The Bend-Bite-Shift Box Set

by Hardin, Olivia

Jill moved to Doc and pressed herself close to him. “Well, if it wasn’t the Bittners it must have been someone with the Org, right? Who else could it have been? What else did she say?”

  “Just something about a promise that she and the kids could get away... ‘Disappear’ I think is what she said. Seems like that’s what she wants.”

  “I guess you guys better get some sleep,” Doc told them, motioning to the hospital and guiding Jill to the entrance with a hand at the small of her back.

  Gerry and Nicky glanced at each other without speaking. She recalled the way Jill and Doc had cuddled up close to each other a moment ago, and she wished she could touch Nicky and feel his arms around her again.

  When they got back to their room, they both got ready for bed and slipped in between the covers. She could see Nicky’s silhouette in the moonlight, lying face up with his hands crossed over his chest. Patiently she waited for his eyes to flutter shut and his breathing to even out. When she was sure he was asleep, she reached out with a shaky hand and placed her fingers atop his.

  Gerry found Langston in the kitchen before dawn that morning preparing pancakes. Cooking was a specialty of his, and she had to admit the meal smelled delicious and had her mouth watering. She watched him flip a flapjack and found herself disappointed with its pale golden color.

  “I will cook the next pancake longer for you,” he advised, grinning at her with a sideways glance.

  Her eyes widened in surprise. That was exactly what she’d been about to request before he spoke the words. His magic never ceased to amaze her.

  “You are projecting your will with alarming strength. It is something I have never witnessed in you before.”

  “Projecting? What do you mean? I’m not...” She stopped cold. This was just what Nicky had accused her of in the restaurant. How could she be using her magic without knowing it? “Have you been talking to Kristana about me?”

  He blinked with wonder. “What would Kris tell me about you?”

  She snapped her mouth shut and shook her head. His reaction was enough to signify that his lady-love hadn’t spilled the beans about her pregnancy. Still, Langston was a powerful shaman. He knew things that none of the rest of them could even imagine.

  “Have you ever seen a silver box?”

  The giant laughed. “That is as odd a question as the previous. I have seen many silver boxes in my time.”

  “This box would be special. Solid silver, about four inches cubed. No apparent openings or mechanisms to open it, but I’m sure it holds something.”

  “Perhaps if I examined the box I could assist you.”

  Gerry sighed, the air lifting a stray strand of her brown hair out in front of her. She brushed the lock aside and went to stand against the counter beside the stove where Langston was cooking.

  “I don’t have it. But there’s something special about it. I need to figure it out.”

  Silence filled the room for several moments as Langston finished a slightly well-done pancake for her, smothered it in butter, and placed it at a table for her along with some syrup. He put a second plate of pancakes beside her and left the room. She ate alone with a brooding frown until he returned.

  “Does this, by chance, resemble the box?” He placed the Grimoire, his book of spells, on the table beside her, and he too began to eat. When she looked at the open page she saw a drawing of a hand with a cubed box resting in the palm.

  “Yes, it looks like it. But, like you said, there are lots of silver boxes. There was nothing distinct about it. What’s an Antipandore anyway?”

  Langston continued chewing, looking into the distance with a thoughtful expression. When he had swallowed, he wiped his mouth and looked at her. “I have never actually witnessed an Antipandore. It is a box that absorbs a power. Anti plus Pandora means the opposite of Pandora’s Box, which released evil into the world. An Antipandore, if used against someone, will strip that person of his energy and the holder of the box will be the keeper of the power.”

  Nausea gripped Gerry’s insides as she forced herself to swallow a bite of food. “Where does someone get such a thing?”

  “As I said, I have never seen one. There are only a few to my knowledge in existence. It is a demonic object, created by Lucifer himself.”

  “The devil!” she cried, the blood draining from her face.

  “You may call the being by any term you choose. I understood you were a believer so I thought Lucifer would make the most sense to you.”

  When he said the word believer she placed her hand to her chest to feel the rosary beads she now wore as a necklace. They were under her shirt, the cross nestled between her breasts.

  “How does it work? Who can make it work?” Her words were soft and trembling.

  “It must be called by name to open it. Whomever it is gifted to will supply the name. It is a very powerful but very individual object.”

  She massaged the rosary through her cotton top, rolling the beads back and forth along her collarbone. The giant’s huge warm hand wrapped around her other forearm, and when she turned her dark eyes to him, he smiled. There was calmness in the black pools of his eyes, and she took a shaky breath.

  “You know that we would help you, do you not? We are your friends and not merely your colleagues.”

  She didn’t respond, just continued rubbing the beads beneath her blouse. Footsteps sounded in the background, and they both looked up in surprise when Kent and Devan entered the room.

  “Welcome back, my friend.” Langston spoke to Kent as he rose and offered him his hand.

  Devan’s face was pursed into an angry frown, though her eyes sparkled with warmth when she looked at the giant. “Hey there, Langston.”

  “Am I to presume things did not go well?” he asked, sitting and returning to his plate of pancakes.

  “Nah, we got him,” Devan replied, shooting daggers at Kent. “We just don’t agree on what to do with him.”

  Gerry pushed her half-eaten meal aside, tension and waves of nausea preventing her from finishing the food. She cast her eyes on Kent. “Him who?”

  “A vampire. The Women on the Hill want us to bring him to them and...”

  “We disagree,” Devan interrupted him, clearly indicating she didn’t want him to reveal too much to Gerry.

  Anger immediately rose above her nausea, and Gerry stood with enough force to send her chair flying out behind her. She was about to speak when Langston placed his hand upon her arm again. She looked up at the giant and realized his face seemed pale. When she turned her eyes to the other two, she discovered all of them had a dazed look on their faces.

  “You are projecting again,” Langston told her, his words slow and moderate in tone. She knew what he was doing —exerting his magic upon her to reduce her own. She inhaled and exhaled a deep breath.

  “Better?” she asked the giant shaman.

  He nodded in answer.

  “What the hell was that all about?” Kent spoke, the tone of his voice indicating it was a demand and not a mere question.

  “Little one,” Langston started, addressing Devan instead of Kent, “you are new to our team, which is not to say that you are not powerful and special and a much welcomed part of it. That said, Gerry has been with Kent and me for many years now. She may be trusted.”

  Devan chewed her lip a moment before speaking and turned her gold-brown eyes to Kent. “Go ahead.”

  “I want to know what’s going on first,” Kent repeated his mandate.

  “There is some change to Gerry’s power, it seems. She is transmitting her will without realizing it. All will be well. We will discover what is happening in good time.”

  Gerry had the distinct feeling that Langston knew exactly what was going on but refused to say. For a moment she considered whether her unborn babies might be responsible for the change in her powers, and it was on the tip of her tongue to ask Langston if she could speak privately with him. Still, she didn’t want to press the issue because she wasn’t ready for her o
wn secrets to be revealed —at least not any more of them.

  She was grateful when Kent accepted the giant’s response, although his expression said he was reluctant to do so. He took a moment before speaking again. “Dev and I rescued the children in New York. It was a special raid because we wanted to take the vampire buyer alive. The Women on the Hill want him because they believe he killed one of their children.”

  “But Kent doesn’t trust the Women. He wants to hold him here and wait until we meet with the Company,” Devan finished, her face not nearly as hard as it had been just a few moments ago.

  Gerry nodded. “The children in New York you said… how many?”

  Kent was sniffing the air, eying Langston’s nearly finished pancakes before he answered. “Two boys. Charlie took them to meet the other children. Any chance we could get some of those?” he asked his friend, nodding his head at the pancakes. Langston laughed.

  A shuffle, shuffle, tap sound approached from the hallway outside the kitchen, and Gerry recognized it as the sound of the old man, Charlie, easing his way toward them with his cane for support.

  “So that’s the deal,” Devan said, looking over her shoulder at the door, anticipating the new arrival. “I just think the Women have helped me along this far so we should take the vampire to them. But Kent thinks we should contact the Company next.”

  “You won’t need to contact them. That’s who these things say they are.”

  It was Charlie speaking from the doorway. He barely had time to get out of the way before he was shoved aside by three dark columns with what loosely resembled persons inside them. The objects floated into the room arranged so that each column made the point of a perfect triangle.

  “The council,” Kent breathed, standing and looking at the objects with awe.

  Gerry knew the Company was directed by a council, but no one knew details. How Kent knew this was the council was beyond her, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of the three columnar beings. Devan leaned in close to Kent’s ear and she heard the woman whisper the same question Gerry had just a second ago.

  “I don’t know how I know. I just do,” he responded, his tone low.

  Even Langston stood with an appearance of reverence as they all took in the sight. The column to the left spoke, and when it did the being within it brightened so that the silhouette of the person could be more clearly seen.

  “We have called for you, but you have not come. It is time that you answer for your actions.”

  Kent stepped forward. “I’m doing the job you gave me. I’m taking out the higher-ups within the Org one by one.”

  That was the directive, but Gerry knew Kent was going about the job in complete contrast to what the Company instructed him to do. He was saving the children, and they had practically forbidden him to do so.

  The right-hand column glowed and spoke. “You have not come. You work for us and we are here to take you to answer for your actions.”

  Devan opened her mouth to speak, but at that time one of the children scurried into the room, not looking where he was going. His gaze was over his back, and it was obvious he was running a playful came of catch-me-if-you-can. The little boy giggled just before he ran into the center column.

  A spark of energy expanded from the column, striking the boy and sending him reeling. Charlie objected with a loud, “Hey!” then raised his cane to strike out at the council beings.

  Several things happened at once. Kent, Devan, and Langston lunged forward to stop the attack just as a second bubble of power burst from the center being. This surge met the tip of Charlie’s cane and sent a bolt of electricity through it to the old man. He crumbled to the ground as the three columnar beings approached Kent, Devan, and Langston, surrounding each one of them within their dark tube until they all disappeared into thin air.

  Gerry was frozen in her place, impotent to act. The distinct scent of orange and sex pervaded the room.

  Nicky heard a commotion just as he was on his way to the kitchen for a bite to eat. He found Gerry kneeling beside Charlie who was prostrate on the floor. The old man was awake. He smiled to the little boy crying beside him, patted the child on the cheek, and turned to Gerry.

  “You ain’t a healing type of witch, are you?”

  She trembled and shook her head. “No, I’m so sorry. I can’t.”

  Nicky thought he saw tears flooding in his wife’s eyes, but he knew he must be mistaken. Gerry didn’t cry. She’d seen the death of her compatriots plenty of times, but she rarely let loose such emotion.

  “Ah,” Charlie laughed and then coughed. “Good. I’m not interested in having a healer work on me. I think I’d like to get into bed though before things get busy around here. When Jill finds out what happened, all hell’s gonna break…”

  He didn’t get the words out of his mouth before a blaring siren filled the room. The little boy covered his ears and turned to Gerry. “The alarm,” he muttered.

  “What’s the alarm mean?” Nicky asked, reaching down to put his arm under the ailing old man.

  “Means we need to get the kids together and take them to the safe room. Paul here knows where it is. Can the lady here go with him to get the kids there?”

  Nicky didn’t know what the safe room was, but he nodded to Gerry and she took the boy’s hand while he led her down the hallway to the left. Charlie motioned to the right so Nicky headed that way.

  “Where are we going? Shouldn’t you be in the safe room too?”

  The old man coughed again, and Nicky didn’t like the sound of the deep wheezing in the man’s chest.

  “I need my drink. Pain’s bad enough usually, and the big guy just disappeared with those aliens so I need some liquor.”

  Nicky didn’t know what the man was talking about and figured he was probably delirious. He was just about to probe him for more details when the vampire Jill came running at a tremendous speed down the hall. She stopped on a dime when she saw them and took Charlie’s weight into her own arms.

  “What happened?”

  Nicky shrugged. “No idea, gorgeous. Found him like this. What’s with the alarms?”

  “Belle and the vampire Lodar escaped. Where’s Devan and Kent? We need to catch them.”

  “Aliens took ‘em. And the big guy too.”

  “Aliens? And they took Andre too?”

  “What should I do? Charlie said something about a safe room, and Gerry’s going to try to get the kids there.”

  Doc came barreling into the hallway at that moment. He was removing a huge piece of glass from his shoulder. Once free, he tossed it into a wastebasket in the closest room while his body sealed the wound.

  “They’re gone. I don’t know how Langston’s bars were broken, but they both bolted through the window. I couldn’t stop them… The sun will be out in just a few minutes.”

  Jill passed the two men and entered the room that must have been Charlie’s, glancing over her shoulder at them. “You can send Nicky to try to catch them. Charlie’s hurt and we need to make sure all the kids are in the safe room.”

  Nicky looked at Doc while he pulled a dagger from inside his jacket. “I’ll head out to try to catch them. Gerry’s supposed to be gathering the kids. A boy named Paul is helping her. Is the safe room really safe?”

  Doc nodded. “Langston installed extra protections there. He seems pretty confident about it.”

  “Tell her where I went. If there’s any question about your safety in the safe room, keep her there. She’s a tough one and she can help protect you.” Nicky made his way for the exit. It wasn’t hard to locate the vampire and Belle. They were arguing, and the vampire was trying to force her along with him. For whatever reason, Belle wasn’t using her super screaming power. A pity, because with vampire super sensitive hearing he imagined it might be effective.

  “You belong to me! The others are waiting just beyond the perimeter!” Lodar raged, and Belle pulled hard to get away from him. Although her mouth was open, no words came forth from her lips.
It was almost as if she physically couldn’t bring herself to speak.

  Just as Nicky lunged for Lodar, the vampire reacted and swatted his attack away. They faced each other, the dhampir with his knife out and the vampire with his nails drawn and lengthened. The sun was peeking through the trees.

  The vampire twitched with concern as his eyes spared a glance at the ground where tiny lines of sunlight were beginning to creep across the landscape. He needed to find shelter now, but Nicky was determined to keep him from it. If the son of a bitch fried in the sunlight, then that was one less vamp to deal with later.

  They circled and batted at each other, making no move to actually fight or brawl. Lodar tried to sneak around Nicky several times, but a dhampir was almost as fast as a vamp so he was able to stay out front. The sun rose higher as they danced around each other.

  There was the sound of a gunshot and Nicky instinctively ducked. It was all the distraction the vampire needed. He plunged his body toward Nicky’s and jabbed his barbed fingernails into both of his arms, effectively preventing him from striking back with his dhampir-blood-soaked knife.

  The golden rays of sunlight soaked Nicky’s face as he stood, and when he looked around he saw a van peel away from the perimeter of the hospital property. Lodar had made it to freedom this time.

  “At least for now,” Nicky told himself, sheathing his knife under his jacket.

  He looked down at Belle, who had dropped to her knees as if defeated. “They’ll come back for me now. They’ll never let me go now that I’ve betrayed them.”

  “Yeah,” Nicky popped back at her. “The same way you betrayed us, eh?”

  “He’s gone?”

  It was Gerry’s voice, and when Nicky turned, he was momentarily distracted enough to toss his wife an affectionate smile. His features smoothed when he saw her pale face. He didn’t have time to consider his reaction as Belle pushed past him, running back to the hospital.

  “What exactly happened up there? What happened to the old man before I got there?” he asked Gerry.

  “The Company council,” she murmured, her voice low and just a bit hoarse. “At least that’s what Kent said they were. Just popped up out of nowhere in these black tube-like things. They took Kent, Devan, and Langston.”