The Shade Amulet

by Andrea Pearson

  Something occurred to me and I gasped, realizing just how much danger we were in. The next—and final—element was Fire. Everything around us was covered in gasoline. How on earth was I going to be able to stop it all?

  I closed my eyes, not sure where to focus my energies. Abel was the source of the power, yes, but I wouldn’t be able to stop his magic. I was nowhere near as powerful as he was. I gritted my teeth, preparing myself for the absolute worst.

  If even one spark got through, we would be engulfed in flames immediately. I wouldn’t even have the opportunity to try to stop it. And unlike that stray bullet yesterday, a mistake like that would have severe consequences.

  I sensed the pressure as it started to build. He was about to explode. And just like every other time when I’d stopped Fire, I felt it as the magic slowed things down for me. I gasped at the sheer number of little sparks that tried to break through everywhere. I concentrated my efforts on Abel, stopping all of the flames that were trying to start in him, then following his magic as it spread outward, pushing new sparks away before they had a chance to ignite.

  My magic began to falter. I couldn’t stop everything, and I knew it. Looking at the house that was across the street from us, I hoped that the gasoline hadn’t gone that far because if so, it was about to go up in flames.

  Instead of stopping the Fire, I created a mental circle around the two of us, wide enough to protect us from the heat that was about to come.

  And then I let go. I heard a whoosh and opened my eyes, watching fire roar down the slight incline to Pioneer Crossing, then flame in either direction, following the gutters and dropping into the crevices that had opened in the earth.

  The fire pushed toward us, dying to eat up the excess gas, and I screamed through my gritted teeth, fighting to keep the blaze away.

  An explosion went off near us, rocking the ground below as the flames reached one of the buried gas tanks. I pushed as hard as I could, keeping the explosion from reaching us. It felt like my head was about to burst with the effort. My magic began running out, but still, I continued. Where was I drawing the power from? Why was I still conscious? Why hadn’t my magic failed already? I didn’t feel much from the amulet anymore.

  And then, I didn’t have anything to push from, and everything went black around me.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I woke sometime later. My whole body ached, and I was more drained than I had ever been. But the pain I felt was from exhaustion, not from having been burned. Oh, hallelujah. How far had I gone magically, though? I couldn’t feel anything. Couldn’t recognize what surface was below me, and for a moment, I panicked, thinking I was dead or in a hospital. Where was Abel? I turned my head and saw him next to me, eyes still closed.

  How had my brain not been permanently damaged?

  I rolled onto my side, looking at Abel. He was either sleeping or still unconscious. Or dead.

  “Abel?”

  He didn’t respond, and I carefully checked for a pulse, fumbling around, trying to understand what I was feeling as I did so. It was faint and slow. I struggled with my pants pocket, finally pulling my phone out of my pocket and calling nine-one-one. I’d been sitting on my cell the whole time, protecting it from getting wet from water or gasoline, but the screen was cracked.

  I hung up after relaying the information, even though the dispatcher wanted me to stay on the phone until help arrived. But the Shade Amulet was pulsing against my neck, and I needed to concentrate on that instead. I set my phone down and put my hand over the amulet, just now realizing it had been twitching since I woke up. “I’m okay now. Don’t worry—I’ll be fine.” I hoped.

  Warning.

  Coming.

  For a moment, my mind went blank. I’d automatically assumed it was worried about me and wanted to make sure I was alive. Had it been trying to get my attention, though? Trying to wake me up?

  I sensed something approaching, and rolled to face that direction. A faintly glowing flame, low to the ground, marked the hound’s location as it advanced slowly around the corner of the car wash. The gray hairless dog growled at me, baring its teeth.

  Oh, no. I pulled myself to a sitting position, hand still over the amulet. I didn’t have enough energy to fight the hound. Why did it have to come? The answer was obvious—because I was weak right now.

  I looked at Abel, realizing he wouldn’t be waking up for a while. At least he had survived this far, anyway.

  The hound stepped closer again. Even though I could tell it wanted to attack, I sensed a hesitation there. It was scared of me. Could I use that to my advantage? It probably didn’t know that I had no clue what I was doing, that I still didn’t know how to use the amulet.

  One of the gas station’s lights flickered, but it was working well enough to prevent the amulet from hiding me. Great.

  I tested my strength. My legs were wobbly and my arms were weak as I got to my knees and then to my feet. I did my best to hide that weakness from the dog, though, not needing to give it any more confidence. My hand automatically went behind my back, searching for my gun. It wasn’t there. Hadn’t I re-holstered it after the shade had come? I couldn’t remember.

  Did Abel have any weapons on him? I couldn’t face the dog without some way to defend myself, and I had no idea if the amulet would help me with actual fighting. I got down again, keeping my eye on the dog, and searched Abel, producing a switchblade from his front pocket. That was it? Why no other weapons?

  The dog made a sound that was almost like a chuckle. Crap. He was probably beginning to sense that I didn’t have a clue what to do.

  I stood again, flipping the knife open, feeling like Atreyu in The Neverending Story when he faced the black wolf. Giving a false show of bravery, I got into a crouching position and beckoned the dog forward. “Now’s your chance,” I said. “Finish me.”

  The dog growled and limped toward me. A red gash covered more than half of his back leg. He must have gotten injured during Abel’s Restart. Oh, thank heavens.

  When the hound was near enough, it lunged. I jumped out of the way, taking a swipe with the knife, barely nicking it. The dog lunged again. This time, it knocked me over and pinned me to the ground. Its teeth were inches from my face as it snarled, snapping its jaws frantically, trying to destroy me.

  Stupid, heavy dog! I couldn’t breathe with it on me, and it took all my effort to keep the beast’s head away. I still didn’t have my magic back, and hadn’t yet regained my sense. I didn’t know if I was touching the dog or the knife. And then it didn’t matter anymore because the knife slipped from my fingers. Holding both of them was far too confusing, and I lost my grip on it.

  Sirens sounded in the distance, and I wondered if any cars would be able to approach with all the damage the area had received.

  That last light flickered again, then finally died all the way. Thank goodness!

  With a roar, I rolled over, slamming the hound onto its side, barely getting out from underneath it. My eyes dropped to the flame in its chest and I reached for it magically. But either I wasn’t close enough or my powers hadn’t come back yet because I couldn’t sense it. So, I commanded the Shade Amulet to hide me instead.

  The dog froze as I disappeared from view. It sniffed the air, though, and caught my scent. It jumped toward me, and I stumbled to the side, away from Abel and the dog. The sound of my feet hitting the pavement never reached my ears, and the dog seemed confused too. So the amulet softened my footfalls, but didn’t remove my scent or the print my soul left behind? Lame. But at least I had something to help me.

  For the moment, the wind was blowing toward me and away from the dog. I needed to find a place to take care of the dog separate from Abel—I didn’t want him to get injured while I was fighting. Looking around, trying to figure out where I could go and what I could do, I stepped across a crevice that was nine inches wide, then ran around the side of the car wash. The grass over there wasn’t full of holes like the rest of the property. Good.

>   The dog must have caught a whiff of my scent because he appeared at the corner of the car wash, cautiously stalking me, sniffing the air.

  “Why don’t you fight me like a man?” I called to him. “Are you afraid you’ll get beaten by a woman?”

  The dog growled, but didn’t do anything. There was no way I could fight him in his current form—not with a nose that powerful and teeth that sharp. But the fact that one of his hind legs was injured would help me a lot if he was a human.

  I realized then that I’d stopped referring to the hound as an “it.” The beast had become a “he” at some point, and that wasn’t good. It meant I was giving him power in my mind.

  “I didn’t take you to be a coward,” I said. “Wimpy McWimperson!” Okay, so I still have a juvenile streak in me.

  The dog doubled over, its flesh roiling and twisting as it transformed into a man. He straightened, wincing as he did.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  I thought over all the mythology I’d read. If vampires were real, werewolves probably were too. This guy wasn’t a werewolf, but I couldn’t count on that wound not to heal quickly like a werewolf’s would.

  I flickered into view for a moment, waving at him. He lurched toward me, intense hatred and anger on his face. I stepped to the side, grabbing him and trying to throw him to the ground. He was surprisingly heavy, though, and the movies made that move look a lot easier than it really was.

  He whirled, trained and faster than me, and grabbed my arms, twisting them behind my back. Then he pushed me against the wall of the car wash, grinding my face into the brick. I coughed, struggling to breathe, hoping my nose didn’t break from the pressure. Ouch.

  This wasn’t going anywhere. I kicked backwards with all my strength, hitting him in his good leg. Too bad it hadn’t been his bad one. It caught him off guard, though, and long enough for me to get a hand free. I reached back and pinched him on the stomach as hard as I could. He growled in frustration, turning me around with one arm and holding my hands together with the other.

  “And now I destroy you,” he said, his accent somewhat Eastern European.

  “In your human form?” I said. Would it hurt him to shift again? Maybe that could give me an edge. “Don’t you want to be a dog before you devour me?”

  He laughed. “I can break your neck, stupid woman.”

  I kneed him in the groin, and when he doubled over, I pushed him to the ground. He grabbed my ankle, pulling my leg out from underneath me.

  I fell over, my head slamming against the wall, and landed in a heap next to him, gasping for breath, trying to see through the stars. I obviously had a concussion. A screaming migraine spread across my skull where I’d hit the wall.

  But this is probably the closest to the man I would ever get. He was doubled over, wheezing from pain.

  I asked for the amulet to hide me, then rolled nearer to him. He didn’t seem to notice me coming closer—my sounds were being hidden. I reached for his flame, searching for my magic through the migraine, and froze.

  My powers still hadn’t returned.

  How was I supposed to kill him when I couldn’t use my magic? The only way to destroy him was to quench his flame, but I couldn’t do that without my Fire abilities.

  Knowing he would recover soon, I struggled to my feet and backed away from him, trying to be ready for anything he would do. I put a hand to my head, attempting to massage away the pain and the blinding stars that were there.

  The man grunted, rolling to his knees, getting to his feet. He looked around, didn’t see me, and an expression of suspicion crossed his face.

  “Where are you?” he whispered.

  I held completely still, hoping his nose wasn’t as good in human form.

  The sirens got louder. They must have found a better way to reach the gas station.

  We both heard voices. One—no, two of them, were women.

  The man’s eyes narrowed and he looked toward the sounds of the voices, possibly thinking I was one of them.

  “Don’t think I won’t be back for you,” he whispered.

  He turned and limped along the fence that separated this property from a field. I followed quietly, keeping a firm mental grip on my invisibility, grateful the amulet didn’t need my magic to work.

  How long would it take for my powers to return? I was exhausted. I couldn’t follow him for long. And what would happen once we got somewhere that had a lot of streetlights? The Shade Amulet would stop working.

  We’d gone about two hundred yards when I felt a slight flicker of magic finally responding to me. It wasn’t enough, though.

  The man startled, then stopped and glanced over his shoulder, seeing through me. Was he an Arete? Had he sensed my powers?

  “Hello?” he whispered.

  He waited for a moment. I kept completely still. Then he turned forward and continued limping along for a couple moments more. With a whimper, he jerked to a stop and began convulsing as he started shifting back into a dog.

  Even with an injured leg, a creature with four legs would go much faster than a man with two. I couldn’t let him escape—there was no way I could run after him.

  I pulled more magic to me. He froze even though his transformation process wasn’t complete. He had to be an Arete! Why hadn’t he attacked with his magic before? Maybe he wasn’t powerful. Not every Arete mastered the elements enough to fight with them.

  Finally, I had enough magic gathered, and I stepped nearer as he finished transforming. Now to get close enough.

  He shook himself, whining again from pain. Before he could run, I tackled him, pinning his legs beneath him.

  Kill?

  The dog shifted underneath me, trying to get me off. I squeezed my eyes tight, feeling as pain and pressure burst in my skull as I sent enough magic to diffuse his fire. I’d never pushed myself this hard before, especially after everything I’d gone through this week.

  “Kill,” I whispered.

  The dog froze, then scrambled madly, but it wasn’t enough. The fire in its chest flickered out, and the hound beneath me slumped, completely limp. I scurried off, getting to my feet, and watched for several moments, waiting to see if it would come back. He didn’t move, and the light didn’t reignite.

  “Is he dead?” I whispered to the amulet.

  Yes.

  “Permanently?”

  Yes.

  Hallelujah. Oh, hallelujah.

  But why hadn’t the vampire died when I’d killed its flame?

  This part of the road and sidewalk had been scorched by flames. The weeds were black and charred, and I could see in the dim light from the moon that my clothes were covered in soot. I’d take that any day over being murdered by vamps or crazy-evil hounds.

  Realizing I was done here, I turned and headed back to the gas station, keeping a hand on my pounding head.

  I limped around the edge of the car wash and saw several paramedics stepping through the mess that was left of the gas station. Most of the destruction had happened to that building, though the car wash had also been damaged quite extensively.

  “Over here!” I called once I’d reached Abel, drawing their attention. I sank down next to him, putting my head on his chest. I heard his heart beating and felt him breathing. He had made it. Thank goodness. Powerful pulses swirled around him, ready for him to command the magic he could now access. I couldn’t wait to see what he could do when he woke up.

  Chief O’Hare’s voice boomed through the night air. “Where is she?”

  “I’m here,” I said, struggling back into a sitting position, wincing as pain radiated through my body.

  Chief and Detective Evans approached, along with several paramedics who immediately began working on Abel, splinting his leg and getting an IV in him.

  “How long has he been unconscious?” a paramedic asked.

  “About thirty minutes, maybe more.”

  The paramedic raised his eyebrows. “That long?”

  I knew why he was worried�
��people out that long generally have something seriously wrong with them. “Yes. He’s an Arete. He just Restarted.”

  The paramedic studied Abel with confusion, probably noticing his hair color, but continued working anyway.

  “The dog is back that way,” I said to Detective Evans, motioning the way I’d just come. “The one that killed the man.”

  A fit of dizziness hit me and I slumped over, putting my head between my knees. It didn’t surprise me—the adrenaline was wearing off, and I’d really put myself through a lot lately. My migraine pulsed even stronger, and I couldn’t keep a small whimper inside.

  Chief had the paramedics get me onto a gurney as well, and I didn’t protest, even though I’d probably feel like a wimp later when I didn’t hurt so much. They wheeled me to 500 West, then up the road a ways to where the ambulances had stopped. Apparently, cars couldn’t get to the gas station due to all the wreckage.

  And then we headed to the hospital.

  Chapter Thirty

  I was only in the hospital for a few hours before they released me. No broken bones and nothing permanently damaged. They told me to rest and drink lots of fluid. Abel, on the other hand, ended up having emergency surgery on his leg. The rock had crushed the bone, and he needed several pins to put it back together. The prognosis was good, though, and the doctor told me he should heal without a problem.

  They kept him in the ICU for several days. He still hadn’t awakened. They said it wasn’t really a coma—his vital signs were too close to normal for that. They just couldn’t wake him up.

  I visited every day, making everyone promise that the moment he came to, they’d let me know. During that time, I talked to Cole, filling him in on what had happened. I declined another date, giving him the excuse that I needed more time to get over my experiences. That was accurate, but I knew there was something else bothering me. When I pinpointed the reason, I was surprised. Apparently, I wanted to talk to Abel again before my relationship with Cole progressed. Rather than studying out this line of thinking, I tucked it away.