of the Earth Man. If it weren't for the sly smile on Zion's face, I would've thought they were as freaked out as I was. They cheated us.
Gigi cheated me.
A swell of anger raised me to my feet. I took the small dagger from around my ankle and threw it at the Earth Man. Not that I thought it would take him down, but I wanted to see if it would affect him. It was only made of iron. One of the creatures limb-like hands tossed it out of the air. Not even a chance in hell to figure out if it would've worked.
Jake coughed and sat up. "Cas, the stone. Get the stone."
My gaze checked the ground. Nothing. I didn't see it. It could've fell in the earth for all I knew.
The Earth Man took a few steps toward me. When it did, I happened to catch a glowing orb inside its chest. The Amber Stone. The damned Earth Man had the most powerful stone alive in its freaking chest cavity. Fuck me.
I took a mental note of all the weapons on me. I wish I would've thought to bring more. I was so excited about the amber stone and the opportunity to have this all just be over that I forgot to suit up, as Gigi always put it.
I still had my harpoon on me from the earlier rounds down by the wharf. I could use it to blast through the fucker.
Going for my belt, I dodged out of the way of an enormous flying rock that the bastard sent my way. I rolled down, crouched, and unleashed the harpoon on Earth Man. It whistled through the air and caught him in the shoulder. As soon as it cleared his body, I pulled back on the string still attached to the launcher. He yelped in pain as its limbed arm tore off.
From the corner of my eye, Jake had taken the opportunity to grab his net launcher again. I sure as hell hoped that this net was at least magically enhanced with some electricity or something like that. We'd probably need a goddamn nuke plant to take this guy out.
With the net flying at Earth Man, I grabbed a spike from my messenger bag and threw it at his feet. Not only did it unleash an immobilizer spell, courtesy of Gigi, but it also turned into a land mine. There went another limb. The spell didn't even affect him though.
The net soared above Earth Man and came down around his head and shoulders. The monster calmly peeled it off him. If I had had the time, I would've shot Jake a dirty look. His go-to weapon was a piece of shit. Remind me to not waste my time thinking about purchasing one of those. More importantly, where was all that Elite training when we needed it?
The stone inside the creature's chamber began to glow and spin. The brighter it got, I could see the magical being growing. Not just in height, but growing back its limbs, reincarnating itself.
Oh hell no. I ran forward, my trusty Damascas out, leapt, and slashed at the Earth Man's arm which was bright green with regrowth. The blade sliced right through it and the creature howled in pain. I knew I loved this dagger. It even worked on things that I had no idea what they were. Loud, quick footsteps behind me told me Jake was making an attack. I ducked and spun out of the way. From the corner of my eye, his sword glowed a beautiful yellow as it took out the other arm. Another quick slash and half of the shoulder went missing.
Furious and wavering, the Earth Man reared back its head and then brought it forward, smashing it into Jake's forehead. Stunned, he fell back and collapsed.
Quickly, I grabbed the sword from Jake's loose grasp and made another slash. It didn't connect. We circled each other. His enormous stature making me feel more like the victim than the guardian. Feeling useless, I lashed out, intending to kick the guy. Instead, my foot got tangled up in vines and branches. I fell on my ass and then backed up, losing my boot in the process.
The creature stalked toward me, lifted his foot high above me and started to bring it down toward my head. I rolled away. Seizing an opportunity, I sliced the creature at the ankle with Jake's sword. He wobbled and then toppled over. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
From my left, a leaping figure pounced on Earth Man. It was an enormous werewolf, jet black and eyes the color of gold. I narrowed my eyes at the shifter. There was something about him...
Because he seemed more like friend than foe, I jumped to my feet and with a wide sweeping arc, slit the Earth Man from shoulder to hip. Dirt spilled from the creature like a sand dune. In a last ditch effort, the creature flung the wolf, who'd had a good grip on his neck. The wolf soared through the air until a sickening crack thundered through the air.
With the Earth Man still flailing, I cut an even deeper gash in his side, then thrust my hand through branches, mud, and leaves, grabbed what felt like a hard stone and tugged.
As soon as the Amber Stone left the creature's chest cavity, it stilled and toppled over, disintegrating into useless branches and leaves.
I stood, searched the area for Jake, but found nothing. A slicing pain pounded through my head. It was as if someone detonated mine after mine inside my head. I turned to find Zion, her hand outstretched toward me. Damn witch. I grabbed my head, but stood my ground. In a few feet, she'd step on the spike I'd used to take out one of Earth Man's feet. It wouldn't have as much affect as it did on the Earth Man, but it would hurt like hell. I took a few steps back, Zion followed. One more step and bam, she went down. The pounding in my head immediately subsided. I took out my whip, threw it out to capture Zion, but instead, it hit nothing. She'd made herself invisible.
I did catch something though. Gigi. I had her by the arm. I pulled on the whip, knowing full well that
the barbed wire would cut her. She cried out in pain. "How could you?"
She screamed again as I made another hard yank. "I--I--"
She looked so scared. Mascara had turned her cheeks black, and she shook like a cold dog in the middle of winter on a deserted Alaskan street. I pushed the button on the whip handle to retract the barbs. It flew back into my grasp. "This isn't over," I said.
Then poof, Gigi was gone, too. It must be nice to have magic like that where you could poof yourself in and out of existence.
With the Amber Stone in hand, I whirled and searched the clearing for Jake again. I hadn't seen him since he'd tried slashing the Earth Man with his blade. An object in the distance moved, but it looked too small to be Jake. Maybe it was the wolf shifter from earlier.
I ran over and dropped to my knees beside it. I gasped. His eyes...
The wolf shifter...it was Jake.
Chapter Eleven
The figure trembled from its half human face to its hind legs. It was caught in the middle of a shift.
"Jake? Oh my god." I tore my jacket off and wrapped it around the midsection of the animal hoping to stop the bleeding. The ground around the wolf was bloody. A tree branch had pierced its side. From my bag, I took out a vial the necromancer in town had given me. Sort of like a heal all. I'd never had to use it before.
Hoping it didn't have an expiration date, I poured some down the mouth of the wolf. Within seconds, the creature shifted fully and it was Jake again. All except the eyes. The eyes were still gold.
"My ribs," he said through clenched teeth. "Can't breathe."
I looked around the clearing as if something would materialize from thin air to help. When I found nothing--of course--I took a deep breath. "I know someone who can help. I'm going to have to carry you to the car though."