Soul Guard (Elemental Book 5)

by Rain Oxford

  Around me, the floor broke apart and fell until I was standing on a small, stone platform. Of course, beneath me was a river of lava. “Fucking perfect.”

  “It should be. Is this not what you expected when you accepted the key?”

  Although the voice was familiar, I resisted the urge to turn. I was great at my job, I was pretty quick in picking up magic, and I could take a punch, but I was not agile. As if the slime weren’t bad enough, my shoulder was bleeding so much I was a little concerned about blood loss. Indestructible my ass, Hunt.

  Slowly, taking at least five minutes, I managed to turn and face Janus. The god looked exactly the same as when he gave me the key— creepy in a non-human way. Janus, the god of the crossroads, was known for his most distinguishing feature, which was having two faces. One of the faces was youthful with blond hair and a clean face, while the other was elderly with white hair on the head and face.

  “I thought I paid when Astrid was left for six months in Dothra. She’s practically sacrificing herself because of the healing potion.”

  “Are you not satisfied with the healing potion?” the younger face asked.

  “You made is so that she can never die. She plans to trap herself in Dothra to save Earth because she is the only one who can survive destroying the tower from her side.”

  The older face frowned with disappointment. “She plans to destroy the tower to protect herself and her power.”

  “Not Astrid. You may be a god… or a figment of my imagination, but I believe in her more than I would believe in a god. Astrid is strong, protective, and loving. We both had some emotional damage when we were kids and we were exactly what each other needed.”

  “Yet she still believes you hate her.”

  “And when I save her, I’ll tell her otherwise.”

  “Unfortunately, you forgot about the sacrifice for the key, and I think you just told us what is most precious to you.”

  “I have to let her suffer in Dothra for six months. That’s sacrifice enough.”

  “We will decide what your sacrifice is,” the older face said.

  “We have decided,” the younger face added.

  “You will stay here.”

  “How is that my sacrifice? I’m not most important to myself. I learned that when Rocky cured my heart.”

  “No, but protecting your loved ones is. To prevent you from protecting your loved ones, we can trap you here or kill you, and killing you means the key would be available again.”

  “I don’t accept. You can have the key back and get me and my friends out of here.”

  “That is not possible. You already possess the key. Giving it up would kill you, which would defeat the purpose.”

  “At least do something to help!”

  “We are gods; we do not meddle with the affairs of mortals.”

  “Bullshit! You gods have been meddling throughout all of history, in every damn culture! You’re just going to stand around while my friends die because you want to be all high and mighty? What about Krechea?! He’ll destroy Earth!”

  “Krechea would try to save you, and in doing so, trap himself. That solves another of our problems.”

  “Why would he try to save me?”

  “Because you have the key, and he needs it.”

  “What about Langril’s key?”

  “We will save Keigan Langril because we foresee a sudden and unavoidable death otherwise and that will leave the key---”

  “How does he die?” I interrupted.

  Neither face looked amused. “We foresee you shooting him.”

  “You’ve got to help.”

  “We have no interest in helping mortals.” He started to fade.

  “Wait! Give me a damn minute to come up with something!” He ignored me, so a second later, I was alone on a small platform, about ten feet above a river of lava. “I’m never going to fall asleep again.”

  * * *

  I spent so many hours standing on the platform, trying to come up with a plan. I also tried connecting to anyone’s mind to no avail. There had to be a way around this sacrifice crap, but after so many consecutive visions, trouble sleeping for months, and being stranded on a three-foot wide platform over a river of lava, I was having a little trouble thinking. Furthermore, I had no idea what was going on between Henry and Langril or if Vincent was okay.

  I went after Henry without a plan, and I was paying for it. Even when I rejected magic as a kid, I had my instincts to guide me. This time, I was without magic and without instincts. I didn’t even have a bad guy to shoot. I was an investigator, but since I got the key, I was pretty much just fighting. Mysteries at the school always involved sinister plots and monsters, so I had been looking forward to getting some non-paranormal cases.

  Fat lot of good that did me. My one non-paranormal case was going to go by unsolved. I need to talk to the doctor at the hospital who worked on Julia. The records are gone, but I bet one of her family members know. Maybe her parents are still around. I hated an unsolved case almost as much as I hated standing on a platform over a river of lava.

  “Devon!”

  I turned too suddenly and had a hell of a time regaining my balance. The slime had at least dried up, but I was drenched in sweat. Henry and Langril were standing on the ledge about fifteen feet away, which was odd because there hadn’t been a ledge ten minutes earlier.

  “How did you get out there?” Henry asked. He was dressed in Langril’s wizard robes.

  “The ground collapsed.”

  “Use magic!”

  “I don’t know any flying magic!”

  Henry turned to Langril. “Do something.”

  “My magic doesn’t work here. The only way he’s going to get out of that spot is to fall.”

  “I’m not giving up.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Not fall into the lava. Fall to the next level. Descend.”

  “Everyone keeps using that damned word. What if I die before I get to the next level?”

  “I’d be more worried about what’s on the next level,” he said.

  “Langril and I will meet you there,” Henry said. Langril shot him a look, but he didn’t argue.

  I would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so dire, because Langril had no idea what he was in for. Henry was not going to change in order to be Langril’s familiar, so Langril was going to have to do the changing. I couldn’t wait to watch Addison and Langril arguing over Henry’s loyalty while Henry lavished all his attention on his son.

  I pulled out the bottle of sleeping potion. “Maybe you two should stay here.”

  “We’ll be there when you wake,” Henry said stubbornly. Langril’s expression showed that he was realizing how it was going to be with his new familiar.

  I nodded and drank a sip before I could talk myself out of it. There was a reason I lived in the northeast part of the country instead of the southwest; I kept better in the cold. Everything went black.

  * * *

  I woke feeling a lack of space. When I opened my eyes, it was pitch black, so I felt around. It took a few minutes to figure out why there was wood on all sides of me.

  I was in a coffin!

  Knowing that I had limited air, I forced myself to be calm and breathe slowly. Fortunately, it was a fair sized coffin. I took off my shirt and ripped it into three pieces. Two of the pieces went around my hands and the third went over my mouth and nose like a bandana. Then I pulled my knees up to my chest and kicked upward with all my strength. Dirt showered down and the creaks told me I was close to cracking it.

  “Shit!” I had hoped I wasn’t actually buried. Still, that was the whole point of destroying my shirt. Dirt weighed a lot. If it were wet and lightly packed, it would be easier to move, but not to “swim through.” Either way, if it was more than three feet deep, I was definitely screwed. On the other hand, dying in a coffin was not on my list of acceptable ways to go.

  I pulled my knees up again, angled my back, sucked in a deep breath, and kicked. The
wood snapped and dirt spilled in. I rolled over and pushed upward. Dirt immediately took up every inch of my space, but I only had a little air in my lungs, so I had to be calm.

  Thank God I never took up smoking.

  I pushed up as the dirt came down. It wasn’t compacted. Unfortunately, no matter how many inches I managed to maneuver through, I wasn’t fast enough. My hands broke free and I felt the air, but the dirt was not as easy to climb through as I had hoped.

  Just when my lungs were starting to burn, I felt something above me. I felt… fur. Henry was digging me out. His paws made short work of clearing my head, and then he shifted into his person form and helped me climb out. When I was lying on my stomach beside the grave, panting desperately, I saw Langril sitting beside another hole. He was sweating and breathing heavily.

  I took the cloth off my face. “I get Henry, but how did you get out so quickly?”

  He waved his hand nonchalantly. “I’ve been buried lots of times.”

  I rolled over onto my back and sat up. “Thanks, Henry. How is anyone supposed to get out of the coffins?” We were outside at night with no moon or stars. Although it was dark, it wasn’t as dark as the coffin was. All around me were neat rows of unmarked tombstones

  “They’re vampires, so they’re strong,” Henry said.

  I figured it was actually to encourage them to just go back to sleep. “What if Vincent is here?”

  “Well, you’ve better start digging,” Langril said.

  “He’s already found his way out,” Henry argued, pointing to a hole ten rows down. “I caught his scent as I was searching for yours. Is Darwin okay?”

  “We got him and Jameson out just fine. Did you accept the familiar bond with Langril?”

  He nodded. “My jaguar was more out of control than I had ever seen him. I’m sorry for biting you.” He grimaced at the gory mess that was my shoulder.

  “I think the boiler room cauterized it. Besides, I’ve definitely had worse. Do you think Nightshade will come home early from her honeymoon to do her burning oil thing?”

  “I think Watson would become your mortal enemy if she did.”

  I stood and a number of my bones and joints cracked with protest. “I’m getting too old for---” Langril cleared his throat loudly. “Sorry, gramps. Let’s go find Vincent.”

  Langril was always a fun professor who regularly teased his students, so I wasn’t surprised to see the humor on his face. “I guess you have lost all respect for me?” he asked, standing.

  “On the contrary. Henry accepted you as his wizard. That makes you part of the pack and I trust Henry. You can expect a lot of teasing, especially from Darwin.”

  Henry shifted again to track Vincent easier and we wandered around the graveyard for about ten minutes before Langril held out a potion bottle. “You should take this,” he said.

  “What is it?”

  “A healing potion. That’s probably going to get infected if you don’t.”

  I was covered in sweat, mud, and blood, as well as missing my shirt. “We might need it for something else.”

  “I have another one.”

  So I drank it. It was horrible, as potions usually are. The only flavor I could identify was spinach. We continued wandering and, after a couple minutes, my shoulder stopped hurting. “Hang on, how come Henry can shift if there’s no magic?” Despite what I told him, I didn’t feel great about the lack of magic any more than he did.

  Langril frowned thoughtfully. “It must have something to do with his magic coming from his genetics, but I can’t say that I know. I tried repeatedly to use magic and was unsuccessful.”

  Neither of us saw the danger before it was too late. One second, the air was clear and the next, we were surrounded by fog that was so thick I couldn’t see Langril. I could, however, hear Henry snarling and growling. “What’s going on?” I called.

  “Devon?” I heard Vincent’s hopeful voice.

  “Yes, I’m here!”

  Langril suddenly appeared at my side and shoved me out of the way of a rampaging vampire. Like a cross between a rabid dog and a zombie, the vampire relentlessly tried to bite and scratch Langril. To my surprise, the old wizard had enough skill in hand-to-hand combat to avoid injury. With a well-timed kick to the knees, Langril managed to get enough space between them to draw his sword. When he stabbed the sword into the vampire’s chest and the vampire then bit him on the shoulder, I drew my gun.

  The vampire let Langril go for just a second to lunge at me, still with Langril’s sword in his chest. Calmly, I shoved the muzzle of my gun into his mouth and pulled the trigger. The vampire burst into ash, the fog instantly evaporated, and I was able to see four more vampires surrounding Vincent, Henry, Langril, and me. All of the vampires looked stunned and confused. I wasn’t one to waste an opportunity, so I aimed my gun at the next closest vampire and shot him. A split second after he burst into ash, the remaining three vanished.

  Suddenly, I was certain where we were, why we couldn’t use magic, and how to get out. “I guess I taught them what death is. Now it’s time to get out of here.”

  “That’s your ‘I have a plan’ voice,” Henry said.

  “Yes, it is. In fact, I have several plans.” I handed my gun to Langril. “Shoot me.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I’ve figured this place out. The prison feeds on blood, but it’s also feeding us fear. I am ninety-five percent sure we are all asleep. Every level in here is actually a little bit deeper level of sleep. I think they use blood like Dothra uses souls. It explains why they would feed off the older vampires; the older the vampire, the stronger their magic. Now, Joseph Sanders told me that if we die in our sleep, we die in real life, whereas my mother said we wake up. Let’s see who was correct.”

  “Ninety-five isn’t a hundred percent,” Vincent said.

  “I try not to be a hundred percent sure about anything.”

  “I don’t like this. Henry, tell him he’s being an idiot,” Vincent demanded.

  Henry studied my expression. “I thought there was something seriously off about this place since I arrived and I trust Devon’s instincts. Besides, I have a son waiting for me at home and I’m not going to wait around here until I rot.”

  “Then at least let me go first,” Vincent said.

  “You don’t have the instincts. I’m going to wake up and find you guys. Don’t kill each other; I’ll wake you up.”

  “What do we do if this is real?”

  “Then I will find a necromancer to communicate with the living and have Hunt or someone get you guys out of here. Shoot me before I change my mind.”

  Langril aimed the gun at my face. “Do you want to close your eyes?”

  “Nope.” I always kind of expected a bullet to the face was how I would go out. Fortunately, I was ninety-five percent sure this wouldn’t kill me and one hundred percent sure I would prefer death over being here for the rest of my life. If all else failed and the bullet really would kill me, Rocky would appear to stop it.

  He pulled the trigger. I expected pain. Even if it was just a dream, I still expected it to hurt. Instead, I opened my eyes.

  Chapter 16

  It was dark, but not pitch black. I felt sluggish as I looked down at myself. There were straps over my chest, my knees, and my wrists, all pinning me to a sort of vertical bed. There were also two tubes sticking out of my chest; one full of blood and one full of a blue liquid. My clothes were exactly as they had been when I walked through the door, except that the top buttons on my shirt were undone for the tube placement. “Rocky.” I meant to say it mentally, but it came out of my mouth. My voice was dry and weak, which suggested I had been strapped here for days rather than hours.

  I closed my eyes to focus on the connection and instantly felt myself slipping back under. I opened my eyes and shook myself as best as I could. It didn’t do much good. I had to get the blue tube out of me and shake off the lethargy. With my eyes wide open, I pulled on the connection. My eyes slipped clo
sed and I couldn’t get them to open again.

  Then I felt a sharp pain in my chest, which gave me enough of a jolt to open my eyes. Rocky was right in front of me and had torn the tubes from me with her sharp claws. “Ouch.”

  If she could have rolled her eyes, she would have. With one sharp talon, she snapped each of my restraints, then pressed her paw against my chest to pin me up when I started to fall.

  “I’m okay.” I tested the strength in my legs for a moment before nodding. Rocky let me go.

  I looked around. I had been one of about fifty vampire strapped to that wall. It was a circular room with a seven-foot ceiling. In the middle of the room was a set of metal stairs leading down and one leading up. I went to the stairs and looked up and down. There were ten more floors below and at least twenty above. I turned back to Rocky, but she was gone.

  How am I supposed to find Henry, Vincent, and Langril? My instincts didn’t tell me one way or the other, so I figured two of them were in one direction and one was in the other. I went down a level and spent a couple of minutes searching the faces. Hoping I could find Langril using his red ball, I reached into my pocket… and felt something much harder and smoother. It was the glass sphere Hunt gave me.

  Despite the fact that I planned to use it to save Astrid, it was encouraging to have. On the next floor, I found Vincent. First, I gently pulled the blue and red tubes from his chest and then pressed his shirt to the wound. The tubes had suction cups on the ends instead of needles, but both were dripping with liquid and they left inch-wide, bloody welts on his skin.

  After a couple of minutes, he started to stir. “Devon?” he asked, struggling to open his eyes. His voice was barely a whisper.

  “I’m here.” At least my voice was back to normal. He hadn’t used his in months, though. “We’re alive. We need to get Henry and Langril. Let me know when you think you can stand.