A Stitch on Time: Sierra Fox, Book 5

by Yolanda Sfetsos

  “No. I can’t.” The woman attempted to pull her arm away so I tightened my grip.

  “You have to.”

  “Let me go.”

  “Beryl, listen to her.”

  I turned to find a woman I recognized approaching. She seemed too calm for this crazed scene, but she’d been the same way when Papan was injured. I’d had several disagreements with Martha already.

  “Get them to change and run. Surely you have a rendezvous point,” I snapped.

  Martha nodded. “Leave them with me. I’ll help find Beryl’s children and we’ll leave.”

  “Why are we taking orders from her?” Beryl asked, dismayed.

  “We have to listen because she’s the alpha’s chosen mate. Don’t pretend you don’t know. It’s as clear as daylight.”

  The woman named Beryl growled, but it was shortly silenced by another explosion. The phantasms were shorting out all the circuits and making the houses go up in flames. I had to stop them before they burned everything to the ground.

  “Just go, I’ll take care of these monsters.” No point in waiting for a response. I’d handed out my instructions—it was up to the pack if they chose to listen or ignore them. I wasn’t a figurehead, just wanted to save as many people as I could.

  I ran into the middle of the estate and swiveled around in a circle. The colorful phantasms were everywhere, but I couldn’t find Mace. Strange thing was the phantasms all seemed to be ignoring me. Or were they avoiding me? Whatever it was, if they wouldn’t come willingly, I would force them.

  The flame-filled night fell away in seconds, leaving me in the now comfortable silence of my dark patch. Not long ago, I’d tried to stay away from this darkness because I believed it tainted my soul and stole a little more of my humanity every time I inhabited it, but I was wrong. The more time I spent inside, the stronger I got. And now that Hecate had properly marked me, I had greater control over my patch.

  “Hey!” I yelled, and my voice shattered the silence.

  Every hollow-eyed phantasm turned their horrid blobby features towards me. They paused in mid-motion as if drawn by my voice. Or maybe it was a lot more than that—maybe my voice could now command them. After all, only a handful of days ago I’d singlehandedly obliterated an entire shadow patch out of existence.

  It was time to test my theory against a different enemy. The phantasms didn’t have their own patch, but I was hoping to manipulate them via mine.

  “Hey, you blobs of energy! Come and get me.”

  Individual phantasms seemed to merge, becoming one huge blob of multi-colored flickering light. As the mob approached, the air inside my dark patch became positively charged with white arcs. My skin prickled and my hair was static.

  I stood my ground, spreading both arms on either side like a martyr. Only the spooks didn’t realize I was the one controlling this gig.

  When they struck, I felt every electric jolt flow through me. There was no need to astral project to finish this. Actually, I didn’t even need to touch any of them. I could see and feel how these spooks saw me—as willing bait they desperately wanted to possess. Just like the shadow monsters before them, the phantasms slithered into my mouth, nose, ears, even filled my eyes with their gaudy, shapeless bodies until all I could see were the flashing lights filtering out of me.

  “That’s it,” I whispered. “I’ve got room for all of you.”

  It didn’t take long for each and every one of the phantasms to fill me to capacity, to creep into each hollow place I’d opened up. My body was crowded with these beings. Every static movement made arcs of electricity zap me from the inside out.

  This was just what I’d planned.

  I closed my eyes and let go of everything—all the grief, pain, anxiety. Every human complication slid out of me, making more room for their filthy, zingy energy.

  My fingers twitched, so I pressed my right palm over the back of my left hand. Heat buzzed below my skin where my tattoo used the phantasms’ charge against them. The energy these creatures expelled helped my body uncoil enough to force their power up my arms, until I pulled my hands apart so they were open wide again. My breath sped, chest heaved as I expelled every single phantasm out of me with one violent motion—sending a shockwave strong enough to shake the ground beneath my feet and make the darkness shimmer around me.

  Their energy rushed out of my body in sparks of every color, like the New Year’s Eve fireworks at Sydney Harbour.

  My knees buckled.

  “Sierra,” Lavie yelled.

  I lifted my head and she looked too bright. The energy buzzed inside me.

  “Sierra, talk to me.” She reached out and touched my shoulder, causing an electric shock to jolt between us. “You’re electrifying.”

  “Yeah, and I’ve got chills too,” I managed to whisper, even though it scratched at my throat. Every single part of me seemed to weigh more than it had before. Was this how my sister felt when she died and brought someone back with her?

  Willow. Oren. They still didn’t know about Ebony. I needed to tell them, but hadn’t wanted to blurt it out over the phone. They deserved to be told in person—I just hoped no one else had beaten me to it.

  What strange reflections to have now, but the electricity had sparked bizarre thoughts.

  “Shit, look at my arms,” Lavie said.

  I looked at her pale skin as she rolled her sleeves up. The demonic seeds were gone, but I knew what would happen as soon as we were out of my dark patch.

  As if on cue, the darkness stripped down like paint being cleaned off the walls. The night air filled my lungs but was laced with smoke, forcing a cough out of me. My eyes stung but I didn’t give in to the temptation to rub them.

  “Damn, they’re back,” Lavie said, examining her arms. “That’s a neat trick, though.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault. You’re actually helping.” She forced a smile but I didn’t miss the frown when she covered her arms. “They might only disappear for a while, but I think you’re systematically lowering the numbers.”

  With her help, I got to my feet. There were several blazes around the compound but I couldn’t see any wolves. I could only hope they had taken my advice and were on their way to safety. The phantasms were also missing. I’d managed to take them all out.

  “You just did that destroying thing again, didn’t you?”

  I nodded.

  “That’s quite the talent you’ve got there.” She grinned. “And just like last time, your injuries are gone.”

  “What?”

  She pointed at my face. “The cut is gone.”

  I was about to answer when I spotted a shimmering up on the hill, near the Papan family mansion that overlooked the other properties. The air wavered, morphing into a humanoid shape constructed from shadow and smoke, before solidifying into a pulsating beast of energy.

  “Not again.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  The pulsing shape reformed into Mace Clamber, and he was staring right at me. The smug bastard was gloating from higher ground, even though I’d just taken out his army.

  “Stay here,” I called, jogging away from my friend. If I could finish Mace now, I might be able to thwart the ambitions of the Obscurus tonight.

  This was the first literal step in running towards them instead of away.

  My legs burned as I raced up the incline but I wasn’t tired. If anything, the electricity helped me move faster. When I reached the top, I stopped a few paces away from him.

  “Sierra, darling, we really have to stop meeting like this.” His black leather jacket was zipped up and perfectly molded to his lean body, blending with his pants in such a manner that it looked like he was dressed by the night sky itself.

  “How do you prefer we meet—inside an upside-down pentagram, with me at your mercy?�
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  “I love it when you talk dirty.” His chuckle made my skin crawl.

  “Why did you do this? These people have done nothing to you.”

  He scowled. “Calling them people is too generous, don’t you think? They’re animals.”

  “You’re a stinking bastard, you know that?”

  “So you keep telling me, but like I said…dirty is my favorite way to talk to you.”

  I prepared to close him into my dark patch. My right hand was already formed into a tight fist, ready to smack his face, while my left hovered near my thigh, ready to stab the moonstone boline into him. Hopefully I’d cause more damage than I had last time.

  “What do you really want?”

  His once brown eyes were now fully black, with sparks. A small smirk twisted his lips as he reached up and caressed my jaw, zapping me. “I saw what you did,” he whispered.

  I glared at him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “I’m demonic. I can see into your demon-trapping patch.” The smirk extended along his lips. “I have to admit that it’s very impressive. I hope you’ll take me in there sometime. Imagine how good it would feel to make love within.”

  Anger boiled inside me. This asshole might have touched me in the past, but that was because I’d let him. Now, I’d cut his fucking hands off if he tried.

  “Stop playing games with me, Mace. What the fuck do you want?”

  “I want you, of course.”

  “Don’t bullshit me. If that’s all you wanted, you wouldn’t have shadowed me all afternoon and then waited to strike here. You could’ve run me off the highway.” Why was I playing his game? I knew what he wanted—me on a ritual platter. I was just having a hard time dealing with him attacking a pack of werewolves for the sake of being an asshole.

  He moved between blinks and before I could respond, he was cupping my chin. “In spite of everything, you’re the only thing I’ve ever wanted. Everything I’ve done has been to secure you. Sierra, I want you to be mine. I need you to accept that no other man will ever possess you the way I can. I want you to love me like I do you, so that when you finally inherit the power I so desperately crave…you’ll totally surrender to me.”

  My heart sped up. Did he just say when I inherit the power? Was it possible that he didn’t know I already had it? And could that mean none of the other Obscurus freaks knew either? For some reason, I’d thought a loud signal would alert them when I received Grandma’s power.

  Keep it together, don’t give anything away. I couldn’t dwell on this and risk him finding out the truth.

  I cleared my throat, trying to get my head back into the conversation. “Wanting someone so you can possess them isn’t love.” I’d already been at the receiving end of his seduction and never believed his admission of love. “You don’t want me—you want the stupid power.”

  His black eyes shimmered, the flickers of lightning increased. “You and the power are interchangeable, one and the same.” He leaned forward and whispered, “I’ve wanted you since the day I found out you would one day exist, and waited so many centuries…”

  The creepy bastard was spilling a lot more than he had before. I’d known he must be older than he looked because of the many facts Professor Spooker revealed, but centuries? Disturbing didn’t even begin to cover it.

  “You were mine long before you were born.”

  I didn’t move an inch when he closed the distance, until our lips were almost touching. The moonstone boline was already in my hand. Just before our mouths met, I stuck the blade hilt-deep into his gut. He hissed and stepped back.

  I intensified my grip on the boline as it slid out of him, the moonstone now warm and gleaming in my palm.

  Black blood spilled from his side as he covered the slash with his hand. “Why do you always have to play dirty?”

  “That’s not playing dirty,” I said, cleaning the blood from the blade on my jeans and strapping it back onto my thigh. I opened the awareness to my dark patch. “This is.” Just as the darkness descended, he wrapped his fingers around my wrist, holding on so tightly my bones protested.

  “Sierra, honey, because you mean so much to me, I’m going to give you one last chance.” He stepped into my private space, his blood dripping onto my boots. “If you come with me, I’ll let him live.”

  My heart sped up as I tried to wriggle out of his grip. “You know I won’t. Ever.”

  “One last chance,” he said, gritting his teeth. “Come willingly or I will take every single ally from you, one at a time.”

  I hesitated a moment too long and lost the grasp on my dark patch. “No.”

  He released my hand, only to force me to spin around so I was facing the hill. He held my shoulders steady so I couldn’t move. “Are you sure that’s your final answer?”

  “You know it is.”

  “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  I concentrated on drawing my patch again, but as the darkness started to close in around us Mace removed his right hand from my shoulder and sent a lightning bolt flying, which struck the clinic. I jerked back when the building exploded, and debris scattered in all directions. Wild orange flames licked at the sky. There was no way anyone could have survived that.

  “It won’t be long before you crawl on your hands and knees, begging to be mine,” Mace murmured in my ear. “You’re going to be very much alone soon.”

  “You fucking—” The words died in my throat because he was gone.

  I willed my shaky legs to run down the hill until I stood in front of the clinic, not giving a shit about the flames being so close. “Papan! Saul!” I screamed their names over and over, but neither answered. The only way to find them was to go inside, but when I took a step, someone grabbed my arm.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Lavie, I have to get inside.”

  “What? Are you crazy? You can’t go inside a burning building!” she screamed, squeezing my arm while trying to pull me back. “Do you hear me? Not even you can do that.”

  “I have to!”

  “No, you can’t. I’m not going to lose you too, dammit.”

  I slid from her grip, collapsing to my knees in defeat and torment. What the phantasms hadn’t been able to do, Mace had. I cried for the loss of more friends. My heart ached as the harsh reality of losing Papan shook me to the core.

  Lavie held me until I couldn’t cry any more.

  Chapter Three

  Time slowed to a crawl, to a series of crackling fires. The electrical charge I’d received from destroying the phantasms was now nothing more than twitches at the tips of my fingers and toes. My confrontation with Mace had left me empty. He’d taken the one person I’d been determined to save. The man I loved more than life itself. And in the process, killed a demon I was connected to.

  No wonder I felt like a kite set adrift.

  “Sierra, we have to go,” Lavie whispered into my hair. She continued to hold me close, probably as afraid as I was to let go of the only solid thing left—each other.

  Mace promised he would take everyone from me, but I hadn’t listened. Maybe I should have gone with him. After all, being captured would help my resolve of putting an end to these crazy freaks. If he took me to wherever they were hiding, I could kill them and finally be done with the Obscurus. But no, I hadn’t thought of that until it was too late.

  “Come on,” Lavie urged, making a move to stand.

  I finally nodded, trying to ignore the taut sensation on my face as we stood together. After so many tears and the rollercoaster of emotions I’d ridden, I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. My head felt light as a feather, body ready for collapse.

  I need to sleep for a week.

  The sound of coughing caught my attention and I paused to look over my shoulder. Two hunched figures shambled near the clinic’s charred w
alls. My heart stopped, and when it kicked up again, I felt like I was going to pass out.

  It couldn’t be. I’m hallucinating.

  “What’s wrong?” Lavie asked, stopping with me.

  “Didn’t you hear the coughing?”

  “Sure, but it can’t be…”

  The next word proved her wrong. “Fox,” came the raspy whisper, followed by more coughing and shuffling.

  “Papan?” I didn’t let myself believe it, didn’t want to go through the heartache of losing him all over again. So I stayed where I was, on the grass, clutching Lavie while debris lay strewn all around us. I watched, all my concentration on the approaching figures until they clearly became two men—the shorter one supporting a taller one. “Oh my god, it is him!”

  Lavie and I raced towards them.

  “Papan?” I called as I ran.

  “The one and only,” he said, looking up long enough to wink at me.

  I wanted to throw my arms around him, but he looked wrecked and Saul was still supporting him.

  “Mate, it looks like you’re the one and only wolf left,” Saul added, helping drag him away from the burning fires. At least some of the flames were already dying down.

  “You’re alive.” I didn’t know what else to say, what to do.

  He flashed a lopsided grin and I couldn’t stay away a second longer. I threw my arms around his midsection and held on.

  “Whoa,” Saul called. “Be careful.”

  “It’s okay,” Papan whispered, kissing the top of my head. “I need this.”

  “Saul,” Lavie said, excited. “How did you two survive the explosion?”

  “We didn’t.” Saul opened his arms, inviting her into his embrace. Lavie didn’t hesitate, but when she got there I noticed he just wanted to lean on her. She didn’t seem to mind. “We were already out of the clinic when it blew up.”

  I burrowed my face into Papan’s chest, hating that he smelled of smoke, demon blood and disinfectant. But none of that was enough to keep me from gripping him like I’d never let go. After what felt like hours, I finally drew back enough to look up at him. I needed to make sure he was really there and I hadn’t conjured him after losing my mind.