Elemental Storm (The Eldritch Files Book 6)

by Phaedra Weldon

  "Shocked her, somehow. Stopped her heart and set her on fire from the waist up." He shifted in the bed with me and made himself comfortable against my right side, his head on my chest. "Remember when your friend Mike was possessed by Ripp'n Jack?"

  "Yes. You're not thinking this is another Djinn, are you?"

  "No. But the burning on her body was a lot like that. Just not as severe and not as…magical. With those bodies I knew what had happened. With Nadeen's…I didn't sense anything Arcane."

  "Same as with that ring?"

  "Yeah."

  "It's a Dybbuk."

  He snorted. "What the hell is that?"

  "That's what the dex said. All I know is it's a disgruntled or angry spirit. They tend to haunt objects. Maybe the crazy priest in the cassock is the angry spirit?"

  He looked up at me with a sour expression, and I laughed. "Yeah, well, I'm just brainstorming here. Ivan'll give us info on that." I leaned down and kissed the top of his head.

  He didn't say anything else after that, and after a few minutes, I realized he was sleeping. Seriously? Crwys was asleep?

  The door opened and Levi stuck his head in. I motioned to him with my free hand to come to the bed, quietly.

  Levi looked at Crwys's face and sighed. "He's really out."

  "Yeah he is." I smiled at Levi. "Thanks for being with him…and I mean always being with him."

  "It's what I do. He's my best friend." Levi checked his gold watch. "But I'm gonna need to get him out of here."

  "No, leave him. He can help me get out of here when the doctor comes around." The look on Levi's face caught my attention and made me hesitate. "What is it?"

  "I uh…" He shrugged. "I think maybe we need to make sure he wakes up now."

  "Why wouldn't he?" I really wanted Crwys to stay with me, but now that I thought about the morning and trying to get discharged, maybe not having a detective in the bed with me would be a better "Good morning." So I nudged him. At first he didn't move, so I poked him a few more times and then goosed him. He jumped at that and looked up at me. "Hey, you need to go home and sleep. Make sure Grey's okay and be sure Ivan puts that ring in the safe."

  "Yeah…right…okay…"

  Levi helped him out of the bed and then, after Crwys kissed me, steered him to the door.

  "Levi," I called out. "Ashur."

  The detective turned and gave me a sharp look. "What?"

  I wanted to say something to him, or I should say to her, to the female Demon possessing the man that was Levi Tulose. I wanted her to know I understood her sticking with Crwys all these years. Because I understood love. But I also wanted to know if Crwys knew his best friend was a woman, and that the she loved him.

  But this wasn't the time, nor the place. And it wasn't a question I should ask Levi/Ashur. Hers and Crwys's history was their own. "Nothing. Just…take care of him, okay? And if you think he's not fit to walk up those stairs at the shop, then take him to your place."

  Levi hesitated, smiled, and left the room.

  I leaned back into the pillow and stared at the ceiling. What the hell was going on? I was getting visions of storms covering New Orleans—like we need something like that to happen again. There's a Dybbuk-possessed ring, a dead mambo, and my Sylph jumped ship.

  The memory of him cutting his ties to me still hurt. I turned to face the wall and the heart machine and stared at the dancing lights, willing myself through the tears to sleep as Crwys had slept.

  EIGHT

  Since Ivan wanted to get the ring into the basement safe as soon as possible, Crwys followed behind him in his Mustang. Arden and Kyle took Levi home with a promise they'd be over at Bell, Book and Candle shortly.

  He didn't want to leave Sam. She looked small and helpless in that bed, but he was also a little panicked having fallen asleep on her like that. So deep and so quickly. Levi's parting words still annoyed him. "It's coming fast. You've got to tell her."

  I'd rather be finding a way to stop it. There weren't many people who knew about the Sleep of Dragons. It wasn't exactly a well-published occurrence, because Dragons didn't want anyone to know their vulnerabilities. They didn't have many. Crwys was pretty sure he was the only one with the weakness of Artemis's Bow and Arrows since they were specifically crafted to kill him when he was a Scion. But as a Titan, they seemed far more perilous, given his predicament a few months ago at the hands of a Faerie queen.

  Levi and he had put out feelers to find the rest of the Arrows. It was believable that more were out there. And in the wrong hands, they were a danger to his well-being. The location of the existing Arrow and the Bow were hidden away with Sam, and he knew she'd never reveal that location. He had tried to destroy them with acid and fire. Even broke them in half, but they reformed. Damn magic-made relics!

  He'd been following Dharma and Ivan at a decent clip down Bourbon, careful of tourists and revelers straggling back home or to hotels in the early morning hour, when a strong wind shoved the Mustang to the side. He lost his grip on the steering wheel for a second, but with preternatural speed, got it back before another strong wind shoved the car onto the sidewalk. A few of those stragglers and drunks were being tossed around by that same strong wind. One or two were blown back on their asses as street signs whipped around, and a few of the metal poles holding them in place twisted.

  The wind jostled him again and sent someone bouncing off the hood of his car. As a cop he felt duty-bound to stop and make sure they were okay, but when he put the car in park, he couldn't get the door to open.

  The Mustang rocked back and forth as a howling sound rushed through the cracks between the glass of the window and the seal. He spotted Ivan's truck having an even worse time ahead of him. Truck beds were light, which made them susceptible to strong winds and slick or icy roads. Not enough weight to keep control of them. Having owned a few in his long life, he always weighed them down with machinery or rocks.

  A strong gust moved his Mustang to the right side and banged it against the post of a street sign as he kept slamming the brake which did no good. Crwys made sure the parking brake was engaged before he finally got the door open and the wind slammed it shut again.

  People were huddled in doorways while business signs banged back and forth as he eventually made it out of the car, only to have the wind wrench the door out of his hand and slam it shut. A few of the signs came loose, and he had to duck to avoid being sliced by spinning metal. The wind whipped around all the trash and debris from the streets, along with dust, which made it hard to see in front of him.

  He kept going, using his invisible wings to steady himself without actually making them corporeal. Looking around, he couldn't find the guy who'd flipped over his hood and assumed the wind had taken him away or he was fine enough to get inside. Crwys spotted the truck ahead, brake lights giving him a position. As he neared it, he saw the driver's side window had been bashed in by something pretty heavy. Glass swirled around him as he grabbed the back of the truck bed and pulled his way to the front. He didn't see movement and couldn't remember who'd been driving.

  Looking inside, he saw Dharma in the driver's seat, slumped over on Ivan. Neither of them was conscious. The left side of Dharma's head was covered in blood. It matted her hair and streamed down her cheek to her neck. The passenger side window was cracked, probably where Ivan had hit his head.

  Crwys yanked the door open after a few tries and checked Dharma's pulse. Strong and steady. He leaned over her to press his fingers against Ivan's neck when he saw a gleam on the floorboard of the truck. A closer look and he knew it was the ring. Either Ivan had dropped it or…

  Crwys looked at the maelstrom around them, the spinning wind painted visible by the debris caught inside of it, and it reminded him of the storm inside the living room of the house. He lunged and pressed his fingers against Ivan's throat. Strong and steady as well, so he shoved the Cyber Witch hard. "Ivan!"

  It took a few more shoves before Ivan's eyes fluttered. They glowed a soft green, as Cr
wys was sure he did an internal check of his systems. He blinked a few times, looked down at himself, looked at Crwys's hand, and then spotted Dharma. "Dharma!"

  "Not now!" Crwys shouted. "She's fine. I need you to get the ring and don't let go."

  Ivan didn't want to move away from Dharma, but Crwys shoved his hands off of her. "Grab the damn ring!"

  Looking a bit confused, Ivan glanced at the dashboard, at his hands, and then down between his legs. He bent forward and—

  Everything stopped.

  The silence was deafening, just as it had been before in that house. Crwys breathed in the clouded air but finally let his shoulders relax as things fell back to the pavement. A few of them landed on the hood, roof, and in the bed of the truck.

  Ivan held the ring out. "What…what the hell just happened?"

  "Did you drop the ring before something hit the truck?"

  Ivan started to put a hand on Dharma, but Crwys grabbed his wrist. "Not while you're holding the ring. Now think. Did the wind start before or after you didn't have the ring?"

  "I…" His eyes unfocused, and then his brows rose. "I dropped it. We were just passing Pat O'Brien's, and I thought I saw someone I knew outside. I dropped the ring and then…" He turned his head to get a better look at Crwys, and that's when Crwys saw the bleeding wound to the side of his head where he had hit the glass. "What the hell, Crwys? That was just like—"

  "The storm in the living room when Kyle took the ring. I know." He pointed at Ivan. "Don't let go of that ring. In fact, put it on. Now."

  Ivan did as he was told.

  "Can you drive?"

  "We need to get Dharma to a hospital."

  "No, we need to get to the shop. Can you drive? Or are you dizzy? Nauseous?"

  "I can drive," he said and managed to get his door open. When he stepped out of the truck and came around the back instead of falling out, Crwys felt a bit better. "Help me get her to the passenger side."

  Crwys moved around to the other side, and together, he and Ivan snapped Dharma into the passenger seat. "Why weren't you driving?"

  "She likes driving the truck." He didn't look at Crwys as he said it.

  Crwys straightened up and looked at Ivan over the bed of the truck. He was aware of people coming out of their hiding places and taking stock of the devastation down the street. "She still worried about the gunshot? That was what, five months ago?"

  "Yeah. Tell her that. Everyone thinks I'm fine but Dharma." He leaned in to check on her and then got in the driver's seat.

  When he cranked the trunk back up, Crwys came around the front and stopped at the door before Ivan closed it. "Get her to the shop. Arden will be there shortly, along with Kyle. We can get Dharma patched back up. And don't take that ring off your finger."

  "I won't. Crwys," Ivan hesitated, "you think the Dybbuk did this? Did you see the ghost priest again?"

  "Not this time. But whatever it was felt as malevolent this time as it had in that house." Crwys nodded. "Just get that thing into the basement." Ivan closed the door. A few pieces of the glass fell out before he eased his way down Bourbon.

  Crwys stayed a few more minutes to make sure everyone was okay. He called 911 and ordered a few ambulances on the way before he got into his own battered car and followed Ivan down Bourbon Street.

  After coming in the back door of Bell, Book and Candle, Crwys heard voices and saw the light was on in Sam's office. Grey, Sam's familiar, and her mother, came out of it and greeted Crwys.

  How's Sam?

  He told her what he knew as he took off his gun and holster and pulled a clip out of his back pocket. He put it on the table with the other things. "You can't hear her from this distance, can you?"

  I can, but she's gotten pretty good at ignoring me. Said I was keeping her awake. What's that smell?

  Uh oh. "You can smell that?"

  You smell like a fireplace. And you feel… She narrowed her wolf eyes. Crwys, what's wrong?

  "Wrong?" He headed to the office, but she stood in front of him. "Nothing's wrong."

  Other than Kyle and Dharma coming in here looking like they were in a fight? Something is really, really wrong.

  At first he thought Grey's question had been directed at the smell and his obvious fatigue. But now he realized she was sensing something else. The Dybbuk maybe? "Didn't Ivan tell you?"

  No, he's all absorbed in Dharma, who's going to be just fine. I took a look at her. Ivan's called Arden.

  Of course he did. "Sam's dex said the ring on Ivan's finger had a Dybbuk attached to it, or it is a Dybbuk. She wants Ivan to research it."

  A Dybbuk? Really? Grey looked back at the door. I didn't sense that. What ring?

  "The one on Ivan's finger."

  There's no ring on his finger.

  The wall beside them shook. The wall of Sam's office. Grey barked as she ran back around the corner to the door. Crwys caught up with her and they both stopped.

  Dharma lay on Sam's office couch with Ivan bent over her. The shelf of books Sam kept on the opposite side of the room hovered in the air over the two of them as if it had flown across the room. Dharma had her arm up and her hand splayed out. Once he sensed the moisture in the air, he realized she was manipulating her Waters to keep the shelf from crashing down on the two of them.

  Crwys rushed in and grabbed the bookcase. He sandwiched himself between the two of them and the floating shelf. "Dharma…let go of it."

  "No…it'll…Crwys it's an Air Elemental moving it. It'll try and crush you."

  An Elemental? He closed his eyes and allowed his internal furnace to ignite. He tempered the flames that he knew would cover his body and burn his clothing as he directed them at the wood. The fire instantly caught the grain and set it ablaze. Red and orange dancing lights fed on the wind the Air Elemental focused to keep hold of the shelf as it tried to push it down on top of him.

  But…if there wasn't a shelf.

  Once the entire shelf was in flame, he reined in his power and felt the wood turn to ash in his hands. He staggered back as the Air Elemental lost its hold as the physical shelf disintegrated. Grey growled at something in the room, something they couldn't see. Her hair stood on end and her teeth were bared.

  "Grey…where is it?" Crwys called out as he patted his shirt, which was now half burned off with gaping, singed holes.

  It's above you. But Crwys…

  "Ivan, get Dharma out of here. Where's the ring?"

  Ivan helped Dharma stand and then looked at his hand. "The bathroom sink! I washed my hands."

  "I told you not to take it off!" He reached out and took Dharma in his arms. "Go get the damn ring!"

  Ivan ran out of the room.

  It's going after Ivan!

  The door slammed shut on him and Dharma, with Grey on the outside. Crwys turned to set her back on the couch before he wrenched the door open and ran out, following Ivan into the back to the bathroom. It was a small room with just a toilet and a sink.

  The door slammed shut before Ivan could get to it and no amount of yanking was going to get it open.

  "Get back, but be ready," Crwys said as he held out his hand. His fire was strong and well-stoked now as he focused on the door. Luckily, it was just a plain pine door and not metal. He focused the flames at the bottom of it and pulled them up until they covered the entire door.

  "Crwys…don't set the place on fire!"

  "Sshh!" he hissed as he worked against an increasing rush of Air. Air fed flames, but it could also be used to extinguish them. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he fed more into the blaze and increased the heat. The door glowed and abruptly disintegrated into a pile of burning wood.

  He didn't have to tell Ivan to move. The Cyber Witch jumped the flames and grabbed the ring off the sink. The fighting Air instantly stopped and the flames died down. Crwys leaned against the wall with his back and slid down to the floor. The use of his powers didn't usually tire him out like this, except when Sleep approached. And at that moment, he was losing the b
attle with controlling the fire and staying awake.

  The back door opened as Arden and Kyle rushed in. They both stopped and looked at the burning wood on the floor and the now open bathroom.

  "What happened?" Arden said as she immediately quenched the fire with her Water Elemental. She looked at Ivan, took in his bleeding head, and then looked at Crwys. "By Diana's Waters!" She moved to Ivan and looked at his head, then to Crwys where she knelt in front of him. "Kyle? Go get your things. We're going to need to patch everyone…Crwys? Shugah…stay with me…"

  But he was already tumbling into unconsciousness as he slid to the side against the wall and closed his eyes. He felt Grey's tongue on his cheek and heard her voice in his head.

  Crwys…what's going on? That wasn't just any Air Elemental…that was Sam's Sylph!

  Crwys?

  NINE

  "I must say, this is a first, Detective," Arden Vervain said as she handed him one of Sam's steaming teacups. He took the saucer and balanced it in front of him as she sat on the edge of the bed. They were in Sam's bedroom. He had no memory of how he got to the bed, and he'd been out cold for several hours.

  He'd also been stripped of his clothing.

  "How so?" He blew over the top of the steaming amber-colored liquid before he sipped it. The heat really didn't bother him, but the added flavor of whatever the hell Kyle put in it did. Blech. He set the saucer and cup on the nightstand as thunder rumbled in the distance. He glanced out the window by the bed. The sun was coming up, and the sky looked worse than it had the day before.

  "You being this weak. It's not natural. Did something happen? Please don't tell me another one of those arrows showed up and you got stuck with it?"

  The fact that Arden mentioned one of the Arrows of Artemis spoke volumes about her confidence that Sam bore her no more ill will for handing one of them over to the Faeries. He wasn't so sure she should be that confident. He stifled a yawn. Hard to look fierce and dangerous while sitting in bed half-naked with a High Witch playing nursemaid. "Arden, you don't have to stay here. I'm fine."