While concerned about the risk to Jade’s soul, I gave her the go-ahead and walked to the entrance with her, watching as she gradually faded out and disappeared into the tunnel.
While we waited, Lucca brought his light over, guiding it several feet into the entry and shining it all around. The wide-mouthed opening was about five feet across and roughly six-and-a-half feet high at the top of the arch. It looked manmade—or demon made—with smooth edges and no jags of the dark gray or black stone inside that I could see.
We edged into it a little further, halting after a few feet to listen, but not hearing any sounds. While I wanted to push in further, I didn’t want to risk the yiaiwas seeing the glowing light and creeping in total darkness wasn’t an option. I glanced behind me to see that Astrid, Orielle, Yoshi, and Cara had remained behind to guard the entrance. Yoshi had already cast a thick fog over it.
While we waited, I touched the smooth-surfaced wall and detected a slight warmth, but no texture to indicate what kind of stone it might be. What material would be that smooth that might occur naturally? Then again, this was far from natural if it was an entrance into Hell.
I sniffed the air, detecting just a hint of the scent of something floral that I couldn’t identify. I shifted my weight nervously, tension building in my shoulders as I fought the urge to plunge ahead. Something didn’t feel right.
Then Jade returned, materializing as she sailed into view. “It’s clear ahead. It looks like a doorway to the left.”
“No yiaiwa guarding it?” Gavin asked, surprise shifting to concern on his features.
“No.”
“Let’s move on then,” I ordered and started forward with Lucca right alongside me.
A few minutes later, we rounded a curve and ran into the entry Jade had mentioned. About eight feet tall, it looked like a solid iron prison door. I grasped the handle and hauled back on it, but it didn’t budge. I shoved against it, trying to push it. It still didn’t move.
Gavin moved closer to look it over, running his fingers above the edges like he was looking for something. “I think it’s spelled shut.”
“What?” I asked.
“There’s a spell on it to lock us out.” He stepped back, murmuring something under his breath and waved his hand across it, casting a spell. “Yep, locked. I can’t break it.”
“Like the spell we tried to cast on the alcove in India?”
He nodded. “Except this one is designed to keep us out. It opens to the yiaiwa and demons only, it seems.”
“Get out of the way,” I said. I took a few steps back as Gavin and Lucca complied. Calling up my energy, I used both hands to cast a blast of power into the door.
White light like a blow torch spread across the entry, burning and digging at the metal. But when it fizzled out, the door remained solid and sealed. Summoning Pernika to augment my power, I called Nygard to my shoulders. “Your magic, too, Gavin. Let’s hit this with all we’ve got.”
He shrugged but moved next to me as Pernika placed her hand on my arm. I focused, called on my energy and Nygard’s, then flung another blast at the door. White energy tinted with red, gold, and silver streaks of power smashed into the portal covering it with an iridescent blaze like a star burning on the metal.
Then, it fizzled.
The hot mass of energy and magic went out like an exhausted match. The metal door remained intact and sealed.
My shoulders slumped.
“No!” The cry poured out of me liked a tortured animal, primal and pain-filled. I dropped to my knees and sobbed. Janna’s soul was beyond that door, beyond rescue. I put her here. I needed to bring her back.
As I dropped my head forward and covered my face with my hands, Gavin squatted beside me. I glimpsed his arms reaching out but stopping, unable to touch or comfort me.
Instead, he spoke in a gentle voice. “It’s spelled against us, chica. Nothing will break through it. But it’s not the only way in. There’s still a gate in Utah.”
Surprised, I raised my head, subdued the tears, and gazed at him. “Utah? I thought the last portal was in Peru.”
He shook his head, his smile cocking up on one side in that sly look he sometimes got when he knew something others didn’t know. “Nope. That one’s closed. I did it about five years ago.”
My eyes popped wide. He didn’t even tell Orielle?
“But there’s one in Utah?” I repeated dumbly. “Where?”
Lucca had knelt down beside us, his light hovering near, and listened as we talked. “Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yep. It’s near the eastern border in Canyon Country. In fact, you’ll find it near the edge of the national park, on Native American land.” He looked smug, but it gave me hope.
“Can you narrow it down more?” I asked with a touch of sarcasm. That was a damn big section of land.
“I’ll draw you a map. But first, let’s seal this portal from our side, so Belphegor can’t open it again.” He rose and turned to look at the massive iron door.
Lucca examined the walls, shaking his head.
“Can we blast through the tunnel itself?” I asked as I watched him.
“No. It is not rock. I do not know what it is, but your blast didn’t affect it at all, not any more than that slab of iron.”
“Belphegor doesn’t want you to come through this way,” Gavin said as he studied the smooth sides as well. “Whatever kind of construct this is, it’s effective against us on this plane. Even with the blast and magic booster, it’s solid.”
Depressed that I couldn’t do any more now, I stepped up to the door and glared at it. Time to seal the sucker once and for all. I’d rehearsed the words and the melody numerous times. I called it into my mind now, seeing the notes and hearing them with the pitch and nuance I needed to do this correctly.
“Get everyone out,” I told Gavin. “I don’t want anyone around if this blows up on us.”
“Um, we’re all spirits here,” he answered as he ran his hand across his mouth.
“And we’re all tethered except for Jade. We could still die for real.”
“Point taken.”
He and Lucca started herding everyone back to the cave entrance while I took a spread-legged stance and several deep breaths in preparation. The notes would push my range in both directions, but I could—must—do it. I felt a presence at my side and turned to find Digby standing beside me.
“I want to stay with you.”
“No, Dig. It’s too uncertain. Last time I did this, Gavin and I were thrown across the cave. I won’t risk it. If something happened to you and I survived, Stephen would kill me.”
A chuckle slipped out of his mouth. “Yeah, you have a point there. Still, I hate to leave you alone.”
“I know. But do me a huge favor and make sure Gavin doesn’t come back. I’m pretty sure I’ll be fine, but he’s already damaged courtesy of me.”
Digby nodded and flashed a smile. “You got it, Gilly. See you outside.”
I waited a few minutes until he had plenty of time to leave, then I swung back to the portal. I took a deep breath and started to sing the incantation, duplicating it exactly as I recalled it from the vision I’d had. Maybe the words weren’t quite right, but the notes were dead on. In my heart, I felt that was what needed to be exact.
At least, I hoped that was it.
The music poured out of me with confidence and power, echoing in the cave with all the resonance of a concert hall. I let it flow and watched in wonder as golden threads of sound began to weave an enchantment over the iron and the cavern walls adjacent to it. Powered by the energy and resonance of the chant, they spun and turned, forming a web of knots.
I repeated the chant three times as the magic worked and when I finished the last time, the web glowed with shimmering white light before vanishing from my vision. It was done.
The portal on this plane was sealed.
Feeling weary and still depressed that I hadn’t retrieved my friend, I made my way to the cave
entrance to find my little team huddled around Lucca’s glowing orb.
“It’s done. Thank you all. Let’s go home.”
I released my connection with Cara, Elly, Pernika, and Yoshi, and they disappeared within moments. “Stay a bit, Bob,” I told the Alabama fireball. I noticed Astrid had left also.
“She felt low on energy,” Orielle said when I asked. “Her spirit guide told her she needed to return to her body.”
I shrugged. “She did a great job. Everyone did. We just weren’t fast enough.”
“Belphegor baited you,” Gavin said. “He wasn’t going to let you get to Janna. He was testing your strength.”
Bob fell into step beside me as I started back up the path to the gate. Already, the vines were beginning to retreat, withdrawing into the forest. With the portal shut, the dark woods would vanish from this plane. At least, that much was done.
“What now?” Bob asked.
“We begin planning.”
Back on the other side of the barrier, I turned to Gavin. The bleakness I felt showed through in my voice. “Belphegor didn’t come, and I couldn’t reach Janna. I failed.”
“Not completely,” Gavin answered, then reminded me that we’d defeated dozens of yiaiwa. “And you sealed this portal. They won’t be coming back this way.”
“Speaking of sealing a portal, how are you, and the other people from your nameless organization, sealing these portals without the song chant?”
He hummed and hawed for a couple of moments before he said, “There is another spell that does a decent job, but the chant may be the more effective method. Particularly when it’s a prime portal for Belphegor or any other high-level demon.”
“So all this time, you’ve had another way to do it?”
Gavin nodded. “Just not the best way. In fact, most all of the portals probably should be sealed with the chant once we get the last Earth one locked down.”
Caught off guard by this, I stared at him for a few moments, then asked, “And what of you?” Was he free? “Does Belphegor still hold you in his power?”
“For now,” he admitted. “But I’m stronger than I was. It’s only a matter of time.”
Digby stepped up along my other side. I turned to him and said, “Come home, Dig.” I offered an open-armed gesture of a hug. “I’m glad for your help, but now you need to go back to your body and get a plane back home. We miss you, dude.”
“You’re right,” he answered. He kicked a foot at the grass, then smiled, his eyes crinkling at the edge. “I miss everyone as well. I’ll head back soon. I promise.”
I blew a kiss to him as he closed his eyes in concentration and vanished. Whatever technique his Uncle Jack had taught him seemed to work pretty well.
Alone now with just Bob, Gavin and Orielle, we talked about the next phase—the final Earth closure. Kneeling, he drew a map of Utah in the dirt and marked the area where we would find the gateway.
“It’s a very old one,” he warned. “I’ll try to be back to help you, but I don’t know if I can pull myself together.”
He made it sound like a joke, but it was an apt description.
“We’ll finish the job,” I answered. I sounded grim but resolved to take care of the demons and soul thieves forever.
Gavin nodded. “I believe you. He waved a half-salute at us and wandered down the silver path, vanishing about twenty yards from us. Orielle blinked, gave me a nod, and followed his footsteps before she, too, transitioned.
After I said goodbye to Bob, I turned around to gaze at the now destroyed gateway and the charred vegetation, still smelling acrid. I could be happy about that, but the ache in my heart that I hadn’t been able to get Janna’s soul back burned like a hundred angry suns. I needed to rescue her. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t. Tears falling down my cheeks, I sank to my knees.
We had one last gate to slam shut and come hell or Satan himself, we were going to do it. And I would get Janna back.
Chapter 31
THE RED HAZE OF SUNLIGHT through my eyelids woke me. As I opened my eyes, I took in my surroundings, the golden light streaming into the bedroom and the sensual man lying beside me on our comfortable queen-sized bed.
I gazed at Ferris taking in the details as he slept. Mussed curls of his dark hair fell onto his forehead, and his long-lashed eyelids twitched a little, perhaps aware of the morning as I had been. His face bore a straight, strong nose hovering over a bow-shaped mouth that was prone to smiles.
I’d heard it said that as a woman falls more in love with someone, that person becomes more and more attractive to her. Ferris was always a great-looking guy, but now I saw him as almost perfect, both in looks and in his soul. I’d been hesitant to say that I loved him, but I knew it deep inside. A warm feeling flooded my heart with tenderness and a desire to always be right here in his bed and his arms.
The third body in the bed stirred followed by Nygard opening a sleepy eye at me and flicking his ears. “Lazy cat,” I whispered. I’d brought him over the night before so Ferris could watch him the few days that Orielle and I would be in Utah finishing the job. I’d ended up staying the night, wanting Ferris’s company more than a lonely night in my room worrying about the task ahead.
After the siege in the interim cemetery that turned into a bust, Orielle and I had begun to plan the Utah trip. Her thought was to locate the portal and seal it. End of job.
That wasn’t my agenda though. In my heart, I knew Janna’s soul remained. Belphegor wouldn’t destroy her until he had me. I had to make another try to get her back.
With my thoughts shifting back to Ferris, I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his in a gentle wake-up kiss. After a moment, he roused, and his eyes cracked open. He slid an arm from under the covers and wrapped it around my waist to pull me closer.
Nygard deserted the bed in a hasty jump and scooted out of the bedroom. Definitely a smart cat.
“What a welcome sight for the morning,” Ferris murmured, then planted a deep, tongue-teasing kiss on me.
A sense of oneness with him overwhelmed me, and I snuggled into him even more as if I might meld my body with his. Ferris’s kisses moved down my throat, tracing along my collarbone before dipping to my cleavage. My breath caught as his tongue touched my left nipple making me squirm as an antsy feeling rushed through my body. I wanted him, needed him inside me.
My hands roamed over his chest, touching his toned muscles and the smooth skin under the light sprinkling of chest hair. Why had I held back so long? He was perfect; everything I wanted in a man. Reliable, loving, and we had common interests. He would stand by me through anything; I knew it. He’d done it already.
Then a sobering thought crept back into my mind. I would be leaving Ferris in about another hour to catch a plane to Utah. I still had a job to do if I was ever to have any happiness in my life.
Ferris felt it, felt my body tense, and he lifted his head from where he’d been nuzzling my breasts. “What?”
“I—It’s just I have to leave soon. I need to get to the airport and then I don’t know what...” My voice dropped as I thought about what I was going to attempt.
“I don’t want you to go.” He held me tighter like he might keep me there forever.
“I know. But I have to. It’s unfinished business. I need to end it. There’s so much at stake.”
He released me and sat up. “I know that, babe. But it doesn’t mean I like it. I am so scared of what might happen.”
“Me, too. It’s different this time.” I shivered at the prospect of just a small group of us physically going into Belphegor’s realm. “But if I don’t, then we’re all lost. Really lost.”
He stared into my eyes, a look of pain on his face before he shifted his gaze to the covers. “And you’re not going to channel Nygard.”
“I can’t. It’s too risky. Having him with me on the ethereal realm is one thing, but in the physical world in Belphegor’s territory is too much for me to take him.”
“E
xactly. And too risky for you as well.” He shot a hard look at me that asked once again why I had to do it.
“You know why.” I threw back the covers and slid out, grabbing his robe and wrapping it around me. “If this works, this will be the last time. I promise.”
He scowled at that. “Unless more demons show up or Belphe-whosis escapes. I don’t want to always have you going off on some crusade that I can’t help you with. It burns me to have to stay here and wait while you’re risking your life.”
“I know,” I acknowledged, then headed to the bathroom to shower.
By mid-afternoon, the little commuter plane landed at the Canyonlands Field Airport where Orielle and I met up with the rest of our team. Finding them proved to be a cinch. The main building, a reddish stone structure, wasn’t too much bigger than a large house.
Unlike the assault on the spirit level, we were going in light. Lucca and Ferko had flown into Salt Lake City overnight, then had taken another flight to meet us at Moab. They’d brought a surprise with them, Father Vincente, an elderly priest from their supernatural division, those who handled demons and spirit possessions. Who knew they had such a thing?
After spending the night in Moab, Bob came out to the airport to welcome us. That made six of us, and the helicopter pilot from Orielle’s foundation that was financing this adventure. We had camping supplies and food for two days, but we all hoped to find the portal quickly and get out.
Of course, I had my unspoken agenda, and I knew I would not ask any of them to accompany me through the portal. I didn’t want any more lost souls on my conscience.
In less than an hour, we loaded our gear and climbed aboard the helicopter. Airborne, we shot out over Canyonlands, and I gazed at the magnificent red stone canyons. Arches of sandstone created magical gateways to an impressive court of conical rocks in the distance. Within the canyons, a river still worked at carving deeper into the ground.
Tourists flocked to this area in the summer, eager to hike the trails and marvel at the amazing creations created by the Colorado River and the Green River. Vivid colors filled the landscape with rich variations of red and the sharp contrast of dark green vegetation fighting its way through the dirt.
A Song of Redemption Page 33
