Death Valley Magic: Dragon's Gift Series Starter

by Linsey Hall

  I gasped. “I got you.”

  Bree scrambled over and grabbed her other arm.

  Together, we pulled her up. My muscles burned, and I vowed to do more than lift trays of beer for upper body exercise.

  Panting and terrified, we crawled as fast as we could across the tracks and finally reached the solid ground on the other side.

  As soon as we were all on the dirt, the tracks behind us collapsed. For good measure, we all scrambled about twenty feet away from the edge.

  Just in case.

  Rowan fell to her stomach, panting. “Holy fates, that was a trip.”

  I rolled onto my back, my head spinning as adrenaline pumped through me. All of my muscles felt like Jell-O. “Guys. That was awesome.”

  “You’re both nuts,” Bree said.

  I laughed, my breath heaving as I tried to get myself under control.

  A skittering noise caught my ear, and my laugh died, my mouth shutting. What the heck? I turned my head.

  A dozen creepy white spiders stared at us from the edge of the cliff. They were the size of Rottweilers, with blind-looking eyes and long fangs that dripped with yellow venom.

  Holy crap.

  4

  “Spiders!” I leapt to my feet, my adrenaline back and ready to rumble.

  My sisters lurched upward as the spiders skittered toward us, devilishly fast.

  I raised my hands, calling on my shield power. The magic burst out of me, exploding in a barrier of white light.

  The spiders slammed into it, hissing and scrabbling with their front legs, trying to break through the barrier.

  My stomach lurched.

  “Holy fates, they’re scary.”

  “And there are a lot of them.” Rowan’s voice shook. “They came out of the pit.”

  “I don’t want to meet anything that lives in a pit,” Bree said.

  “Too many to fight with weapons,” I said. “And I can’t hold them forever.”

  “I got this.” Bree’s magic swelled on the air. “On three.”

  I nodded, knowing what she was going to do. She counted up, and as soon as she hit three, I dropped the shield. She blasted the spiders with her sonic boom, sending them tumbling backward. Some of them fell into the pit, though others just lay there, stunned.

  “Run!” Bree said.

  We sprinted away, hauling butt from the stunned spiders. They’d probably wake up eventually, and we needed to be far enough away.

  My breath heaved as I sprinted through the dark tunnel, jumping over rocks and fallen timbers that had once supported the ceiling. I didn’t want to think about structural instability right now, that was for sure.

  “They’re back!” Bree yelled.

  I glanced behind me, spotting the spiders catching up with us.

  Damn, they were fast. They had eight legs, we had two, and the math was definitely in their favor.

  “Look out!” Rowan shouted.

  I turned back, catching sight of another huge pit in the ground. I skidded to a halt just in time, avoiding going over the ledge.

  Up ahead, there was a fallen timber that had once supported the ceiling.

  I pointed to it. “Rowan!”

  “I see it!” Her magic swelled.

  I turned, throwing out my shield magic just in time. The white barrier burst to life right before the spiders arrived. They slammed into it again. Some stood up on their back legs, clawing at the barrier with their front. Venom dripped from their fangs, and their eyes glittered.

  “Almost there!” Rowan’s voice sounded strained.

  I peeked, spotting the timber floating through the air. Soon, it formed a bridge over the pit.

  “Go!” I shouted.

  “Not without you, dummy,” Bree said. “I can blast them.”

  “Duh.” I stuck my tongue out at her. “But don’t. Save your magic for the fight to come. I’ve got this.”

  She looked at me like I was nuts, so I just glared harder at her, giving her my best hairy eyeball.

  “Fine.” She turned and sprinted across the beam.

  Rowan followed.

  Carefully, I climbed on behind them, walking backward along the beam. I kept my shield out, extending the range so that the spiders couldn’t follow.

  I was about halfway across when my foot slipped. Call it exhaustion. Call it stupidity. I didn’t know what it was.

  But one second, I was standing there.

  The next, I wasn’t.

  I was falling.

  My stomach lurched. Fear opened up in my chest, a hollow feeling that carved out my soul and stole rational thought.

  A hand grabbed my wrist, and I jerked to a stop. Dangling, I looked up, catching sight of Rowan. She held on to me, her face red and terror-stricken.

  To her left, a dozen spiders were hurtling over the bridge, scrambling for us. My vision zeroed in on them until they were all I could see.

  There was nothing but air below me and deadly spiders above. And my sister, holding on to my hand, even when she knew she’d get eaten by devil spiders for doing it.

  Dangling limply, I raised my hand, calling on my magic, desperate and terrified. Before I could make another shield, Bree appeared, standing over Rowan.

  Her magic surged, and a sonic boom blasted the spiders away.

  My sisters hauled me up, and I clung to their hands as we raced across the beam to the other side. Rowan kicked it off into the dark pit, destroying the bridge.

  I collapsed on the ground, shaking.

  Rowan and Bree knelt in front of me.

  “Hey!” Bree shook my shoulders. “It’s okay!”

  My teeth chattered as I drew in a breath, my gaze glued to the black pit that had almost devoured me.

  Rowan dragged me to my feet. “Get it together.”

  I snapped back, jerking my gaze away from the pit. “I’m a moron. Thanks for saving me.”

  “Always,” Rowan said.

  “Yeah. Moron or not, you’re our sister.”

  “And I’m officially afraid of heights.” I was pretty sure I’d never ever climb stairs again. I sucked in a ragged breath, trying to get the shakes under control. “All right. Freak out over. Let’s get this show—”

  “Heyyyy, pretty ladies.”

  I turned at the masculine voice, catching sight of a ghost floating a few feet away. He glowed transparent white and looked like he’d died when he was about forty years old. His overalls and old-fashioned hat made him look like he was from the nineteenth century. Which meant he’d probably been twenty when he died, since health care and hygiene hadn’t been quite up to snuff. Messy hair stuck out around his ears, and he smacked his lips as he looked at us.

  I cringed, totally grossed out. “Who are you?”

  “Dead miner.”

  “Yep.” I nodded. I could have guessed that, but I wasn’t going to pry. Frankly, I didn’t care who he was.

  “You three are mighty pretty.” He licked his lips again, waggling his brows. “I wouldn’t mind some company.”

  “Ew. Forget it,” I said.

  “Watch it, buddy.” Bree lowered her voice.

  “Hey, if you’re not careful, you’ll end up just like me. Then we can spend lots of time together.”

  “Dude, we’ve made it clear we’re not interested,” Rowan snapped. “Move along.”

  “Clive, you leave them alone!” a feminine voice snapped.

  I turned around to find the owner of the voice.

  A woman appeared, her ghostly face irritated. “Get on with you, Clive. No one wants your attention.”

  “Aw, I don’t see why not.”

  “Quit being so creepy, and you might figure it out,” I said.

  The woman chuckled, then scowled at Clive and made a shooing motion. He hightailed it out of there, clearly afraid of the woman.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “Don’t mind him. He’s a moron—don’t have two sticks to rub together in that brain of his—but doesn’t give him the right to pe
ster you.” She shifted her overalls, and I realized that they were the same old-timey make as Clive’s. She’d been a miner too. “I’m Jolinda. What are you girls doing down here?”

  “I’m Ana. This is Bree and Rowan. We’re trying to save our friend. We heard he got mixed up in the robbery.”

  She nodded, her face grave. “An ugly business. Some demons stormed in here, hootin’ and hollerin’. They rounded everyone up in the town square, and they’re looting the place as we speak.”

  “Is anyone injured?” Nerves rang in Rowan’s voice.

  “A few are beat up, but no one is dead.” She frowned. “I’m not convinced they won’t blow this place to smithereens when they leave, though. I saw them laying dynamite at the tunnels. Don’t want anyone coming after them in revenge.”

  Horror streaked through me. “So they’ll bury them alive?”

  “Seems like.” She spit. “Demons are the worst.”

  “That’s the truth,” Rowan said. “But we’re here to stop them.”

  “How?” Jolinda asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “We need to get a better look at the situation.”

  “Well, I can help you with that.” She waved us forward. “Come on. I can get you a good view of the action.”

  We followed her through the mine, weaving through the tunnels that became increasingly narrow as they sloped upward.

  “I do not like this place,” Bree whispered.

  “Same.” I shook my head. “You’d have to be real desperate to hide out here.”

  “Aw, it’s not so bad if you’re a ghost,” Jolinda said. “Just ignore Clive, and everything is all right. We throw some pretty mean parties back in the tunnels.”

  “I believe it.” And I kind of wanted to attend one. Maybe if I was really nice to her, she’d invite me.

  “Be quiet now,” Jolinda whispered. “Almost there.”

  We crept along behind her, keeping our footsteps silent. She stopped abruptly, and we did, too, peering around her shoulder.

  Whoa.

  She was right. This was a good view. We were high up in the air, overlooking the massive cavern below. This must be what she called the town square. It was a massive domed space, like an arena, but carved out of brown stone. Or maybe it was naturally made. Whatever the case, it was big.

  Down below, hundreds of people were crushed into the space, sitting on the ground between the stalls and tents that must have been some kind of market.

  In the middle, there was an open space where only three figures stood.

  Demons.

  Their magic radiated out from them with a dark power that stank like old socks and rotten fruit. Even from all the way up here, I gagged.

  Yep, they were mega powerful.

  Prisoners sat on the ground around them, pushed all the way up to the walls at the edge. Six guards stood positioned at exit tunnels. Where those tunnels led, I had no idea, but since I could see no houses or living quarters, I had to assume this place was like a rabbit warren.

  Worse, a sparkle of gray magic hung low over the ground. It seemed to come from the smallest demon in the middle of the circle. He wasn’t more than five feet tall, with dark gray skin and little white horns. The gray sparkle seemed to flow outward from him, though, and damned if it wasn’t a powerful spell.

  I leaned toward Jolinda and whispered, “Is that gray sparkle a spell to repress their magic?”

  “Aye, it is. No one can fight back against them. Though the demons kept their own magic somehow.”

  Damn it.

  My gaze traced along the figures sitting on the ground. Most were unbound and uninjured. Without their magic, though, they were at the mercy of the demons. In the middle of the crowd, I caught sight of Uncle Joe, looking a bit beat up.

  “Why don’t they have weapons?” Bree asked. “I don’t see a single knife or blade in there.”

  “Buncha criminals live at the haven,” Jolinda whispered. “Well, not all of them. But a lot. Weapons are locked up in the armory.”

  “Not great for a situation like this,” Rowan said.

  Jolinda chuckled low. “No. And I bet a pretty penny that the council will be discussing that when this mess is over.”

  Having seen enough, I tucked myself back farther into the tunnel. My sisters and Jolinda came to join me.

  I kept my voice low. “We can’t attack from up here. Even if we could throw daggers fast enough and Bree could blast a couple, there’s too many to hit all at once. They’ll hurt the hostages if they know there’s an attack.”

  “So we need to divide and conquer,” Bree said.

  “Make sure we’ve got a plan for each demon before we attack,” Rowan said.

  “I like how you think, girls,” Jolinda said.

  “Can you take us to the armory?” I asked. “Then show us the way to all the tunnels that lead into the main cavern?”

  “I can do that. Got some girls who can help, too.”

  “Thanks.” I leaned toward Rowan and Bree. “Here’s the plan.”

  Jolinda led us through the tunnels, taking routes that looked like natural fissures in the stone.

  “Most people don’t know these exist,” Jolinda said. “Only ghosts use ‘em.”

  “Better for us,” I said.

  Except that the going was tight. I wasn’t claustrophobic, but some of the spots were so tight that even I was having a hard time.

  When we reached a small chamber filled with ghosts, I stopped. It looked like some kind of saloon, but it was full of women. They sat around a bar and a few small card tables, all playing and drinking.

  Jolinda stepped forward and clapped her hands. “All right, ladies. I need a couple volunteers. We’ve got some girls here who are going to save the hostages.”

  “Oh, thank fates!” a woman wearing a feather headdress exclaimed. “If those bandits got the outlaws, half our entertainment would be gone.”

  “And they’re nice people,” a younger woman said. “Some of them.”

  “Anyway.” Jolinda raised her voice to keep control of the crowd. “I need a couple of volunteers to help these girls.”

  Most of the women raised their hands, and Jolinda picked two from the front. “I’ll try to think of something else for the rest of you. I’m sure there’s some way you can help.”

  “Thank you, Jolinda,” I said.

  “Anytime, honey.”

  The two volunteers joined us. One was a dark-skinned woman, and the other was of Asian descent. Both wore mining clothes like Jolinda, who explained the plan to them. They nodded, and our little group headed off.

  Fortunately, we met no one on the way to the armory. A heavy wooden door blocked it, but it was the padlock that caught my eye. The thing was as big as my head.

  Bree whistled. “That’s a doozy.”

  “Unfortunately, we can’t help you here, girls.” Jolinda raised her hands. “These won’t work on corporeal items.”

  “Not a problem.” Rowan stepped forward, digging her hand into her pocket. She pulled out the little leather folder that contained her lock-picking tools and looked at us. “Do you mind if I do the honors?”

  I gestured forward. “Not at all.”

  She knelt at the lock and got to work. I assumed it wouldn’t be long. The three of us were mega proficient when it came to picking locks. After our mother had died, it’d been one of the only ways we’d survived.

  Well, not the lock picking. The stealing that we’d done after the locks were picked. We weren’t proud of it, and we didn’t do it anymore, but there had been a lean year there while we’d tried to find our way in the world. It’d been that, or starving to death.

  As I’d expected, Rowan was done in minutes. The big padlock clicked, and she pulled it off the door, then pushed it open.

  I followed her in, grinning at the wonders revealed in the little room.

  Like all the rooms and passages down here, it was carved right out of the stone. The colorful gems gleamed in the ceiling, shed
ding light over the hundreds of weapons locked in the space.

  “Oh boy,” I murmured.

  “Christmas!” Bree said.

  Rowan went down the first aisle, trailing her hands along the hilts of various swords.

  “Go for the small ones,” I said. “We’ll need to hand out as many as we can, and they’ll have to hide them.”

  “Smart thinking.” Rowan sighed and walked away from the swords.

  I headed for the daggers and loaded them into my pockets. In the back corner of the room, something shiny flashed in the corner of my vision.

  I turned, eyes widening at the sight of the strange metal box-like thing. It was shaped like a shoebox, but three times as big. There were two things that looked like exhaust pipes at the bottom, along with a big red button and straps that would go over a person’s shoulders. A tiny clear window indicated that it was half full of fuel.

  “Holy fates, a jet pack.” Reverence echoed in my voice.

  Like mice smelling cheese, Rowan and Bree were at my side a half second later.

  “Did you say jetpack?” Excitement laced Rowan’s voice.

  “Ooooh.” Bree ran her fingers over the shiny metal. “I like.”

  There were two, actually. I grabbed one and swung it over my back. “This is coming with me.”

  Bree grabbed another.

  “Hey, no fair!” Rowan said.

  “We’ll share,” Bree said. “Promise.”

  “You’d better.” Rowan glowered. Then her eyes widened on something behind me. “Another!”

  She hurried over and grabbed it. “Just my luck.”

  I grinned. This was going to be more fun than I thought. I always liked a good fight. But a fight with jetpacks? Even better.

  With our pockets loaded down with weapons, we followed the ghosts out of the armory. I grabbed a pack of firecrackers on the way out and clutched it in my hand.

  Rowan locked the room back up, then turned to Jolinda.

  “Okay,” Jolinda said. “I’ll lead Ana. Bree and Rowan, you go with Hope and Lee. Deliver your weapons, then we’ll meet back.”

  I met my sisters’ eyes. “Be careful.”

  “You too,” Bree said.

  “And save the jetpack,” Rowan said. “We only break them out at the end.”