A shriek of pain reverberated off the city buildings, busting out windows and showering glass onto the frightened people and the street. It was like a heavy downpour of diamonds, the deadly shards hidden among the shimmering beauty.
The dragon let go of the mayor, who fell ten feet to the ground. The injured dragon slunk away, leaving a trail of black blood in his path. I dissolved the other fire ball and sprinted over to the mayor, putting out his smoking tie.
Mayor Raymond Crenshaw was in a lot of pain and shock, his clothes shredded, but he hadn’t been devoured by a dragon. He grabbed his left knee and looked up at me. “Thank you. I thought I was a dead man. How did you do that?”
Before I could answer, a herd of medical professionals closed in on the mayor, pushing me away. I’d seen and heard enough to know that I couldn’t stop this right now. I needed more firepower. An unnerving, warm flow of air, much too warm for a winter day, breezed by, blowing more trash around.
Gretchen approached me. “Nice work, Merlino. Way to save the mayor.” She gave me a silent clap.
“I wish I could save everyone. Do you have an evacuation plan in process?”
She shielded her eyes from the dust being kicked up. “We do, but we’ve never been in a situation like this. Every time we try to get some people out, a manhole cover pops off and one of those dragons rushes out of it. This isn’t exactly a single file line where everyone marches right out. It’s more like every man, woman, and child for themselves.”
“I understand. I’ve been dealing with the supernatural long enough to know nothing is easy. I need some time to try to figure out if there is something to be done. I just hurt that dragon, I didn’t kill it. I’m not sure of the best way to kill these things.”
“At least it’s only these snake-like dragons and not flying ones.”
“Way to look on the bright side.” A clarion shrieking, squawking racket attacked my ears. “Oh, shit,” I said, peering up at the sky.
Objects as big as the school bus-sized thunderbirds from the Deep Burrow streaked through the dark sky. A heavy ray of sun defied the dense storm clouds and sneaked through to reveal enormous creatures silhouetted against the backdrop of the sky.
Shielding my eyes from the dust, I peeked through the openings in my fingers and counted twelve enormous black dragons descending on the city. The magical beasts swooped in, their wing beats causing gale force winds, blowing Gretchen’s hair back.
The ugly dragons landed on the tallest buildings in the city. Perched atop the skyscrapers as if they owned them, the dragons peered down over the city, seemingly pleased with the destruction below.
From a distance, I scoped out the dragons.
The black dragons had four feet, two wings, and were covered with shimmering scales that shone even after the sun disappeared again. One of the dragons turned its elongated face in my direction, red eyes staring at me, fire building in its nostrils. It yawned, exposing a set of sharp fangs taller than a child. More flames danced around the back of its mouth.
The dragon had the classic look you would see in most story books, but its coiled tail looked like it might stretch out over one hundred yards.
Why are these dragons in Pittsburgh? Are they acting for someone else or are they invading the city for themselves?
I knew the Deep Burrow and the Celtic Gods didn’t even have dragons at their disposal. That meant this was going to be a serious uphill battle. As far as I understood, the Red Cavern of demons didn’t have dragons either. It had to be a powerful underworld or otherworld, unless the dragons were acting on their own volition.
I had been learning about the various ‘worlds’, but there were so many of them, good and evil. It would be impossible to pinpoint a suspect so soon.
Gretchen was still checking out the dragons with her jaw dropped. She had a firm grip on her pistol, although I’m not sure it would even hurt the flying dragons. One of the beasts spewed a mountain of flames into the air, brightening the dreary city skyline momentarily.
I refocused on ground level. Out of the chaos, emerged a lone figure. A man with long, scraggly dark hair with streaks of silver stood about twenty feet in front of me. Enormous magical vines emanated from his body, telling me that this person was extremely well versed in the practice. He waved his finger in the air and formed a defense shield around himself. A glittering of red, green and blue danced around his body, outlining the shape of a dome before disappearing.
The grizzled man had to be almost seven feet tall. He glided along the pavement, big black boots pacing smoothly back and forth. If he hadn’t emitted an aura of evil, I would have said he was prancing to and fro.
He wore what appeared to be medieval style layers of boiled leather armor over his upper body, topped with a jacket of golden ring mail. He swept the nest of hair that hung to his chest away from his face and tucked it behind his ear, exposing the hidden half of his face.
Despite a shield of stubble covering his face, he revealed a wasteland of burns and unhealed flesh, but that wasn’t the most disturbing part. A maze of red scars and swollen blue veins covered the right side of his face. That still wasn’t the most disturbing part.
His missing right eye grabbed my attention and wouldn’t let go. Flesh hadn’t grown over the purple, bruised area. Depending on which way he turned, the wound changed color from black to burgundy to deep purple.
The man crossed his arms, puffed out his chest and stood defiantly. He screamed, “This is no longer your city. Leave now and your lives will be spared. Go against us, and death shall be delivered. My dragons will not leave until this city is ours. You’ve been warned.”
I heard a voice from behind. “FIRE.”
I kissed the pavement and covered my head. I heard a steady stream of bullets pinging off the mysterious man’s defense shield. I should have warned the cops not to do that. I peeked at the target and noticed bullets bouncing off his shield, redirected at unintended targets.
You couldn’t be careless when dealing with the supernatural. You could summon some fireballs only to realize they are useless against this opponent. Or you could just start shooting at something and end up with the result these cops were getting.
The look of shock and awe on the faces of Pittsburgh’s finest were a direct juxtaposition to the shit-eating grin on the face of my new enemy. The dragon master left his defense shield in place as he backed away, almost moonwalking like Michael Jackson. He had a dancer-like quality to his graceful movements, which was in stark contrast to his grisly appearance.
The giant of a man disappeared as quickly as he had appeared out of nowhere. At least this gave me a tiny clue to go on, although the man had never said his name. He didn’t seem human, despite his appearance suggesting otherwise.
There wasn’t much I could do here. With a heavy heart, I turned to Gretchen and said, “You ready to get out of here now?”
“I’m ready. Now I just have to worry about a dragon flying down and lighting the vehicle on fire. What the hell are we supposed to do about these things?”
I didn’t have an answer. This was new territory for me. I planned to talk to my magical connections to see if anyone knew anything. “I’m not sure what we can do right now. Get as many people out of the city as you can. That’s the best thing that can be done right now.”
We pushed our way through the crowd and headed back to Gretchen’s Jeep.
As we sat in traffic trying to get back home, paranoia tugged at my tight nerves. I wouldn’t say it out loud, but I couldn’t defeat an army of dragons. Who was the mystery man who had unleashed the dragons on my city? And why Pittsburgh?
I had a few clues to go on and I needed to start asking questions. The first person on the list was my mentor, Alayna. The one-thousand-and-one-year-old faerie seemed like the most logical person to ask about this. But first, I had to stop at my office to pick up the special candle for my talk with Satoku later today.
My partner Gretchen acted weird on the ride back. I as
sumed she was shaken by the influx of dragons. Shhhh. Don’t tell anyone, but so was I.
Chapter 2
AS I BACKED INTO MY office and went to flick on the lights, I noticed they were already on. Whirling around, I was startled to find a young woman holding my phone receiver in her hand.
She hung up the phone, and spoke calmly, “There you are. The door was unlocked so I wandered in and couldn’t find anyone in here. I was just about to call your cell phone.”
I eyeballed her suspiciously. The door was most certainly locked.
She stood about five-five, bronze skin with light freckling, brown eyes and long, red hair, Titian-tinted to be precise. She smiled shyly and revealed a crooked set of teeth. Her long, thin nose sniffed the office air and her wide set eyes carried a sense of calm confidence. The homely woman should have been nervous, and her sense of ease made me uneasy.
As I studied her briefly, I detected dark magic coming from her. I’ll ask a few questions before I open up a can of whoop ass.
I zeroed in on a burning candle on my desk. “What the hell. Did you light my candle?”
She put her hands up in front of her chest. “That was lit when I walked in.”
I went over and pinched out the flame. It was a special candle I’d made in the Deep Burrow to celebrate a new beginning with my girlfriend. I’d planned to light it before our special conversation.
I got back to the issue at hand. “What do you need help with?”
She fingered her ginger locks, casually throwing the tangled mess over her shoulder. The blue spandex pants and matching long-sleeved shirt showed off an attractive figure. “It’s something in my basement. I’m not sure what it is. I hoped that you could help me get rid of it.”
I kept playing her game as I brought all my magical repertoire to the surface. “Do you have any idea what it could be?”
She shook her head. “I’ve never seen it. Only heard it. I’m too afraid to go down there.”
More dark magic vines were slipping out of her purple tennis shoes and wiggling around on the floor. Only people versed in magic could see the vines. They were important when sizing up an opponent and could range in size from a drinking straw to a telephone pole.
I didn’t even want to know her name yet and asked, “Where do you live?”
“Excuse me?” The question seemed to take her by surprise as she scratched her left clavicle.
“Where do you live?”
It was a simple question, yet she paused again, setting off alarms. She finally said, “Just down in the city.”
“Where?” I pressed, trying to gauge her reaction.
“I’m sorry, but I’ve been stalked before and I’m not comfortable just giving out my address.” The lobes of her ears were starting to turn red.
“I understand that, but if you want my help, I need to know where to go.”
“So you will help me? I’d like to be sure.”
Something shady was going on. Was the ‘thing’ in her basement infecting her with dark magical forces? Hell, was there even a basement to begin with?
I had to be careful. “I’d like to say yes, but I’m not sure what we are dealing with. I’ll definitely take a look at it.”
“I’m kind of in a rush, but I’m just glad you can help. Sorry, but I have to go now.” She walked by me, heading for the door.
“Just a minute. I need a way to get back in contact with you.”
“Right. Sometimes I’m just so forgetful.”
Time for the setup.
I went over to my desk and grabbed a small note pad and a pen. I placed the pad on the desk and handed her the pen. She leaned over and her right sleeve moved up her arm, revealing a tattoo on top of her wrist. Noticing the Dark Artistry symbol of the Red Cavern, I brought my magic to the surface.
I pounced and grabbed her arms, pinning them behind her back. “Nice tattoo, demon. Why don’t you tell me what’s really going on?”
She struggled to get away, but her strength was no match for mine. I easily corralled the much smaller woman, and she stopped trying to break the hold. I said, “You might as well come with the truth. I know you’re in cahoots with the Red Cavern.”
“Fuck.” She took a deep breath. “Let me go and I will tell you.”
“Here’s the deal. I will let you go. However, if I suspect that you are going to try something stupid, like running again, I won’t hesitate to fuck you up. Don’t be foolish.”
I released my grip, and she turned around facing me. Her shape and features were all the same, but her skin had turned deep purple. “You are a demon.”
“Tremendous observation. Why don’t you just let me go?”
“Why don’t you just tell me what the hell you were doing first?”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I was sent here by the Jersey Devil to tap your phone.”
“Sons a bitches. Why would you demons want to tap my phone?”
She explained, “Because you always seem to know what’s going on in this city. At least that’s what the Jersey Devil said. They keep going back and forth on whether they want to kill you or not. The devils still believe you are corruptible. The Jersey Devil says you have a soft spot for women that’s going to get you killed one day. He really doesn’t like you, by the way.”
“The feeling is more than mutual. Back to the subject at hand. Why did he send you? Why not just do it himself?”
“Because I begged him to do it.”
Shocked, I asked, “What? Why? What do you have against me?”
Her purple chin swung back and forth as she shook her head. “Nothing against you. I was going to tap the phone and then make a run for it.”
“Make a run for what? Where are you going to go?”
“To get away from my cruel life in the Red Cavern. I don’t know where I’m going to go. I can look like a human as you saw earlier.”
“Won’t they come after you?”
“Don’t care. I already feel dead inside. What do I have to lose?”
“Your life.” I had learned from many sources that demons didn’t have the same emotions as humans. They supposedly took pleasure in the misery of others.
“What life? Being used for my body by the will of the Chieftains, demi-devils and devils. What’s that? It’s not living, I can tell you that. You might as well kill me right now and get it over with.”
An idea struck me. “No. I hate to do this to you, but I have to send you back to the Cavern.” I hoped to trade the demoness for my knife, subsequently saving my own life.
She said, “I’m not going back.”
“Oh, I’m afraid you are.”
As soon as the words escaped my mouth, a sudden unseen force blasted me in the chest, knocking me back into the front door of my office.
How the fuck did she do that?
The demon tried to hop over me and escape. Reaching up at the last moment, I grabbed the tight pants around her ankle. The young woman had strength, dragging me toward the entrance. She pulled the door open and squirmed to get loose. Reaching out with a stretched right arm, I clutched onto the spandex covering her backside, firmed my grip and dragged her back in.
I jumped up, still holding her leg and she toppled to the ground. Reaching over, I slammed the door shut and went to lock it. Before I could accomplish that, the demoness bit my calf and I yelped in pain. Yanking my leg away was a bad idea, stretching the skin even further and causing more damage.
Using my other leg, I repeatedly stomped on her chest until she finally unclamped her jaw. I went to dive on her but another invisible force hit me, lifting me, holding my body parallel to the ground. The demon sprang up with a wicked uppercut and caught me flush on the chin.
My teeth smacked together in an uneven clack and bright streaks that looked like neon tadpoles raced through my peripheral vision. The force holding me up died and I fell four feet to the ground.
All right. Enough screwing around.
She tried to run past me again. I ki
cked her foot into her other one, and she tumbled into the front door shoulder first. I called on a lock bubble, worrying that with her advanced understanding of magic she would detect it.
She grabbed the door knob, twisted it, and pulled. Freedom was so close.
I blew into my hand and a bubble formed. A prism of colors raced around inside the giant bubble. Just before the demoness ran out the front doorway, I flung the lock bubble toward her. One side rammed into her back, and the gravitational force of the bubble pulled her inside.
I raced over to the door, delicately pushing the bubble toward the middle of the room as she pounded on the shell, attempting to break it. I locked the door, and turned back to my visitor.
“Not bad. You’ve got some pretty sweet magic skills. I couldn’t even see your forces coming at me. You’re one of the first ones.”
She spoke without emotion, “Lot of good it did me. Why do you want me to die?”
“It’s either you or me. If I don’t get this knife back from Aka Manah, I’m a dead man. Sorry about the bad life in the Red Cavern, but you’re a demon.”
“You’re going to trade me for a knife? A piece of property? I suppose that’s what I am.” Her head slumped down in disgust.
I tried to explain, “It’s not exactly like that. This knife has rune symbols on it that have been blessed by the Celtic Gods. It can be used to cause great harm if it falls into the wrong hands, as it had when Aka Manah claimed it for himself. I knew that if I lost it, the wage would be my life. So it’s not just a knife, its basically my life. My life or a demon’s. Not a hard choice.”
“Doomed by birth, huh?”
“Excuse me?”
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “You’re saying that because I was born a demon, I should believe in all the disgusting things they do. Not every demon is evil, just like not every human is benevolent. Ever heard of a guy named Hitler?”
She wasn’t talking crazy. I concurred, “I see your point, but there’s really nothing I can do. It’s you or me.”
“I guess he was wrong.”
“Who was wrong?”
Bloodline Awakened Supernatural Thriller Series: Books 1-3 Page 60
