Into the Light (The Admiral's Elite Book 2)

by HK Savage

  Knowing they expected a report from her, Becca frowned. She’d been in a daze when she was pulled into the theatre. The demon’s hold over her had broken somehow, allowing her to see for the first time where it brought her. Blinking, buying herself a few precious seconds, she decided to do something either very smart or suicidal. Her thoughts turned to Michael. Picturing him, concentrating on the feel of his skin, the smell of his body, she filled her senses with him from memory and then jumped.

  In a second her vision went completely clear, unhampered by spots or limited lighting. Unfortunately, what she saw had her feet moving until a hand against her chest brought her to a halt. The duality of her split sight brought with it the usual sense of vertigo and nausea and she took a deep breath through her nose.

  Forcing her eyes to blink, Becca turned her face to Detective Salvo’s and at least pretended to be looking at him. “Detective, I can tell you that my unit needs me in there. We have a highly volatile suspect inside with..” She trailed off while she watched Michael’s fist ram itself into the demon’s eyes and its form go careening backward into the black wall. Glowing eyes popped open as soon as it hit and it lunged, hands reaching out to encircle his neck just below her field of vision. The orange glow flared in its eye sockets and her vision wavered just before it dropped. Michael was on his knees. Where were Ryan and Gabrielle? “I need to get in there to help them.”

  The detective’s hand didn’t remove itself from her chest and Becca’s eyes narrowed. The pull to be inside with Michael and her fellow unit members was physical. She could feel the stress inside her chest expanding to a painful level. If she didn’t get to follow the draw that was her duty, she feared she would scream. Jaw clenched, she looked up at him and let her patchy human vision take precedence. “Salvo, I’m walking in there and helping my unit do what we do best and you’re going to let me because if I don’t, your town is going to be at the mercy of the worst sort of lunatic. Is that going to be your legacy? Or are we going to stop this thing and you get to be the guy who made it all happen?”

  She didn’t wait for either the detective or the chief to respond. As soon as the pressure on her chest lessened, she sidestepped him and started walking. A blue uniform stepped off the sidewalk and held up a hand but the chief’s voice from behind her halted him.

  “Let her go, Sergeant.”

  A little softer, lower than any but the detective beside him could hear, she caught, “God help her, let her go.”

  Not necessarily raised devoutly, she appreciated his crooked blessing and smiled to herself. “Not sure he’s so big on watching over a witch, but I’ll take it.”

  The entrance door she’d come through, cracked around where her body must have struck it on her less than graceful first entry, opened with a creak and several large triangles of glass clattered to the concrete, breaking into smaller chunks. Sidestepping them, she walked in and heard more shatter when the metal frame settled home. Built with perfect soundproofing, any noises that could have been coming out of the theatre where her friends fought for their lives were hidden. Vaguely, she recalled walking down the long hallway before she’d gone into the theatre where the demon waited.

  Split vision allowed her to monitor the battle while she stopped at the end of the hall. A door on either side of her marked her two possible destinations. Walking first to the one on the right, she pressed her ear against it and heard nothing. Right as she pressed her ear to the door on the left, Gabrielle’s pained cry sounded both in her head and outside.

  Michael’s eyes, still low enough to show he was on his knees, turned to Gabrielle who, also released from the demon’s control, had changed halfway into her beast. Amber eyes atop a long snout flashed with insane animal rage as she leapt onto the back of the demon. Its hand released Michael’s throat and shoved him away, her vision tipping until it was sideways on the ground. The obscenely cheerful popcorn men stretching out on the dark blue carpet in front of her smiled and danced on obliviously. The demon didn’t touch Gabrielle, it merely grinned. Its glow flared with its otherworldly strength and her body froze, dropping to the ground beside it to shudder and moan. It hadn’t relinquished its control entirely.

  Not bothering to be silent, as the demon and all three of the others inside would know of her presence as soon as the door closed and the air moved around her, Becca walked in. The long walk down the side hall, too tall to see over until she reached the bottom, was torture. Inside, she was able to hear the grunts as Ryan lunged again and again at the demon only to be thrown aside. Seeing her friends repeatedly sending themselves forward to be painfully tossed around was physically agonizing to watch. This was exactly what she’d been trying to avoid. And as soon as she rounded the corner at the bottom of the wall and saw the torment live, she was overcome. Tears burned her eyes and Becca sucked in her breath.

  Blood ran from Michael’s ear. She could see his profile as he kept his shoulders squared to his enemy, his back to the seats behind. He gained his feet, albeit slowly, his left arm hung useless at his side, and he was favoring his ribs on that side. Ryan was running and bunching himself for another attack, he had his back to the screen and was about to take off over the metal railing that separated the short stage from general seating. One of his ears refused to stand and blood matted his fur in several spots. Gabrielle quivered at the demon’s feet, her body rigid and her teeth clacking together so hard they surely were going to break. A quick scan to her left revealed an array of smashed seats. A number of sharp posts stuck up from where they were bolted into the concrete ground, glistening wetly in the dim lights. She could guess at the cause of at least some of her friends’ injuries.

  Turning back to the battle continuing to rage, Becca caught Ryan’s massive wolf form launching itself and knocking the demon to its knees. Her jubilance at seeing him hit his mark was short lived. Ryan howled as the demon’s mouth yawned unnaturally wide and those hellish teeth pierced his cinnamon fur-covered neck.

  Again, she moved without thinking. As Ryan’s howl died in her ears, Becca watched him fall to his paws and shake his head, backing up. The demon looked up and smiled wickedly. Michael caught it and turned to face her. His expression, one of hope mixed with dread, froze her heart in place. Its temporary lack of a beat sent pain racing down her arms. She was here, now what was she supposed to do?

  Confused how she could fight a demon they were barely keeping at bay, she frowned. But before she could wonder what she was supposed to use to fight, she felt something try to shove itself into her head with the subtlety of a freight train. Screaming and clutching her head, she felt her knees buckle. The train, composed of nothing but fire and pain, continued to push, trying to make its way inside her skull. It was like being stabbed slowly with a spoon, the pressure threatening to smash as much as pierce.

  “Don’t let him in, Becca.” Michael’s voice came to her just before she heard something strike flesh and there was a moment’s lessening of the pressure. “We need you to follow the line back to where he came out.” The pressure returned, there was the sound of flesh being struck, and the pressure relented.

  Letting her transported vision work for her, Becca closed her eyes and saw through Michael’s. He was pounding on the demon’s face with rapid left- right combinations. With each strike, the pressure inside her head was disrupted. Watching, dumbstruck through several cycles, Becca was able to force breath back into her body and grow used to the pain in her head. Instead of concentrating on the feel of her physical body, she reached out to his, specifically the part where Black’s hold on him was physical. If she could tap into that, Michael’s need to protect her would combine with Black’s and it could hold her mind tight inside his, unable to be hijacked. He would be her anchor as she tried something that was arguably insane. A tiny flicker of fear that she might not get herself back or would throw herself into the abyss that was Admiral Black’s total control was minor. The danger to her unit and this town was certain, the possible link to Black not so muc
h. That, and, she sought comfort in what she knew to be true; Michael will never hurt me. Nor would Black want her in his head, she told herself. Those factors combined equaled a rapid ejection once her job was done. She hoped.

  Stretching toward the place in his mind where she could actually feel the tight band of control Black held him with, Becca latched on with both hands and squeezed.

  Michael gasped as he felt it tighten.

  “Michael, look at me.” She took several steps closer, speeding up when he looked her way and she was able to get a clear view of the path to him.

  Out of her periphery, she caught the movement of a large and very angry Gabrielle as she shifted completely into a wolf and regained her feet. Her teeth caught the demon’s thigh and her shaking it temporarily distracted the demon, the pain in Becca’s head all but disappearing. Racing the last few feet, Becca was at Michael’s side, being mindful not to touch any potentially broken bones. “Michael, I’m sorry but I have to ask you to use your tie to Black.” No chance of managing the demon without them now, Becca would at least try to fight it as best she knew how.

  His eyes registered his surprise and he cast a hurried glance over at the trio fighting less than ten feet away. At the moment, both wolves had the demon too busy to care about their conversation. “Why?” His eyes searched hers.

  Resting a hand on his chest, she swallowed her reluctance to put him further in danger for her sake. Reminding herself they were soldiers and this was for more than just them, she reached up and whispered in his ear. “I want to try something but I need Black to back us up.” She felt his body stiffen and her own rush of guilt for putting him in this position yet saw no other way. “I can jump into him and find his entry point that way.”

  Michael’s entire mind lit up with objections. Although she couldn’t hear them, she could feel him preparing to argue. “He’ll feel you, he’ll destroy your mind.”

  “He didn’t feel it when I was in your head earlier.” It bothered her to see the hint of anger before he hid it. She went on before she lost her nerve or they lost their interference. “Besides, I’ve done it before. He won’t know I’m there until it’s too late.”

  Michael’s jaw dropped.

  “By the side of the road, that night when I thought I saw someone with a flashlight.” She watched as realization sunk in. “I don’t know why, maybe it was because I wanted to see if I could do it for Black, I don’t know. But I did, and I was inside its head. I could see and hear. I know I can get what I need in there and send him back.” Silently, she pleaded with him to help her, begged him not to see that she’d carried a piece of the demon with her since that night. Without him, she couldn’t guarantee her body would be safe with her consciousness gone. Jumping into one person was one thing, a double jump combined with digging around inside a demon’s head would take all of her concentration and she couldn’t watch for an attack.

  He tightened his lips and gave her the small nod that told her he was in.

  With a sinking feeling, Becca pulled away from him and stood up straight. “Great. Now if you can get Black to make sure to keep me locked in with you, I’m going to try to take another hop out of my head and into him.”

  “Can you do that?” Anger was gone in favor of bald fear for her safety. “What will that leave behind?”

  Faking a tight smile, she avoided his gaze. Staring at his furrowed brows was easier. “I can find my way back to you no matter where I am.” She felt his eyes burning into her and feared that he was going to change his mind, until the band in his head clamped down and all but locked her in. The gasp that escaped her lips was as much from the mental squeeze she felt as the physical as his arm encircled her waist and he ran her up to the top of the seats.

  Taking up position in front of where she sat, he raised his voice to be heard over the snarling din. “Ryan, Gabs, you got this? Things are going to get weird.”

  The answering crescendo of snaps and growls was enough. Michael settled his weight into the balls of his feet and waited. Becca could feel him holding onto her inside his mind as tight as she knew he wanted to bodily.

  Splitting her mind three ways was new and she wasn’t sure it would work, but Becca approached it much the same as when she needed to see out of her physical eyes even though she was in someone else’s head. Following that tether back to her own head, she took a few seconds to firm herself up and remember who she was, what she was doing, and to feel for what she knew was the demon. Her concentration was complete. She didn’t feel the sweat beading up on her lip or forehead, nor was she aware of the headache that blossomed from her muscle rigidity.

  Michael milled closer to her, smelling the adrenaline rising inside her, escalating the strange scent in her blood, sensing her body’s strain as it tested its limits. The demon caught it too and began to move, bringing the fighting wolves with him as he gained the first step.

  The larger cinnamon wolf caught the change in direction and circled wide, throwing himself with jaws open at the demon’s face. Luck or good timing, it didn’t matter, granted him a mouthful of demon flesh. Sneezing at the release of sulfur when he pierced its flesh, he held on tight. Gabrielle’s smaller body allowed her to run up the back of her larger shoulder mate and she landed on the far size, twisting in midair to manage a graceful landing behind the third row of seats. Lunging forward, she took a mouthful of belly and locked her teeth, shaking her head for maximum damage. The room filled with the smell of sulfur as the demon’s “blood” was finally spilled.

  Michael watched as the thing’s body went still and its eyes hardened, turning its glare directly toward the defenseless woman seated behind him. At the same time, he felt her body fall forward into his legs as the last of her body control left her. Becca had jumped and he’d figured out the scent in her blood. For all new reasons he hoped she could locate its entry and they could shove it back in. The question was, would the demon take everything with it when it went? Even the piece it had left inside Becca?

  Chapter 31

  The orange glow of fire all around her told Becca she had been successful. The demon’s mind was filled with burning pyres and the smell of sulfur combined with earth for an unusually tangy, acidic flavor. The last time she’d been in his head, Becca hadn’t been sure of where she was and certainly hadn’t taken the time to dig around thoroughly. This jump, however, was about exploration and she knew her time was limited. As if to reinforce that assumption, she felt a strong sideways push. Dropping her weight into her hips, just like she was dealing with a physical force, she settled herself to push back. Her unwilling demon host growled in protest, unable to dislodge her.

  Pressing on, feeling the urge to move quickly, Becca tuned into the tingling feeling she’d experienced when walking on the ley lines. Closing her eyes in her head, she let the lines tell her where they were. There it was. The strongest vibration was to her right. Twisting, she struck off that direction, feeling it on some level when she moved beyond the theatre. It was impossible to describe, but being inside the demon’s mind wasn’t limiting like being in Michael or even Ryan’s. It was like it moved her to an entirely different plane. Free to roam not just remain where he was, she followed the vibration past the shadow of first one building, then two. A wide gap that could have been a street and then she passed under another building. The vibration continued to pull her, growing stronger as she moved along.

  She stopped when the vibration became so strong she could feel it in her teeth. She let her head turn slowly around, taking in all that surrounded her. High rock walls rose all around her forming a solid dome. Fires burned higher here. A circle of them closed in and flared, blocking her view of anything else. It didn’t matter. Because at the center of the burning circle was a wide, gaping hole. Blackness, beyond which lay the scorching desert orange moonscape that was this demon’s home. She’d found the doorway. Becca knew where to put the demon back.

  Backing up, she began to retrace her steps in order to return to her mind and dr
ag the demon if need be back to its portal and shove it back in bodily. Only when she turned around, she was no longer alone. She ran into something very hard that had been right behind her for who knew how long. Craning her head back to see, Becca stopped breathing.

  “Have you found something interesting?” The demon grinned at her, orange fire matching those surrounding them, flared behind black, pointed teeth. “No, stay. I insist.”

  Her scream froze in her throat as the fires flared again and blocked her off entirely.

  Ryan picked himself up off the ground and shook his furry head. Gabrielle had to hit the brakes in the air to adjust and avoid landing on her face when the demon she’d been about to tackle disappeared. Michael froze, horrified, and turned to see the slouched form behind him remained unmoving.

  Both still in their wolf forms and faced with definite nudity issues should they change back, Ryan and Gabrielle managed to communicate with a series of short barks and whines.

  Michael felt his chest tighten. “She must’ve found the door and he figured it out.” He turned back to Becca’s motionless body, taking in the bluing lips and thin pulse. Her ties to her body were weakened by strain and distance; she couldn’t have long. Ropes of fear wrapped themselves around his throat and middle, tightening as he grew more frantic.