After a few moments, Eva stood and moved back to stove to refill her plate. As she did, she began humming a tune. It was different. Sort of had a folky-type feel to it.
I paused with mouthful of eggs and listened.
She began to sing in a soft voice, probably not even realizing she was doing it.
Her voice was barely more than a whisper and I couldn’t make out the words. Not that I could’ve anyway. What little I heard didn’t sound English. Italian maybe? Or Gaelic? I’m not good with languages.
As she started back toward the table, I asked, “What are you singing?”
She jumped, as though I was waking her from a dream. Her plate hit the floor and shattered, flinging eggs and bacon across the linoleum.
She took a deep breath and stared at me with wide, frightened eyes.
“Are you okay?” I asked, meeting her gaze.
“Yes,” she said, but she was still trembling.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” I said, rising from my chair.
She looked down at the shattered Star Wars plate on the floor and her ruined breakfast.
Tears welling in her eyes, she knelt and started gathering the pieces. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I said, kneeling by her. I held out my hand. “Come on.”
She reluctantly took my hand and I led her back to her chair.
“But the mess,” she said.
“I’ll get it,” I replied. “Don’t worry. You’ve been through a lot. It’s just nerves.”
She nodded reluctantly, but her eyes drifted back to the mess on the floor. “I’m sorry.”
“It was just a silly Star Wars plate,” I said, not mentioning it was the one with my favorite character. “And clearly it was cheaply made. No worries.”
I grabbed the broom and some paper towels to clean up. Once the mess was in the wastebasket, I made her another plate and returned to my own.
We finished our breakfast in silence.
Chapter 8
“So, wait,” Valerie said, glancing between the two of us. “Axel said something about wanting to hire me. You’re saying you just wanted my input?”
Before I could answer, Axel said, “I want to hire you. He needs advice. Two different things. It’s pretty simple, really.”
Valerie glanced at me and I shrugged. I had no idea why Axel wanted to hire a private investigator, but I was annoyed that he was wasting time.
We’d reluctantly left Eva out in the lobby with Valerie’s assistant and another waiting customer. I didn’t like leaving her out of our sight, but the office was about as safe as anywhere, and Valerie didn’t like strangers who weren’t also paying customers.
“Fine,” she said, forcing a professional smile. “What would you like to hire me for, Axel?”
“Someone stole my heart,” he replied, his tone flat and his expression serious. “I want to hire you to find it.”
“Someone…stole your heart,” she repeated back. Deciding to play along, she asked, “Any idea who?”
“It was a private investigator,” he replied with the most innocent of innocent looks.
“Is he serious?” she asked, turning back to me.
“How the hell should I know?”
“What do you say, Val?” Axel asked, trying to impersonate a sad puppy. “Will you help me find my heart?”
There was a long awkward pause, then Valerie said, “Okay, Wyatt, what did you want my input on?”
I gave her the short version about Eva.
“And she’s here? Out in my lobby?”
“I was planning on taking her to the Cabal, but Axel…” I paused, glancing over at my friend, “…insisted we stop here first…which I now realize was just an elaborate ruse so he could ask you out in the most awkward way possible.” I started to get up. “Sorry for wasting your time.”
“Wait,” she said, waving me to sit down. “It sounds like a strange situation. Maybe I can help.”
“You think?”
“My degree is in psychology,” she said, shrugging. “It turned out that I lacked the empathy necessary to really give a shit about other people’s problems. Still, though, for the short time I practiced, I was damned good. I’ve got a few minutes. Why don’t we see if I can help her with some of those repressed memories?”
I was about to agree when a scream sounded from the direction of the lobby.
I was to the door first, running out into the hall, and cursing myself for being such a fool. I should’ve never left her alone out there.
As I rounded the corner into the lobby, there was a gunshot and my face was showered in dry wall as the bullet narrowly missed my head. I dropped to the ground before the next shot was fired.
I glanced up to see a man with his arm around Eva’s throat. He was dragging her toward the door with one arm, while his other pointed a gun at me.
I drew my sword and staff from my back, summoned my shield, and started to rise, but then he turned the gun to Eva’s temple.
“Don’t move or I’ll blow her brains out,” he said, and judging by the look on his face, I took the threat seriously and held my ground.
Studying the man, I didn’t see anything about him that made me think supernatural. He was about my age, scraggly hair but a well kempt beard. He wore jeans and a casual leather jacket. On the street, he was just any other guy I wouldn’t think twice about. Something about his stance, or maybe the look in his eyes, told me he knew what he was doing. I got the impression this wasn’t the first time he’d held a gun to someone’s head.
He backed out the front door while the rest of us watched helplessly. Even with magic at my disposal, there wasn’t a damned thing I could do.
I glanced back at Valerie, realizing she held a giant Colt Python in her hands. Any other time I would’ve commented, but I’d have to compliment her firearm later. At the moment, I had to try to help Eva. I said, “Valerie, lock the door behind us and get everyone someplace safe.”
“Don’t worry about us,” she said, nodding toward the cannon in her hand.
Axel and I shared a glance, then bolted out the door, only to drop to the ground as a hail of gunfire roared in our direction. Luckily, I’d kept my shield at full blast, but we took cover behind a parked car anyway. This wasn’t a few rounds from a handgun, but the clacking tune of automatic gun fire.
Poking my head around the tire, I saw a full team of guys in black tactical gear aiming assault weapons in our direction. They were laying down cover fire while the kidnapper dragged Eva toward them.
“What the hell?” I yelled.
“She sure is a popular girl, our Eva,” Axel replied, grinning. “Those guys look fucking serious!”
“You do realize they’re trying to kill us?”
“Oh, dude,” he said, his head peeking around the corner. He dropped back into cover and said, “They’ve got a rocket launcher! How cool!”
“Yeah, super cool, Axel,” I replied, shaking my head in disbelief. “Right up until the point they decide to blow us up with it.”
Axel shrugged. “That’s a pretty kick ass way to go.”
I stole another glance around the car. Whoever these guys were, they looked like professionals. Or rather, they had the money to look professional. Aside from the guy who nabbed Eva, the rest all wore matching black combat armor. Their faces were hidden behind black balaclavas and military helmets. And they were armed with enough assault rifles to start a small war.
They didn’t look like they were from the Cabal, though. And surely the Cabal wouldn’t just open fire on me, right?
Against one, or maybe two, my magical shield could protect me. Against the twenty or so men at the other end of the parking lot, they’d shred both our shields in seconds.
The good news was that Valerie’s office was just outside of town off an old highway. Which meant the only civilians at risk were the ones inside her office and the few houses within striking distance.
They’d formed a firing line
by turning several black SUVs sideways and stationing themselves around them. My truck was parked off to the side. There was no way to get to it without running directly at them. We were pinned, and there wasn’t a whole lot we could do about it.
“Oh, great,” Axel said, glancing upward. “Now I think it’s going to rain.”
I glanced up as well. A wall of gray clouds were trying to blot out the sun above, darkening the area around us. It had been sunny when we’d gotten to Valerie’s a few minutes earlier, now the sky was ready to let loose. Whatever. What was a little rain compared to automatic gunfire?
Just when I thought it couldn’t any worse, I peeked around the corner again. The sky seemed to shimmer for a second, just above Eva and her kidnapper. Then an apparition took shape above them. At first, I couldn’t make out any details, but I had a feeling I knew what to expect.
A shadow creature manifested itself over their heads. But this one didn’t look like the ones before. This one was much bigger, and it didn’t take the form of a lanky human, but rather, it looked like a massive robed figure. Facing us, its hooded face took on the form of a skull, and in one hand it held a giant scythe, like the apparition of the grim reaper himself.
Before anyone had time to react, the creature reached out its wicked blade and gently touched the man dragging Eva. His stared upward at the creature and his grip loosened on our mystery woman. She hit the ground at his feet, screaming and trying to crawl away.
The man continued staring up at the creature, then his body began to shake and tremble. His face turned back toward us and I could see his eyes were rolled back in his head. Frothy white foam dribbled from his mouth. A moment later, he hit the ground and didn’t move.
His assault team buddies turned their guns on the shadow reaper and opened fire, sending round after round at the floating apparition. I couldn’t tell for sure whether the monster had manifested in the flesh, but there was no impact where the bullets struck, and from what I could tell, they passed right through him as though he was made of air.
Then one of the SUVs flipped over, crunching one of the assault troopers and pinning another to the ground. A dark form leapt over the upturned vehicle and landed on the other side. I had only a moment to study the beast before it leaned a massive head down and bit off the stuck trooper’s head.
It looked like a shadowy cross between a giant lizard and a mountain lion, and was every bit as big as the SUVs. It, too, appeared to be made of shadow.
Torn between the two nightmare creatures who’d just appeared and started killing their buddies, the troopers were even less prepared for a third one to appear.
Another dark form, which looked like a small black wyvern, swooped in and scooped one of the men off the ground. It shot back upward, cradling the screaming trooper in its talons. It made one smooth circle above us, then dropped the man. He hit the ground with a fleshy pop and was done.
Axel and I both fell back into cover and glanced at one another.
“So, the shadow creatures have upped their game,” he said, eyes wide.
“And they’re out in the daylight,” I replied.
“Unless that cloud cover has something to do with them,” Axel said, looking up.
“If that’s the case,” I said, glancing up as well. The sky had darkened to the point where it was getting hard to see. “Then we’re totally screwed. Do you know how much magical energy it would take to impact the weather like that?”
“I do,” Axel said, giving me a solemn nod. “I absolutely do.”
Unwilling to be pulled down a rabbit hole at that particular moment, I said, “What do you want to bet they get stronger the darker it is?”
“I’d rather bet on us. I’ve got a kick ass light show and you have a neat little glowing pig sticker.”
“Did you just refer to Drynwyn as a pig sticker? You understand it’s a magical sword that was forged by the ancient druids thousands of years ago, right?”
“Get off your high horse,” he replied, rolling his eyes. “Like I haven’t seen you use it to turn off a light when you couldn’t be bothered to get off the couch.”
He had a point.
“So, we doing this?” he asked, rubbing his drumsticks together excitedly.
“Saving Eva?” I replied, stealing another look. She was still on the ground trying to crawl away from the shadow reaper. It hovered above her still, amusing itself with the assault troopers who continued firing pointless rounds of ammunition at it. I turned back to Axel. “It’s almost certain death.”
“Cheers,” he replied, holding up a drumstick.
“Cheers,” I replied, tapping my sword against his wand.
Then we both charged around the side of the car. By this point, the assault squad had completely forgotten about our existence. Rightly so, the shadow monsters who were ripping them to pieces.
“You get Eva,” I said between breaths. “I’ll try to scare off Death.”
As we closed in, I crawled up the trunk of a nearby car, ran across the roof, and leapt toward the shadow reaper, my sword raised above my head. My hope had been to catch it off guard, but at the last second it saw me and hovered to the side as I brought my magical sword down.
I rolled clear as it took a swipe at me with its scythe. Then I darted back in, trying for a quick jab. Drynwyn had manifested as a katana, but based on my previous experience with the creatures, just touching it would probably do the trick. Unfortunately, the creature had the same idea about me and its scythe. He darted to the side again and took another shot at me. I rolled clear, but as I came back up to my feet the scythe was already coming down again. I held up my sword to block, and when its weapon hit mine there was a sizzling hiss, and white electrical arcs shot up from my sword. Equally dark veins shot forth from its own weapon, as though our blades were entangled in their own Yin and Yang battle.
In the end, Drnywyn proved victorious and the reaper’s blade split in half. The head dropped, turning to ash before it ever hit the ground. Much like its predecessors, the shadow reaper screeched a high-pitched cry as it darted clear from me. It took to the sky, hovering a safe distance away while it pointed a bony finger at me.
“Yeah, come back down here,” I said, glaring at it. “I’ll cut your finger off, too.”
I glanced over to see that Axel had Eva on her feet. He had one arm around her and his other was outstretched with his wand, ready to blast magic at any would-be attackers. He looked toward me and his eyes widened. I dove to the side as a black blur whizzed past my peripherals. Lizard Kitty had tried to pounce on me.
I came up with my sword at the ready. The only real threat to the shadow monsters had been identified. That threat was me.
I rolled forward as the shadow wyvern swooped in as well. It wasn’t quite big enough to deserve being called a wyvern, actually. More like a reptilian shadow bird. As I dodged its black talons, I decided I would make a concession if it killed me. It would sound better if people heard I was killed by a shadow wyvern. Until then, I’d decided to call it a Shadow Bird.
It took to the air once more and Lizard Kitty darted in. I took a wild swipe as I dove clear, but only caught air. It backed off, staring at me with white eyes while it licked its ebony teeth with an oily tongue.
Then the shadow reaper threw an SUV at me. A whole fucking sports-utility-vehicle.
I rolled clear again, thinking that if I didn’t end up dead, at least I was getting one hell of a core workout. CrossFit for battle mages. I could make a killing off that.
The SUV smashed into the ground where I’d just stood, showering me in shattered bits of glass.
I rolled to my hip and started to rise until I realized Lizard Kitty was right on top of me. The creature’s face inches from mine, I had a moment to reflect on a few things…
First, lizard kitty was an apt description.
Second, giant lizard kittens comprised entirely of shadows are scary as hell.
Third, it seemed that the darker it was, the more the c
reatures fully materialized. Its shadowy form looked more like real flesh now, and I could see its muscles tensing beneath black skin. Which all would have been very interesting to me if not for the fact it was about to eat me.
Then it screeched right in my face. The sound was deafening, and I mean that in the literal sense. For a moment, I was stunned. My hearing gone.
The creature whipped its head around, nearly flattening me as it turned. Glancing past it I saw Axel, still holding Eva in one arm. He was firing bright blasts of energy from his drumstick like it was a roman candle. The first had struck the creature in the side, and smoke rose from its smoldering flesh.
The creature dodged in and out as Axel fired a rainbow of energy blasts at it, trying to hit again. I was curious about what kind of spell he was using, until the creature jumped clear again, and one of the blue blobs was aimed for me. I had about half a second to realize what was going to happen, then the glowing blue energy hit me in the chest and…nothing happened. It clung to my chest, burning like a big blue sparkler, but didn’t hurt me.
I grinned. So that was what he’d meant by improving his light show. It should’ve been obvious. The magic he’d been hurling the night before had minimal effect because it was energy meant to harm. Instead of proper magical attacks, now he was manipulating the energy just to create a condensed, burning stream of light. It wouldn’t harm human flesh, but to these shadow pricks, it was the firework of death.
As the creature darted past me again, I took a swipe at its back leg with my sword. This time I hit pay dirt, but my fears were confirmed. The creature shrieked and shot away from me, writhing in agony. Where I’d struck was a glowing white line, searing through its flesh. Clearly, it hurt like hell, but the creature wasn’t dead. At best, I’d only maimed it. These shadow creatures were much stronger than the ones from the night before, and the darker it got, the harder they were to kill.
From somewhere I heard one of the remaining assault troopers yell, “Road Flares! Now!”
Well, at least they weren’t complete idiots.
I started for Axel, who continued laying down cover fire while I ran toward him.
Of Song and Shadow Page 6
