by Lisa Sanchez
The tugging sensation that was always present when I was near him was yanking hard, pulling me to him, drawing me in. Could fate have been that kind? If I made it out of this mess with Lucian, was I going to be able to live out a long life with Xan?
There was a blur, and the next thing I knew Xan stood nearly on top of me. His warm, sweet breath wafted across my face, providing me with a sense of ease that only he could.
“Sí, carino. That you did.” Cupping my cheeks in his hands, he stared into my eyes with such an intense look of adoration I thought my knees might give out. His voice was deep and full of emotion. “I couldn’t let you die. I can’t be without you, mi amor.”
The sound of my shallow breathing was all that filled the room as tears welled in my eyes.
His eyes narrowed with worry. “Are you angry with me, carino? I know it was a selfish move on my part, but — ”
“Sshhh,” I said, placing my finger to his lips before kissing him sweetly. “You saved my life. I could never be angry with you. Don’t you see? I’ve spent my entire life in hiding. Walking in the shadows, feeling alone. Little did I know you were there all along. Watching me. Protecting me. And now…now if we make it through this…nightmare with Lucian, we can be together. Forever.”
Crushing me against his chest, Xan held me tight and kissed the top of my head. “We will defeat Lucian. We will get your friends back. I promise you, Ainsley. Your nightmare is about to end.” I nuzzled my face into his chest and held onto him for dear life as I sent out a silent prayer. Please, God. Please let us get through this alive.
Chapter 18
“No…no…no!” With my face and neck flushed scarlet red and my fists clenched in anger, I raced through my ransacked apartment. Please…please still be there.
I tore through the doorway into my pillaged bedroom. A sea of chaos came at me from every direction as I surveyed the damage. Drawers had been emptied into the center of the room. The mattress had been overturned and shredded with…God knows what. And my books — Oh, God! My books — what was left of them — lay ripped and torn into tiny pieces throughout the wreckage. But none of that mattered.
I sifted my way through the rubble toward the end of my bed where my overturned mattress lay, blocking my view. The destroyed clothing and books could be replaced, but what I searched for could not. Time ceased to move as I shifted the mattress. The place where my trunk once lay, the trunk that held the Book of Light and my scrying crystal, was empty.
In its place lay a small package. A box wrapped in black paper and topped off with a blood red bow. Lucian. He’d sent his goons to steal the book from me to try and cripple my rescue attempt, knowing I relied on the information within its pages to help me. Without my crystal, there was no way for me to locate my friends. I sank to my knees as though the wind had been knocked out of me, and shook. Anger, frustration, hatred and fear bubbled up from deep within until I couldn’t contain my emotions any longer, and I exploded, screaming at the top of my lungs.
“Carino!”
I was upset, I hadn’t remembered Xan and Gabriel were in the room with me. After training, I’d insisted on coming back to my apartment to grab the Book of Light and my crystal so we could find the girls and plan our rescue. What I hadn’t expected was to find my home in shambles and my trunk missing.
“Ainsley. Please, mi amor.” He lifted me off the floor and wrapped his arms around me. “It will be all right. I promise you.”
Hot tears ran down my cheeks, and I shook my head. “How? How is it going to be all right, Xan? My book is gone and so is my crystal. How am I going to find them?” I cursed at the thought of my family’s book being in the hands of such an evil monster. All that information. All that history was gone.
“I think,” Gabriel said and paused as he walked over to us, the mysterious black package floating midair before him, “that whatever lies in this box may lead us to your friends.”
Sweaty and hot from crying, I wiped away my tears and watched as Gabriel used his magic to unwrap the nefarious gift-box. I narrowed my eyes in question as a thin dvd case came floating out. After thorough inspection, the disk was deemed safe to touch, and we teleported back to Xan’s place as my television had been destroyed along with everything else.
I sat on Xan’s couch, wringing my hands together in nervous anticipation as he placed the disk into the machine and hit play. I wasn’t prepared for what I saw next.
The camera was wobbly and out of focus at first. The images were dark and unreadable until candles began illuminating all around the background, filling the screen with an eerie yellow glow.
“No,” I sobbed, falling off the couch onto my knees as I reached for the television. In front of me, plastered across a seventy-two inch, high def screen were my friends, hanging by their feet, strung upside down and lifeless. The sound of labored breathing filled the room as whoever held the camera began dancing around my unconscious friends, giggling in delight.
Master Lucian requests your presence before him this evening, Ainsley. It was Edie’s voice behind the camera, doing her master’s bidding. Why he’s so interested in your pitiful — Edie’s voice cut off and was replaced by a loud, agonizing shriek. The camera fell sideways for a moment, shooting nothing but floor. Forgive me, Master! I beg of you! Edie’s voice cried out onto the screen. There was a rustling, and the camera was righted, once again showing Taylor, Jessica, and Karen all hanging upside down and motionless. Edie’s voice began wafting out of the speakers again, full of pain and fear. You have until midnight…or this is what will happen to your precious friends.
I sat in horror as a low, base, growling filled the room. There was a flash. A blur of movement and then Karen was gone, viciously torn apart by the newly created and very savage vampire, Deanna.
“No!” I screamed. I turned my head from the gruesome sight and fell forward onto my hands and knees, retching. Karen, the sweet woman who took care of everyone, Jessica’s beloved mother, was no more. It felt like someone sliced me open from navel to neck and was playing with my innards. The pain was too much. If Jessica had never met me, her mother would still be alive. She and Taylor wouldn’t be hanging by their feet at the base of death’s door. I brought this on them. My fault! My fault! She’s dead, and it’s all my fault!
The sound of Edie’s maniacal laughter blasted from the television speakers, rattling my senses. You have until midnight, Ainsley. Two twelve Florin Road. And if you’re thinking of bringing along your precious vampire lover, don’t. Master won’t hesitate to feed your friends to his newest creation. The camera panned over to where Deanna sat hunched over Karen, who had been ripped down from where she hung, feasting on what was left of her. I blacked out just as the screen went blank.
***
An icy December wind blew across my face, chilling me to the bone. My teeth rattled and a deep spasm crawled down my spine as I fought to keep from shivering. Pulling my hood over my head, I tugged on the toggle strings to keep it from falling off and stared at the giant monstrosity that sat in front of me.
The old Florin Mansion. It was a perfect backdrop for a supernatural smack-down. The estate sat high on a hill overlooking Hanaford Park, and had a Hitchcock aura about it. Three stories tall with peeling paint and rotting wood, the house looked like something straight out of a horror movie. And lucky me — I was being forced to walk into it alone. And with a house full of vampires and demons waiting for me to boot.
I took a deep breath, puffing out my cheeks as I exhaled, and made my way up the long, windy driveway. Reaching into the kangaroo pocket of my sweatshirt, I fingered the wooden stake I’d assumed was long gone and thought of my last conversation with Xan.
***
“Remember what I told you, mi amor. There can be no hesitation. Take out anything that crosses your path. Here,” he said, holding out his hand. There was a flash of light and Chuck magically appeared in h
is palm.
I sucked in a deep breath and looked up at him in surprise. “Chuck? But I thought — I was sure I’d lost it.” I grabbed onto my favorite weapon, enjoying the feel of the wood in my hand, the end worn smooth from years of use. Gripping the wooden stake in my right hand, I snaked the other behind Xan’s neck and pulled him forward, kissing him soundly. “Where did you find it?” I asked breathily as I pulled back.
“The night we were attacked by Lucian’s zombies. I went back after I’d seen you home and found it — still stuck in the rotting corpse you’d been fighting.” Xan let out a low chuckle as he brushed my hair behind my shoulder. “I’ve never seen a woman get so excited over a weapon before. From the look on your face, you’d have thought I’d given you diamonds.”
I rolled my eyes and held Chuck in front of me, wiggling it in my hand. “I’ll take a good weapon over a diamond any day of the week and twice on Sunday.”
“And that, mi amor,” he said as he pulled me into his arms, kissing me on the top of my head, “is why you are the only woman for me. Not only are you beautiful, but you’re wicked fierce as well.”
***
I swallowed hard as I gripped Chuck in my hand and slowly climbed the rickety set of stairs that led up to the entrance to the mansion. There was a rustling in the overgrown bushes alongside the steps, and I immediately went into defense mode, rendering myself invisible. With my heart in my throat, I craned my neck in search of the source of the noise. A black cat scurried across the front of the property, its high-pitched wail echoing through the cold night air. I rapidly sucked in air, trying to calm down as I uncloaked myself. Lucian needed to see me coming.
“Yeah, I don’t blame you for running, kitty,” I said as I stepped onto the landing and faced down the worn front door. “I’d run too if I could.” Every inch of me wanted to flee, to hightail it out of there back to the safety of Xan’s arms. But despite my fear, I pressed forward, determined to save those I’d grown to love.
I stepped forward reaching my hand out. Before I could make contact with the wood, the front door swung open slowly with an awful creaking noise.
“That shit is seriously cliché,” I mumbled to myself as I stepped into the dilapidated house. My breath caught, and I wanted to crawl out of my skin. Cliché or not, I was still scared, and the tiny hairs that stood up on the back of my neck could prove it.
Lucian’s threat to kill my friends if Xan came along for the ride put a serious dent in any battle plan we might have come up with. I was left with no choice but to go in alone and try to locate my friends, killing anything that got in my way. Once found, Xan and Gabriel would teleport in and help whisk them to safety. Of course, this was all best case scenario type planning. With Lucian as our adversary, I couldn’t help thinking about all the things that could go wrong if I gave into my fear and lost focus. I shook my head, desperate to clear it of all the what-ifs. My friends were running out of time, and I needed to move.
I strained my eyes to take in my surroundings. The moonlight creeping through the door was the only light available. Directly in front of me lay a battered staircase. Half of the railing was missing; the other half appeared to be suffering from dry rot right along with the decaying steps. There was a long, dark corridor off to the left and what looked like a living room off to the right. I veered off to the right, deciding I’d tackle the ominous hallway after I cleared the front of the house.
I’d made it all of five steps into the room when I heard a familiar popping noise. A loud groaning filled the air, and I was hit from the side before I could teleport out of the way. I sailed through the air, crashing into the wall on the far side of the room. The stench of rotting flesh burned the inside of my nose, threatening to bring up my last meal.
Goddamn zombies!
I barely had time to cloak myself before another undead goon came at me, hellbent on tearing me apart. Teleporting across the room, I reached behind my shoulder and grasped the handle of the short sword Xan had strapped to my back earlier. I pulled it from its sheath and moved into a fighting stance. I felt like Xena Warrior Princess, ready to do battle with my deadly blade. The metal glowed a brilliant blue against the darkness of the room. My eyes widened in surprise. It was obvious the weapon was enchanted, and I wondered briefly what it could do.
Narrowing my eyes, I quickly scanned the room. There was no way I was letting another rotting flesh-bag touch me. They were going down before I was. Embracing the electrical buzz that rippled through me, I flashed over to the walking corpse who’d knocked me across the room. I lifted my sword and brought it down as hard as I could onto the zombie’s neck. Expecting to struggle, I was surprised when the glowing blade sliced through the rotting flesh and bone as though it were butter. The zombie’s body fell to the floor as its decapitated head went crashing through the nearby window.
Thank heavens for small mercies!
Sending out a silent thank you, I flashed across the room, taking out the remaining two zombies with ease. I stared at the sword in awe. If Xan thought he was getting it back, he was seriously mistaken.
With the sword in one hand and Chuck in the other, I rendered myself visible and crept back through the entryway toward the dark hallway. A cold sweat broke out over my skin as I stepped into the corridor. My mouth went dry as darkness enveloped me, swallowing me whole. Despite all the otherworldly crap I’d seen in my lifetime, being in the dark still creeped me out.
Lifting my sword, the glow from the blue blade the only thing visible, I forced my leaden feet to move forward as I searched. I couldn’t see a damn thing, I shoved Chuck into the pocket of my sweatshirt and grimaced as I ran my fingers along the wall. I wasn’t squeamish by any means, but I cringed at the thought of what my hand might come in contact with.
Finally, I came to a recess in the wall. Bingo! A door. I took a deep breath. The chance that my friends hung upside-down in a room on the first floor of the house was remote. Lucian would never make it that easy for me. Still, I had no choice but to open the door and check. Gripping the sword tightly, I grasped the handle and pushed the door forward. A blast of icy wind blew past me, knocking me off my feet, and the sword out of my hand.
Crap!
Scrambling up off the floor, I gasped as whatever it was I’d just set free took shape.
I stood in awe for a moment at the sight in front of me. I’d never seen anything like it before. The apparition, or whatever it was, kept flashing in and out of sight — one-minute corporeal, the next a transparent entity. It was ugly as sin with gaping black holes in its head where a set of eyes should have been, and a set of teeth that reminded me of a chainsaw. The ghost let out an ear-splitting shriek before flying straight for me. Momentarily paralyzed with fear, I hesitated and was struck down as the terrifying phantom passed straight through me.
I opened my mouth to scream to find no sound came out. Nothing went in either. There was no air in my lungs, and I fought desperately to fill them as I lay choking on the floor. Pure, unadulterated evil had passed straight through my body, and the lingering sensation was so horrific that, for a moment, I actually wished for death. The entity whirled around above me, readying for another dive when a set of hands grabbed onto the fabric of my sweatshirt and yanked me backward.
“Get out of the way!” I was barely able to make out Gabriel’s face as he threw me bodily down the hallway, taking a protective stance in front of me.
Still gasping for breath, I rolled onto my hands and knees, craning my neck around his large frame to watch the deadly scene before me. Xan faced off with the demon/ghost and was more than holding his own. Flashing in and out of sight, Xan teleported all around the hallway as the creature dove and attacked, over and over again. Blasts of white hot electricity shot out from its bony fingers and were deflected by Xan time and again. Determination was painted across Xan’s god-like face along with what looked a lot like annoyance.
Teleporting behind the evil wraith, he captured it in a large circle of energy. Its high-pitched keening filled my ears as the barrier that held it captive filled with fire. I heard Xan mumbling something I couldn’t make out, and a large, swirling black hole appeared out of thin air, sucking the burning specter into its darkness before disappearing. I stood open-mouthed, gaping at the space where the ghostly demon had been.
Xan was at my side in an instant, lifting me off the floor and crushing me to him. “Carino.” His voice was strained and full of worry.
“I’m okay. I’m all right,” I said, more trying to convince myself than him as he set me on my feet. That ghost demon had thrown me for a loop. “What was that thing?” I’d seen my fair share of demons and read about countless others in the Book of Light. But never, had I seen anything like the shadow spirit that had just attacked.
“A Hantu Raya.” His voice was cold and full of disgust as he looked down the dark hallway and then back to me. “It’s by far the deadliest of all demonic spirits. They’re not easily controlled, either. They require a great sacrifice and therefore can align themselves only with the most powerful black-magic sorcerers in this realm.”
A chill shot up my spine despite my best efforts to quell my fear. Lucian had obviously pulled out the big guns, having moved from zombies to demonic spirits to try and take me out. “A sacrifice?”
Xan’s stony expression changed to one of silent mirth as his lips curled up into a knowing smile.
I shook my head. “Xan?” He knew something I didn’t, and he needed to tell me. Now.
“Lucian would had to have given up some of his power to contract the Hantu Raya. His powers are weakened.”
A rush of hope came barreling through me at Xan’s words. Maybe we did stand a chance after all.
“Come on,” Gabriel said, interrupting our little pow-wow as he urged us to move. “Standing in one place too long is dangerous.”
“Yeeeeeeess. Indeed it is.” A deep, sinister voice reverberated off the walls, filling me with dread. The next thing I knew we no longer stood in the hallway, but in a large, candle-lit room, presumably somewhere else in the mansion.
