Number of the Beast (Paladin Cycle, Book One)

by Lita Stone

  Snorts and snarls came from behind. Amy’s lungs were sore, her heartbeat refused to slow.

  The trees became a palisade fence. She had no more of a chance to live, than a rat cornered by Freya. There was no more running left in her body. The adrenaline in her blood had depleted, and she was left with the bitter truth of the inevitable. Whatever that might be. Whoever that might be.

  She clutched a tree...and cried.

  Tobias...what do I do?

  “Come to me,” a man’s voice spoke. “Come to me, female.”

  A tall naked figure stepped toward her. The moonlight glittered off his tanned stone-like skin and deep green eyes. His grotesquely large uncircumcised penis dangled between his bare legs. And a stone jewel in his chest shimmered bright as a ruby star.

  Amy’s breathing quickened. Her heart caught. She backed away, but a snorting sound caused her to glance back.

  A large black cat with wings and green eyes blocked her retreat. Yellow saliva dripped from teeth as large as her forefinger. The glow of a ruby stone also flickered from the creature’s underside.

  “There is nowhere for you to go, Beloved one,” the man said. “Fear not, for I have come for your body, nothing more.”

  #

  Shane felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He stopped the bike and cut the engine. Birch did the same. Sliding it from his jeans, he checked the caller ID. Carmen.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Amy’s gone!” Carmen screeched. “She’s gone! Some car chased her and she’s gone!”

  “Take a breath. Slow the fuck down. Start from the beginning.”

  “I found Amy’s car. It’s flipped over but she’s not here. I don’t know where she is!”

  Shane gripped the cell phone with a sweaty hand. “You lose an earring, Carmen! You don’t lose a fucking person, especially my fiancé.” He kicked a fallen tree and the rotten trunk crumbled. “Where’s her car?”

  “Blackwood Ave. Just outside Sacred Oaks.”

  Shane hung up. He shoved his phone into his pocket. “Amy’s been in some kind of accident,” he said to Birch.

  “She okay?”

  “Don’t’ know. Her car flipped and she’s nowhere around.” Shane inclined his head gesturing toward the path leading back to the trailer. “Meet me just past the fork on Blackwood.”

  “We’ll find her,” Birch said and sped away.

  Shane straddled the leather seat and kick-started his bike. He weaved through the narrow wooded passage until he came to a gravel road bordered by a worn-out barbed wire fence and rotten posts. Stringy weeds climbed the length of the fence.

  Shane swerved his bike, almost spilling onto the ground. He shot down the road. Hot wind smashed into his face and torso.

  If someone hurt Amy he was going to kill them and he was going to prison for first degree murder. He had made that decision before he’d even gotten back on his bike. He regretted not carrying his .40 SIG on his bike instead of in his truck. Sighing, he conceded to borrowing Carmen’s Saturday Night Special.

  Shane finally arrived about ten minutes later. He skidded to a stop beside Amy’s totaled car where Carmen paced on the shoulder, gun in hand.

  Shane killed the engine and hopped from the bike. “Still nothing?”

  “Atticus went looking for her.”

  Who the fuck is Atticus, Shane thought.

  She squeezed his hand. “He’s trying to help her.”

  Shane snickered. “Did he you tell you that before or after you fucked him?”

  “Fuck you!”

  “Where’d he go?”

  “He saved my life. He’s not the bad guy.”

  Shane eyed Carmen’s swollen face, bloody lip and unkempt hair. “Where did he go?”

  Carmen shook her head.

  Shane gripped the front of her shirt. He clenched the fabric, twisting, tightening the collar around her neck. Leaning closer, his face inches from hers, he gritted, “Where the fuck did he go?” Spittle sprayed Carmen’s hard glare.

  She pushed off him. Straightening her arm, she pointed the gun at his crotch. “Don’t you ever put your hands on me again…or I’ll shoot your fucking dick off.”

  Scoffing, Shane snatched the gun from her grasp. “Not today, sweetheart.”

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Kneeling on a jagged cliff, Tobias glanced across the raging tides of the Gulga Sea. A sky eel soared about the violet clouds. He heard the drums and chants of the cannibals deep within the jungle far behind him. The Zawau tribe never came close to the sea for they feared the elemental shades that possessed the waters.

  At Tobias’ feet lay the remains of six white birds he had fallen with a sling. Positioned in a star formation, their heads pointed outward, beady eyes gazed blankly in all directions. From a flask, Tobias sprinkled a circle of salt around him and the doves.

  A cold breeze whipped his long hair about his face and he snarled. He pinned his hair back with a piece of ratty cloth. It had been sixteen days since Galmoria abandoned him on the jungle world of Zlldoseus with the instructions to reach the peak of the tallest bluff by the next full moon. It was part of his rite of passage she had told him.

  But that was before his encounter with the enchantress Sengyla, and she revealed the truth to him.

  “You possess the blood of human, Paladin and Geminus. You are destined to become the Dark Trinity—a force of insurmountable power.”

  “Lies, all lies,” he had protested. But Sengyla had shown him his true mother and true father and he had known then that Galmoria was the Deceptor.

  Tobias took a clay vial from his leather vest, and drank the contents, a thick bitter oil. He took a pipe with a long curved stem and touched the bowl that hung close to his navel.

  Smoke rose from within.

  He closed his eyes as a higher state of consciousness seeped into his mind and veins. A divine sensation swam over him. Every nerve and cell in his body danced, like millions of fiery sprites, readying his body for battle.

  If he failed then he failed the future, all futures and Galmoria’s schemes would flourish, and all the universes would belong to her and the Beast.

  He had one chance to save all life, and to save his own humanity.

  He had to be ready for this was a critical moment in the proper timeline. He had one chance now to preserve the future.

  He exhaled a twist of purple smoke and searched the cosmos for the realm of Buckeye, Texas.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  The naked man shoved Amy against a tree. She watched as the large panther became a nude woman right before her eyes.

  It was all real, Amy thought. Tobias was real and the beasts were real. And she was going to die.

  With thorny vines and sturdy roots, the woman helped fasten Amy to the tree. Squirming, Amy cried out. Hot tears streamed down her filthy cheeks. Strands of stray hair obscured her sight. As if she really cared to look upon the monsters anyhow.

  It had all been true. The bad vibes Sherry felt; Cinder’s ravings about a coming war; and all of Tobias’ warnings. This man and woman...they were the Beasts.

  Determined to keep her fear hidden, she steadied her voice, forced herself to stop sobbing. “What do you want with me?”

  Neither one responded.

  A curved claw released from the man’s finger. He turned toward the woman.

  “You are my eternal twin,” he said flatly, and kissed her mouth. He held her chin with one hand. The claw swiped the woman’s throat.

  The woman-beast gurgled and from the look in her bulged eyes Amy knew she had been surprised.

  As blood bubbled from the woman’s neck, the man gently laid her to the ground. Claws tipping each of his fingers, he dug into her bare chest, and ripped the stone from her.

  When he neared Amy, she smelled the stench of animal pouring from his skin. He sliced open Amy’s shirt, exposing her breasts.

  He held up the pulsating stone. “My eternal twin’s soul shall live forever inside you.” With a fl
at palm, he embedded the stone into Amy’s chest.

  Like hot ember, it melted into her skin. Amy’s screams cut her throat raw.

  #

  A scream penetrated the woods and echoed around Atticus.

  I am too late, he thought. Hell horns! Pausing he closed his eyes, opening his senses and his mind. He inhaled a deep breath and let it out. Both an advantage and disadvantage, the Paladin and Geminus races could sense one another when in close proximity.

  To the left a strange scent tainted the air. The Geminus was close. And the closer he got to the Geminus, the tighter his vibrating auro constricted.

  The screaming had grown weaker, hoarser, but still persistent. Atticus struggled to keep his mind clear of the sort of devilry being forced upon Amy. From the sound of her horrific cries she would not last much longer.

  Atticus shouldered his way through a wall of thorn-ridden shrubbery.

  There the Beast stood, only a few yards away. A woman’s body lay on the ground at his feet and Amy was bound to a tree. Her head wobbled from side to side, as if she had no control over the movement. Her sobs were faint.

  Behind the Beast, a shadowy figure materialized and stood, predatory eyes hollow with darkness. Savage black mane framed its barbaric physique and face. A vest adorned with shrunken heads and bones covered its chest, spiked gauntlets on its arms. Its matted fur glistened wetly with...

  What? Atticus wondered. Some sort of shiny, sticky substance, as if the creature had bathed in it.

  Fear gripped Atticus. Unable to move or speak, he watched as the being grew to twice the height of an average man and as broad as a bear. Claws grew from its fingertips. Teeth, black as graphite stone, elongated, like that of the extinct saber tooth tiger.

  In silence, its ominous presence loomed over the Geminus.

  Small white phantom birds fluttered around the being’s shoulders, their song muted.

  #

  It burned! The gem seared the skin on Amy’s chest. Gritting, she glared at the monster of a man before her. He killed the woman with him and now he was probably going to kill her.

  But why the jewel? What did it mean? Some sick ritual?

  Through tear-blurred vision, Amy stared over the naked man’s shoulder where a naked grotesque being appeared, the same as the one in the mirror at The Bull. Innately, she knew it to be her son.

  Thank God!

  But Tobias just stared at her. What was he waiting for?

  Female…ma’am…I am…deeply saddened…but…

  “Help me!”

  The naked man looked at her. His gaze held a fraction of sympathy, dare she think it. “It will all be over soon.”

  Tobias!

  His voice resounded in her mind. It is as I have foreseen. It is as it should be.

  The gem sizzled. Her limbs vibrated with what felt like electricity. Her eyes burned. She squeezed ‘em shut. Then everything went black.

  #

  A lump grew in Atticus’ throat. He swallowed, lifted his sword high, and…charged!

  A fireball, large enough to swallow a vehicle, sparked from the darkness and took the form of a monstrous skull before engulfing the Beast with a crackling chomp. An agonizing roar bellowed from the Geminus as he fled, blazing, into the forest.

  Atticus froze.

  The forest silenced. The shadowy figure was gone. The Beast was gone.

  The woman’s body remained on the ground and Amy remained bound to the tree.

  What had happened? Had Atticus somehow unleashed a raw power from within himself? A power capable of obliterating the Beast in a fury of holy flames? Do holy flames generally take the form of a demented skull?

  What was the shadowy visage, that savage beastly being?

  He ran to Amy and set to work on freeing her. A strange stone throbbed frenziedly in her chest. It pulsed with a dim bluish light.

  Atticus sliced the vines and roots securing her to the tree. When he scooped her up, a hand under her back and the other under her knees, blood spilled from her nostrils and streaked her cheek and chin. Her feet and arms dangled as he carried her through the woods. Her moans stopped but the heat radiating through her clothing told him she was still alive but burning with fever. Sweat drenched her long blond hair. Dirt and leaves speckled her long strands.

  When Atticus neared the road a voice called from behind.

  “Asshole! Put her down.”

  Atticus turned to see a muscular male in a sleeveless gray shirt and grease stained denim pants. He pointed a gun.

  A strange warmth of divinity washed over his aura. A wonderful yet awkward sensation. He stared at the man holding the gun…the man he knew to be his Twin.

  “What happened to her?” Carmen said. She sat beside Amy’s car, back against the front tire. She was alive!

  Atticus approached Carmen. “Amy’s alive.”

  His Twin strode toward him. “I said put her the fuck down.”

  “Shane, I suspect.” Atticus gave a curt nod. “Amy needs to come with me for protection.”

  “The fuck she does.” Now only feet from Atticus, Shane pointed the gun. “Put. Her. Down. Now!”

  “At least allow me to place her inside the car. She is injured.”

  “Fine.” Shane said, waving the gun at the car. “Put her in the car then step the fuck away.”

  Atticus lay Amy across the back seat, then ducked out of the vehicle. “Shane, there is something of utmost importance I must tell you.”

  With the muzzle of the gun, Shane gestured toward the ditch. “I don’t know how the hell you know my name, and I don’t really give a shitpie either. All I fucking know right now is that Amy is fucking unconscious, and I catch you bringing her out of the goddamn woods. And her goddamn shirt is fucking ripped open! What the fuck am I supposed to think, you motherfucking asshole!”

  Atticus complied and stepped further into the ditch, away from the car, away from Amy. “I am not the enemy. I am your ally. And I am your—”

  “Just shut the fuck up.” Shane held the pistol on Atticus with one hand while his other raked through his buzz cut.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Shane glanced back at the car where Carmen and Birch stood. Birch had an arm draped over Carmen’s shoulders. “I’m seriously thinking about just putting a bullet through this bastard’s skull right now. I swear to God.”

  “Don’t,” Carmen said pleadingly. “He’s telling the truth. He’s not the one who did this.”

  “It was the Beasts,” said the bastard.

  Shane shot him a cold gaze. “Don’t speak again, got it?”

  The bastard nodded.

  “Don’t kill him, man,” Birch said. “Let the sheriff department handle it from here. Amy’s gonna be alright but she ain’t gonna be a happy camper if you’re in prison.”

  Shane nodded. He approached Birch’s car but never took the gun off the bastard.

  Carmen stepped toward him. She cautiously extended her hand out. “C’mon, Shane...don’t do anything crazy, please. Hand me the gun and we’ll wait for the police together. You, me and Birch.”

  Shane inhaled and exhaled a deep breath. He grabbed Carmen by the shoulder and shoved her away.

  Shane leaned over Amy’s motionless body in the backseat. With an ear pressed against her chest, he listened. Her heart thumped but it was faint. He felt something hot and hard against his cheek. Some sort of redish stone was glued to her chest. It suddenly glowed bright as if somebody hit a switch and Amy’s body lurched.

  “Shit! What the fuck?” He ducked out of the car. “Where’d this weird stone come from?”

  Carmen shrugged. “What stone?”

  Shane lifted his chin, gesturing toward the psycho that hurt Amy. “You give her this?”

  The guy shook his head. “I gave her nothing.”

  With a punch to the roof, he ducked back into the car. Shane kissed Amy’s forehead, her cheek, the bridge of her nose and those sweet, sweet lips.

  Nothing. Not a moan or even a fuck
in’ twitch.

  With sweaty hands, he framed her face. “Open your eyes, baby.” He picked a leaf and a twig from her hair. “Snap out of it!”

  “Is she okay?” Carmen asked.

  “Call an ambulance.” Shane kissed Amy on the lips. “Please, babe. Look at me.” He let his forehead fall against her forehead. “I’ll kill him. I swear to God, I’ll kill him.” Straightening, he handed the gun to Birch. “I’m gonna kill him, but I’m gonna do it with my fist.”

  When Birch took the gun, Carmen put a hand on Shane’s shoulder. “It wasn’t him.”

  Shane brushed her hand away. “Carmen, if you’re gonna keep defending this psycho-asshole then you fuck the hell off, you goddamn whore!”

  Birch took Carmen by the wrist. He dragged her to the other side of the car.

  Shane snickered. “Try not to fuck Birch while I’m beating this bitch to death.”

  As Shane walked away, Carmen said to Birch, “It’s a good thing he gave you the gun.”

  Cool night air caressed Shane’s bare chest as he tossed his shirt to the ground. Casting a glance over his shoulder, he caught Birch’s gaze. “No matter what happens, you two don’t interfere. We clear?”

  “Got it, chief,” Birch said.

  “You’re making a mistake,” Carmen said, tears running down her cheek, but she maintained a steady voice.

  Taking a defensive stance, fists in front of his face and body, Shane waggled his fingers. “Let’s do this.”

  The guy faced Shane. “I mean no harm to any of you. I come for the Beast only.”

  “She’s not a beast, she’s a woman, you crazy fuck.”

  “She’s not the Beast that I seek.”

  “Well, I’m all the fucking beast you’re getting.” Shane took long fast strides toward him.

  “I won’t hurt you,” the guy said.

  “But you have no problem hurting a woman?”

  Shane drove forward, intending to pummel his face.

  A soft, invisible wall bounced him backwards.

  “Sonuvabitch. What the hell?”

  The guy remained standing without wavering in his position.

  Shane charged faster this time, and speared his fist forward. At the moment before impact his body and fist were diverted to the right.