“I’m at The Witch’s Brew. You guys better get down here. Now.”
Libbie looked at Jay when he pressed harder on the accelerator. “We’re a couple of blocks away. Don’t do anything until we get there.” She hit end on the call. “You heard that?”
Jay glanced at her. “Loud and clear. Wolves have great hearing.”
“I’ll have to remember that.”
They hadn’t yet parked the car when the magical energy inundated them. Whatever was out there, it was strong. Libbie reached for the handle, but Jay grabbed her before she could get out, wrapping a hand around the back of her neck and pulling her in for a hard kiss. “Be careful, mate.”
“You, too.” For the first time in her life, fighting the goblins sent fear streaking through her. She wasn’t afraid for her safety. It took a lot more than a goblin to kill a daemon, but what about a werewolf? She bolted from the car, calling out her instructions as she ran down the alley. “Get to April and Kurt. Keep them safe. I’ll handle the uglies.”
The alley still reeked, but she could see better in the light of day. At the end, where Kurt and Jennifer had been suspended, now stood a gaping, shimmering hole. It was like someone had taken a knife to the fabric of time and space and had cut a jagged piece out. She glanced around. No sign of either Kurt or April. Damn.
Snarling growls came at her from several different directions, halting her in her tracks. Jay’s steps echoed behind her. She couldn’t see them yet, but it was too late, they were there. To her left, a form materialized, and she fought against the instinct to run. “Walk back, Jay. Don’t run. Walk to the car and get in. Lock the doors.” She filled her voice with compulsion, hoping that it would push him to do what she’d asked.
“That doesn’t work on werewolves, babe. Besides, it’s too late.” Jay stood with his back to hers. “There’s a big, nasty thing blocking the exit.”
“Damn it, Jay, go up then. Take the fire escape and get to the roof. I can’t fight and keep you safe at the same time.” Her voice deepened as the daemon surged forward. The adrenaline of the upcoming battle had her buzzing with suppressed energy. “As long as I’m down here, they won’t follow you.”
His wicked growls rumbled at her back. “What are they? How do you defeat them?”
A second beast formed to her right, blocking the path to the rusted old ladder leading to safety. Damn it. Another clung to the rungs ten feet up, its slimy drool dripping to the ground next to its friend. Five times bigger than a wolverine, with the tempers to match, these gray-skinned, hairless monsters were pure evil. Their razor-sharp teeth could cut through bone with a few well-placed chomps, and their claws tear through flesh like fingers through water. They couldn’t stay in the earthly realms. Everything and everyone in their paths would die horrendous deaths.
“They’re Shikrahs. They belong to the demonic realm, so if they’ve made it this far, they’re not alone. Keep your guard up for other attacks.” Maybe if Jay could keep her body safe, she could dispatch the beasts before the real threat showed up. “I have to send them back where they belong. They’ll attack while I’m vulnerable so be ready. Use as much light magic as you can. It won’t defeat them, but if you get lucky, they’ll be disoriented.”
“Do what you need to do, mate. I’ll keep them off you,” he said, his voice sounding much rougher and more gravelly than it had.
“Just don’t let them hurt you.”
She lifted her hands in the air, summoning the power she needed. Seldom did she use the mother tongue when casting her spells, but she didn’t usually have to fight a demon’s pet, let alone three. She had to get rid of them fast. Already the air was charging with power from the shadow world.
The moment she uttered the first sound, the three beasts roared. The one to the left lunged at her, but in a blur of movement, a creature stepped between her and the beast. Covered in fur, it was more than seven feet tall, and wider in the shoulders than any man was. It had to be Jay. She’d never seen a shifted werewolf before, but what else would be in the alley and trying to defend her?
She concentrated on the words she was saying, trusting that Jay would keep her body safe. If she made the slightest error, even in her tone, the outcome could be disastrous for not only them but also everyone for miles around. She allowed the words to wash through her, from her mind to her lips, letting all notions of her own slip to the sideline. Instinct took over as she raised her hands higher, and then slammed them down as she called upon the elements to aid her in their fight.
She almost faltered when the clang of the fire escape announced the beast lying in wait was joining the fray. Before she could even flinch, Jay leaped to intercept it. They tumbled to the ground, making it quake beneath her feet at the impact as they landed in a tangled mess. The Shikrah to her right lay on the ground, thick black goo pouring from the gaping hole in its heaving chest.
Libbie continued to chant. The guttural sounds rumbling from her throat sounded more animal than human, but she kept going. Lifting her hands again, she clenched her fists, grasping at invisible strands of magic, taking them in her grip, bolstering them with the power within her. She wielded them like a whip. A soft hissing sound grew in her hand as she stared at the creature to her left. It took a step closer, staying clear of the area where Jay still grappled with the other beast. Another foot closer and she could use the weapon she had fashioned. It wasn’t fancy, but it would have to do.
The Shikrah crouched low, its hind quarters up high as it readied to pounce. The second it flew into the air toward her, she swung her hand, casting the invisible whip. Too late, the beast realized what she’d done. Its eyes shone, and it roared long and loud, drool dripping down its chin and spraying the air as it whipped its body about trying to disengage the magical weapon. Had she not been prepared for the horrendous tug on her arm, Libbie would never have been able to hold on. As it was, her shoulder popped. The muscles in her arm burned as they stretched and tore, making her cry out as pain ripped through her.
“Libbie!” Jay yelled, but she couldn’t let him distract her. Pushing through the agony, she used both hands to wield the whip, sending the Shikrah flying through the air, not toward the black opening, but toward the shadows in the corner. Sending it back into the gate wouldn’t contain it, only delay its re-entry. She watched only long enough to see it sucked in by the Pillars of Justice before she turned back to Jay and the other beasts. The injured creature didn’t move except to breathe, but she was no fool. As soon as its master arrived, it would be healed. Grunting, she whipped her arm around, capturing the creature and sending it flying through the air. The creature didn’t put up a fight, giving her a small reprieve. As soon as it was gone, she turned to where Jay and the last Shikrah still fought.
Libbie gasped. So much blood, some black, but a lot of red, too. Her heart pounded and her breath caught in her throat. Jay was beneath the creature. Long, pointed nails covered in black tipped a fur-covered hand. Just as she was about to use her weapon to remove the beast from him, he plunged his hand into its side, gouging a huge chunk of flesh from its body. The mangled beast reared its head back, roaring.
She couldn’t see his other hand. If he were attached to the beast in any way, she’d send him into the shadow world, too. “Disengage, Jay, clear your hands. Now.” She could only hope that he would hear her and do as she asked.
She waited for one heartbeat, and another. When the beast lunged at Jay again, she cracked the whip. The soft hiss from before hummed loud as the strands wrapped around the Shikrah. The instant it did, the beast leaped from Jay, coming straight for her. She didn’t wait for it to reach her. Using both hands, she flung it as hard as she could, but it contorted almost catlike in the air and flew into the brick wall rather than the shadows she intended.
Her vision narrowed as the pain in her shoulder absorbed the impact. Black spots danced in front of her eyes, and she had to blink fast to focus them. With a guttural yell, she prepared to swing again. She hadn’t noticed
Jay come up behind her, but his warmth and hard body pressed against her back. Wrapping his hands around hers, he jerked her body, using his strength to send the beast into the shadows.
Libbie fell to her knees, her stomach heaving as the pain rushed through her again.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to hurt you.” Jay came to his knees beside her, bracing her so that she wouldn’t put pressure on her injured shoulder. “I just didn’t know what else to do.”
She took a deep breath. “No, you did what you had to do. Thank you. I—” She took one look at him, and her heart stuttered. “We have to get you to a healer.”
“I’ll be fine. I can switch back to my human form if you’d rather, but I heal faster like this.” He lay down on the grimy alley floor. “If you’ll give me a minute, I’ll pop your shoulder back into place. It’ll hurt, but not as much as leaving it out will.”
The air around them sizzled, and the foul smell of sulfur and decay soured the air. Shit. “I don’t suppose you’d consider going back to the car now?” she asked Jay, but it was already too late.
Chapter Twelve
Libbie struggled to her feet. Whatever was coming wasn’t going to wait for her to be ready. “Can you pop it in now?” She turned to Jay, who stood, bracing his left arm around the deepest wound in his stomach. “Don’t worry, whatever you do is nothing in comparison to what will happen if the demon coming through gets here before I can fight.”
He frowned, but clamped his jaw and nodded. Jay took hold of her wrist and gently lifted it. The muscles in her shoulder tightened and pain shot down her arm. She swallowed the bile rising in her throat along with her moan, unwilling to give Jay any reason to stop what he was doing. Her nostrils burned with the sulfur in the air, and her eyes stung. Time was running out.
Jay cursed under his breath. “Take a deep breath and try to relax your muscles.” He cursed again. “I’m sorry,” he said, just before he moved her arm up.
She whimpered and gritted her teeth, swaying a little as the pain flooded her, but then with a bit of manipulation, and a pop, her shoulder was back in place. Although it was still sore, the pain no longer took her breath away. She’d be able to fight.
With her good hand, she wiped at the sweat on her brow. She smiled at him, but when he frowned, she had to wonder if it had looked more like a grimace.
A door on the left clanged open. April rushed out, with Kurt on her tail. “Are you guys o—” April stopped in her tracks, staring at Jay with her mouth wide open.
“It’s okay, it’s Jay. Did I forget to mention he was a werewolf, not a witch?” Libbie was beyond caring what Kurt saw. One way or the other, she’d have to erase his memories.
“You might have, yeah.” April closed her mouth and came closer. “Seriously, are you hurt? When I got here, the gate was already open, so I grabbed Kurt and high-tailed it into the bar. I figured it would be safer to stay out of your way. What the hell is that smell?” As though just now registering the sulfur, she covered her nose with her elbow.
“Get back inside, and don’t come back out until I come for you.” The ground shook beneath their feet, sending little pebbles skating across the asphalt. “Now. Run,” she yelled, as she turned to face the shimmering gate. She didn’t wait for them to leave before she started drawing upon her power and casting a new spell. She had to immobilize it as soon as it came through if they were to have any chance of containing it.
The metal door slammed shut in a horrendous sound of bending metal. At first, only black smoke came from the gate, hovering a foot from the ground and spreading throughout the alley. Libbie coughed, interrupting her enchantment. She tried again, but once more, the smoke caught in her lungs and she couldn’t continue. Her throat burned with the acrid smoke, and her eyes watered. She was vaguely aware of Jay coughing next to her, and April and Kurt off to the side. Damn it, they hadn’t made it to the door in time.
The black smoke swirled around her legs, coming up higher and higher until it surrounded her. Its magic stung like acid to every inch of exposed skin. Libbie held her breath, not wanting to bring more of the toxic air into her lungs. A dull ache started at the base of her skull, spreading quickly through her. The pressure inside her head rose until she couldn’t stand the pain. She fell to her knees, gasping, then choking on the fumes. Her lungs burned. She couldn’t see or hear any of the others anymore. Either the demon had already silenced them, or isolated her. Either way, it wasn’t good.
She had to do something. If the demon came through, there would be no saving the city, and maybe not even the world. First she had to get rid of the smoke. If she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t talk, and if she couldn’t talk, she couldn’t cast. Libbie stayed low to the ground where the air was a little cleaner and took a deep breath. She fought her body’s reflex to cough and muttered a simple spell. It was nothing fancy, but the moment she uttered the last word, a cool breeze came in from behind her, clearing some of the smoke. She stood again, lifting her hands toward the sky, repeating the spell, drawing on Mother Nature’s power to cleanse the air around them. The wind picked up, carrying the acrid smoke high into the sky and away like a malevolent cloud.
Libbie gasped, filling her lungs with much-needed oxygen, coughing out the toxins left behind. Jay and April did the same. Libbie looked around, her eyes darting into the shadows. “Where’s Kurt? Did he make it back inside?”
Before anyone could answer, an evil laugh had her facing the gate once more. Libbie squinted into the gaping hole as a form materialized. She expected something more—something bigger. Two long, curved horns protruded from its head, giving it the appearance of height, but it was no taller than an average man. Its bulging muscles twitched as it stepped through the gate, rippling as it crossed the dimensional border. Dark veins popped from its sickly blue skin as it held its arms out to the sides, clenching its fists. “He has not gone inside, little daemon. Oh no, the weak little human is mine now. Mine to control, and mine to kill, just like the other was.”
Her blood chilled in her veins. She would never forget that grating voice. Nine months ago, she hadn’t seen the demon responsible for Pete’s death, but she’d heard its sinister laugh and felt the malevolence it emitted, then finally the euphoric glee once Pete had died. She had tried to use her magic to keep Pete from splatting on the ground, but the demon had prevented it. “You sent me to hell, and now he dies,” the demon had said from deep within the shadows just moments before Pete leaped from the four-story building. She had said all the right words, done all the right things, but her magic wouldn’t come. She had watched in horror as the man hit the ground. The resounding crack forever etched into her memory.
“What do you want?” Libbie took a tiny step forward. She had to keep its attention away from the others. “What have you done with him?”
The demon smirked, revealing crooked, yellowed teeth. “All in due time, Libbie.”
He said her name with such venom that she almost recoiled. “Why are you doing this?” She stepped to the side, away from where Jay and April stood, never taking her eyes off him.
“You don’t remember me, do you?” He came closer, his hands clenched tight.
“Refresh my memory.”
The demon snarled and snapped his teeth together. “You sent me to hell, and you don’t even remember?” With a vicious roar, he lifted his right hand, then opened it, splaying his fingers wide.
To her left, April screamed as she was lifted from the ground as though clutched by a giant, invisible fist. It brought her up higher and higher, finally throwing her on the rooftop of The Witch’s Brew.
“Stop. Tell me what you want. Please,” she begged. Libbie lifted her hands into the air, casting a protection spell so fast she could hardly keep up with her words. The magic shimmered in the air but then crashed to the ground before it could go anywhere near April. A small movement on the roof across from April drew her attention. Kurt. Memories of Pete’s death replayed over and over in her mind. Libbie could
n’t breathe. Searching her mind, she looked for a spell that would help both of them at once, dismissing one after the other. Muttering under her breath, she tried another, one that was more subtle and would render each unconscious, but maybe keep them safe. If they couldn’t think, they couldn’t be compelled to jump.
“Now, you don’t think I would make it so easy for you, do you?” The demon tilted its head to the side, looking away from her, a sinister smile making his grotesque face contort.
“A girl can hope.” Libbie licked her dry lips though her mouth had long since lost all moisture. She took another step farther from Jay.
“I can smell him on you. The werewolf. I can almost taste your pain already. Watching him die is going to hurt you more than the rest. That’s why I’ll save him for last.”
A low growl was all the warning she got before Jay rushed past her, knocking the demon off his feet and back toward the gate. Libbie stood horrified as they grappled, each using lethal claws to do the most damage. Jay rolled the demon onto its back, his jaw open wide, ready to tear its throat out when April’s high-pitched scream filled the alley. With the demon pre-occupied, Libbie cast a quick spell. She couldn’t stop her from falling, but she could soften the landing.
In that one moment, Jay’s attention diverted, and the demon struck. A powerful blow to the chest sent Jay flying through the air. The crack of his head on the building resounded in the alley, making Libbie’s stomach lurch. Mortar crumbled to the ground with the impact. Jay fell, not uttering a sound, to land on the nasty alley floor in a motionless lump. When he didn’t try to get up, Libbie’s heart stuttered. Blood pooled around his head in an ever growing puddle. She watched, helpless to do anything to stop it as the pale blue light of his spirit floated up from his body. It hovered for a moment before going into the shadows, and then it was gone.
Libbie heard screaming over and over, only realizing when her throat was raw that the horrible sound came from her. April crawled on the ground, coming to her, placing an arm around her, but all she could see was Jay’s still body. All the while, the sinister laughter that had haunted her nightmares echoed louder and louder.
Beyond The Veil: A Paranormal & Magical Romance Boxed Set Page 6