by Dora Blume
“Oh shit?” He held his hand out to take the phone. He hit a button, and the screen lit up. When he saw her face on the screen, he curled his hands into fists. “Shit? We need to start looking.” Jess was bending down to the ground, reaching her hand to touch the pavement. She lifted her fingers to examine them.
She held out her red blotched fingers. “Blood,” she said.
“Fuck, Jess we have to find her. Look for a trail. I’m going to listen.”
“If they took her, they would’ve had to go back to the school. We haven’t seen any other cars around.”
“Shit, I don’t know I wasn’t paying attention to the road. I was listening to the people in the school.”
“I was, there haven’t been any other cars. Come on; we need to get up to the school. If we find any demons, you’ll hear them, and I’ll freeze them.”
“Okay, let’s go.” They sprint toward the school. Erik was jerking his head around frantically at any noise.
Jess reached her hand out to touch his shoulder. “Erik, you need to calm down if we’re going to find her.” He paused, looked into her eyes, and nodded.
“Jess, they have Sloane. That’s my sister.” His eyes were wide as he looked at her.
“I know, Erik. We’re going to find her, but I need you to focus on doing that.” Her voice was reassuring, and she squeezed his shoulder.
Erik took a deep breath. “Okay, you’re right.” Glancing in the direction of the school, he paused to listen. “Come on, this way.”
“What?” Erik pulled Jessie toward where he’d heard a demon. He paused on the side of the brownstone building. Erik glanced around the corner. He held his finger to his lips. He gripped her hand a moment before letting it fall and reaching for the gun in his waistband. He could hear their voices, but it was their thoughts that got his attention. They had known they were coming. They had hoped Sloane would be separated from them but planned to take her, regardless. Erik glanced to their necks; he saw the amulets sparkle against the setting sun. They looked similar to the one Erik had seen on the demon Jessie couldn’t freeze and knew immediately their powers wouldn’t work on these demons. Not unless they were able to separate them from the amulets. Erik took a deep breath and turned to meet Jessie’s curious gaze.
“They have amulets to make our powers useless. Mr. Hall had known we would be back. He knew of Sloane’s power. He wanted Sloane, badly.” He whispered, eyes wide.
“Okay, how do we separate them from the amulets so that I can blow them up?”
“Jess, they’re only students. We need to follow them. They may know where they’re taking Sloane.” Erik turned his head back toward the boys and lifted his hand, running it through his hair.
“Fine,” Jessie grunted. Erik turned to look at her and smiled at her pout. Damn, she could be so cute, he thought.
Erik listened. They were on orders from the headmaster. Erik crept toward the corner again. He wanted an opportunity to take the amulets off the two men. He wasn’t sure why he could still hear them, considering they were wearing the amulets. He took a deep breath and checked again to see where they were. The two boys had stopped before the door leading into the building. One of them had a lit cigarette perched between his lips. Erik watched as he inhaled. They were chatting about some incident in class earlier. They’d almost forgotten, not all of the teachers or students were possessed. One of the boys had said, “Wanna bet,” to the science teacher before the other boy had placed his hand on his arm, a subtle reminder. They couldn’t be exposed this late in the game. Late, shit how far had they taken over? Erik wondered.
Jessie tapped Erik on the shoulder. She had taken her hoodie off and stood with her black tank. His pulse quickened at the sight of her nipples through the thin fabric.
“I have an idea.” She smirked raising her eyebrows at him. She glanced down before looking up through her lashes and bit her lip. Erik’s pants felt tight at the seductive look she was giving him.
“Shit Jess, I don’t know. They’re men, but they’re also demons.” He appraised her as she batted her lashes giving him a mockingly shocked look. Her mouth dropped into the shape of an o and then she smirked at him.
“Why Erik, are you saying I’m not attractive enough to distract some poor little boys outta their necklace?” She blanched. “You’re the one who said the demons react the same way boys would. We know the demons can only take as much pain as their human host. So, why wouldn’t it be the same with them, other emotions, say maybe, attraction.” Jessie fluttered her lashes and bit her bottom lip, slowly letting go. After her teeth, she licked her top lip, slowly eyes gazing into his. She raised her brow at the desire that must have been evident on his face.
Erik wanted to grab her and take her against the building, right now. He closed his eyes, drawing a deep breath through his lips trying to think of anything but Jessie standing before him in her tight tank top and jeans. It took a few minutes for his pulse to go back to normal. When he opened his eyes, she was grinning wide, and her eyes were alighted with accomplishment.
“See, I think this could work. If I can get my arms around one of them to take off the amulet, I can freeze him. You can sneak up behind the other while I have them distracted.”
“And if this doesn’t work?” he asked, still trying to pull himself together, which was difficult when she continued to look at him with fire in her eyes.
“We fight like always and take them with us.” She shrugged. “You know we can take on two pesky demons. Even if we don’t have our powers for an advantage. We’ve trained for this many, many times and it’s us. We’ve done this before, Erik. What has you doubting yourself?” He could feel Jessie’s questioning gaze. It was her; he was worried about her.
Erik lowered his head. “They’ve got Sloane. I don’t want to take any chances with her life, Jess. I can't lose her again.” His voice wasn’t much more than a whisper. He was afraid she’d hear the hysterics and fear in his voice if he spoke beyond a whisper.
She placed her hand on his cheek. “Trust me; we’ll get her back.”
Erik stared intently into her eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s do it.”
Jess nodded then sauntered around the corner toward the boys. She stopped next to the taller boy with sandy brown hair. She batted her eyes and asked, “Can I get a light?” She held a cigarette between her wet lips and smiled. The boy across from her scrambled in his pocket, cursing. When he found it, he held it out to her, almost dropping it in the process. She fluttered her lashes again. “Thanks, handsome. So, what are you two fine gentlemen doing out here? Shouldn’t you be inside learning?” Her voice was low and seductive.
Erik crooked up the side of his mouth. God, he loved that girl. She took a drag of her cigarette and let the smoke out smoothly through her parted lips. The boy across from her had his mouth open slightly, mesmerized by the circles she was making in the smoke. Her eyes were locked on his as she crooked her mouth up in a sly smile.
She bit her lip again, taking a step forward resting her hand on the young man’s chest. She ran her hand up from his chest to his neck. She gazed into his eyes. Stopping at the amulet, she said, “So, darling, Are you skipping school?” She fluttered her eyes at him. Dropping her voice low she said, “Are you a bad boy?” She toyed with the necklace and stroked her fingers on the back of his neck. “Mmm, such hard muscles.” She let her fingertips trail along his neck and arm.
Erik saw his chance and moved steadily behind the other boy who stood transfixed. Jessie moved her mouth to brush her lips lightly against the boys. His lips parted, he let out a breath of pure desire. Her fingers stroked the hairs on the back of his neck, and she unhooked the amulet. It fell into her other hand. She flicked her tongue against the boy's lips causing a swift intake of breath from the entranced boy. He reached his hands around her, gripping hungry. When she heard the thump behind her, she bit the boy's lip causing him to jerk away. She raised her knee to connect with his groin. He doubled over. She j
abbed her knee into his face, and he fell to the side still gripping his injured groin with both hands.
Jessie turned toward Erik. “Nicely done.”
He put his hand to his heart. “I’m not sure how much more of you kissing another guy I could watch. I know you were doing it for Sloane but damn. Did you have to be so convincing?” He shook his head and leaned over resting his hands on his knees as though he were in physical pain from the experience.
She took a step toward him and patted him on the shoulder. “Knock it off. We have work to do. We need to get these two in the car, or we need to dispossess them now. Which is it?” She put her hand on her hip waiting.
“Let’s get them in the car. We need to know what they know about Sloane.” Erik straightened. He tossed the keys to Jess. You want to bring the car closer, to the back lot. I’ll carry them over. He glanced around. They’d been lucky no one had seen them so far, but he didn’t know how long before someone came upon them. He didn’t want to explain two knocked out students to anyone. Jess sped toward the car. Erik bent to lift the first boy who was easily one-sixty. He hauled him over and dropped him down near the back parking lot. He looked around again. Jess had turned into the lot. She skidded to a stop next to where he stood and raced around to open the trunk. He lifted the boy and deposited him into the open trunk. Jessie reached down and unfastened the amulet from around his neck.
“You want to go get the other one?” she asked.
“On my way.” He turned and sprinted back to where he left the other boy. When he reached the spot, he slowed. The boy had been here, hands still in front of his groin when he left. He turned in a circle. Shit, He thought. The boy was gone. He knelt next to where he was laying and cursed. He should have known something was off when he was supposed to be knocked out but was still gripping his groin in pain. Unconscious people were limp. The boy hadn’t been. If he wasn’t so distracted by Jess kissing him, and Sloane’s disappearance he would’ve noticed. He sprinted back toward the car. Jess had a puzzled look on her face as he approached.
“The other one’s gone. Which means we have to get the hell out of here, now.” Erik jumped in the driver’s seat. Jessie’s eyes were wide as she ran around to get in next to him. He put it in gear and sped off. He drove immediately back to Caroline’s house. He hated the idea of leaving when they hadn’t found Sloane, but he knew they had to or they would be meeting a lot more demons. Then they would never find her. He glanced toward Jessie as she gripped the door handle. She was perched forward in her seat, muscles tense. She was ready to fight whatever may be coming for them. He reached a hand over and stroked her thigh.
“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” He soothed.
“I know, but I’m worried. Why do you think they needed Sloane?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but I bet it has something to do with her power. Maybe they need her to see the future for them,” he suggested. His hand still rested on Jessie’s leg.
“I hope so. Then at least they’d keep her alive. I don’t even want to think about the alternative.” She stared at Erik her eyes glistening in the light. Her hands were clenched in fists. “We can’t lose her, Erik.”
“I know, Jess, believe me, I know.” He took her hand in his and squeezed.
“Mike was hauling ass from Denver as soon as he got off the phone with her. Maybe he can fill us in on what’s going on, and why in the hell they would go after Sloane. So far, they’ve gone after students. Why would they suddenly go after an older Shikari member? They have to know that’d be dangerous, right?” He rubbed his thumb along Jessie’s knuckles needing to comfort both himself and her.
“Going after Sloane was a huge risk. They must’ve needed her to take the chance.” She squeezed Erik’s hand.
Chapter 11
The tires squealed as Erik turned into the driveway and hit the button to open the garage. He stopped and closed the door behind them. They didn’t need any of Caroline’s neighbor’s witnessing them pulling a body out of the trunk.
Jessie moved around to the back, ready to freeze as soon as Erik opened the trunk. Erik lifted the lid, and the boy lay, passed out. Erik bent and lifted the guy into his arms. Jessie hurried to open the door to the house.
“Where are we taking him?” Jessie asked.
“Basement, I’m not sure if Caroline has any place in the house to interrogate him. I want to take him to the lowest level, so it’s harder for him to escape if he manages to get free.”
“Okay, I’ll go find Caroline. Smooth everything over with her. You want to secure him down there?”
“Yeah, I got ‘em.” Erik turned toward the stairs leading to the basement. Jessie went to Caroline’s study.
Jessie knocked on the door before slowly swinging it open. Caroline was sitting behind the desk, leaning intently forward looking at her monitor. “Hey, Caroline.”
Caroline glanced to the door where Jessie stood. “Hello, my dear, how can I help you?”
“We have a big problem. The demons at the school kidnapped Sloane. We grabbed one of the students we think was involved. Erik is securing him in the basement so that we can question him. Do you have anything we can use to help with his interrogation?” her voice lowered at the end, hoping Caroline would be okay with the interrogation.
“Oh dear, yes, of course, I do. I’ll assist Erik in the interrogation. Have you called her father?” Caroline looked concerned as she crossed the room to meet Jessie.
“Ah no, we were a little busy going after her, and the demons who were involved. We grabbed this one, but the other kid got away. We need to work quickly. We don’t think they can find us here, but we need to move before anything happens to Sloane.” Jessie clenched her hands into fists thinking about Sloane. They needed to get to her. The front door slammed, Jessie turned and hurried to the front room, Caroline on her tail.
Mike stood, eyes wild, head whipping around in search. “Jess, did you find her? Is Sloane safe?” His words were half crazed in his panic.
Jessie looked to the ground. She wasn’t sure how she was going to tell him. “Um… We didn’t find her, but we grabbed one of the demons who was involved in taking her. At least we think he was involved. He’s in the basement with Erik.” Her voice was low as she spoke.
Caroline took a step toward Mike. “Come, I’ll take you down to him. You can help us interrogate him.”
“No, I’m going to the school. I’m a tracker. I’ll find her. They’re taking specific people for their powers. It’s why only certain students were targeted. They’re going after us for our abilities. Students were the test to see if they could possess Shikari members. They’re going to try to possess Sloane. I need to stop them before that happens. They’ll gain everything she knows if they possess her.” He looked pointedly at Jessie, then Caroline. “We can’t let the demons obtain her knowledge. We have to save her, now.” Mike turned and flung open the door.
“Wait, someone should go with you.” Jessie looked back toward Caroline. “Will you let Erik know where we’re going, and what’s happening. Have him call as soon as he knows anything.” She turned back toward Mike. “Let’s go.”
Jessie jumped in Mike’s car. He left it idol in the driveway. “If you were planning on going to the school right away, why did you come to the house?” Jessie asked.
‘I was hoping you found her before I got here.” He gunned it down the street, tires screeching as he accelerated.
“What did you find out in Denver?”
“They are taking kids with certain powers. They also weren’t sure if they could possess adults at first. After Mr. Hall, they knew they could possess any Shikari member. Something big is happening in the order, too. All hell is breaking loose.” He whipped around a corner, Jessie slammed against the door.
“Jeez Mike, I’d like not to have bruises when we’re done today.” She reached her hand over to rub her arm. She grabbed the handle to brace herself for any more corners. Mike decided to drive like a crazy person.
She glanced over at him, and every muscle in his body was tense. “We’re going to find her,” she said with conviction.
Mike glanced over and nodded. “I know. I’ll kill anyone in our path. Nothing is going to happen to Sloane.”
“Okay, can we not kill any children needlessly? You know we can dispossess them without killing them. Let’s try that first.”
“I’m not making any promises. They’ve got Sloane. They’ll pay for even thinking they could take her.” Mike’s voice was hard. He gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. He pulled up to the side of the school. “Where were you guys? I need to know where she may have been taken.”
Jessie pointed up the road. “We were parked here, and Sloane walked up over the hill. She wasn’t gone long, five minutes, tops. So, she couldn’t have walked far.”
Mike drove further down the road and parked on the side. He scrambled out of the car, each step with renowned purpose, as he stormed down the road.
“How does your tracking work exactly?” Jessie asked trying to keep up.
“I get a certain feeling when I get a read on what I’m looking for. Then, it’s like my mind hones in on my subject, and I feel a pull toward it. When I focus, I can feel all the Shikari in the area. It’s like looking at the stars, but I can just feel where they are when I want to. I’m still not entirely sure how it works, but I follow my instincts.” He stopped, instantly. “Got her.” He closed his eyes to focus.
Jessie took a step toward Mike. “Where is she?”
“Give me a minute,” he said, eyes closed in complete concentration. Jessie paced in front of him, the gravel crunching under her feet. When she turned, and the gravel ground louder under her foot, Mike glared at her. “Can you stop? I need to concentrate.”
Jessie stood frozen. “Sorry,” she whispered.
Mike stood motionless, eyes closed. After a few minutes, his eyes snapped open. “They’re moving her now. She’s not at the school anymore. She’s on the highway toward Denver. We have to go. We need to stop them before they get to Denver.” He took off at a dead run toward the car.