Luminous Spirits (Shadow Eyes Series Book 2)

by Dusty Crabtree

  “Hey!” Robert’s spirited voice cut in. “Good to hear from you two.”

  “Yeah, I was worried about you!” Kyra added. “I tried to get Zane to turn around, but Gregory told me not to. We’re almost to the hospital anyway, so... I guess it’s for the better.”

  Patrick held the receiver, so I let him speak for the both of us. “No worries, Kyra. Just stuck in the back of a truck with no way to escape. But other than that we’re good.”

  “Actually,” Lexi cut in, “I have an update on that. Gregory radioed me earlier to say he got hold of a Jeep...somehow…”

  “Don’t ask,” Robert said through a laugh.

  Patrick eyed me with a raised eyebrow.

  “Well,” Lexi continued after the brief pause. “I guess he and Robert will drive the Jeep up to the back of the U-Haul truck. Am I right so far, Robert?”

  “Yeah, I’m driving the Jeep and Gregory’s doing his angel thing. We’re trying to catch up to you guys now.”

  “I guess once they reach you, Gregory will break open the door and then...” Lexi trailed off, probably realizing how ridiculous their plan was starting to sound.

  I leaned over Patrick’s shoulder and finished her sentence for her. “Then Patrick and I will jump into the Jeep while both vehicles are traveling at speeds of over seventy miles per hour?”

  Radio static was my answer until Lexi spoke up again. “Yep, I’d say that’s pretty much it.”

  “Pshaw. Come on.” I could almost see Robert’s screwed up eyes and dismissive hand. “You’ve got this.”

  I leaned in to speak into the walkie talkie. “Thanks for the encouragement, Robert. It’s still gonna suck, but thank you.”

  He chuckled. “Well, if there was anybody in the world I had to trust to get you two out of this mess, it would be Gregory.”

  I smiled despite our perilous circumstances and the crazy maneuver we’d have to attempt soon. “I couldn’t agree more.”

  “No disagreement here.”

  “Me too.”

  “All right. We’ll see you soon.” Patrick set down the walkie talkie and I smiled. There was no need to come up with a plan B. Gregory would help us get off the truck. He hadn’t failed me yet, and I didn’t expect him to start then.

  As silence filled the empty space around us once more, I fidgeted. I wasn’t as scared as I had been, but I couldn’t as easily fight off my nerves. I wondered if this was how stunt men felt before performing a dangerous stunt. They trusted the people helping them and had confidence in their abilities. But deep down they also had to come to terms with the fact that something could go terribly wrong.

  Thankfully, I didn’t have time to dwell on the potential negatives before a heavy clanking resonated from the back doors of the truck.

  Patrick stood and helped me to my feet. That had to be Gregory.

  Before long the clanking subsided and the doors swung open. A brilliantly glowing figure burst past them into the truck and stopped right in front of us. When it materialized into Gregory, I couldn’t help myself. I rushed to him, stood on my tiptoes, threw my arms around his neck, and buried my face into his shoulder.

  “I knew you’d come. I knew you’d rescue us.”

  He pulled back with his hands on my shoulders and looked at me. “Of course. I’ll always do everything in my power for you guys. Now listen.” He let go of my shoulders and regarded us both. “We still haven’t gotten any tips about Donovan and Lucas’s plans, so they must be communicating under the radar somehow. But since we know Donovan was around earlier, we have to be extremely careful from here on out.” His mouth twitched a little before he added, “Not that what I’m about to ask you to do is in any way, shape, or form careful.”

  “We heard.” I peered around him and was blinded by two headlights. The Jeep was closer than any vehicle ever should be to another moving vehicle. “So, how exactly is this going to work?”

  “Just like this.” He burst into light again and dove into the Jeep, lifting his hands once he’d landed like a gymnast after a successful routine.

  Patrick laughed. “Awesome!”

  Gregory was back in another flash. “So who’s first?”

  I didn’t hesitate. “The baby.” I picked up the bag and heavy carrier holding her and handed them both to Gregory.

  “So, have you grown attached yet?” Gregory teased as he accepted my fragile homework assignment. “Any desire to be a parent in the near future?”

  I laughed. “None at all. Thanks for the experience, though. It’s been a blast.”

  He grinned. “You’re quite welcome.” He walked to the edge and transformed to light again. Once he returned, the top of the carrier was visible from the middle of the back seat.

  I grabbed Patrick’s hand on impulse, knowing we were next.

  “Ladies first?” Patrick asked.

  I studied the gap between the edge of our truck and the Jeep, which kept swerving from side to side. “Let me see you go first.”

  After one peck on my cheek, Patrick released my hand. I backed up a few feet to observe as Patrick positioned himself beside Gregory.

  “Oh and Patrick,” Gregory said as they wrapped arms around each other’s backs, “it’ll be easier if you’re glowing too. Better grip.”

  Two more bursts of light, one right after the other. My glowing boyfriend and blindingly bright angel mentor jumped from the truck and soared through the air. They landed safely with both feet on the floor of the Jeep. Seemed easy enough.

  “Okay, I think I can handle...” My words tapered off as my eyes darted behind them to what appeared to be a massive black cloud of smoke. The smoky darkness churned and billowed, growing rapidly in size. “What the...”

  All three heads, including Robert’s, turned to see for themselves.

  “Is that what I think it is?” Patrick asked without taking his eyes off the cloud.

  “If you think it’s a huge swarm of shadows headed directly towards us,” Gregory answered, “then, yeah. It is.”

  “No. You’re wrong.” My face fell as my heart pounded uncontrollably in my chest. “That’s not just a swarm of shadows. It’s Lucas.”

  Everyone in the Jeep whipped around to see for themselves, but I didn’t need my eyes to know Lucas was there, riding on top of the mob of shadows like a ruthless king whipping along a bunch of frantic, underfed, vicious hounds. Lucas’s slithering voice had penetrated my ears and was sliding in and out of my head. His familiar lies of shame and worthlessness scraped along my brain as though his voice were made of sandpaper or steel bristles.

  Covering my ears with my hands, I bent over, eyes closed and moaning as his irritating hissing turned into painful yelling.

  I had to be strong. I couldn’t lose myself right now as much as his darkness wanted to suck me in like a black hole.

  I opened my eyes to see our impending doom drawing near and then shifted my gaze to the Jeep. I’d have to get in there quickly, but then what? What could Gregory and the rest of them do?

  “They’re coming up fast,” Gregory hollered. Still glowing, he crouched and was ready to dash to my rescue, when I came to a sudden powerful realization. Standing up straight, I dropped my hands from my ears. “Wait.” I held up my finger to Gregory and glared at the black mob gaining on us.

  With Gregory’s help, I had gotten rid of Lucas and his toxic lies already. He no longer had power over me. I didn’t need to be rescued from him because I was already free. Nor did I need to be rescued from his gang of shadows.

  I had been gifted beyond any other light warrior Gregory had ever known. I was created not to be rescued, but to rescue. Apart from my decision to become a light warrior, I’d never been more certain of anything in my life.

  But how?

  Then I remembered Gregory’s words from earlier. The light will know what needs to be done when the time comes. I let my aura burst forth and blaze all around me, let the light consume me. And instantly I knew what to do.

  “I’ve got this
under control,” I assured Gregory who was clearly at the end of his patience. “All you need to do is catch me.”

  “What?” Gregory asked. Though he must have been confused, he trusted me enough to stay put.

  Patrick wasn’t as cooperative. He stood up and grabbed the bars of the Jeep as he screamed, “Iris! What are you doing?” He glanced back and forth between me and the swirling fog with Lucas on top and continued to scream my name.

  I ignored his anxious calls and began to slowly pace backwards. My eyes locked onto my target, and as Lucas neared, the disturbing voices of all the other shadows swirled through the crisp air to fuse with Lucas’s screaming in my ears. I couldn’t block them out. This mass was made up of more shadows than I’d ever seen in one setting before. Their various voices of different pitches, intensities, and textures grated over one another as though they were fighting to gain the privilege of reaching me first.

  As the darkness closed in and I continued to step backwards, a verse I’d heard a thousand times in church sprang into my head as if put there solely for this purpose.

  I spoke the verse aloud, the words both a comfort and a potent shot of courageous boldness. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...”

  Lucas and the whirling black mass were seconds away. I stopped, closed my eyes, and imagined my aura filling my ears with light. Somehow I managed to block the sound tunnel to clear my head for a split second. Everything went quiet except for the whisper of wind. I finished the last part of the verse with perfect calm. “...I will fear no evil.”

  I flicked my eyes open and ran with all the force I had until I reached the edge of the truck and pushed off sideways with my feet. Tucking in my arms at my sides, I dove directly into the center of the swarm. I twirled my body and extended my arms outward like a deadly drill, with more grace than Kyra and more precision than Patrick. My scorching arms and body sliced through the murky flesh of the other shadows, turning them into vapor. Their hissing screams bounced off my aura as if nothing about the shadows, not even their howls, could faze me anymore.

  However, Lucas was another matter. As I had guessed, while his gang of foggy leaches disintegrated, he latched on to every part of me, screaming and cackling the whole time. Once the howling of the last shadow faded, I pulled my arms back in, wrapping Lucas around me like a blanket just as I had done three year ago for the very first time. Despite my blazing aura that had to have hurt him, Lucas eagerly embraced me like a sadistic killer who isn’t fazed by pain.

  I let my eyelids fall and waited in my cocoon of light, knowing full well I’d make it to the other side, unscathed. There was no fear.

  As warm, strong, glowing arms wrapped tightly around me and pulled me to safety, I felt and heard what I knew I would feel and hear. Lucas screaming in agony and the weight of his oppressive form melting away. When I reopened my eyes, I was standing in the back of the Jeep and Lucas was nowhere to be found.

  Chapter 31

  I may as well have been alone, standing in the back of the vehicle. Three stunned faces stared at me from all sides. Nobody moved a muscle except Gregory who was still glowing and hovering just outside the Jeep.

  Robert had twisted his torso completely around from the driver’s seat to gape at me. With only one hand on the steering wheel and no eyes on the road, he’d begun to drift to the right lane.

  “Um...Robert? Wanna watch the road?”

  As if on cue, the tires strayed to the vibrating rumble strips on the side of the road, and Robert snapped out of it. He spun around and swiftly corrected the Jeep, but Gregory and Patrick continued to stare.

  Patrick, in particular, gazed at me with pure wonderment. “I swear, you continue to amaze me every single day. I’ve never seen anything like that. You were…you were beautiful.”

  “Neither have I,” Gregory said. “And I’ve been doing this for a long, long time.” He still radiated light, but he’d toned the brightness down to appear halfway human. His floating figure remained outside the Jeep and his hands gripped the bars. Not that he needed to hang on.

  “I couldn’t have done it better myself. Literally.” Gregory chuckled.

  “Well,” I said, “I didn’t exactly do it by myself.”

  “No, I guess not, huh?” Gregory’s face was filled with awe again. “How did you know that would work? Crushing him between us with your aura and my glow. Or did we burn him or strangle him? I don’t know, but the plan was brilliant!”

  “I just followed your advice and let the light tell me what to do.”

  Even though I’d deflected some of the credit, they both still gaped at me. “Brilliant,” Gregory repeated softly. “Just brilliant.”

  For the first time, their compliments didn’t make me squirm, feel self-conscious, cause me to somehow question my abilities and everyone’s high regard of me, or even blush. For once, my confidence and self-assurance were full enough for me to simply enjoy their praise for what it was. Truth.

  Patrick kissed my hand and then pulled me down to sit on the other side of the baby carrier.

  “Don’t forget to buckle up,” Gregory reminded me.

  “Seriously?” I furrowed my eyebrows until they almost met in the middle as I buckled my seatbelt. “I just dove through a swarm of angry shadows between two moving vehicles, but whatever.”

  “We don’t need you getting thrown out of a Jeep,” Gregory said. “You have more important things to deal with right now.”

  “Like Donovan trying to kill me,” I finished for him.

  My second to least favorite shadow must have been waiting for me to conjure him by name. Either that or he simply had perfect timing. No sooner had his name left my mouth than Donovan himself swooped past us from behind. His speed generated a gust of wind so strong the top-heavy Jeep shook and my hair blew into my face. As the tangled strands danced across my vision, his blurry trail of darkness gained my complete focus and attention for the split-second he was visible. Then he disappeared into the cab of the truck.

  Gregory’s face turned grim. “We’d better get out of here.”

  Robert slowed to make the U-turn but never got the chance. Three seconds after Donovan entered the truck, the tires screeched and the vehicle began to swerve.

  We had no choice but to slam on the breaks to avoid a wreck. The U-Haul veered off the road into the grass, and we drifted on after it. I braced myself and closed my eyes. Then all was still. I lifted my head and brushed my bangs from my face. Out of some miracle, both vehicles were still upright and, as far as I could tell, no one was hurt.

  Before we could come up with a plan, Michael swung open his door and flung himself out of the truck. He clutched a gun with both trembling hands, pointing it directly at us as he approached. Donovan slithered out of the cab and hovered to his posts by Michael’s side.

  “Get out! Now!” Michael screamed as he paced in front of our Jeep. This raging, hysterical man couldn’t have been the same man that had graciously offered to help me with my car. What had Donovan done to him?

  We lifted our hands but didn’t move. Michael screamed with even more desperation, “I said get out!”

  I wanted to scramble out of the Jeep and lay flat on the ground, but I moved slowly like the rest. We all stepped out with our hands raised above our heads and stood together.

  “You!” Michael’s eyes found mine and he pointed his gun at me. As the demon flitted around his ears, he took a few steps forward. I couldn’t hear what Donovan was telling him, though. He was blocking me out.

  Michael halted a few yards from me. “I knew you were conning me! You work for the police? You called them already, didn’t you?” He wiped the sweat off his forehead and then adjusted his hold on the gun.

  Gregory answered for us. “No, we don’t work for the police. And we didn’t call them.”

  “Don’t lie to me!” Michael whipped his gun towards Gregory. Donovan hovered so close to Michael’s ear I almost lost sight of his face. “I know you did. The cops wi
ll be here any minute now.”

  “I promise you,” Gregory persisted. He took a step closer, most likely to draw attention to himself and away from me. If he was shot, he’d survive. Not likely with me or any of the rest of us. “We didn’t call the cops.”

  “Shut up!” Michael screamed as he covered his ears with his hands. The gun he held pressed against the side of his head. If I hadn’t known better, I would’ve thought he was telling Donovan to stop torturing him.

  Michael breathed heavily through his teeth, but he gathered his wits enough to repoint his weapon at Gregory. “You don’t understand. They’ll kill me if I don’t show up with the money. I’m as good as dead!”

  The desperation in his voice and eyes overshadowed my fear. This poor guy was being used on so many different levels. My heart went out to him and my passion shot through the roof. Common sense went out the window. All I could think of was helping Michael. And to help him, I would have to get closer.

  I’d only made one step, though, when the sound of tires skidding off the pavement onto the grass made me pause. I twisted my head around to find the last car I’d expected to see out in the middle of the highway far from home.

  “Lila?” Hadn’t she done enough damage already? She needed to help them kill me, too?

  She locked eyes with Michael and held her hands out in front of her. As she approached, Michael’s face contorted as if the back of his truck had opened and all the money had just fallen out. He took a few faltering steps towards Lila’s car, pointed the gun at her, and then flicked it back to us. He followed her back to our little group but then kept pacing back and forth as though he were afraid he’d fall if he stood still. His eyes darted from us to Lila and back to his truck. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

  Michael hadn’t moved the gun away from Lila yet, even though Donovan was still whispering to him, feeding him instructions. That could only mean one thing. Lila wasn’t working for him anymore.

  Then why was she here?

  “My name is Lila,” she answered, raising her hands as she took her place beside me. Patrick stood on my right, then Gregory still a few steps in front of us, and then Robert. “They don’t mean you any harm. Just put the gun down.”